This week in Editors’ Picks: The global tweet button. It’s not exactly what it sounds like, but it’s about as awesome as what it sounds like. Drive proving that fellas, it’s okay for you to love Ryan Gosling too. I promise. And a video so tangentially related to Thomas Pynchon’s work that it can actually make a little bit of sense.
James’ pick: Global Tweet Button, OS X’s Official Twitter Client
After various computer issues across various computers the past couple of weeks, I was thrust into having to use three different operating systems on four different computers. When I wasn’t using OS X, I found myself struggling to find multiprotocol IM, email, and Twitter clients that behave exactly how I like. The IM clients were pretty much only missing Adium’s feature that throws the name of the sender of unread IMs in its dock icon, so that wasn’t too big of a deal. The email clients were the easiest to suss out. However, not one Twitter client I tried had the Global Tweet button found in OS X’s official Twitter client, which can be obtained from the Mac App Store. The Global Tweet button is simply a hotkey command that can be executed anywhere, at any time (assuming you have the Twitter client open), that will present you with a tweet dialogue box. Considering Twitter is supposed to be somewhat of a stream-of-consciousness platform, being able to compose a tweet no matter what is currently happening on the computer seems essential. Also, once you get used to your hotkey, it’s obnoxious having to navigate to your Twitter client just to tweet some pun you found funny. Hardly world-ending, but still obnoxious.
Along with the Global Tweet button, OS X’s official Twitter client is just plain the best Twitter client. It handles multiple accounts seamlessly, is lightweight, and has various options for indicating what is going on in your client without you having to actually go into your client to see what is going on; you can set the icon in the menu bar to glow different shades of blue based various settings, and the icon in the Dock can invoke little indicator icons as well. A few other clients are pretty good, but OS X’s Twitter client is the best as far as I’m concerned. That Global Tweet button becomes one of the more useful hotkeys the second you begin using it.
Eric’s pick: Drive
Okay, so it’s not the newest movie out there, but I never got around to seeing Drive in theaters. I made up for my mistake a little while ago and I have some valuable knowledge to share with you all: Drive is a fantastic film.
Before you go into it, it’s important to know what it is not. It is not a “racing” movie; it’s not 3 Fast 3 Furious. It’s not even a heist movie. It’s way more contemplative and, in fact, it’s very much an art house film. It’s beautiful, sometimes almost like a painting. The colors are vibrant and the pauses are almost impossibly pregnant. The film knows how to take its time. All that said, it’s not gentle, not by a long shot. Drive is not afraid to show you some things you might not want to see. When it throws a punch, it’s wearing brass knuckles. These moments are incredibly quick and technically fleeting but believe you me, a five second scene can leave a 10 minute mark.
I could go on and on about the acting, the plot, the sets; They’re all great, but this movie’s soundtrack? Oh man, it is so good. The whole film has this really weird, really wonderful vibe where it feels like it’s taking place in the ’80s when, no time frame is given, and there’s plenty of modern day tech. The music adds to this brilliantly by sounding both deliciously pseudo-80s without sounding trite, and also sounding just plain old awesome. I defy you to find a single movie that wouldn’t be improved by having “A Real Hero” playing over its credits.
Final score: Oh man this movie is so good you guys oh man oh man/10
Max’s pick:Â This video for the complete Thomas Pynchon eBook collection
I won’t make any pretentions about Pynchon being my favorite author, or anything like that. I’ve only read two of his books — both his shortest works — and have been stalled halfway through Gravity’s Rainbow for several years. He’s a challenging author, and sometimes I think he’s just too nuts.
But I love his style, and I love the bizarre machinations that seem to be ticking just outside the narrative’s frame. And though this video is just an advertisement, its sense of Pynchon being something big and mysterious fits in with my understanding of his work. The music, and presentation, also have the perfect paranoid edge that I would expect.
Now, if you need me, I’ll be burning garbage under a bridge waiting for a letter by the W.A.S.T.E. can.
- The Newsroom, Dwarf Fortress, and Daytripper
- Interns, dual screen displays, and mandals
- Double checking Google Maps, Humble Indie Bundle V, “I Just Started Hating Some People Today”
