Afternoon Edition!
An interesting article on arstechnica through digg about Verizon disclosing records to the NSA, claiming the first amendment in defense of a lawsuit. I haven’t had time to check the facts on this one too deeply, but there is a great comment on the digg page and a link to an interesting write up on the rights of corporations.
A top 25 list from usatoday about public meltdowns. Who knew famous people were this crazy? Oh wait, we all do.
I was thrown a little curveball by this article, but thought I would comment on it briefly. More and more I’m becoming a huge fan of Ron Paul, so when I saw this article I was very interested to see how it would turn out. I ended with slightly mixed feelings. I started reading expecting more information about Paul and ended up getting a lot of rhetoric about the “new media.” Don’t get me wrong, the “old media” makes me absolutely sick. I’m just not a big fan of rhetoric. So now I’m looking for a transcript of the debates because it’s looking like Ron Paul might be my man for the big “P”. More info on my findings later
And finally, some good news from Cisco. I don’t typically follow stocks as much as I probably should, but Cisco interests me because the recently acquired webEx, and I’m a regular user of that software.
Just a couple little tidbits in the morning rush of things.
Found a neat little piece of software that tracks the programs you use on your computer similar to the way last.fm tracks the music you play on your media player. It’s called Wakoopa, and you have to download a little program on your computer for it to work. The signup is really easy and the weberface is really clean and seems easy to use. I haven’t actually gotten to stretch it’s legs though because I believe work is blocking me from being able to connect the program to their servers. I’ll bring more news on that when I get it to my lappy at home.
I’ve been listening to Further Seems Forever a lot recently. This is an album that I got from someone at work without thinking too much about it. I’ve always heard a lot about them because of their relationship to Dashboard Confessional, but never really got into them. Well, like I said I was listening to their album, How to Start a Fire, and I just got really into it. So I checked it out on wikipedia, and they broke up last year. Bummer.
and now for the instructable-icious edition. The first is for all you clue lovers out there. I give to you, the hidden bookcase door. (I don’t think there was an actual bookcase in the clue movie. I think they used a fake wall in the conservatory, a fireplace in the lounge(or study?), I think they used a cabinet or closet in the kitchen, and a painting somewhere else… but i digress). The circumstances for this project are pretty specific, but if I ever have a situation where this would be appropriate, you can count on me to build it. (or just think about building it.)
Next up on the DIY massacre are SLAP BRACELETS. That’s right those insane pieces of metal that they banned from elementary school because of rumors of slit wrists. Oh man, do I love/hate the 80’s. Also, dear brother, notice that the name of the article submitter is the name of one of your favorite 80’s songs.
And finally for the audiophile/yard sale addict in us all - the speaker/headset in an old phone receiver. a must for any dj or musician that’s bored with typical instruments… or just likes to goof around.
Next up is a great entry on Belorussian movie posters. I love Belarus. Nuff said.
A new translation of the bible! IN LEGOS! (Ok so not really a translation, but you know, whatever) Actually I think I saw this some time ago floating out there in space, but I just recently clicked through to it on some blog or another, so I thought I might share it with the crew. Now study up!
And from the factoid department comes the coldest place in north america. Along with a really spiffy picture of a guy and his frozen beard/companion
it’s kind of a slow day at work, and i feel that i’ve been delinquent in my surfing/slacking duties. so i give to you another really long list of internet goodies of the moment.
i’m tempted to put this weird food entry into the abusables department. alas, i will spare us all the fear factor like suspense and give you the frog shake from south america, via megnut.
Somehow, rotten tomatoes gave the upcoming movie “Knocked Up” a 90%. This movie is from the guys that did 40 year old virgin, and all i can say is, “not as good as grandma’s boy.” Now back me up on that one.
From my friends over at the freakonomics blog i give you the wildly titillating headlines of Pravda. I have nothing else to say about this, except wildly out of context hilarity.
Those witty researchers at ask yahoo are at it again. A pretty informative, entertaining, and useless factoid on a homeless man who owns the record to most arrests ever.
I’m a huge fan of the short-lived scifi series firefly, and the subsequent movie, serenity. That said, after further research and planning, there is a really very good chance that I will attend a benefit screening in philly. It benefits women’s equality and rights worldwide.
I wasn’t aware this was even happening, but apparently, there was a sizable digg uprising over a series of hexadecimal numbers that is a key to unlocking dvds. your usual money grubbing mpaa suits were involved, and in the end, i think the light side of the force won out.
Up next: Instructables round up. but i don’t feel like doing it quite yet. maybe this afternoon.
An instructable on a sphere speaker array. I’m adding this to my growing list of diy summer projects. I didn’t check out the research on this, rather, i’m intrigued by this project simply because of my girlfriend’s paper lamp room. A spherical speaker would go really well in there.
I forget where I stumbled on this, but here it is: a nautical map of internet communities. This reminds me of the software war map, but I forget where I saw that. Oh well, moving on.
Next up are a series of make goodies I found particularly interesting for various reasons. The first two are guitar hero hacks! I’ve always wanted to turn my old fender into a guitar hero controller. Chalk one more up to the diy project list. The second looks like a piece of software that turns your guitar hero controller into a sampler. I’ll have to combine that with some kind of midi hack for my reason/ableton setup.
The last make tidbit is a write up about the new WORLD OF WARCRAFT REWARDS VISA CARD. Oh holy crap. I’d get this but I don’t play anymore. Maybe if they came out with an LOTR card, and I actually got LOTR, and played LOTR. But I’m too busy playing Gears of War and Saints Row right now.
Stumbled onto this cool site that documents speed traps (apparently truckers call highway cops “bears”), new little factoid for me. Unfortunately I didn’t find it too useful for the Philly area mostly because if there is a trap listed they try and get you to buy some book or something first. I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just file this under “one of those great ideas that is ruined by commercialism.” But see for yourself.
Really neat artist site. Of particular interest were the dress tents. A visually fun stop on in the vast infinity of the internet.
Lifehacker recently posted a handful of really helpful articles on posture and ergonomics in the cube. Also there’s a neat little timer program that reminds you to do various stretches at set intervals. I’ll be trying that out soon, getting my tweezercize on.
And I’ve got a bit of a triple play with lifehacker and desk oriented goodness today, so I’ll submit to you this article on desk organization. Not that I need it. I’m desk OCD.
I’ve been following some really neat articles on one of my “geeky” subscriptions (probably lifehacker again, but i can’t tell) about eliminating wallet size, and came across a great carabeaner (sp?) wallet. As soon as I find out about the local legality of ID hole punching, I’m on my way!
Totally insane! Change the channels and the volume while having a pillowfight! KIYA!
I haven’t tested this yet, but there’s a neat-looking Real-Costs firefox plugin that purports to show carbon offsets when setting up flights online. It seems they also have a google maps driving version in the works as well. Note: I’m not totally convinced about the whole carbon offset stuff, I’m just interested in alternative resources.
Big news in the drugs and miscellaneous abusables department - Absinthe will be available soon in the US. For those of you wondering, it is illegal to sell and import absinthe, but not really illegal to consume it. At one time or another I have considered having some smuggled/air mailed to me, but without much fruit to the idea.
Dell announced this morning that it will begin selling pcs installed with ubuntu. Based on my experience, I just hope it works with the video card and two monitors.
