Powered down for a week
I run this joint. Don’t know where to start? Let me show you around:
One of the World’s Biggest Telescopes Is Buried Beneath the South Pole.
Like something out of a Dan Brown novel, I tell ya.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lK-eICWZY0[/youtube]
Awesome.
See also: My first time sailing was everything I thought it would be
Robot Unicorn Attack and Bejeweled 3. I’m hooked.
An Amazon.com warehouse. Storefront of course being their awesome website. Via The Big Picture.
As found in my lost SLR flash unit.
It took me a while, but I finally got around to reading Mark Twain, starting with The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which I finished this week.
I figured the author was good, given all the praise that’s continuously heaped on him. But I didn’t know he’d be this good. I had no idea he was as laugh-out-loud funny as Jerry Seinfeld (even more so, maybe).
More than that, Twain has the uncanny ability to turn even the most mundane occurrences into entertaining literature (i.e. a poodle playing with a beetle). He is a master of the English language and a joy to read. As a bonus, he’s a modern day Confucius, sharing wisdom and life hacks throughout this 184 page book.
Here are 10 of my favorite passages: Continue reading…
Especially if you need of a little more color in your life or like Mark Twain. Either way, it’s widescreen win.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFeD3qGVsrM[/youtube]
I watched the Google Chrome OS demo today and came away impressed. The product won’t meet the need of power-users, producers, and mult-media creators. But for everyone else, including power-users when they don’t need extra power, Chrome OS is the first legitimate consumer rival for both Macintosh and Windows I’ve ever seen. Much more so than Linux ever was (at least in a consumer sense).
Some highlights about Chrome OS, which has a planned release of “mid-2011” in select Acer and Samsung laptops:
Will Chrome OS overtake the world? No. But I could see it becoming as ubiquitous as Google’s own Gmail, if not bigger. Which is huge.
In other words, watch this space. Desktop computing is about to change. If only in how we store an access many of our files.
See also: Will Google Chrome OS change computers?
He did it by persuaded his friends that it would be a joyous privilege to whitewash a fence. Tom discovered, as Twain explained, “that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do.” Turn work into a game and people will play.
I grew up on White Christmas and it’s awesome. Arguably the best Christmas album of all time.
But after 25 years of listening memories, I think I’m finally ready to say that Frank Sinatra has the better Christmas voice. His renditions of White Christmas, I’ll be Home for Christmas, and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas are the best I’ve ever heard. Even better than Bing.
Am I wrong?
Either way, what’s your favorite Christmas artist? (WARNING: Any mention of Mannheim Steamroller will be immediately deleted.)
I’m a climate change agnostic. Nevertheless, my latest piece quickly drew fire from at least one insecure proponent of anthropogenic global warming.
“Try becoming a real journalist and offering up a balanced article,” the fanman wrote. I guess he didn’t like that I quoted both critics and skeptics in a single article. “Balanced,” would have completely ignored one side or the other, apparently.
Or maybe he’s just mad that Fox News exists.
One of six fabled BCS computers, not unlike something you’d use to surf YouTube.
My latest for Wired Magazine. Bang. (also syndicated on CNN and Gizmodo)
Now we have proof. Scientific proof that suggests couples with a disproportionate number of daughters like us tend to be more beautiful than those who conceive more sons.
Of course, since 50 percent of the world is female, that might also suggest that half of the world is beautiful, which can’t be right. (Thanks, Sara)
Buy it here. A vast majority of the songs are keepers, particularly If You Want It, History of Modern, and Sister Marie Says.
You cannot call yourself an ’80s fan if you pass this up. Well, you can. But I’ll think less of you for it.
This is a great essay by Michael Laser on the importance of opposing political viewpoints:
To my amazement, I’ve found that some of my political opposites’ ideas make sense. This doesn’t mean I’ve reversed my thinking, but it’s eye- opening. If you shut out the noise of talk radio and your own unshakable faith, you can find persuasive arguments on both sides of the divide. Here are a few that I came up with:
He then goes on to objectively list seven opposing viewpoints, before concluding with, “Contempt for the opposition may be profitable on talk radio, but it doesn’t help the rest of us. All it accomplishes is to drive people further into their angry, fanatical corners.”
Long live political checks and balances!
Recent Wikipedia users only: I got a lot of funny looks ten years ago when I started talking to people about Smooth Harold.
Let’s just say some people were skeptical.
A decade after its founding, nearly 400 million people visit Smooth Harold and its sister sites every month — almost a third of the Internet.
It is the 5th most popular website in the world. But Smooth Harold isn’t anything like a commercial website. It is a community creation, written by a work-from-home dad making one entry at a time.
You are part of our community. And I’m writing today to ask you to protect and sustain Smooth Harold. I hope you’ll choose to act right now.
All the best,
Smooth Harold
My first two kids are Mama’s Girls. They regularly lunge for their mother whenever shy or after being apart for a time.
