Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Monday, June 27, 2005

FedexFurniture.Com

"FedEx Furniture is furniture put together by empty FedEx Boxes, and held together by fedex packaging supplies. All of the furniture seen here is 100% functional. The couch is standing/sleeping approved, I sleep on the bed every night, I eat at the dining table, and I work at the desk almost 20 hours a day."

WSJ.com - Real Time

"The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection, consisting of 1,082 books. List price: $13,317.74. Discount price: $7,989.99. Never has a 40% discount seemed quite so weighty."

BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Why does the moon look so big now?

"For the past few nights the moon has appeared larger than many people have seen it for almost 20 years. It is the world's largest optical illusion, and one of its most enduring mysteries."

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Shanties and Sea Songs

"...I soon got used to this singing, for the sailors never touched a rope without it. Sometimes, when no one happened to strike up, and the pulling, whatever it might be, did not seem to be getting forward very well, the mate would always say, 'Come men, can't any of you sing? Sing now and raise the dead.' And then some one of them would begin, and if every man's arms were as much relieved as mine by the song, and he could pull as much better as I did, with such a cheering accompaniment, I am sure the song was well worth the breath expended on it. It is a great thing in a sailor to know how to sing well, for he gets a great name by it from the officers, and a good deal of popularity among his shipmates. Some sea captains, before shipping a man, always ask him whether he can sing out at a rope."

Thursday, June 23, 2005

WSJ.com - Threatening eBay's Dominance, More Online Sellers Go It Alone

"In 2002, John Wieber started worrying about his business, which sold refurbished computers through Internet auctioneer eBay Inc. Although he was earning $1 million a year in revenue, profits had started to slip as competitors flocked to the site. EBay also raised its fees, further cutting margins, and fraud was becoming a problem.

So Mr. Wieber revamped his Web site and began selling through other online companies, such as Amazon.com Inc. and Yahoo Inc. Last year, his sales neared $5 million, but his eBay revenue grew at a much slower pace, making up only a quarter of the total. It will likely fall still lower. Of the auction site, where he got his start, Mr. Wieber says: 'Too many sellers, not enough buyers.'"

Details for xoc - SMW

"The complete soundtrack to Super Mario World, covered by one man using dozens of instruments. Roughly in game order, faithful to the originals, with some bizarre artistic license thrown around. A private hobby made public."

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

CBC Arts: After 100 years, Sartre's being drifts closer to nothingness

"'I have no recollection,' 22-year-old Jean-Francois Vergnoux admitted to the Associated Press. 'It's terrible – it's total emptiness when I think about him.'"

Salon.com People | How to say you're sorry: A refresher course

"Just say you're sorry. Never say you're sorry 'if.' Say you're sorry.

'I'm sorry I was rude' is good.

'I'm sorry if I was rude' is not. It weasels. It implies that maybe you weren't rude. It implies that the person being apologized to has a twisted little worldview if they think 'Oh, shut up, frog-lips' is rude.

An apology should give the sense that you actually feel some form of regret. 'Sorry if' is a conditional apology. Conditional apologies make things worse, not better."

How to help someone use a computer

"Computer people are fine human beings, but they do a lot of harm in the ways they 'help' other people with their computer problems. Now that we're trying to get everyone online, I thought it might be helpful to write down everything I've been taught about helping people use computers."

Introducing the AO/Technorati Open Media 100 :: AO

"Introducing the AO/Technorati Open Media 100
Want to break the lock on mainstream media? So do these folks, and they are inviting us to blow the business wide open."

AFI List of Top 100 Quotes From U.S. Films - Yahoo! News

"The American Film Institute's list of top 100 quotes from U.S. movies, with film title and year of release"

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Polaroid-o-nizer™

"Polaroid-o-nize™ an image"

Monday, June 20, 2005

Ardalambion

Ardalambion: "The most comprehensive site about Tolkien's invented languages that you are likely to find on the net."

Holiday Snowglobe

Holiday Snowglobe

The New Yorker: PRINTABLES

"CAPTURING THE UNICORN
by RICHARD PRESTON
How two mathematicians came to the aid of the Met."

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Comedy Central - Media Player

"Daily Show: Stewart - A Relatively Closer Look: Hitler References
Someone disagrees with you? Compare 'em to a Nazi. Works like a charm. A Hitler charm."

No Left Turns Archive

"This, by the way, is an example of a move I often encounter in people who object to the mere possibility of 'moral absolutes.' If I believe that something is 'absolutely wrong,' I’m told, I must want to suppress it and ban it legislatively. Freedom, it seems to these folks, demands that we be non-judgmental and indeed relativistic. But I can regard something as morally wrong without thinking that it is the role of government to prevent or prohibit it. Consider, in this connection, this passage from that noted latitudinarian St. Thomas Aquinas:

Now human law is framed for a number of human beings, the majority of whom are not perfect in virtue. Wherefore human laws do not forbid all vices, from which the virtuous abstain, but only the more grievous vices, from which it is possible for the majority to abstain; and chiefly those that are to the hurt of others, without the prohibition of which human society could not be maintained: thus human law prohibits murder, theft and such like."

