Link roundup

1. Annotations for League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century 1969 (20% off at TFAW). Via.

2. Norwegian response to the gunman:

An inadequate boat and a decision to await a special armed unit from Oslo, 45 km (28 miles) away, delayed the response.

"When so many people and equipment were put into it, the boat started to take on water, so that the motor stopped," said Erik Berga, police operations chief in Buskerud County.

3. Chip Kidd is writing a Batman comic.

4. Seinfeld: The Most Kafkaesque Show on Television.

5. Lots of photos of the "vintage" Star Wars figures that will be clogging the shelves in the near future. Is someone buying these things in other cities? Not in LA.

Link roundup

1. Glowing review for Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues. (There are a few walkthroughs on Youtube already.)

2. "NY Times Story on First Gay Federal Judge Complemented by Tasteful Bathhouse Ad."

3. Gabe Delahaye's latest hilarious True Blood recap. "Breed, ghost daddy, breed." (Probably NSFW.)

Link roundup

1. File away this prediction by Bill Simmons:

Best-case scenario: NBA season starts in Feb. And that's the best-case scenario. I don't think I've ever been more disenchanted with Stern.

2. Map of time capsules buried under Los Angeles. Via.

3. More 3A Toys news:

ThreeA is proud to announce that it has partnered with amazing Japanese artist Kow Yokoyama to produce Maschinen Krieger in both 1/12 and 1/6 scale! If you think you know Maschinen Krieger think again - ThreeA is about to bring you a whole new world.

Furthermore we will be producing figures for the upcoming blockbuster Reel Steel in 1/6th scale. The Reel Steel movie directed by Shawn Levy stars our own boy from Oz, Hugh Jackman.

4. "The Billionaire Sheikh Who Carved His Name Into an Island." (You can see it from space.)

*At Toycutter: Custom 3A Toys.

*Buy 3A Toys at eBay.

Link roundup

1. You can read Neil Gaiman's excellent short story, The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains.

2. Halekulani Coconut Cake recipe. (My second favorite hotel on Oahu.)

3. Laker Andrew Bynum was photographed parking across two disabled parking spots in a largely empty lot.

Link roundup

1. 9% of those special flashlights for the Warren Ellis/Berg SVK comic were broken on arrival.

2. FYI, if you plan on visiting Los Angles, do not stay in a hotel downtown.

3. Book giveaway.

Link roundup

1. Why doesn't this woman get more press? "Hooters Waitress-Turned-Lawmaker Admits to Carving Initials Into Assembly Desk."

2. An estimate of how much it costs to attend Hogwarts.

3. Gizmodo's list of essential Spotify tools. (I've only played with it briefly, but so far I don't see why it's so much better than Last.fm.)

Link roundup

1. Bear beats tiger. Via.

2. Bees beat elephants.

3. Yiddish beats moron.

Link roundup

1. "The highest-paid state employee in California last year, a prison surgeon who took home $777,423, has a history of mental illness, was fired once for alleged incompetence and has not been allowed to treat an inmate for six years because medical supervisors don't trust his clinical skills." Via.

2. At Laughing Squid: Pranksters Dump Paint on Berlin Intersection, Cars Create Street Art; The Soft City, A Bouncy Street Installation.

3. Tilt shift traffic jam wallpaper. Via.

Link roundup

1. News Corp does enough terrible things that you shouldn't have to make up claims.

2. Google's first social network Orkut was briefly very popular in Finland:

Orkut [the Google engineer who built orkut] is Turkish, so we had no idea when we launched it that in Finland evidently that same word means “multiple sexual climaxes.” When people saw a product called orkut, they thought it was a dating service or sex site, and it took off quickly. As soon as they saw what it actually was, interest cooled somewhat.

3. To take a screenshot on an iPhone, hold down the lock button and the home button at the same time for about one second until the screen flashes white. Via.

Link roundup

1. Gizmodo's list of best laptops. You can find the cheap choice at eBay.

2. Free and pretty fun Cowboys and Aliens shooter. Via.

3. A look at the entries in Red Bull’s annual Red Bull Creation event.

4. The WSJ calls the home of the Cincinnati Bengals "one of the worst professional sports deals ever struck by a local government" Via.

5. It's $6 off t-shirts at Zazzle with the code ZBDAYTSHIRTS. I recommend Miskatonic University, Vonster, and my own store.

Link roundup

1. Some useful commentary about the current federal budget negotiations. (I tend to discount any commentary that presumes that Obama and his aides are stupid.)

2. It's going to be so hot in Qatar during the World Cup that they might play three 30 minute periods instead of two 45 minute halves. That's right, the games were awarded to a country where playing the game by the established rules will likely be impossible.

3. There's no self service gas stations in New Jersey? All gas has to be pumped by an attendant? In Los Angeles you almost never see full service advertised.

Link roundup

1. World of Warcraft is apparently now free to play (but you can't pass level 20). I think I'll give it a try to prepare for The Old Republic. Can anyone recommend a class? (Something cool and straightforward.)

2. "Chinese government photoshop disaster goes viral."

3. Jackasses (NSFW).

Link roundup

1. A claim that Adobe is paying for text links. Via.

2. "A third Los Angeles building inspector has been fired in a corruption probe."

3. The Bad Deal is devoted to pointing out dumb deals at Groupon and other daily deal sites. Via.