Grownups begone

The days of actually having to grow up once you reach the age of 30 something might be officially over. An interesting article called "Up With Grups" explains what the new 20-40 somethings are doing, but doesn't really explain why it happened. However, the whole article is worth a read because it does make you wonder when did it become so awful to be a grownup? via Kottke who says, "there has to be an interesting book in here somewhere" Technorati tag: grup grownups yupster yindie

The way back machine

A strange thing happened to me on my travels around the web-o-sphere a couple of weeks ago. I know that right now you are thinking, "everything is strange about the Internet anymore - what's your point?" Well, this one was different than what had I expected (as good a definition for strange as any other). In my travels, I encountered a section of a blog that mentioned a time in my life of which I had all but forgotten (repressed?). The days of the bulletin board system (bbs) in the great state of Oklahoma. As you can image it was a pretty small group of people (in comparison to Oklahoma computer users online today - as a matter of fact I am sure that at any given hour of the day there are more computer users online in Oklahoma than there was in a year back in the day of the Oklahoma bbs). After I had regained consciousness and the feeling in my left pinky toe, I picked myself up off the floor and I decided to email this fine blog writer (and former bbser) and mention my surprise of seeing someone from 20 years ago the distant not so distant past. We exchanged several emails back and forth about different things. Finally, it was decided that we should sit down and have a cup of coffee or two and talk about the "good ol' days." Appropriately enough, we chose the Day of Fools to meet and I am very much looking forward to it! Technorati tag: memories

Personality detector

A new gadget to pick up on other people's emotions is being developed. This device is primarily being developed for people with autism help them relate to others around them. "The "emotional social intelligence prosthetic" device [...] consists of a camera small enough to be pinned to the side of a pair of glasses, connected to a hand-held computer running image recognition software plus software that can read the emotions these images show. If the wearer seems to be failing to engage his or her listener, the software makes the hand-held computer vibrate. [...]The software [...] could detect whether someone is agreeing, disagreeing, concentrating, thinking, unsure or interested." from New Scientist But as with all new technology - other uses for it may be found. Here are my thoughts for some other potential uses for this machine: Personality detector: use in bars from a distance to determine is a personality exists before approaching Date perceptor: use when on first dates to find out if your date is really interested in you Spouse mood sensor: know in advance how to answer the question, "Does this outfit make me look fat?" Meeting amusement: discretely place the vibrating hand-held computer on your -ummm- person and enjoy your meeting (okay this may require a little extra rigging, but it would be worth it) :0) Job Interview device: use at job interviews to determine if what you are saying in response to their questions is even interesting the interviewers. Anyone have any other ideas? Technorati tag: emotions personality gadgets

Use #1001 for Cling Wrap

Make your own cling wrap clone. If you were ever wondering what to do with that industrial size box of cling wrap that you purchased 10 years ago at the discount warehouse store, now you know. A small word of warning on this that doesn't come into play until at least step three: "Now is a good time to mention that ventilation will become important, as the packing tape gives off a lot of fumes for some reason. It's also a good time to point out that the sound of unrolling packing tape in large quantities such as this can be very obnoxious." I would have loved to see the video of this guy trying to wrap himself in this stuff without assistance - that would have been great. The idea for these came from Mark Jenkins: Tape Sculpture and Street Installation which are way cool and very creative. Update (Apr. 2006): It looks like Storker took it to heart that I would love to see a video of someone doing some of this and made a video of how he wraps his head here. However, now that I have seen it, I am not sure that I want to see anymore. It looks like you could end up suffocating before it was all said and done. Technorati tag: cling wrap clone

Rats!

Those with weak stomachs, stop reading here!! Most of my life I have had a hate-hate relationship with rats (not mice - just rats). I wasn't one to start screaming on sight, but I also didn't want to really get anywhere near them. After I started caring for a pet snake, I learned to get over my aversion and start handling rats. My snake is a little bit of a picky eater (as most captive snakes are) - he prefers that his rats be female. Whenever I have given him a male feeder rat, he has constricted it and left it for dead (probably because male rats are so aggressive). Once I started giving him female rats exclusively , he would eat. My most recent trip to the pet store (a little over a week ago), resulted in coming home with about a medium sized, female, feeder rat. My snake has decided that he likes this rat and won't eat it. I can't blame him - the rat is rather cute and sweet (looks a lot like the picture). I am really not sure what to do at this point. Should I keep the rat as a pet? Should I just leave the rat in with him until he eats? Should I separate them and try again later? I am hoping that the snake will eat while I am at work today and I won't have to worry about it anymore. Update: The snake spared the rats life. It now has a new home (a lavish two bedroom with all the amenities) and will live out its natural life in better care than any other rat. We named it Gertrude. Technorati tag: rats snakes pets