Mark Harden's Artchive: "Artchive"

Mark Harden's Artchive: "Artchive"

Friday, June 17, 2005

Optical Illusions and Visual Phenomena

"55 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena"

We Are Our History -- Don't Forget It

"Not knowing history is worse than ignorance of math, literature or almost anything else. Ignorance of history is undermining Western society's ability to talk straight and think straight. Parents must attack the problem by teaching their own children the facts. Only fools would rely on the schools."

Thursday, June 16, 2005

PodcastAlley.com -- The place to find Podcasts

"Podcast Alley is the podcast lovers portal. Featuring the best Podcast Directory and the Top 10 podcasts (as voted on by the listeners). You will also find podcast software, the podcast forum and great podcasting info. "

freesound :: home page

"The Freesound Project - a collaborative database of Creative Commons licensed sounds."

zipdecode | ben fry

"This project began a very short sketch (a few hours) that I created because I was curious about how the numbering works for zip codes in the states.

This version adds several features over the original, including zoom, some new colors (thanks to Eugene Kuo for suggestions), and a better zip code database (because of all the people who emailed and were sad that they couldn't find themselves)."

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

AAAHHH!!!! [wmv]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! [wmv]"

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Ian's Shoelace Site - Shoe Lacing Methods

"How many possible ways are there to lace an average shoe? This simple question, when answered with mathematics, results in some surprisingly big numbers - on an average shoe with six pairs of eyelets, there are 1,961,990,553,600 ways to feed a shoelace though those 12 eyelets."

Next Generation of Conservatives (By the Dormful) - New York Times

"The summer interns of the Heritage Foundation have arrived, forming an elite corps inside the capital's premier conservative research group. The 64 interns are each paid a 10-week stipend of $2,500, and about half are housed in a subsidized dorm at the group's headquarters, complete with a fitness room."

Star Trekkin'

"Did anyone mention Star Trekkin'?"

Monday, June 13, 2005

California Voters Get “F” in Education ~ Issue June 10, 05

"As a wonderfully sneaky test of awareness, PPIC asked Californians in a recent survey how much of the state budget is spent on public schools. They were clueless. Only one in three knew that public education is by far the biggest item, sucking up half the budget--very roughly, $50 billion of $100 billion."

Figure This! Math Challenges for Families - About Figure This!

"Helping families enjoy mathematics outside school through a series of fun and engaging, high-quality challenges"

Internet Archive: Details: Tom Lehrer

"Tom Lehrer performing at a Maths lecture, some of the only footage of him anywhere on the internet.
"

Saturday, June 11, 2005

AtomFilms - Anakin Dynamite

"An awkward apprentice struggles with older Jedis, school elections and idiots!"

Friday, June 10, 2005

BLACKFIVE: The Third Rule of War

"The first rule of war is that young men and women die. The second rule of war is that surgeons cannot change the first rule. I think the third rule of war should be that those who have given their all for our freedom are never forgotten, and they are always honored."

The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town: Cookie Master

"As a vice-president at Wonton Food, Inc., in Long Island City, Donald Lau manages the company’s accounts payable and receivable, negotiates with insurers, and, somewhat incidentally, composes the fortunes that go inside the fortune cookies, of which Wonton is the world’s largest manufacturer."

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Athenians and Visigoths: Neil Postman’s Graduation Speech

"Although he had been forced to sit through dozen of such speeches, the late communications theorist Neil Postman was never invited to provide a commencement address. He did prepare some remarks, though, that he planned to use if ever given the opportunity. In typical Postman fashion he even provides it as a true “open source” document: “If you think my graduation speech is good, I hereby grant you permission to use it, without further approval from or credit to me, should you be in an appropriate situation.”"

BBC NEWS | Magazine | A step-by-step guide to charisma

"A charismatic person has three attributes, says the professor:

* they feel emotions themselves quite strongly;
* they induce them in others;
* and they are impervious to the influences of other charismatic people."

qwantz.com - poster child mario question blocks!

"How to Make Your Own Totally Sweet Mario Question Blocks and Put Them Up Around Town

Because It's Really Awesome"

MilkandCookies - Shatner Does Seven

"Soon after the movie Seven came out, the MTV Movie Awards got William Shatner to do this parody. He plays the lead roles as each of his more famous characters: Captain Kirk, TJ Hooker, and himself as the host of Rescue 911."

★ The Joy of Tech! ★

"What stage of Intel Mac are you in?
Denial.
Anger.
Bargaining.
Depression.
Acceptance.
Bewilderment.
Geek Glee."

Press Pop Gallery

Press Pop Gallery: "50 YEARS OF ELECTRONIC GENIUS!
This is the official Bob Moog doll authorized by Moog Music Inc. Bob Moog is the genius inventor of many electronical musical instrument including the Moog synthesizer respected by many musicians. This doll was made to celebrate the 50 years of his electronic genius."

