Hit and mizzle

Some of it's funny, some of it's lame, but check out the samples at this site. And feast your eyes on the funniest. Weather map. Ever.


Courtesy of http://www.gizoogle.com/funnyimages.php 

Names behind the numbers

There are a hell of a lot of numbers at icasualties.org, but there are also names.

So many names.
So many lives.
So many lies.
Why?

Those wacky Italians!

Check out this knifeblock.

Gonzo Stunt Game

I have such fond memories of growing up in Israel, watching the Muppet Show with subtitles... Gonzo's Stunt Game is not really relevant to that, but it's a fun timewaster.

world's smallest website

guimp (I have no idea about the URL, don't ask me) is exactly what it says: the world's smallest website. Not small in terms of webspace, mind you (although it is that, too), but tiny in actual physical terms. Go, and marvel at the 18 pixel square site. Play Pacman, Asteroids, Breakout, and a bunch of other stuff. Really.

I said eighteen pixel square, yes. Space Invaders, even!

ANT | Not TV

Ryanne, she of the Buster the Bunny video, pointed me to ANT | Not TV, an RSS video aggregator currently available only for Mac OS X Panther, from her perch at an ANT conference in Monterey. Thanks, and as Veronique said, You rule!

Law And Order Cast Chart

Someone even more obsessed than I am. OK, I know I'm not officially "obsessed", but I love the shows, and this is a handy little job aid to accompany them.

My letter to Secretary Spellings

Dear Secretary Spellings,

I wish to register my disgust, disappointment, and outrage at your
narrow-minded view towards education as expressed in your letter dated
January 25 to Pat Mitchell at PBS. Yes, it is your view of education,
not your attitude towards homosexuality or any other topic that is at
issue here.

In the year 2005, it is high time that the top education official in
this country - particularly one with school-age children - recognize
that ignoring something doesn't make it go away, nor do the ravings of
religious fanatics make it morally wrong. It is shameful that you
abused your position to threaten PBS, but immeasurably more harmful
that you thought showing kids a loving, happy family was threatening
to your or anyone else's lifestyle.

I truly hope you carefully consider your position of influence in the
future, and use it to act in the best interests of ALL our citizens
and in accordance with our Constitution. That, I believe, is your
obligation according to the oath you swore when you took office.

Sincerely,
--
Yiftach Levy
San Diego, CA

Teach your children well

The brand spanking new US Secretary of Education wrote this letter to the president and CEO of PBS concerning an episode of a TV show PBS makes that showed kids in a happy family that happened to be headed by a lesbian couple.

You need to read this letter, especially the last paragraph, to fully grasp the magnitude of the choke hold the reactionary right has on the leadership of this country right now. I'm a little behind on this story, partly because I don't listen to my NPR station at work (only because I prefer music). There's lots of discussion in the blogosphere, and I was today pointed to it by the excellent viral video at iFilm, with the link at the end to Ryanne's videoblog. The video was made by Ryanne, who works on the show. In addition to this post, I'm shooting off an email to the not-so-honorable Secretary Spellings.

Do something. Please.

My brilliant home state

Thank you, Tom. Computer Program Matches Intelligence of Mankind, At Least in California. The Watley Review, from whence this all-too-close-to-reality silliness comes, is a new source of satire for me, despite being around since May 2003. Enjoy.

Low Carb Comedy

Only slightly desparate-sounding, Zoran Gvojic is an unemployed college grad with a good sense of humor and a sharp eye with the video camera. He's produced several short films of varying amusement value that you should definitely check out. The URL of his website alone is worth the visit.

Trippy Chess

At Thinking Machine 4 you can play chess against a computer. Nothing special, right? Except that this computer thinks through all possible moves and countermoves before making its move, and lets you see the paths of these moves as it calculates. May not make you a better player, but it looks cool.

Repairing the world

The concept of tikkun olam is central to moedrn Judaism, and my friends at San Diego World Response have really made a difference since establishing the organization about a year ago. After getting aid to Haiti & the Dominical Republic following the hurricanes/floods of last year, they're currently gathering much-needed medical supplies for tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka. Please help if you can (monetary donations are gladly accepted, of course, since it's an all-volunteer org).

Art from space

There's an art installation in Central Park called The Gates that's so big you can see it from space. Well, with a sufficiently advanced satellite camera. Click on the small pic on that page to get a high res version.

The link is to the Smart Mobs site, "A Website and Weblog about Topics and Issues discussed in the book" of the same name by one of my favorite authors on technology and community, Howard Rheingold.

Google Maps

Google does it again. They take an idea that's already out there and make it cooler. Google Maps has a cleaner, better interface than the other major mapping sites, and includes the ability to scroll maps without the need to redraw. Some locations can even be found without an address at all - search for White House, City Hall, that sort of thing!

Cool Clock

Bryan pointed me to this exceedingly cool little thing.

Go to the moon without all that pesky training

Panoramas.dk has a wealth of beautiful QTVR panoramas accessible via the dropdown at the top right of this page, but you gotta view the moonscape. Tremendous.

