Magic Potion

The golden age of air travel may be behind us, but today's ultra-connected world has its advantages. Fasten your seat belt for Air Lines, an art project that translates worldwide airliner routes into a stunning map. Every scheduled flight on any given day is represented by a fine line from its point of origin to its port of destination. Together they form a webby approximation of the world, with hubs (JFK, FRA, or DXB, for example) represented as dark knots where lines meet. Prints are available in three sizes. Needless to say, they ship worldwide.

With 15 million members and 230 employees, Brooklyn-based Etsy is the king of the online craft marketplaces, but it's not the only game in town for those eager to offer their handmade wares to the virtual public. John Jacobs parlayed years of experience selling jewelry supplies on eBay into ArtFire, which connects buyers and sellers of handmade and vintage goods as well as digital arts and craft supplies. "I founded ArtFire because, as a seller myself, I never found a venue that understood its role was to serve its members," says Jacobs, whose site has 100,000 members and counting. And his Tucson, Arizona-based company isn't above a little snarky differentiation from its quirky chief rival. "There aren't a lot of people [on ArtFire] making purses out of birch trees and knit mustache cowls," chief operating officer Tony Ford told the Wall Street Journal.

The latest development from the AOL Artists initiative is a search for a motion graphics whiz to create the next "motion canvas" masterpiece for AOL, which attracts 15 million viewers a day to its various sites. The web company has partnered with Behance to hold a competition that also functions as a showcase for the motion graphics work submitted by participating designers. Entering is as easy as uploading the project that "best demonstrates your talent and mastery of motion graphics and short videos." Intrigued? Get a move on, as submissions must be received by April 28.

This week, oodles of Android users jumped on the mobile photography bandwagon that is Instagram, but do you know about Postagram? The free app (available for iPhone and Android) turns your photos into postcards and mails them anywhere in the world for only 99 cents each. Postagrams, which are printed at 300 dpi on sturdy cardstock, can be personalized with a profile photo of the sender, a brief message (up to 140 characters), and an Instagram photo that can pop out of the postcard for posterity. There's even something charming about the delivery time: two to five business days for Postagrams sent within the United States.

Declutter your online experience with Tubalr, which aims to streamline the process of finding and watching YouTube music videos. Simply type the name of one of your favorite bands or artists into the search box and select "only" or "similar." Tubalr instantly cues up a playlist, which with a couple of clicks can be shared on Facebook and Twitter, and the videos start rolling against a refreshingly minimal background. Broaden your viewing/listening preferences by clicking the "genres" tab, which leads to a menu that ranges from acid jazz to viking metal. And you never know what Tubalr may turn up: we typed in "OK Go" and then watched a video of the band's drummer engaged in a high-stakes staring contest with Animal of the Muppets.

Photography meets philanthropy with In Common Images, a photobank with a purpose. Part of the broader Milestones Project, the Littleton, Colorado-based initiative allows photographers to "donate" images that businesses and organizations can license for their own non-commercial use. A portion of the licensing fee (currently $300 per photo) then goes to a nonprofit designated by the photographer. The concept of "uncommon photos for the common good" is catching on fast, with more than 64,000 images uploaded to the site so far. Look for photographer bios, many more images, and a list of partner charities to be added in the coming weeks.