Card Carrying Lesbian

Do lesbians carry cards? Is there a need for a lesbian to carry a card? If a lesbian carried a card that said "Lesbian Card" what would she do with it? MBNA/BOA have teamed up with Olivia to provide a credit card that offers Olivia cruise and travel points as part of the rewards program. Sounds about the same as having one of the World Series of Poker credit cards or the Star Trek credit card. "CardTrak's headline on this reads "Lesbian Card," which for some reason makes me giggle: I can imagine someone whipping it out and announcing, "Yeah, I'm a card-carrying lesbian." from Dustbury Personally, I find that explaining the difference between a reciprocating saw and a jigsaw usually does the trick :0) My only issue with this card is that it only comes in three colors: orange, blue, and pink. I think they needed to have at least purple or maybe a rainbow colored option to have fully sold me on this. Technorati tags: lesbian

The Ultimate Answer

According to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, researchers from a pan-dimensional, hyper-intelligent race of beings, construct Deep Thought, the second greatest computer of all time and space, to calculate the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. After seven and a half million years of pondering the question, Deep Thought provides the answer: "forty-two." Strangely enough there is evidence that there may be some truth to it after all. At first the link seemed rather tenuous. But the important role played by the number 42 has recently persuaded even the deepest skeptics that the subatomic world might hold the key to one of the greatest unsolved problems in mathematics. from SEED magazine Douglas Adams might have been onto something after all. Technorati tag: 42

A difference?

Lately something is telling me that I can make a difference in the world in some way. The big question becomes: How? What does it take to make a difference. Can one person make a difference? difference

Link annoyance

One of my favorite pass times on the Internet is clicking links. I know you are thinking to yourself: "Yeah dummy you click links to get around on the Internet." However, my method of clicking links is at random and without reading why it is a link in the first place or where it is supposed to go. There is stuff hiding on the Internet that you wouldn't believe (and most of it doesn't show up in the search engines first 20 pages of results even when you specifically search for it). I love clicking links (text or images) at random and see where they take me - without hitting the back button. What annoys me is that lately, I can't seem to get anywhere. I click one link and go to another section of the same site or to a blog that no one has updated in two years (so all the links are broken). Recently all links seem to go to audio or video files, an interesting trend, but not very conductive to getting anywhere from there. It seems I may have to find a new Internet pass time without having to resort to porn or gambling :-) Technorati tag: random

Star Wars Tribute: Princess Pup

My inner geek is laughing hysterically at this one. Cute Overload has done it again with a beyond adorable picture in tribute of the Star Wars Princess. Technorati tag: cute princess pup

women of insivibility

It is amazing how some women can go their whole life as someone that is completely un-noticed. How does it happen? Why does it happen? What the hell do you do about it? It is strange to watch when this happens out in public. Certain women will walk up to a sales clerk and patiently wait their turn for service and be consistently skipped over for others in line. The same or a similar women will wait twice as long to be served in a restaurant than others for no apparent reason. This type of woman will be introduced to the same people repeatedly - she knows all their names, but they can't remember her name or even the fact that they have already met her 10 times before. It is a true physical manifestation of the way teenagers feel to the world - invisible. These invisible women are not consistently beautiful or ugly or homely. They can be any shape, color, or size. Most often they are fairly average in appearance. I have personally experienced this phenomenon most all of my life. To be invisible is to be free and to be held-back all at the same time.

One rat or the other

One fine story about a bronze rat: A tourist wanders into a back-alley antique shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. Picking through the objects on display he discovers a detailed, life- sized bronze sculpture of a rat. The sculpture is so interesting and unique that he picks it up and asks the shop owner what it costs. "Twelve dollars for the rat, sir," says the shop owner, "and a thousand dollars more for the story behind it." Link via Metafilter.