And although the pictured cutie still reaches for her mother, it’s fun to see her get anxious with outstretched arms, ready for hold, upon seeing me. Especially since my other two just looked at me funny as babies.
I don’t confuse either behavior with love. But I’d be lying if I said it isn’t nice to be liked.
It’s rivalry week, people. Gotta support the team.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE4Fcl7oGQc[/youtube]
Mixing camping with must-see TV?
Honestly, how much could this fan be “enjoying” a game of football on a three inch screen while camping, especially since he probably has 50″ HDTV at home? Grow a pair and pick one: Get away from it all in the great outdoors or stay home to watch a game you’re really interested in. Or if you must, DVR.
Seriously, what kind of sick society are we turning into? The equation is simple.
See also:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6mRyZw6Wbs[/youtube]
“In This Home on Ice” by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. It will make your weekend. Promise. Buy it.
Crazy, isn’t it?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pU1LoZeBYk[/youtube]
My brother-in-law works in a Manhattan commercial music studio, producing jingles and licensing original music for use in advertising. Apparently, he deals with this regularly. Favorite line: “That is insulting. We would go out of business if we agreed to terms like that.”
More proof that unrealistic buyers are everywhere. (Although I still think there is value in licensing consumer music in advertising, which this video seems to discredit in an effort to sell more commercial music. What’s more, if demand is this high for “rip off” commercial music, I imagine a supplying studio could really clean up.)
See also: I’m sorry we can’t make a deal. Please don’t heckle me.
No. Although no longer a hip technology, I think it will be around for several more decades.
Reporting for Fox & Friends: “A new application lets parents photograph a software package at the store and instantly learn about any potentially questionable content.”
I’m a little late on this (gulp, nine months late), but I found it interesting. From the U.S. Census Bureau, via Suite 101:
See also: My new favorite commercial
I needed an extra HDMI cable for my living room. So I turned to where I always go for such things: Amazon.com.
When I found one for $2.15 with free shipping, I was skeptical. But the 4.5 star average user rating quickly quieted any concerns. After all, the item has been favorably reviewed a whopping 3,231 times on Amazon.
So I bought it.
The fairly advanced cable arrived today, after only a few days. The craftsmanship is middle grade. It works fine. It suits my needs, if not exceeds them given the ridiculously low price. So how the crap can someone make money selling this thing for only $2.15 with free shipping?
It can’t just be volume. It can’t just be cheap foreign labor.
In other words, if this little guy isn’t proof that the Chinese artificially deflate their currency, despite their booming economy, I don’t know what is. Booming economies, after all, have trusted currency. Trusted currency results in higher trading prices (i.e. historically high prices for Dollar and Pounds when compared to the rest of the world).
What’s a reasonable consumer to do when the global economy doesn’t play by the rules?
In China’s defense, the U.S. just printed 6 billion notes, which isn’t exactly playing by the rules. But at least our currency is rightfully trading at market prices. The Chinese’s, on the other hand, is still bottom of the barrel, even though its economy is similar in size and trusted almost as much as the American economy.
Something’s fishy, no?
Geeks only: Whenever you stumble upon the use of “Super Admin,” you can be sure of one thing: the software designer didn’t properly plan for multi-user access.
I saw this most recently today when considering the use of WordPress Network for an upcoming project. I’ve seen the term numerous times before, but always get a chuckle when seeing. In WordPress’ case, the creators originally designed the software to run only one website. When they decided to add functionality to manage multiple websites, they needed to add another administration layer on top. Hence the double use of admin.
Admittedly, I’ve designed short-sighted software before. But I’ve also done everything in my power to avoid using the age-old “super admin” naming convention. For WordPress, why not rename single-level administrators to “operator,” “manager,” or something less authoritative? If dead set on sticking with administrator, why not rename your top administrator to “master,” “commander,” “overlord” or something?
I realize “super admin” is universally understood by software geeks, myself included. But it sounds ridiculous, not to mention ad-hoc.
Yahoo: Songwriter “Dirty Dancing” all the way to the bank
The New Jersey musician, whose first name is pronounced “Frankie,” co-wrote the film’s climactic anthem “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” a tune that helped turn a small coming-of-age tale into one of the biggest movies of all time.
Previte estimates that he gets quarterly checks of $10,000 to $30,000 for radio airplay, additional quarterly checks of $50,000 to $100,000 from the hit stage adaptation, and annual checks of $100,000-$125,000 when the song is used in commercials.
Awesome.
See also: Despite being 50 years old, my favorite jazz song makes $100k year
I’ve been playing with Kinect over the past few days, and I gotta say: It’s the most significant consumer product the company’s released since Windows 95. It’s not a home run—at least not yet. But it’s definitely a double stretching for a triple.
It’s also extraordinarily cool and brimming with promise. Continue reading…
Flamingo, the debut solo album of Killers frontman Brandon Flowers. Better yet, it’s only $5 on Amazon. Runner up: Junior by Röyksopp. Although released last year, it’s leagues better than the duos’ follow-up release last month.