Windows cleaning

Jilly, whose parents owned & operated a drive-in restaurant, has collected Funny Microsoft Q Articles From The Knowledge Base. Hundreds more reasons to laugh at MS and their weak software.

More old strange but true news

Also from Konstantin, also from March last year:

Headline: Virgin celebrates first mid-air birth

Closing sentence: The airline is considering naming one of its fleet planes Virgin Birth to commemorate the event.

You think you have drama in your life?

Konstantin sent me this ages ago (it's from March 2004, and I'm cleaning out my In box): Dumped Bride Gets New Hubby In Four Days

As he said, "read the whole thing, it just gets better and better." True story.

The news is silly

and Andy Borowitz makes sure you don't forget it. Short, pithy, and funny reports on an almost daily basis.

Useful and profitable?

I've signed up for Google Advertising (Adsense, specifically), but in order to take advantage of it I need to get my own domain name. I'm open to suggestions.

Useful software #bazillion

Next is Answers.com, which is a great website, but which also offers a nice, unobtrusive download and browser plugin feature. The toolbar can sit, hidden or revealed, on your desktop, and come up with answers to just about anything. In addition, you can ALT-click on any word or term anywhere on the web from within your browser (their language and interface is IE-centric, but the feature works in Firefox) and get the answers.com page on that word. Handy, again.

One of the information sources for them is Wikipedia, which is just about the coolest open source project ever. An encyclopedia that anyone can edit. ANYONE.

Useful software #3

I've downloaded several really useful little programs in recent days, after being referred to them by Fred Langa and other friends.

First is RoboForm, which fills out forms and login information for you, and you only ever have to remember one password. Extremely handy.

Viral marketing

Doritos is running a "mysterious" campaign, with newspaper and billboard ads in my (and I assume other) college area, pointing people to innw.com. It's a very Flash-heavy site, with plenty of time wasting fun for college students and the like.

innw stands for "If not now, when?"

Do you think they know they're quoting Hillel?

Another Yank in the UK with a blog

Miss Me Much, Freedom? made me think of Josh & Justina,who I've mentioned before.

When the Sous-Chef Is an Inkjet

The NYTimes tells us about Homaru Canto, who makes food on a Canon i560. No Kidding

The Lotus & the Mishpokheh: The Principles of Jewish Buddhism

Also from my Uncle Issy, who does a good job only forwarding things that are worth it:

1. Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as the wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with such round shoulders.

2. There is no escaping karma. In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?

3. Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.

4. To practice Zen and the art of Jewish motorcycle maintenance, do the following: get rid of the motorcycle. What were you thinking?

5. Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness.

6. If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?

7. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining enlightenment will be the least of your problems.

8. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao is not Jewish.

9. Drink tea and nourish life. With the first sip, joy. With the second, satisfaction. With the third, Danish.

10. The Buddha taught that one should practice loving kindness to all sentient beings. Still, would it kill you to find a nice sentient being who happens to be Jewish?

11. Be patient and achieve all things. Be impatient and achieve all things faster.

12. To Find the Buddha, look within. Deep inside you are ten thousand flowers. Each flower blossoms ten thousand times. Each blossom has ten thousand petals. You might want to see a specialist.

13. Be here now. Be someplace else later. Is that so complicated?

14. Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkes!

Edward Tufte

I was first informed of The Work of Edward Tufte during the course of my graduate work at SDSU in Educational Technology, probably by Brock Allen. His books are available through this site, and they ain't cheap, but you nonetheless get more than you pay for. He's one of these guys, along with Jakob Nielsen and Don Norman, for whom "thinking outside the box" is so natural that it's inside their box. He constantly challenges the status quo, primarily about anything to do with the display of information.

Tufte is working on a new book called Beautiful Evidence, which he says is mostly "about helpful techniques in evidence presentations". I was pointed to him this week by Patrick Crispen, who is not only the co-author of the Internet Tourbus (to which I've subscribed for years) but is also a professional colleague.

Check out the Ask E.T. section, and if you have anything to do with corporate or educational or any kind of presentation, consider ponying up $7 bucks for his essay "The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint."

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the Year of the Rooster, and here's a little greeting from my Uncle Issy's company, Destination China. If you wanna go to China, do it through him.

Drinking Liberally

Another modern political "action" committee: Drinking Liberally. Maybe I'll start a chapter in San Diego.

One man's useful is another man's...

Fred Langa passed along this website belonging to Barry Thompson in Australia with a list of programs he runs all the time... Great portrait of a savvy computer user; ought to be heeded by all. YMMV in terms of specific apps, of course, but his principles are sound.

Need your screen cleaned?

Get it clean enough to lick (don't bother if you're on dial-up, unless you have a whole bunch of time to kill).

Comic boo- er, Graphic novels!

Stephen just sent me a copy of Watchmen to enjoy. Thanks, man! Watchmen was written by Alan Moore, the British gent behind The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (not the movie, the graphic novel upon which the film is based). He's also written Tom Strong and a slew of other wonderful graphic works worth getting lost in.

Stephen suggested these annotations for Watchmen.