"I Don't have a License but I Drive Very Well Officer"

An Indiana woman was recently arrested for letting her 5 year old be the designated driver. The lady took the finding a designated driver advice just a little too far. It's sad that when asked if the kid was driving her response was "He's a good driver", although the kid admitted it was difficult for him to drive due to the pedals being too far away. Someone needs to be locked up for a long time.

*Yes the title is a quote from "Parents Just Don't Understand" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.

Guide to Caffeine in Soda

Most of us look to our coffee or tea to wake us up in the morning, but for those who don't like coffee or tea (you're missing out), here's a guide of caffeine content of soda. I found these charts quite interesting, who knew diet sodas had more caffeine. Reading this got me to thinking of a drink we have here in KY called Ale 8 One. It's a beverage that I'd always heard has a lot of caffeine, rumored to have more than Mt. Dew. I went to their site and found this was not true, however it is quite a tasty ginger ale.

Sweet Golf Shot

I'm probably one of the worst players in golf. All day today I participated in our company's golf tournament (our IT team finished second to last). Anyway, I thought I would share this video of a really nice golf shot as a theme for the day. Who knows if it's really, my guess is, if it's on the Internet it must be true.

I'm Next, You Could be Too!

Talk about creepy marketing, these Dexter advertisers on FX really are. They have created a place to create a video with you as the next victim of a crime spree. I have linked this one that I created of myself as the next victim for you all to see. If you want to create your own, either watch that video through and it'll give you an opportunity afterwords, or just got to http://www.icetruck.tv. Sorry, it's just creepy.
BTW, don't send this to someone without telling them first, it's really realistic looking.

Music Finder/Creator

I mentioned in my last blog entry that I hadn't done much browsing tonight. Well, one reason is that my wife sent me this really cool music finder/creator. I didn't really use the finder part, just the creator. I'm sure there are thousands of these out on the Internet, but this is the first one I've actually messed around with. As a pseudo-musician* and music lover I had a lot of fun with this. I spent about an hour on it building Minuet in G as I remember the arrangement I played for All County band tryouts my 8th grade year on trombone (yes I was a band geek).

*list of instruments I can play - guitar, trombone, euphonium, harmonica

The Worst List Ever

I haven't been surfing too much tonight so I thought I'd try something different. As you have probably notice, from time to time sites are all the time putting lists out there of "top whatevers" and they're usually fairly popular. Well, I thought I'd give my own list a try and it came out really badly, but I put all of ten minutes into and well, I thought I'd at least share it with you... here goes:

Five Technologies You Love(d) That are Changing/Have Changed for the Worse
1) Yahoo - This used to be the the Google of it's time back in the mid to late 90's. The email system was great and so was the search engine and the instant messaging.
2) AOL/MSN as ISPs - I wonder if people still use AOL and MSN as ISPs. They had a good run while it lasted as the dominant ISPs, but tried to make the internet more than it was with their shotty software.
3) Google - We know that Google tracks everything you do, but what do they do with it? Someday I'm going to have tons of targeted ads thrown at me, and you know what, I'll probably buy them, because Google will know exactly what I want. We still love them though (blogger is provided by Google and the wonderful company they are)
4) YouTube - If you've watched the technews lately you'll notice there has been a lot out there about YouTube videos now containing ads. I have yet to see one, but I hear they're out there. This could really ruin the entire YouTube experience. While we're on the subject, do you think people love YouTube because it highly resembles America's Funniest Home Videos so much.
5) MySpace - I hope we've all reached the point where we realize that although MySpace is a great way to find old friends, the interface and the risks (with the viruses and all) just aren't worth it. Time to switch to facebook :).


Ok, I told you it was the worst list ever, if the title didn't run you off, the content did. I'm not much of a good writer, but I don't claim to be, however I'm not too bad at puns and I can find some alright stuff on the Internets.

CellPhone Throwing Contest

There are some really weird competitive events out there. I've heard of the watermelon seed spitting contest, and pumpkin launching contests, but this is the first cellphone tossing contest I've heard of. Someone even managed to chuck one almost a football field (98 yards), which is highly impressive. My guess is that they held the event in a place that had shaky cellphone service for extra motivation.

