Cool
One cool tune, one cool thing, one cool quote. Every week.
Music selections are also in this convenient Spotify Playlist.
2020
Week 52
Levitating by Dua Lipa
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.
Week 51
Communication by Ace Marino
Neil Gaiman Masterclass
Week 50
Should I Give It All Up (demo) by James Blunt
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.
Week 49
Cool by Dua Lipa
Spotify 2020 summary
Week 48
My Eyes by Nero
Week 47
Loyal by ODESZA
Microsoft Surface ergonomic Keyboard
Week 46
Playstation 5 UI design. Superb iteration and refinement of PS4 UI.
Week 45
For Me by Karma Fields
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.
Week 44
Tim by Avicii’s final album.
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.
Week 43
Heavy, Pt. 1 by CXLOE EP.
The Speed Cubers documentary. So much heart.
Week 42
Lightshy by Owl Vision. I will never get enough of this song.
BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky documentary on Netflix. It’s a wild ride.
Week 41
Paper Thin by ILLENIUM, Tom Delonge, Angels & Airwaves
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.
Week 40
Hawaiian Party by Cub Sport
Week 39
12 Steps by CXLOE
Enola Holmes movie. Delightful and engaging fun, more please.
Week 38
Lightshy by Owl Vision
Wiremock simulator for mocking HTTP APIs. Delightfully fast and easy to use.
Week 37
Hackers by Metrik
Dune novel by Frank Herbet. This has been on my must-read list since I was a teenager. Worth the wait.
Week 36
Overwhelmed by Royal & the Serpent
How they became huge podcast series on James Cameron.
Week 35
Thumbs by Sabrina Carpenter
Inside Bills Minds tv series on Netflix. Fascinating approach to life and problems.
Week 34
Blinding Lights by The Weeknd
Warrior Nuns tv series on Netflix.
Week 33
Ego by Indillia
Player One book.
Week 32
You’re the storm by The Cardigans
Evil Plans book by Hugh MacLeod
Week 31
I want you by Savage Garden
Umbrella Academy Season 2
Week 30
My Kingdom by Future Sound of London
The Designers Republic I love their work so much, despite it triggering my ADHD so much.
Week 29
Don’t You Want Me by French Horn Rebellion, Deidre & the Dark
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).
Week 28
My Blood by Twenty One Pilots
Microsoft Productivity Vision 2019 Still solid and aspirational.
Week 27
Be Kind (with Halsey) by Marshmello, Halsey
The Tech of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse by Movies with Mikey. Brilliant analysis and ride.
Week 26
Lonely Together by Rita Ora, Avicii
“We don’t do realism, we do believability” ― Disney Frozen special effects team
Week 25
Stupid Love by Lady Gaga
Disney Shorts on Disney+. Super fun and cool, reminded me strongly of why I wanted to make movies.
Week 24
Nightcall by Kavinsky
Zune HD interface so fluid and inventive. Wonderful.
Week 23
Don’t Kill My Vibe by Sigrid
Locke and Key tv series.
Week 22
Alaska by Maggie Rogers
Week 21
Line of Fire by Junip
Ignore Everybody book by Hugh MacLeod. Spoke directly to me.
Week 20
The Adventure by Angels & Airwaves
Torn video game in VR. Not difficult, but fun to work through the puzzles and reveal story.
Week 19
Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap
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.
Week 18
Disparate Youth by Santigold
This Is My Jam music community.
Week 17
The Best by AWOLNATION
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.
Week 16
Devil Like Me by Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Hapi a complete serverside JavaScript framework that is well audited, has no external dependencies, and is proven to scale under brutal workloads.
Week 15
Sonic the hedgehog movie. Unexpectedly hilarious and genuinely good.
Week 14
Comet (feat. BeuKes) by Hey Champ
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.
Week 13
Dangerous Days by Zola Jesus
Picard Star Trek tv series.
Week 12
Gold Teeth (Instrumental Version) by Roof
iJustine being completely and unashamedly into things, not matter how geeky. Inspiring.
Week 11
Day ’N’ Nite (Nightmare) by Kid Cudi
The concept of living with Fierce Grace.
Week 10
Uebok (Gotta Run) by Apashe, INSTASAMKA
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.
Week 9
Eyes - Live from Joshua Tree by RUFUS DU SOL
Drive to Survive: Season 2 Netflix series, compelling watching again.
Week 8
Dig Down by Muse
The Good Place The final season was delicious madness. I cried so hard, worth it.
Week 7
Angels In My Head by Sandra
Mythic Quest it’s basically Studio 60 in a game studio, with people who aren’t yet adults.
Week 6
Shut em up by Manfred Mann, Public Enemy, Prodigy
Oh, the Places You’ll Go at Burning Man.
Week 5
Go Deep by Janet Jackson
Asking the right questions changes the outcomes. Such as “Is this effective?” where effective means “successful in producing a desired or intended result”.
Week 4
Don’t Turn Off The Lights by Enrique Iglesias
2D Game Cameras how they work and how camera traps make them better.
Week 3
Unlimited Power by Jaroslav Beck, Frank Bentley (from Beat Saber)
DevQuest web series on being an indie game developer
Week 2
Green Light Chromeo Remix by Lorde and Chromeo
Imagineering in a Box course on Khan Academy
Week 1
You’re So Cool by Jonathan Bree
Angels & Airwaves documentary by Peter McKinnon
2019