The Digital Digest: 04/04/2011

The Best Of The Web

Nature

Pakistan's amazing spider trees

The floods in Pakistan have displaced more than just humans – the country's spiders have had to adapt, too. They've taken to living almost in the higher reaches of trees to avoid the water. The result: trees covered in a candy floss of spiders' webs. The Department for International Development has posted these images of the strange phenomena. ind.pn/spidertree

Cars

Classic cars' safety test failures

Classic cars may have all the style compared with the functional designs of today. But there is one front on which they are not quite so good: safety. This somewhat disturbing video shows a test collision between a brand-new Chevy Malibu and a 1959 Bel Air. Warning, it may put you off classic cars for ever. ind.pn/CRASHcar

Shopping

Market views

Bored of the same old markets? Just in time for summer, Time Out has published its round-up of the best new markets in London. From Chatsworth Road Market in east London – great for vintage clothing – to the City & Country Farmers' Market that can be found in Greenwich, there's something to suit every taste. ind.pn/LdnMarkets

Music

A letter from the Boss

Bruce Springsteen may be the world's greatest rock star, but he's always been concerned about the bigger picture. The singer has written a letter to the editor of his local paper, the Asbury Park Press, thanking him for running a front-page piece on aid cuts in the New Jersey town. ind.pn/SpringsteenLetter

Social Networks

Maximise your tweets

Want more Twitter followers? Then this article might hold the key. According to survey results, tweeting often and on the weekend maximises the impact of your tweets. Evenings, too, are a high point: the click-through rate of tweets peaks at about 5pm. ind.pn/TwitStudy

Design

Letterheads collated

Letterheady is a beautiful online homage to offline correspondence. They don't care about the contents of a letter, just its design. From various submissions they have collected an astounding archive of personalised letterheads including those of Elizabeth Taylor, Harry Houdini and Sesame Street: ind.pn/LetterHeady

Technology

The rise of 4D?

A team at the University of the West of England is currently developing a 4D system that can detect facial expressions. The technique captures changing expressions in ultra-high resolution and could be useful for biometric tests at airports or as a medical diagnostic tool. Watch at Newscientist.com: ind.pn/RecreateFace