Jonathan Frei's Blog

Hi! I'm Jonathan Frei. Welcome to my site. While you're here, you can subscribe to updates, explore the archive, or take your chances on a random post. Lets talk on Twitter.

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Common misconceptions--visualized

The data visualization site, Information is Beautiful, recently published an infographic of Common MythConceptions, which borrows its data from Wikipedia's list of common misconceptions. This is related to my earlier post on the list.

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This site turned 5 over the weekend.

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Age verification exploit

A 12-year-old hacker uncovered a weak spot in the user age authentication process on budlight.com. There is no telling how many other alcohol-related websites have the same vulnerability.

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Terms of Service; Didn't Read

You clicked ‘accept’ without reading the terms. It’s okay, nobody reads the terms. You’re in a hurry to use the app you just signed up for.

Most people accept the terms without having any idea about what they are agreeing to. Terms of Service; Didn’t Read aims to fix that by assigning rating to popular websites and apps as well as labeling and explaining various clauses their TOS.

We are a user rights initiative to rate and label website terms & privacy policies, from very good Class A to very bad Class E.

Terms of service are often too long to read, but it’s important to understand what’s in them. Your rights online depend on them. We hope that our ratings can help you get informed about your rights.

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Homemade Halloween

Creating homemade Halloween costumes for your children is a great way to save money. And you can come up with a one-of-a-kind invention that will one day be as terrifying as some of these monstrous creations.

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Are the rumors true?

Emergent provides real-time information to help you determine which rumors you're seeing on the Internet have been verified or debunked, as well as which are still up in the air.

Emergent is a real-time rumor tracker. It's part of a research project with the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University that focuses on how unverified information and rumor are reported in the media. It aims to develop and best practices for debunking misinformation.

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2014 National Geographic photo contest

Unsurprisingly, there are some incredible photos among this year's submissions.

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Hamster wheel standing desk

I've been thinking about trying out a standing desk and just found the perfect one.

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Hong Kong protests from above

The Guardian posted an impressive video, shot from a drone, showing the Hong Kong protests from above.

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Jeff Goldblum is going to sell a lot of light bulbs.

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Global cities

A city where the total population of the world could live is smaller than I expected. But it would be rough to be stuck in cross-town traffic in a city of 6.9 billion people. (via Swissmiss)

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Fall is in the air

One down side of living in South Florida is that even when the Fall months arrive, it is never this kind of Fall.

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John Malcovich stars in famous photos

I've enjoyed John Malkovich on the big screen for years, but recently he's taken his acting talents to a different medium--photography. Photographer Sandro Miller created Malkovich, Malkovich, Malkovich: Homage to photographic masters, featuring the talented actor in a number of famous photos.

In 2013, Sandro decided to do a project honoring the men and women whose photographs helped shape his career. After selecting thirty-five images to emulate, Sandro contacted Malkovich, who instantly agreed to participate. When speaking about Malkovich, Sandro states: “John is the most brilliant, prolific person I know. His genius is unparalleled. I can suggest a mood or an idea and within moments, he literally morphs into the character right in front of my eyes. He is so trusting of my work and our process… I’m truly blessed to have him as my friend and collaborator.”

Here are a few of my favorites from the collection:

Dorothea Lange / Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California (1936), 2014

Yousuf Karsh / Ernest Hemingway (1957), 2014

Herb Ritts / Jack Nicholson, London (1988) (B), 2014

Philippe Halsman / Salvador Dalí (1954), 2014

The full gallery is worth checking out.

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Caught looking

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This gif will come in handy for a future embarrassing screwup.

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This cheat sheet by Corey Smith can help you discover which social network is right for you. “I’m eating bacon,” simply states why I prefer Twitter to the alternatives.

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The BFFs, Batman and Superman, save the world again. (Illustration by Darwin Cook)