Cool
One cool tune, one cool thing, one cool quote. Every week.
Music selections are also in this convenient Spotify Playlist.
2020
Week 1
Angels & Airwaves documentary by Peter McKinnon
You’re So Cool by Jonathan Bree
Week 2
Imagineering in a Box course on Khan Academy
Green Light Chromeo Remix by Lorde and Chromeo
Week 3
DevQuest web series on being an indie game developer
Unlimited Power by Jaroslav Beck, Frank Bentley (from Beat Saber)
Week 4
2D Game Cameras how they work and how camera traps make them better.
Don’t Turn Off The Lights by Enrique Iglesias
Week 5
Asking the right questions changes the outcomes. Such as “Is this effective?” where effective means “successful in producing a desired or intended result”.
Go Deep by Janet Jackson
Week 6
Oh, the Places You’ll Go at Burning Man.
Shut em up by Manfred Mann, Public Enemy, Prodigy
Week 7
Mythic Quest it’s basically Studio 60 in a game studio, with people who aren’t yet adults.
Angels In My Head by Sandra
Week 8
The Good Place The final season was delicious madness. I cried so hard, worth it.
Dig Down by Muse
Week 9
Drive to Survive: Season 2 Netflix series, compelling watching again.
Eyes - Live from Joshua Tree by RUFUS DU SOL
Week 10
Casey Neistat finally explaining how he made his money - no monetising on YouTube, made videos for corporate brands and charged $80k per video. His social media was advertising and awareness of himself to enable him to do that.
Uebok (Gotta Run) by Apashe, INSTASAMKA
Week 11
The concept of living with Fierce Grace.
Day ’N’ Nite (Nightmare) by Kid Cudi
Week 12
iJustine being completely and unashamedly into things, not matter how geeky. Inspiring.
Gold Teeth (Instrumental Version) by Roof
Week 13
Picard Star Trek tv series.
Dangerous Days by Zola Jesus
Week 14
Nier Automata game. Seamlessly moves between battles and top down and side shooting. Whilst it’s bullet hell, it’s elegantly done and the controls are spot on and you get into a groove playing it. The story is interesting and it unfolds at just the right pace.
Comet (feat. BeuKes) by Hey Champ
Week 15
Sonic the hedgehog movie. Unexpectedly hilarious and genuinely good.
Week 16
Hapi a complete serverside JavaScript framework that is well audited, has no external dependencies, and is proven to scale under brutal workloads.
Devil Like Me by Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Week 17
GameHut YouTube channel. The coder behind the games that pushed the limits of consoles in the 90’s reveals the delightfully clever solutions they created to do that.
The Best by AWOLNATION
Week 18
This Is My Jam music community.
Disparate Youth by Santigold
Week 19
Modern Web Development the platform is now so standardised and so capable, the majority of what you’d need a framework for is obviated. Code is simple and fast.
Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap
Week 20
Torn video game in VR. Not difficult, but fun to work through the puzzles and reveal story.
The Adventure by Angels & Airwaves
Week 21
Ignore Everybody book by Hugh MacLeod. Spoke directly to me.
Line of Fire by Junip
Week 22
Alaska by Maggie Rogers
Week 23
Locke and Key tv series.
Don’t Kill My Vibe by Sigrid
Week 24
Zune HD interface so fluid and inventive. Wonderful.
Nightcall by Kavinsky
Week 25
Disney Shorts on Disney+. Super fun and cool, reminded me strongly of why I wanted to make movies.
Stupid Love by Lady Gaga
Week 26
“We don’t do realism, we do believability” ― Disney Frozen special effects team
Lonely Together by Rita Ora, Avicii
Week 27
The Tech of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse by Movies with Mikey. Brilliant analysis and ride.
Be Kind (with Halsey) by Marshmello, Halsey
Week 28
Microsoft Productivity Vision 2019 Still solid and aspirational.
My Blood by Twenty One Pilots
Week 29
Preact is React but tiny, faster, uses less resources, and most importantly to me seems to follow my own development philosophy of using the platform features and not re-inventing because NIH (not invented here).
Don’t You Want Me by French Horn Rebellion, Deidre & the Dark
Week 30
The Designers Republic I love their work so much, despite it triggering my ADHD so much.
My Kingdom by Future Sound of London
Week 31
Umbrella Academy Season 2
I want you by Savage Garden
Week 32
Evil Plans book by Hugh MacLeod
You’re the storm by The Cardigans
Week 33
Player One book.
Ego by Indillia
Week 34
Warrior Nuns tv series on Netflix.
Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
Week 35
Inside Bills Minds tv series on Netflix. Fascinating approach to life and problems.
Thumbs by Sabrina Carpenter
Week 36
How they became huge podcast series on James Cameron.
Overwhelmed by Royal & the Serpent
Week 37
Dune novel by Frank Herbet. This has been on my must-read list since I was a teenager. Worth the wait.
Hackers by Metrik
Week 38
Wiremock simulator for mocking HTTP APIs. Delightfully fast and easy to use.
Lightshy by Owl Vision
Week 39
Enola Holmes movie. Delightful and engaging fun, more please.
12 Steps by CXLOE
Week 40
Hawaiian Party by Cub Sport
Week 41
Horizon Zero Dawn game. Finished it. 65 hours of gameplay. Really enjoyed the story and it’s themes, and that everyone you helped throughout the journey comes to your aid in the end.
Paper Thin by ILLENIUM, Tom Delonge, Angels & Airwaves
Week 42
BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky documentary on Netflix. It’s a wild ride.
Lightshy by Owl Vision. I will never get enough of this song.
Week 43
The Speed Cubers documentary. So much heart.
Heavy, Pt. 1 by CXLOE EP.
Week 44
Big Sur UI redesign. I really like it, so many people don’t. But the simplification and decluttering of the visuals reasonates strongly with me.
Tim by Avicii’s final album.
Week 45
SpaceTime my name for the two hours when I wake up before anyone else. The day is full of potential and it’s my space and my time.
For Me by Karma Fields
Week 46
Playstation 5 UI design. Superb iteration and refinement of PS4 UI.
Week 47
Microsoft Surface ergonomic Keyboard
Loyal by ODESZA
Week 48
My Eyes by Nero
Week 49
Spotify 2020 summary
Cool by Dua Lipa
Week 50
Amiga History It was a very cohesive sofware stack design because it was almost entirely created by just 3 people, who each owned their part of the stack.
Should I Give It All Up (demo) by James Blunt
Week 51
Neil Gaiman Masterclass
Communication by Ace Marino
Week 52
Sierra book about the rise and fall of the game company of the same name. The coding chapter was good, but the rest of the book was biased documenting of a shit show.
Levitating by Dua Lipa
2019