base26: Built with Processing is a graphical representation of four-letter words, lots of four-letter words, and the relationship among them. The pattern -- sturdy four-letter workhorses of our language such as book, door, sell, sing and swig -- is rendered as a lovely, playful sculpture toy.

After you point your cursor at some of the colors, you'll get the idea of the word level. You might then start flipping through the alphabet, or adding and subtracting colors, which are parts of speech.

Spin your wire thing by pulling its alphabet base sidewise, If you keep your mouse button down and move outside the frame to other parts of the page, it keeps spinning indefinitely, and you can affect its tilt and speed.

It's entirely approachable, a soft toy. Poke its buttons. You can even flatten it.

Many thanks to Jorn Barger for finding this one.

How his blog saved Joey Devilla from a world of hurt: That's not its real headline -- this is: What happened to me and the new girl (or: "The girl who cried Webmaster") . But it's more to the point.

On his blog a while back, The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century, "I posted a gushy entry about New Girl, someone saw it and came forward to tell me the truth (about her)." That's the nutshell. Getting there was hairier -- he's taking a week off to get his reality back together.

The treatment biz: The Cost Conundrum: What a Texas town can teach us about health care. in the New Yorker.