How to write your own best selling novel...

...in a manner of speaking. Slate has a fascinating article on a filed witness statement to the London courts by none other than The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown. It seems that within the pages of the witness statement he has spelled out, in detail, what it takes for him to write a novel (from Slate): Another author might have sneered when asked to lay bare his methodology. Brown, on the other hand, appears eager to reveal every one of the secrets of the pulp novelist: "All my novels are set in 24 hours"; "All of my novels use the concept of a simple hero pulled out of his familiar world"; "I intend to make Robert Langdon my primary character for years to come." My favorite secret is Brown's notion of the "thriller as academic lecture." The trick is to make your characters experts—in Brown's world, they are symbologists, cryptographers, and so forth. Then you pair them with an expert of a different discipline, making it convenient for the experts to essay to one another at some length, in the process spilling all the research you have done for your novel. I am not much of a writer. I get a few ideas every now and then that I put into a notebook, but I never do anything with them. However, if I ever do decide to write a best-seller *wink*, then I will know exactly how to do it. I must confess though, that I have not read The Da Vinci Code. Although,I do have plans to see the movie. More than likely I will read the book after I have seen the movie. I think it just makes movies more entertaining to watch if you don't know what is going to happen, at least the first time watching them. AND you always hear those people coming out of movies saying, "Oh, the book was so much better - they cut everything out of the movie." I would just prefer to watch the movie first and then read the book to find out what they cut out.

Blogs of old...

If you listen to the media, you would think that blogs have only been around for just a few years. However, they have been around since at least the year 2000 - and now there is proof. There is a very interesting list on Beebo! of the top 50 blogs according to links as of September 2000. I think it is just great to see that most of the blogs on the list are still active in some form or another on the web. It might be interesting to take the list of still active blogs and compare it with their current technorati rankings. Original link via kottke (#2 on the "Most-linked Blogs in September 2000" list).

W-O-R-K

Yep, work is still a 4 letter word. Today is National Goof Off Day and here I am at work. I can think of at least a dozen other things that I could be doing if I didn't have to be at work. In honor of the holiday, let's name a few: playing ball in the park with the dogs painting my toe nails rollerblading sleeping watching bad television playing video games creating new alcoholic beverages (and possibly drinking them - depends on what I put in them) visiting with friends reading a recommended book Norah Vincent's "Self Made Man: One Woman's Journey into Manhood and Back" acquiring better Poker skills Ah well - back to work.

To work or to slack, that is the question!

According to this study it really isn't a question at all. It seems that we are better off slacking than working as hard as we all do. I think the article makes a very valid point. We do work too hard most of the time. We (as a society) work and work and work and work and it seems like nothing ever changes. On a personal note, I keep feeling like there is something at the edge of my brain that I just can't seem to solve. It is like having a word at the tip of your tongue and not being able to say it. I have tried to figure out whatever it is that sits in my brain, but I can never seem to spit it out. I could be wrong, but it seems that the article is telling me to take a bath or sleep under a tree and I might solve it. Article via Joshua Blankenship.

"Who Wants to be a Superhero?" the reality show?

I thought that this was a joke at first. The folks over at Sci-Fi Channel are going to have a reality show all about potential comic book characters. At first thought, this sounds like a great idea for an aspiring comic book writer to get a start in the market. Get their super hero idea into the hands of people who can make it come to life. One second glance this sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer gone bad: "Today on Jerry Springer we have the men who like to dress up as female super heroes - and their cross dressing mothers!" The only catch is that you have to dress up in costume as the character that you hope to have put into the comic book. I have been to several cons in my life time of many different types (and do still occasionally go for fun - whole other topic), the one commonality of all these conventions are that they have people dressing up in costume. I think that there will be no end to the number of people signing up for this reality show. They are taking applications to become part of the show right now: Link. P.S. I think Newman the Intern from The Phil & Drew and Kaci Show on 98.9 KYIS FM is a perfect candidate for this show. Via popgadget.

Oddly enchanting bunny

It is a cone shaped bunny in pink and orange! How much cuter can you get? Link.

