1. QRapping paper feeds my QR code obsession and gives your present recipients links to catchy rap videos. At $19.99 though, I would never use it for wrapping presents.

2. Just found out about something VERY cool in the December Geek Event Guide. The University of Maryland Gamer Symphony Orchestra is playing a free concert tomorrow (Saturday) at 2 pm. If you can’t make it, you can still listen to some of their mp3s.

3. Charles from Beneath the Tangles is conducting a survey about anime and Christianity that really made me think. I admire the niche he’s made in the aniblogging community.

4. I also found out from his blog that His and Her Circumstances is streaming on Hulu! I watched this my freshman year of college and it’s still my favorite anime romantic-comedy.

5. Finally! Now the only Uncharted news I am waiting for is to hear that Nathan Fillion will play Nathan Drake in the movie. I know they picked their cast, but they will CHANGE THEIR MINDS.

6. Mad Men D&D alignment chart. I could’ve guessed what Betty Draper was without it.

7. And last, the Dirk Gently trailer. I will watch the heck out of this.

Melon by Moxie. (via Craft)

Why, hello everyone! Let’s start the weekend right with some mindless Internet surfing! I’ll get you started:

1. Though I insisted I’d just use my Kindle for books, these might prove too tempting. Top 25 Kindle hacks.

2. I’m upset with myself for not having read this 2001 Vanity Fair article on furries sooner.

3. Fast Company’s take on one of my favorite blogs, Boing Boing:

Frauenfelder and his partners didn’t rake in investment capital, recruit a big staff and a hotshot CEO, or otherwise attempt to leverage themselves into a “real” media company. They didn’t even rent an office. They continued to treat their site as a side project, even as it became a business with revenue comfortably in the seven figures. Basically, they declined to professionalize. You could say they refused to grow up.

4. I’ll give you this link to a place where you can watch Star Trek online for free, but only if you agree that Kirk was a better captain than Picard.

C3typo and RDtypo via The Daily What.

5. Stunningly beautiful piano medley of Jonathan Coulton songs is like a JoCo lullaby.

6. Why is it so easy to get lost in buildings?

7. I’ve put up quite a few Insane Clown Posse parodies, but this is a legitimate commercial for ICP’s Christmas toy drive. I wouldn’t have believed it if Violent J hadn’t tweeted it himself. BTW, totally NSFW.

8. And last, Craig Ferguson‘s “lost” Dr. Who opening:

via Boing Boing.

Enjoying the long weekend? I had to work anyway today, but I’m making up for it by slacking off now. I think I might be the only person who relishes a Friday night spent at home. I’ll be surfing the net. Won’t you join me?

1. I love reading blogs so I LOVE that my friends have their own blogs. My best friend just started a video game review site called Gonzo Video Gaming. And since I never plugged my friend Kailer’s awesome blog, let me do that right now!

2. Also, an Otaku Journalist reader started up his own anime blog, hurray! Let’s keep the ani-blogging community growing. If you start a blog let me know and I’ll put it in my weekly links… and my feed reader.

3. Japanator has a staff account for Crunchyroll so I technically don’t need to buy my own, but this is such a tempting deal. If only the t-shirt was a little more exciting.

4. Has Patrick Macias done it? Has he found the ultimate MANga mag?

Image found here. Context found here.

5. The word “OK” was the “Get a brain MORANS!” of 1839.

6. QR code fascinations of the day: Scan a barcode, get a girlfriend and edible barcodes? Yes please!

7. Do you still read my job-hunt blog? Because I still update it! Here’s a great link I shared there: 5 simple ways to invest and succeed when you’re unemployed.

The week after a con is always tough for me. After two weeks of unbridled productivity, I’ve spent this week applying for jobs, getting headaches, and watching too much anime. I’ve also been surfing the internet, and here are some of the cool things I’ve found:

1. You know that with my QR code obsession I want one of these pieces of art. (via Adam Gurri on Facebook.)

2. An adorable comic about how web browsers work.

3. Just discovered Beneath the Tangles, an awesome blog about the meeting point between anime and Christianity. You don’t need to be a religious person to appreciate these well-written insights.

4. I am shocked that both of us who reviewed Eden of the East at Japanator found it wanting. Though Zac took it a bit further than I did.

5. Speaking of Japanator, Jeff linked to this great article about Japanese cell phone novels in his OreImo Annotated Anime this week.