See also: 5+ bands I’m digging right now
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idA9Vym1F54[/youtube]
It was the ’80s or ’90s. It moved at a faster pace because officials actually let the players play, unlike today. And uh, as the above video shows, it was a lot more physical. Good times. (Thanks, Tim).
Photo: Blake Snow
Want better (not to mention more memorable) pictures of your landmark travels? Shoot original photos instead of the same, diluted ones everyone else always takes, says photographer Thom Hogan.
“A long time ago I noticed something interesting about my workshops: students took better pictures in Capitol Reef National Park and Escalante-Grand Staircase than they did in Arches National Park and Bryce National Park. I don’t mean technically better; I mean aesthetically better, unique, and more interesting than the ones I see taken at workshops of name parks. It took me a couple of years to figure out why, but it turns out to be one of those hidden dangers of photography (and art in general, actually): unintentional copycatism.”
In summary, it’s easier to take great photos of low-profile places than high-profile ones, because you’re less tempted to recreate the same picturesque shots as everyone else. (If it’s the latter that you want, postcards or desktop wallpapers do a better job.)
Consequently, when visiting your next classic American or International “name park” such as Grand Canyon, the above mentioned Arches, or Paris, “look for the shots that are yours,” counsels Hogan, which result in better-looking photos anyway.
In other words, just say “no” to cliche photography.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjK-0dhdIg0[/youtube]
Because sitting through a two-hour moving on a single sofa is so hard these days. Or waiting for popcorn to pop while a movie is paused is excruciatingly slow.
DirecTV’s response: “We better make it easy for people to pause dramatic movie scenes between kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom TVs. It’s not like they’re going to want to stay engaged in said scenes anyway. Who are we to deny people continuous movies during potty breaks? Now let’s go sell this dumb idea! There’s a sucker born every minute!”
Multi-room viewing is retarded use of technology.
DISCLOSURE: I don’t subscribe to any TV service. (Over-air HD and Internet TV only).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHKfmAGguRE[/youtube]
The film: Iron Monkey. The scene: “Gone with the wind.” While most people panic when wind takes hold of loose items, these two stay cool, react quickly, and gracefully prove they’re not exactly who they appear to be (i.e. doctors).
In case you didn’t know, Kung Fu movies are to the Chinese as comic book movies are to Americans. Both are awesome. But instead of childish names and muscly tights, Chinese superheroes are ninja fast and averse to gravity.
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!”—Rocky Balboa
Go read my Fox & Friends story to find out.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNAC1e2QWc0[/youtube]
That, and it makes excellent use of In the Hall of the Mountain King. Unfortunately, self-discipline is the only way “to save us from our phones,” not another phone. Canceling your data plan helps too. But you gotta mind those texts as well.
I know because it happened to me this week.
I was in the living room. My five year old was sitting beside her mother on the sofa. All of the sudden, I hear the former speaking in this foreign language. Not an idiom. Music notation! She was reading aloud music! Passing off her piano homework to her mother!
“My kid knows how to read music!!” I thought to myself. “Even I don’t know how to do that!!” (Yes, there were exclamation points after all of these sentences.)
I can only imagine what other things she’ll learn as she grows older — things I never did.
You have no idea how proud this makes me as a father. It makes me want to sing “We are the world” or something. What an awesome feeling.
Any Smooth Harold readers out there that have tried them? There rates, zero fees, and easy access sound great.
I can’t for the life of me understand why so many people despise checking email. For me, it’s like getting little packages in the mail several times a day. Of course, that’s not the case if you fail to follow a few sanity rules. Mine are as follows:
Do you love your inbox?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs[/youtube]
That’s what I call perpetuity.
According to Spirited Men by Brian Doyle, Dave Brubeck’s classic cool jazz track Take Five makes a cool $100,000 a year in royalties. Imagine how much it made at its height in the early ’60s!? Yeah, baby!
Cooler still, the beneficiary of said royalties is none other than one of my favorite charities: The Red Cross. Song writer and Brubeck saxophonist Paul Desmond left the rights to the song to The Cross upon his death in 1977, as opposed to some deadbeat son like Will from About a Boy.
Bonus link: Radiohead vs. Dave Brubeck mashup in 5/4 (Thanks, Lexi Sara).
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFeFoL89UQ4[/youtube]
Nice.
Update: As of 2013, data is now included with my cell phone plan. But thanks to my four year break from it, mobile data no longer interrupts my life like it use to. When used sparingly, it actually enhances it.
A year ago this week, I canceled my data plan. The unexpected catalyst was an awesome trip to Montana. After being tied to my Blackberry for four years, here are 10 observations of “my rebirth” into mobile obscurity:
New technology article I wrote for Fox & Friends on cool science fair projects.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdy3orO6tQA[/youtube]
I dropped them a couple of years ago for a more competitive local provider, but Geico is still one of the best mass advertisers around.
Since quitting Facebook in May, I periodically visit My Life Is Average for a good chuckle. Here are some of my favorite recent stories:
MLIA.