The iPhone Unlock

I'm sure you've heard by now, the iPhone has been ulocked. This means that you can now use your iPhone with other providers besides AT&T. I've heard from a few people that Apple is the main loser due to this, but I must disagree. Apple is still gaining at least some in the purchase of the phone and usage (iTunes purchases), and suffers mainly through whatever commission they would have received from getting new subscribers. AT&T, however is losing customers therefore losing a monthly fee for data and for calls.
I'm wondering what kind of action Apple can or will take in this situation. The obvious thing to do would be to push a mandatory update to the phone making it unusable if used through another provider. I'm also wondering if Apple has psuedo-broken the exclusivity contract with AT&T since, although it's no longer exclusive to AT&T, it's not because Apple provided it that way (they just provided a box that could be hacked). One part of me says "Way to go hackers! Score one for the 'you better provide what we want or we'll make it that way' team". Another side of me actually wants to take the side of AT&T on this. They pay Apple to recruit them some customers, and lose out.
Another question that comes to mind is "Who is going to do this?". I'm thinking this will go the way of the illegal satellite's a few years ago. At first only the dedicated geeks and hackers will do this (others fearing legal actions and perhaps not being able to use their beloved phone). After a while though, even though the average person will probably be hesitant to do this on their own, they will contact their favorite geek friend who already has one, to alter theirs as well. My guess is that if Apple doesn't do something soon, this will spread very quickly. We've seen (very strangely) several unlocks for this come out within the past few days.... time to get to work on the iLock system.

Sometimes Maps are Hard to Find

I came across this video of the Miss Teen USA pageant earlier today and found this answer rather disturbing. This brings up several questions.
1) We don't have access to maps?
2) What does South Africa have to do with any of this?
3) 1/5 people can't find the US on a map?
Even though I have no idea what she was trying to say, I'm pretty sure she explained the answer to the question rather well. She's probably one of those people who can't pick out the US on a map.

BibleMap.org

My wife used StumbleUpon the other day to find a really cool site called "BibleMap.org". You can select a Chapter of the Bible, it will look up the verse and look for locations, and take you there through a googlemap-like interface. I read through the Bible a few years ago and hope to do so again next year, so, this site looks like it could be handy in the process.

Beginners Guide to Espresso Drinks

One of the finer things you'll find in life is a good cup of coffee. Sometimes, though you decide to take it one step further and get an espresso. If you still haven't broken into the world of espresso and would like to, but don't know what to get, here's a beginner's guide to espresso drinks. Maybe this will help out some next time you're in a coffee shop. To me, when I go into a Starbucks, I feel like everyone else in there probably knows a little more about coffee than I. Sometimes I consider going off the beaten path and getting something other than my normal vanilla latte, but I never know what else to get. Actually after reading this, I think I'll stick to the same thing, or just a regular coffee.

Funny Signage

Signs are important in our everyday life, without them we may be lost. Sometimes though, signs could go without being placed. I enjoy stupid signs, and the scary part is I wonder if they would be there if they weren't needed. Sometimes I think I need the "do no fall" sign.

And this Will All be Brought to you byAT&T

I was sent this link to the old AT&T commercials for technology earlier today and it reminded me of life without the Internet. I remember seeing these commercials and talking about them in my 8th grade Computer literacy class back in 1993. This was my first introduction to anything even similar to the Internet. What would it be like if we didn't have the answers one Google search away. It's hard to recall how I got cheat codes for my old NES games (there was always that one kid who knew them, but he couldn't tell you how), it seems as though the Internet has always the answer. Most definitely it's one of the biggest changes in my lifetime. Although this video isn't specifically about the Internet, it takes me back to a time when it was much anticipated and it was all going to be brought to you by AT&T, how mystical.

