Link roundup

1. 5 secret drinks at Starbucks including the Snickers Frappuccino (Java Chip Frappuccino with caramel and toffee nut).

2. Online ads:

Who’s buying the lions’ share of advertising on news websites? Nobody. For most of the 22 news organizations PEJ studied, the top category of advertising was in-house — ie. self-promotional ads for the publishers’ own products or services. Those accounted for 21% of the ads on in the sample of websites the study tracked, a group that includes newspapers like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, web-only outlets like Yahoo and the Huffington Post, magazines like Time and The Atlantic and TV networks’ web companion sites like cbsnews.com and cnn.com

3. Looks like Kickstarter will make close to $100,000 by the time Double Fine's Kickstarter ends.

4. If you don't mind spamming your friends on Twitter, MTV is giving away a big McFarlane toys prize pack.

5. Here's another art idea, create a poster for Angelina Jolie as Maleficent.

Link roundup

1. Criticism of the metrics Petraeus used to decide who to promote.

2. Serious Eats says the bacon shake at Jack in the Box is terrible, but recommends this bacon shake recipe.

3. The Magicians did not get picked up by Fox.

4. Jurassic Park brochure reproduction at the BBTS.

Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bons with Cherry Brains

Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bons with Cherry Brains on sale here.

Link roundup

1. Panasonic lost $10.2 billion for the year. Via.

2. How (and why) to set up Google Cloud Print.

3. A lawyer has the url rapesq.com. Via.

4. Bacon-flavored shake at Jack in the Box. Via.

Purple Ombre Sprinkles Cake recipe

Purple Ombre Sprinkles Cake recipe (many more gorgeous desserts lurk at the site). Via these sites.

Oreo crumb case

Oreo crumb case by the Miami Ad School.

Link roundup

1. In anticipation of DC Universe Online going free to play, here's character building guides. (Anyone have any suggestions?)

2. Homemade Oreos recipe. Via.

3. For Games Workshop fans, a Tumblr devoted to John Blanche (although I like his miniatures a lot more than his illustrations).

4. Those Mad Magazine/DC Comics action figures I posted yesterday are now available for preorder at the BBTS.

Link roundup

1. Chewy Black Forest Cookies recipe.

2. Tron Bit animated gif.

3. The BBTS posted preorder links for several 2011 SDCC exclusive toys including the Republic Commando set.

4. Craft book giveaway.

5. The Quiznos chain might be running out of money. (I love Quiznos as an alternate to Subway, and the rare chain to have Diet Mountain Dew as a fountain drink.)

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. Lamborghini is apparently going to stop making manual transmissions.

2. Emily Shur talks about photographing Sarah Palin for Newsweek.

3. Recipe for Coffee Bean's Sunrise. Is there a recipe for their Black Forest?

Link roundup

1. Cookies N’ Cream Cake recipe.

2. Mike Krahulik's positive comments about playing The Old Republic for a month.

3. Signalnoise logo desktop and iPhone wallpapers.

Link roundup

1. Incredibly cute guinea pig. Via.

2. How to make a cheap Frappuccino. Also, how to make a frappuccino on a stick. Via.

3. FYI, Tenacious Toys has in stock for $40 my favorite vinyl toy. (I liked it so much, I made my own miniature version before buying the real thing.)

Link roundup

1. Time-lapse videos of mushrooms growing.

2. Homemade oreo recipe.

3. The BBTS has various Alice: Madness Returns items available for preorder (vorpal blade, tea pot).

Fifty Licks Ice Cream

Irresistible packaging by Jen Wick for Fifty Licks ice cream.

*Buy ice cream makers at Amazon.

Now this is an ice cream sundae

Extreme ice cream sundae.

Food link roundup

1. Taco Bell is testing out shells made out of nacho cheese-flavored Doritos.

2. News about the Chipotle spinoff restaurant, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen:

Chipotle Unveils Details about New Asian Restaurant Concept
DENVER, Apr 12, 2011 -- Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) has unveiled additional details for its new restaurant concept slated to open this summer. The concept, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, is inspired by the traditional shophouses found throughout Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Shophouses are classical two or three-story buildings where families live upstairs and run restaurants or fresh markets on the ground level.

The ShopHouse menu will pair the bold and complex flavors of southeast Asia with fresh, sustainably raised ingredients; grilled and braised meats, a variety of fresh vegetables, aromatic herbs, spicy sauces, and an array of garnishes. Customers will move along a service line and customize their meal according to flavor preference and diet, in a format similar to the one that has become the hallmark of Chipotle's success.

"I have always believed that the Chipotle model would work well with a variety of different cuisines," said Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle. "Chipotle's success is not necessarily about burritos and tacos, but rather about serving great, sustainably raised food that is delicious, affordable, and convenient."

"Anyone who has traveled throughout Southeast Asia can tell you that food there is served very fast -- it's also full of flavor, nutritious, and affordable," said Ells. "This cuisine gives us a great opportunity to prove the idea that the Chipotle model can work with other cuisines."

ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen is scheduled to open summer 2011 in Washington, D.C.

3. Cupcake fondue.

4. Recipe for Matzo Brei With Pear And Dried Sour Cherries.

5. Recipe for Gluten-Free Mozzarella Sticks.

*Buy Happy Meal toys at eBay.

PushCakes and Butterbeer Cupcakes

"PushCake: cake layers kept moist between generous, almost mini trifle-esque layers of buttercream."




Butterbeer cupcakes recipe. The final step: "Then pipe your buttercream onto your cupcakes and top with a drizzle of butterscotch ganache!" Via.

Link roundup

1. Gawker's been hacked.

2. S’mores Marshmallow Pops recipe. Via.

3. Great photo of a squid. And this one, and this one, and this one, too.

Link roundup

1. Gawker's been hacked.

2. S’mores Marshmallow Pops recipe. Via.

3. Great photo of a squid. And this one, and this one, and this one, too.

Delirium dolls, Alice in Dessertland, and more by Mizna Wada

Harajuku Girl dolls, an Alice-eque heroine, and monstrous desserts star in Mizna Wada's "Yummy Haunts" show at Gallery Nucleus. Below are afew of my favorites:



















Junko Mizuno also has several new creations in the show, but they're a little too disturbingly sexual (think Takashi Murakami) for me to post.

*Buy Harajuku dolls at eBay.