Weekly Linkage

There’s a bit of everything in week’s internet cruising:

• The higher-education bubble (continued): Students are drowning in debt – How's this for ridiculous: student-loan debt now surpasses credit-card debt.
• Literary Agent – Traditional Versus Self-Publishing – Ted … – Amanda Hocking and Barry Eisler on their strategies of traditional- and self-publishing.
• 10 Tips on Growing Your Garden Without Growing Your Expenses – Given my gardening bug this year, this is a handy read.
• On Digital Identity, Technology Dependents, and Death – Much like the comprehensive backup solution I linked to so long ago, this is a great guide for getting started with digital identity management. 1Password is also great on Windows.
• 45 of The Most Popular and Awesome Sci-Fi Wallpapers – I'll confess a weakness for gorgeous backgrounds like these, if I can get them large enough for my desktop screens.
• Open ID Is A Nightmare – A powerfully-written article on a small company deciding to not support Open ID anymore. Cross-provider compatibility, downtime, API changes, the addition of multiple steps, etc. He raises very valid points that have me rethinking the time investment of implementing Open ID solutions in products.

  Deliciously antagonistic comments there, too. Jeff Atwood chimes in.

• Editorial: Last Guardian’s Girl Trouble – IGN – The maker of a new "Shadow of the Colossus"-like game doesn't think young girls can be acrobatic or wear pants, evidently.
• For All Humans to Play – I'd never heard of Sophie Holden before–she's an independent game developer–but this interview takes an good look at her development processes and opinions on marketing small games.