Thursday, October 28, 2004
Is It Plugged In?
"It's a baffling phenomenon that in today's society an individual, who might in other circumstances be considered smart and wise, can sit down in front of a computer screen and instantly lose every last shred of common sense he ever possessed." This comes from Computer Stupidities, a website dedicated to the retelling of those horror/humorous stories from computer customer support. Those are the stories about the customers complaining about a computer that doesn't work when the electricity goes out, or who thinks the CD player is really a cup holder. They're all here and more. How many are true? How many are headed for new urban legend? The site claims they are all true. You be the judge.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
DUH
That stands for Dilbert's Ultimate House. Dilbert fans were asked to help Dilbert design the ultimate house. Take the virtual tour and see the designs for the ultimate in cartoon character housing. I especially like the stone tower in Dilbert's image.
Monday, October 25, 2004
Disco Squirrels
Imagine, if you will, a certain 70s/80s disco vocal group dressed as construction worker, native American, and other uniformed folk. Now imagine squirrels dressed in similar attire. Put disco music behind the images and you have just entered not the Twilight Zone but the Disco Squirrel web site.
Come on In
To the best of my knowledge this site is called Everybody! Everybody! It is a collection of online games, cartoons, characters, and downloads. It was just updated earlier today with Halloween theme items and I haven't been able to view them yet. It's a bit wacky but fun. Works best with broadband connection.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Cars that are Different
Audi sponsors Jalopnik. But that doesn't mean you're looking at pictures of Audis. The site posts images and info about everything from concept cars to flying cars. If it's unusual or different you'll probably find it posted in Jalopnik.
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream
And you will scream when you see this ice cream. These are real ice cream flavors available in Japan and displayed at a recent Ice Cream exhibition held in Tokyo. I don't want to spoil anything but a couple of ice cream flavors include: fish ice cream, octopus ice cream, and squid ice cream. The site comes from the Mainichi Daily News coverage of the Ice Cream Exhibition held in Tokyo on September 30.
Paranormal--Remote Viewing
If you are a strong believer or a strong antagonist of the potential of psi power, get over to Psi Tech. There you can read a brief review of a challenge to one remote viewer and how it came out. There is also a video of a UPN stations challenge and the results. As with all videos, it is best loaded with broadband. What's your decision? Real or trick?
Get Your Winning Sweepstakes Ticket Here
In the 1983 movie, Christmas Story, Darren McGavin plays the father of a young boy. McGavin's character (Mr. Parker) enters every contest that comes along. Finally he wins one of the contest. The prize is more than a little embarrassing to his 1940s family.
If you are anything like Mr. Parker above, you'll love this site. Sweepstakes Advantage contains links to over 4500 contests and sweepstakes that you can enter. You can search by type of contest (daily, weekly, unlimited entry, etc.) and also by categories like: trips, cash, camera, shoes, sporting goods, and much more.
If you are anything like Mr. Parker above, you'll love this site. Sweepstakes Advantage contains links to over 4500 contests and sweepstakes that you can enter. You can search by type of contest (daily, weekly, unlimited entry, etc.) and also by categories like: trips, cash, camera, shoes, sporting goods, and much more.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Vacation In the Stars
Well, it's finally happened. A successful non-government sponsored space flight has occurred. Virgin Galactic has been founded and the claim is that they will be able to provide tourism flights into spaced by the end of the decade. Video and updates on progress are available from Virgin Galactic's web site.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Media For the Masses
Games, weird photos, jokes and funny videos are available all over eBaum's World. It may not be the most navigable, or prettiest place but it has a lot of fun stuff. Be aware that some of the items may not be suitable for younger folk and that other items will take a considerable amount of time to download. eBaum's is a wild, crazy and fun place to visit.
Monday, October 11, 2004
The Ig Nobel Prize
Most folks have heard of the Noble Prize given out for various advances in science, journalism, literature and other areas. The Ig Noble Prize is given information to those companies and individuals at the other end of the spectrum--the bad stuff--or at least a little weird. Examples of some of the winners:
MEDICINE: Steven Stack of Wayne State University and James Gundlach of Auburn University for their published report "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide."
PUBLIC HEALTH: Jillian Clarke from Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences for "...investigating the scientific validity of the five-second rule."
PEACE: "Daisuke Inoue of Hyogo, Japan, for inventing karaoke, thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other."
There's a lot more where that came from.
MEDICINE: Steven Stack of Wayne State University and James Gundlach of Auburn University for their published report "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide."
PUBLIC HEALTH: Jillian Clarke from Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences for "...investigating the scientific validity of the five-second rule."
PEACE: "Daisuke Inoue of Hyogo, Japan, for inventing karaoke, thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other."
There's a lot more where that came from.
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Building Blocks with Memory
Hayes Solos Raffle and Amanda J. Parkes, at MIT, have come up with an amazing concept construction set. Imagine building blocks with a memory. That's the basis behind Topobo. This collection of blocks has passives (just connectors and shapers), and actives (parts that move, store moves in memory, and have motors). Whenever using an active piece you attach it to other pieces, move those pieces while connected to the active, record the movements, and once your construction is finished, you play it all back. A great tool for teaching movement and programming concepts. The site has videos (a bit large for dial up connections--smallest is about 4 Meg). Unfortunately this is currently only a concept work and is not in commercial production at this time. If this brief description didn't make sense, go to the site and see this for yourself.
Too Hot to Handle
12 years ago many folks were shocked when a woman filed a claim against McDonald's, claiming to have burned herself severely with a hot cup of McDonald's coffee. Initially she won her suit claiming that McDonald's should have had a warning label stating the coffee was hot. She was awarded nearly $3 million dollars. Now enter the Stella Awards, named in honor of the burnee in the case above. Listed at this site you will find other legal suits almost as strange as the coffee case.
Presidential Trivia
How many U.S. presidents were born in Arkansas? Which U.S. presidents were born before the United States became a country? US Presidents: Lists and Records has trivia galore about current, past, living & dead presidents of these United States. Fun reading during this presidential election campaign.