The cell-phone novel, or keitai shosetsu, is the first literary genre to emerge from the cellular age. For a new form, it is remarkably robust. Maho i-Land, which is the largest cell-phone-novel site, carries more than a million titles, most of them by amateurs writing under screen handles, and all available for free.

6. If you’re like me and spend too much time surfing the net, you might want to try self control. Er, I mean Self Control, the computer program that shuts off stuff like Twitter if you’re on it too long.

7. By Merlin’s pants! This man is definitely the biggest Harry Potter fan of all time. Jenn, have you seen this?

8. And finally, stories about the Internet helping people always make my day, and here’s 25 of them! Reddit’s astonishing altruism.

Photo from The Daily What.

1. I didn’t go to the rally because I was doing something way cooler, but I loved looking through this gallery of great signs.

2. With Kirby’s Epic Yarn AND Little Big Planet, is “Arts & Crafts” now a videogame aesthetic? I just played some of Epic Yarn, so I’ll blog about it next week. (via Critical Distance.)

3. Why everyone should learn programming. I don’t link to Flowing Data enough, but I read this site all the time.

4. “Everything that’s ever come to me has been because I publish on my blog. It’s that simple.” Read more of Jay Parkinson’s insightful post on blogging here. (via SwissMiss)

5. Antoine Dodson responds to haters. You tell ‘em, Antoine. He is just too fabulous for words.

6. Once again, couldn’t decide which Geekosystem article to post — I love them all! So here’s two: A Pronunciation Guide for 21 Key Geek Words and Phrases and Should You Put a Smiley in Your Online Job Application?

7. And finally, the weirdest Korean auto-tuned music video with Stormtrooper backup dancers that I’ve ever seen.

1. Imagine they made a crossover of two extremely awesome video games. Now stop imagining, because it happened: they are making a Phoenix Wright/Professor Layton crossover! Of course Geekosystem had the story. The picture above is unrelated, but mindblowing — not sure if so in a good or bad way.

2. It’s been a good week for geeky infographics. I loved The Evolution of the Geek. I’m a mix of Otaku and Design, I think.

3. Later on the same day, I found this one: Every RPG Ever. A great flowchart for those of us who happen to own every RPG ever made but are also indecisive.

4. I wore purple on Wednesday, did you? I think tolerance is an especially important virtue for those of us interested in subcultures. I liked Otaku Goddess’s post about being stigmatized for being a nerd.

5. On the same note, I was absolutely inspired by My Princess Boy, a book based on the true story of a creative kid and his caring, amazing family. Boing Boing’s coverage includes a great video.

6. Two videos this week since I couldn’t decide. First, Captain Jean-Luc Picard singing the alphabet:

7. And to class it up, the only Detroit restaurant owned and operated by Juggalos:

It’s been a long week and I am too drained to think. Join me in numbing your mind with the lighter side of the Internet.

1. Pictured above, Streeter Seidell’s inspired Busted Tee design. (via The Daily What.)

2. First the Koran Hero fulfilled his lifelong dream to be on the cover of High Times; now Antoine Dodson makes his musical debut at the 2010 BET Hip Hop awards. The Internet makes wishes come true.

3. For Portal fans: Archie Bunker knew the cake was a lie back in 1974. Includes video proof.

4. A real miracle: newly developed device helps paraplegics walk for the first time. The video is amazing.

5. A fake miracle: The Guardian interviews the Insane Clown Posse on their song, “Miracles;” the world keeps spinning.

6. A blogging miracle: The Social Network screenwriter Aaron Sorkin defends his movie to a blog commenter.

7. And last: Boing Boing discovers these genius Paula Deen remix videos. Shown below, the mindtrip that is “Lucid Eclairs.” I bet this is what taking hallucinogens is like.

Is it still okay to call this a weekly post? I’ve been a bad blogger and skipped it for the last two weeks. I know you don’t want my excuses; you want fantastic internet links. I am happy to oblige!

1.  Kevin Bolk, one of our Anime USA artists and guests, made the Daily What on Wednesday! Above, I’ve posted his completely accurate self portrait. I need to buy a commission from him sometime soon.

2. As a prolific fashion blog reader and as the author of this blog, I fully endorse Fashionably Geek.

3. I met Charles Dunbar, the original Anime Anthropologist, at Otakon this year. I loved his advice for students who are interested in higher education in anime.

4. On the topic of insightful anime bloggers, Scott of Anime Almanac has a great suggestion for everyone complaining about Crunchyroll taking Japanese honorifics out of their translations: listen to the damn audio.