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Friedman's 'heresy' hits mainstream / Private Social Security accounts were his idea

"San Francisco seems an unlikely home for the man who in 1962 first proposed the privatization of Social Security.

Asked why he dwells in liberalism's den, Milton Friedman, 92, the Nobel laureate economist and father of modern conservatism, didn't skip a beat.

'Not much competition here,' he quipped."

Rapid afterimage

"The illusion illustrates Troxler fading, complementary colours, negative after-effects, and is capable of showing colours outside the display gamut."

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Government

"AAPC Accounting and Auditing Policy Committee
ABMC American Battle Monuments Commission
ACC Air Combat Command
ACDA United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
..."

GotUsed - POOM! | State University of New York at Buffalo

GotUsed - POOM! | State University of New York at Buffalo

Monday, June 06, 2005

The Adventures of ACTION ITEM!

"Welcome to the official home of the Adventures of Action Item comic strip!"

How Well Do You Know: Monsters, Inc.

"If the earlier films hadn't already done so, Monsters, Inc. solidified Pixar offerings as critical and popular darlings. Great vocal talent, superb CGI and substance behind the plot and characters makes MI a modern classic. You may or may no longer be afraid of whatever it is creeping around behind your closet door, but how well do you know Monsters, Inc.? "

ACM Queue - Beyond Relational Databases - There is more to data access than SQL.

"As soon as the discussion turns to data storage and retrieval, relational databases come to mind. Relational databases have been tremendously successful over the past three decades, and SQL has become the lingua franca for data access. While data management has become almost synonymous with RDBMS, however, there are an increasing number of applications for which lighter-weight alternatives are more appropriate."

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Pirate Ballerina » CNews 4June05

"The Rocky Mountain News kicks off a week of investigative reports on Ward Churchill"

Friday, June 03, 2005

Batman Quotes

"Robin: 'You can't get away from Batman that easy!'
Batman: 'Easily.'
Robin: 'Easily.'
Batman: 'Good grammar is essential, Robin.'
Robin: 'Thank you.'
Batman: 'You're welcome.'"

MercuryNews.com | 05/31/2005 | Assembly sticks nose into textbooks

"For instance, who knew that making a textbook longer than 200 pages was such a bad idea that there needs to be a law against it?

Well, 42 Assembly Democrats knew. On Thursday they approved AB 756, a bill by Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, that says: Neither the State Board of Education nor a local school district ``may adopt instructional materials that exceed 200 pages in length.''"

Trebuchet

"The Trebuchet was a medieval siege weapon that hurled rocks at castle walls.
This machine will hurl a grape 30 feet.
Look at the instructions.
Build time 1 hour."

IRAQ THE MODEL: Salafis talk on TV...

"The clerics said that they clarified to Jafari that their groups are trying hard to raise the voice of reason among the extreme mosque preachers and that they're leading an educational campaign to counteract the 'takfiri' ideology (takfiri means considering anyone who disagrees with your view of religion an infidel)."

Michael Yon : Online Magazine: A Fork in the Road

"Dohuk, Northern Iraq

Approaching Dohuk, a short drive north of Mosul, brings to mind the countryside in Italy. The war is over in Dohuk. After suffering perhaps a half century of fighting, the people have finally gotten the peace they wanted long ago. With the old Iraqi government vanquished, Dohuk is thriving. In fact, this Iraqi city appears to be doing at least as well as--perhaps remarkably better than--many comparably-sized towns in Italy. A visit to this place affords more than a break from the rugged routine of war; it also provides a postcard of a possible future for all of Iraq."

Tiny ninjas minimize Shakespeare's Hamlet

"Whatever it was, New York-based Tiny Ninja Theater's production of Hamlet is not your average Shakespeare play. Performed by only one man, mastermind Dov Weinstein, the play is put on with miniscule materials, all the while remaining authentic and true to the author's work. Every character is represented by a different action figure, usually but not always an inch-and-a-half-tall ninja. Fortinbras' character is a Transformer."

BaitCar.com | Bait Cars Are Everywhere. Steal One. Go To Jail.

"Welcome to the Integrated Muncipal Provincial Auto Crime Team's (IMPACT) baitcar.com website. This site is designed to showcase the bait car program in British Columbia with the intent of reducing auto theft."

Thursday, June 02, 2005

PhotoDude.Com: QuoteLog: James Lileks

"QuoteLog
…random voices heard
over the white noise of life…
James Lileks"

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

WSJ.com - Rocker Jeff Baxter Moves and Shakes In National Security

"Jeff Baxter played psychedelic music with Ultimate Spinach, jazz-rock with Steely Dan and funky pop with the Doobie Brothers. But in the last few years he has made an even bigger transition: Mr. Baxter, who goes by the nickname 'Skunk,' has become one of the national-security world's well-known counterterrorism experts."