Eddie Izzard

When my quote of the day popped up this morning from the Quotations Page. It reminded me of a very humorous comedian that I haven't seen anything from in awhile (maybe I wasn't looking - shame on me). Eddie Izzard is one absolutely hilarious person. Oh and he happens to cross dress (is that one word or two?) during all some most of his shows. I loved his San Fransisco show - Dress to Kill. The very first movie I saw him in was Mystery Men, but I had no idea who he was at that time. I had originally watched the movie for Janeane Garofalo who is one of my favorite actor/comedian. The quote: "I grew up in Europe, where the history comes from." Okay, that is not all that funny of a quote, but more than likely it was the only thing that the Quotations Page could put out for public consumption. Eddie Izzard has a tendency to some vulgarities, but who doesn't? Check out the official Eddie Izzard website: Link.

Watch V for free

For those of you who remember the television mini-series V, you can watch it for free: Link. When V came out on tv, I, and my entire family, were glued to the boob-tube for every episode. "Here mousey, mousey, mousey!" Via Ironic Sans.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

I purchased Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire recently and was finally able to sit down and watch it again. I have now seen that movie five times. I just love the Harry Potter series of books and movies. The books are some of the most well written, easy to read books I have read in a long time. And the movies are IMHO very well performed and directed. I can't wait for the next book and movie.

Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

Just in case you needed to see a holiday special showing lots of wookies actually speaking wookie (no subtitles) someone was nice enough to provide this treasure of a masterpiece to us:Star Wars Holiday Special 1978. From YouTube: "Plot Outline: Chewie and Han Solo are trying to get home to Chewie's family, so they can celebrate Lifeday, a holiday that is celebrated on Chewbacca's home planet Kashyyyk. Chewie and Han Solo are trying to get to the planet where Chewie's family is waiting for him, but the empire is out searching for the rebels, giving everyone a hard time. While we are waiting we get a look at the everyday life of a wookie family. We meet all the familiar characters from Star Wars and we are introduced to Bobba Fett during a small cartoon. We also pay a visit to the Cantina and meet all the monsters again." The quality is grainy at best, but it is of a watchable enough quality. However, watching the show itself is painful. Its most redeeming quality is that it was done in all seriousness which makes it incredibly funny. You can check out the movie information at IMDB. Great fun for Star Wars fans of all ages ;-)

Oklahoma Debut of Porkchop Express

Last night at Brothers Eatery & Pub in Norman, Oklahoma was the premier performance of the San Francisco band Porkchop Express. They are a country band, which seems like such a strange thing to come out of San Francisco, but it is the absolute truth. From what I understand the band holds quite a “niche market in the Bay area” (at least according to the drummer/vocalist, Kitt Thompson) – being the only almost the only one of very few completely insane to play country in California at all. The band was unexpectedly welcomed in with a short warm up act from a local band Trayler Trash. Porkchop Express played original songs from their first and second album as well as a few cover tunes. John Driftwood, of Trayler Trash, accompanied the band on harmonica for several songs. Collin Conoley, lead vocals and ukulele, did a bang-up job on the songs and especially belting it out for “Hippy Girlfriend” while injecting just the right amount of humor. The finale for the band was the song “Bitch Make Me Pancakes.” The song is only performed upon request, which of course was requested. The only disappointment was the lack of pancakes that usually accompany the song. I have to admit that I am not much of a country fan at all, but the songs were so humorous that I hardly noticed that they were a country band at all. The new fans of the band laughed and hollered and had a marvelous time. Great job guys – come back and visit anytime!!

House Hunting Solved

I have been house hunting for quite some time, but I can never seem to find the perfect house. I know, I know, just build. But there is something to be said for the history and character of an existing house that a new house just doesn't have. Well I have now found the perfect house with only two small, really very minor imperfections.....location, oh and cost: Link. Found on Luxist.

Evil Robot Monkey

I love this sketch of an evil robot monkey. I know it is supposed to look mean or at least menacing. But I just can't help but laugh when I look at it - especially with the hand-held juicer on it's head: Link.

Unbelievable stem cell location

Not only have Japanese scientists found stem cells in menstrual blood, they found thirty times more from menstrual blood than from bone marrow. They were able to cultivate the harvested stem cells to behave like heart cells: Link.

