Man Made DIY

XKCD, which describes itself as a "webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language," offers the United Shapes of America, a "map of things states are shaped like." (Try saying that three times… read more

Cast iron cookware? Awesome. Topography? The best. Family companies practicing traditional artisnal crafts and making amazing things? That you can actually buy? Can't beat that.

FeLion Studios has created the "Made in America"… read more

Jeff Wysaski has researched and designed, "The United States of Scary Things," a graphical representation that demonstrates "you’ve got something to be scared about no matter which state you live… read more

A few months ago [while hanging paper snowflakes all over my living and dining room as I recall], I watched the film Beer Wars on Netflix (it's still there, streaming). As a film, it's merely just another brick in the wall of essay/documentarys that explain why corporations are bad for independent businesses and artists, but it reminded me of what we've all learned: there's lots of good beer out there, and it can be hard to find.

"Three companies—Coors, Miller, and Anheuser-Busch—account for an astonishing 78 percent of the United States market, with 70 percent of beer wholesalersonly selling Anheuser-Busch products. As Jim Koch of the Boston Beer Company (makers of Sam Adams) said in the movie, "It's as if all we know about food, we learned from McDonald's!" 

In prep for the Super Bowl, the Houston Chronicle got into the "states represented by ____" craze with this chart, a rather crude map with cutout photos and a poor gradient backdrop showcasing beers by states. Thankfully, the good folks at Good.is got a hold of the idea, and created a chart worth… read more

Late 2010 and early 2011 have been all about the infographics, and topographic roundups of a state's signature ________. We've seen food, and favorite films, but this latest release takes a different approach: Identifiying some of the worst… read more