Stuff from March, 2005
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on March, 2005.
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on March, 2005.
About Chipotle - Tasty, fast growing restaurant in the recently created “fast casual” category. Via kottke.org.
Poetry won’t do it. Pages and pages can’t describe it. I’m even nearly numb to music right now. Originally, I was going to cover the facebook craze currently sweeping St. Thomas - we just got it yesterday. That does not seem important now. This is much more real life than any sort of online social networking, and really more real than most of the things that have been happening to me as of late.
7 Foot Working Grandfather Clock Made out of Legos Running Entirely on Weights - Can I really make this sort of thing up?
Apple and Movies - An intriguing connection … the Mac Mini could be Apple’s iPod of movie distribution.
While standing in an elevator does not exactly qualify as an environment condusive to scientific study, I did find out something interesting in one of my many trips up and down one particular elevator in our science buildings. Regardless, this little observation can be applied to any elevator you ever ride in, and I recommend it to stave off violent cases of Elevator Boredom (EB). See, everyone feels the acceleration and deceleration of an elevator moving in a shaft, but all one really senses is a slight increase in pressure on the bottom of one’s shoes. So, when you get the chance, give this a try.
This university is not known for huge lectures (though at other schools, 200+ lectures are not as bad as one would think), but there are indeed enough people in the larger general lecture classes to be annoying. Now, the occasional polyphonic power pop cell phone ring does not bother me, nor does the eternally conjested man somewhere behind me to my right, or even the hoodie-wearing upper level folk who show up for the comfortable seats and dim lighting that their dorm rooms apparently do not afford. Sometimes, though, there is One. The single person who believes it is their God-given right to disrupt the class in a stunningly stupid way.
The Best Flash Game Ever - Bounce a giraffe up and down until you land on the moon.
Chalk Mug - A coffee mug that you can write on with chalk.
blueshallow.com - It’s new and open and looks great!
Petronas Towers - This panoramic view really shows how huge these things are.
Amazing Nightlight - This charges during the day, and releases light at night - this lightbulb-in-glass looks so cool you’ll want one instantly.
68% of Fox News reports include ‘personal opinions from FNC’s reporters’ - Via whatdoiknow.org
135 meter high London Ferris Wheel - Riding on this would be stunning - check out the “eye view” for some amazingness.
Now Mykala said that I was posting this simply to say “look at me, I fixed her computer lalala I am amazing …” However, I am not posting the following log of an actual conversation of an OnStar … shoot wait no it’s not one of those weird commercials … this is a real world example of the badness and goodness of the internet. You see, Mykala’s computer was rather thoroughly infected by some guitar tabbing sites visited through internet explorer. I record the following technical details to help anyone facing a similar situation. First, if you use Internet Explorer, you have to understand that it is so useful for online banking and Outlook Express (what St. Thomas uses) because it is tightly integrated to a core operating system technology called ActiveX (an oversimplification, true). ActiveX, when exploited, gives hackers the ability to install programs on your computer without your consent or knownledge. Answer number (3) on this website will help you safeguard internet explorer from running thing it should not.
‘The 30 least hot follow-ups to the 30 hottest things you can say to a naked woman’ - Nobody but Defective Yeti can make something as inane as a Men’s Health article this unbelievably funny. Best comment: “holy christ dude, that was awesome.”
It occurs to me I haven’t made a real post in somewhere north of one and a half weeks. This saddens me; I like to record life. That said, the more I can write tonight the more life I will feel I have down on this silly site I call my own. This past week was ridiculously intense - I could not even keep up with my email, the first time that has ever happened to me. Professors just kept sending information on review sessions, internships, test date changes, review suggestions, suggested media, lab information, reading assignmented, and more. The deluge was unprecedented. (I almost wrote that as “heretofore unprecedented” but that would have been redundant). Yes, Chem, Bio, and Theo all struck within 2 days. Tests, tests, tests. Then, we suddenly went hardcore statistical in Animal Behavior, analyzing our squirrel foraging lab for four straight hours in Excel. Superfun.
Frankly, I pity those in the future with their fuel-cell devices and silent-drive everything. They will miss out on a fundamental enjoyment of life: starting an engine. When there is a need for something to happen, a lawn to be mowed, leaves to be blown, or (as was the case tonight) a driveway to be plowed, starting an engine by hand is a most gratifying thing. You take a still, lifeless piece of metal and machinery and give it a purpose. Exhibit A: our trusty Tecumseh snowblower was always a stubborn starter. Then, my Dad figured out we had the wrong model spark plug in there the last 5 years. Now, one knows the thing should start - but it’s never an easy feat to accomplish. I’ve been playing with the perfect combination of engine priming, choke settings, and throttles, and that combination has been difficult to find. I have had to surrender my manlihooderness’es on numerous occasions and either (a) use the electric start via a wall plugin by running an inconvenient extension cord or (b) convincing everyone around me that I truly am a moron and reading the manual.
Publicity Stunt - So the idea was, imitate the iPod shuffle so blatantly (down to the marketing), but never even intend to produce it, get a ton of attention, and build different MP3 players from the companies attracted by the stunt. Unbelievable.
PowerPoint Viewer - Open and print Microsoft PowerPoint documents without having PowerPoint installed. Nothing new, but very useful.
I told you this was a good idea - ShuffePhones strike again.
John’s Dad’s veterinarian clinic needs an 800 number. That’s 1-800 followed by 7 digits that represent their business. I’ve been thinking up names for about two minutes so it has been a grueling brainstorming session. That said, here are the results:
1-800-HEALPET
1-800-PETCARE
1-800-CLAPPIE
1-800-CATPOOP
1-800-LALALAL
1-800-PETLIFE
Fastest Production Motorcycle - Yes, it’s the Suzuki Hayabusa GSX1300R - recorded by Guiness at 194MPH. Now you know.
Sleepwatcher Alarm Clock - I’m going to leave this as the top link for a while - sounds amazing. It wakes you up during the lightest part of your sleep cycle so you feel rested when you get up. But get this, the reviewers seem to think it really works. That would be amazing - if I get some more sources saying it does, I would certainly consider buying one.
MusicBrainz - Tag all of your “Untitled Track - Untitled Album.mp3” songs automatically and accurately.
Make Your Own Email Signature - The Isometric ones are the coolest.
The Best iPod Shuffle Case - By far.
Genuine Moleskine Notebook - I’ll remember this for a great gift.
Seal IV - The track “Love’s Divine” is really quite a good listen.
Greg Storey creates word - In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, “frickin’ sweet.”
Possible TiVo ads during fastforward - Big mistake by TiVo - they should simply up rates. The retention of these devices is nearly 100% after adoption; people would certainly pay to keep their televisions ad-free.
Some of you would prefer incremental updates to these large ones (cough Nils, cough) and that’s completely OK, but that just does not seem to be happening right now. I’ve been away from my main computer for about 10 days now, which means I had to sync up a bunch of phone pictures and other householdy type things in order to get up to speed again. There are many journal-like life things to mention, though, right now. I will proceed with your permission.
Best of Photojournalism 2005 - Newspaper photographer of the year is from Minneapolis Star Tribune! (That’s in Minnesota).
Engadget - All of the best gadgets that are new, all of the time. Witty, thorough coverage.