1000 Blank White Cards (1kbwc)

I am not sure where I heard first heard about this game, but I then forgot about it. I recently ran across it again on google when searching for something completely different. After following several broken links on pages to find out what the rules were and where it originated, I went to wikipedia to find out. The basic premise of the game is to get a pack of 1000 blank white index cards, cut each card in half, and artistically (or not so artistically) draw your own playing cards with markers, crayons, or ink pens. Everyone starts with 5 cards at first. If this is the first time playing - all five cards will be blank unless you have chosen to take the time in advance to create 5-10 cards each before playing. Someone gets to go first (coin toss, dice roll, dealer, etc.) and then play proceeds to the left (playing, holding, and discarding cards). Here is where things get a little fuzzy: winning the game. Basically you are supposed to play until you run out of cards in the central deck and whoever has the highest points wins. This is easier said than done and house rules can change the rules at any point. Mostly the game is over - when the game (or players) have become so silly that the game has completely disintigrated into chaos. This is a perfect game to play with overly competitive game players or just to have fun.

RFID Tag Blocking Accessories

It seems that RFID tags are here whether we want them or not. It also seems that our US passports will soon contain these little big brother devices. However, there are some wallets and passports that contain RF shielding to prevent unintended people from gaining access to your information via the RFID chip: Link.

Paper Boxes

A totally nifty site that lets you be creative and design your own paper box. Once you have the box designed, you print it out (a little cutting involved) and glue it together: Link.

Meetup and ebay

ebay has taken an investment interest in meetup.com. Meetup is all about helping people meet other people with similar interests. In a world where people spend more time in front of the television or computer than they do just about anywhere else, it is a nice change. I think it is a great idea. Now if I can just get away from the computer long enough to meet up with some people ;0)

Belhoste License Plate Made by Acme

Belhoste License Plate, originally uploaded by Belhoste. A really great website that lets you create a license plate for the United States and parts of Canada. Yu save the image it creates and voila - instant license plate (graphic)for all your needs. Link. Found this link while on dustbury.

SiteShuffle

Here is a new very bare bones site that allows you to scroll through your favorite sites. Now that fact in itself doesn't give it a whole lot of selling power. However, it also gives you recommendations of other sites you might like based on your favorites and the favorites of other people. Seems kind of like the Amazon web pages that say "people who bought this book, also bought..." I think I will probably try out SiteShuffle for a little bit and see if I like it: Link. As seen on Boing Boing.

Pac-Man Bicycle Wheels

I love this idea! Pac Man and the ghost get to chase each other forever on the wheels of this bicycle: Link. Found on MAKE.

Bright Pink Marshmallow Peeps!!

I happen to be one of those very strange people who love the Peeps*. It is my very most favorite Easter "food". Which meant that when I read this I couldn't stop laughing: "Girl #1: We did this experiment with Peeps in high school. Nothing dissolved them. Not hydrochloric acid. Highly concentrated. Not sulfuric acid. Highly concentrated. Not nitric acid. Highly concentrated. Nothing dissolved except the eyes. Girl #2: So how come when I eat Peeps, my poop isn't pink and sparkly? Girl #1: Oh, there's ingredient breakdown and bile's involved, but you pretty much shit Peep." Obviously this came from the Overheard in New York site. *If you are unsure as to what Peeps are, you can check them out on their official website. Tagged: marshmallow peeps

Next Net?

Along the same vein as blogging for money is the Net 2.0 phenomenom that seems to be sparking in the world. Silicon Valley seems to be hustling and bustling about the new Internet or the next wave of the Internet. Interesting article - well worth the read: Link. As found on TailRank.

Blogs to Riches article

I was reading this article on newyorkmetro.com about the first mover blogs and the blogs of today and it really got me to thinking. When you have a blog or start a blog, you really need to figure out what your intention is with it from the very beginning. Planning is critical to almost everything that we do in this world. We plan what it is that we are going to cook and/or eat. We plan our route to work hopefully avoiding as much traffic as possible. Why is it that we are so opposed to planning when we create web based material? Overall I am not sure what to make of the article, but it did give me quite a bit to think about: Link. Orginal link found on Chaos Theory.

The Snowflake Preservation Society??

I think that this is an absolutely wonderful idea. You start out with some chilled, runny superglue and some snowflakes. You end up with a permanent version of that snowflake. My only problem would be finding the snow - oh well: Link. Found on Digg.