5. Sister Wolf found my blog this week, and I am elated. If you aren’t reading her blog yet, start now! She’s like the kid in the Emperor’s New Clothes – she asks all the questions that I’m afraid to.

6. My former internship supervisor, Mike McWhertor at Kotaku, has explained why he won’t be liveblogging The Tester Season 2. This gives me all the more reason to liveblog it myself!

7. Why yes, that is a meticulously quilled homage to the Fail Whale.

8. Aww, a story of rage and revenge with a happy ending. Woman tracks down man who broke into her car.

9. How the Insane Clown Posse is like XKCD. Just bear with me and click the link — it’s worth it.

10. John picked up the new Metroid game and we were surprised to see that Samus, the once powerful female protagonist, was suddenly hyper-emotional and obsessed with babies. Get the gist at Metroid: Othering Samus on Border House.

11. The New York Public Library’s Mad Men Reading List.

12. And last, Geekosystem runs through their top 21 takes on the Forever Alone meme. What can I say, I love puns.

“How to Draw Anime Characters” via Geekosystem.

Rounding off my week of daily posting with super mega ultra links! The internet has been full of exciting things this week, so it’s been easy to find a lot to share.

1. If I lived in Los Angeles, I would visit the Echo Park Time Travel Mart daily for all my time traveling needs.

2. This man lives on a island which he made entirely out of plastic bottles.

3. How Firefly should have ended, according to Jewel Staite (aka Kaylee).

4. Always wanted to be in a cult, but have never been crazy enough? Now you can LARP (live action role play) like you’re in one:

LevelFive is a participatory performance focused on critically exploring self actualization seminars from the 1970′s. The LevelFive performance will loosely follow the structure of early Large Group Awareness Training sessions like Erhard Seminars Training.

5. It’s awesome Star Trek merchandise time! Who wants to buy me this Vulcan Salute Hoodie? Anyone? Well, how about this Star Trek themed urn for a couple decades down the road?

6. Contender for the sweetest game room award: a room accessible only by a secret bookcase passageway.

7. “Dude, you have no Quran.”

Via Geekosystem.

8. Street Fighter. The Musical.

9. I want to work in a rainbow office!

10. I don’t like packing (who does?) but I don’t know if I’d be able to travel around the world with no luggage like this guy. I’d rather be like the guy below and pack a month’s worth of clothes, clown-car style:

11. Does augmented reality cake taste different? Nope, but it looks cooler.

12. Making a game out of getting healthy. Hey, I blogged about this once!

13. What? The D&D Erotic Monster Manual, as envisioned by Something Awful goons. Least sexy thing with erotic in the title.

14. Lost World’s Fairs. The Atlantis section reminds me of Bioshock. (via kottke)

15. If you know me, you know about my obsession with juggalos. So you know that when I saw this Juggalo cooking show, some dark carnival shit went down. Warning: EXTREMELY NSFW language! (via The Daily What)

Source. Via The Daily What.

An extra late edition of Otaku Links! It’s been a busy week for me — spent most of it in D.C. job hunting, networking, and meeting up with friends. But I have some exciting features coming up next week for Otaku Journalist and Japanator, so if you’re new (and judging my my analytics, there’s a good chance you are,) stick around because it’s not always this quiet! On to the links:

1. Gasp! City Councilman enjoys playing violent videogames; makes front page of the local paper. Luckily, citizens care more about what he does in office than during his personal time.

2. Internet music paradise: Jonathan Coulton, Paul and Storm and MC Frontalot cover the Double Rainbow/Bed Intruder Song. (via Waxy Links).

3. I started my first blog when I was 14 under the weeaboo penname, Renchan. It’s still out there on Pitas.com. So the phenomenon of tween bloggers doesn’t surprise me at all:

“Recent research by Ofcom, the communications watchdog, found that although just 2 per cent of 8- to 11-year-olds have set up a blog, nearly one in five would like to do so. And interest is higher among older children, with 15 per cent of 12- to 15-year-olds already blogging and one in four interested in starting one.”

4. 12 really anti-American anime. I think they might still be a little pissed about that atom bomb?

5. Most interesting bookstores of the world. Such gorgeous architecture photography.

6. I love when highbrow and lowbrow art intersect. Tumblr blog Slaughterhouse 90210 does this seamlessly. Check out the LA Times’ interview with the creator, too.

7. And last, the award for best time waster of the week goes to Google Scribe.