So over-the-top cheesey and unlikely, I can’t even tell if this product — or this shockingly hilarious commercial — is real or not. Best line: “Microsoft, huh? So it’s pretty easy to use?” (at 1:55).

A look at the innovation that a few of my colleagues in the multimedia and interactive news teams at The New York Times are churning out regularly. Frankly, it’s refreshing to read a positive piece about our future amidst all the gloomy predictions.

Number one: bacon. Number nineteen: Mr. T. Number twenty-three: throwing stars.

Artful maps of posts to Craigslist’s Missed Connections section that mentioned specific places… ack, I just spent three minutes trying to explain it in words when it’s a lot easier just to look at it, so click on the link already!

The opposite of maxims: proverbially useless wisdom from the humorist Tom Weller. Originally printed in 1982, but available here page for page.

A muted, haunting reminder that the best show ever aired on television is now behind us.

As it happened, last night I started watching the show’s predecessor, “The Corner.” It’s no surprise that it’s just as well-written and vivid as “The Wire,” or that I’ve developed a significant attachment to the characters in just three episodes. But it’s somewhat shocking to me that it’s even more gritty and uncompromising. Recommended viewing.

Handy tool displays type specimens based on typefaces available in your system currently.

A look at how the studios did business-wise in 2008 — better than most, as it turns out. “Ticket sales at North American movie theaters totaled US$9.6 billion, a decrease of less than 1 percent over the previous year, according to Media by Numbers, a box office tracking company. Although attendance declined 5 percent, to about 1.3 billion, the industry was able to buttress revenue with higher ticket prices and premium 3-D offerings.”

That last bit about premium prices is particularly interesting: “In 2008, the studios discovered that audiences would pay ticket prices of up to US$25 to see a movie in 3-D (‘Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour’). Screenings of ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda’ at Imax theaters, also carrying premium prices, did blockbuster business.”

From several years ago but still worth a look: typographer Mark Simonson highlights director Wes Anderson’s preoccupation with the typeface Futura in his “third feature film,” a trend that also continued in Anderson’s subsequent inferior yet visually consistent releases.

Impressive full-color drawings made by artist Stef Kardos using Brushes, “a natural media painting application for the iPhone and iPod touch. It offers several realistic brush styles, an advanced color picker, a gallery view, and virtually unlimited undo and redo.” The demonstration video on the Brushes page is quite remarkable.