It was part celebration and exploration of intenet celebrity and part an excuse to let your geek out. Most of all, ROFLThing NYC 2009 was a fun way to spend a cold, wintery Saturday . When else are you going to have the faces of “You Suck at Photoshop”, Sockington, Improv Everywhere, the Tron Guy and a bunch of hackers all in one room? Oh, and the most maligned man in the typography industry — the creator of the Comic Sans font.

I had planned to write up a big review of the event with hReview and all that jazz, but that would have been far to serious for an event like this. Instead I’ve recapped some of the panels and gathered a whole bunch of links for you to to chase and waste time on this week at work.

This is a bit more of a cheesy blatant affiliate linking then I like to do on my site, but given today’s deal I’ll have to make an exception. Today’s Amazon US Deal of the Day is for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2. Until end of day Tuesday 1/27 you can buy the full version in a retail box for $189.00 — that’s 36% off the usual price for the non-upgrade version. They’ve also got the LR2 Upgrade version for $89, but that is their everyday price.

Popular Science has gotten their hands on some amazing satellite photography of yesterday’s inauguration on the National Mall. The amount of people and the crowds formed and grouped looks indistinguishable from a colony of ants coming though the cracks of a sidewalk. The sidewalk in this case also having a miniature sundial shaped like the Washington Monument and the White House.

If the imagery and resolution of the ground wasn’t amazing enough [at a 19.6inch ground resolution], one commenter points out:

If you look at the full size image, you can actually see another satellite in the top left corner.

That’s some depth of field!

So its a bit of a slow work day with a few clients off for MLK day here in the states and I’ve found myself doing some pruning of the feeds I keep track of. While looking at the sites and who hasn’t update in months I’m realizing I’ve been reading a declining number of articles and tutorials on web development and web standards topics from people working on the front lines or the bleeding edge.

The big sites — Ajaxian, A List Apart, ReadWriteWeb, etc. — are prolific as they ever have been, but I’m missing the more personal insights that once filled my reader to the brim.

Not All Quiet

I do have to say its not all doom and gloom. Some of the old standbys that everyone knows pop up with a great post here and there and there are others who are still going strong. Among those I see regular interesting updates from I’d have to suggest Anne van Kesteren on the bleeding edge of the web standards world, Christopher Fahey who has picked it back up at graphpaper.com on the design & UX side, and coworkers Brian and Ben help keep me up on PHP.

Your Suggestions, Please

So what are your favorite blogs to read for keeping your skills sharp? Who is writing about experimenting with CSS, HTML, Canvas, etc? Where are you learning about the ins and outs of JavaScript techniques? Who is breaking down accessibility for the every day developer?

Even if its you and you’d like to do a bit of self promotion, please post a link in the comments.

I’ve just added two autumn prints from a 2007 trip to Watchung Reservation to the Landscapes of New Jersey gallery at shop.placenamehere.com.