Surprise Office Visit

For some reason port-a-potty jokes are always funny. Heres one where a fake conference room is created and pushed in front of one to make the occupant feel as though he is interrupting an important meeting. I love how the businessmen take it so seriously as if that were the real door. I think I'd probably go take a seat at the meeting as if I belonged (once I was sure I wasn't hallucinating).

How To: Make a Quick Turn

As mentioned before, I get how to's of the day and when they're extraordinary I try to post them on here. Yesterday one of my how to's was "How to Make a Tight Turn Quickly in a Car". Back when I was young and had no sense, I was a very reckless driver who didn't really take time to consider what might happen if I wrecked so I did stuff like this quite a bit. Back then I had a drive home that consisted of about 5 miles on a rarely traveled dirt road, so I could be reckless. Anyway, I thought the how to was pretty interesting.... btw, be safe when you drive and don't do this stuff for fun.
One tip that is not mentioned, while using your "handbrake" keep your thumb on the release knob so you can use it fluidly, and never use the foot-type emergency break instead.

Which Serenity Character are You?

As you probably already know, I'm a huge Firefly/Serenity fan. To me, it's one of the best, if not the best shows ever to air on television, and truly there has been nothing like it since (the movie wasn't the best movie ever, but the series rocked). Today I took this "Which Serenity Character are You" Quiz. I encourage you to take it and post your results here. The comment system may not allow (in fact I'm sure they won't) for the complex HTML code it gives you, but feel free to say which one you were anyway, even if you've never watched the series :). My results:


You are Wash (Ship Pilot)
You are a pilot with a good
if not silly sense of humor.
You take pride in your collection of toys.
You love your significant other.

Funnier Than it Should Be

I was looking at the Digg.com site yesterday to see if they had any good stories and the #1 story at the time was titled "Photo taken With and Without Flash". I will not reveal what is behind the click, but it took me by surprise made me laugh out loud for a bit, then share it with some friends. Now I thought I should put it up on my blog to share it with everyone else (not that you're not my friends.... that came out totally wrong /stops digging hole).

A T. Rex Could Eat Beckham

An interesting study has been done to determine that dinosaurs are faster than humans. All in all this isn't an interesting article but I really enjoyed the title "T. rex vs. Beckham? Sorry, mate, you’re lunch". It tells how some of the dinosaurs were fast others were faster, but they could still out run humans according to their simulations. I'm not sure what their untrained simulation is, but it sure is funny to watch. We may get out ran by dinosaurs, but we have opposable thumbs, fire, and ingenuity by golly and thats why we survived the asteroid.

One of the Biggest Stompings I've Seen

If you haven't checked the MLB scores yet tonight, you may want to do so. The Rangers beat the Orioles 30-3. I started keeping track of the game in about the 3rd inning and started watching the live feed in the 8th inning. Surprisingly enough, even though it was played in Baltimore, many of the fans remained. It could be because they knew this game was going to be huge .... most runs in 110 years huge. Fortunately for me I had Saltalamacchia on my fantasy baseball team who went 4-6 with 2 homers, 5 runs and 7 RBIs!
Just earlier today I said "One of the biggest differences between football and baseball is the time factor. You can be down by whatever in the 9th and still come back, however in football, you have the time to take into consideration." Yes, by some miracle, this could have happened, but I must stand corrected in the fact that realistically it could not. Speaking of football, 30-3 would be much more appropriate of a score for football than baseball.

The Creepiest YMCA Cover

I've seen many YMCA covers over the years, but this one may be one of the creepiest yet. I'm hoping this video wasn't done too recently. Although it was very creepy, it didn't beat the original by too much. I really dig the shoes and socks.

ABC Gum Makes News

It's not everyday you find a 6000 year old piece of gum, but in Finland such a find has been made. Far from juicy fruit, this was mainly just a lump of bark that was used to fix things. This begs the question was gum really the prehistoric ducttape? Also found with the gum was an amber ring, I'm think'n ringpop.

Arm Breaking Game

Have you heard about this arm breaking arm wrestling game? A Japanese arm-wrestling game is being removed from arcades because it breaks people's arms. I'm wondering why they didn't use this as an endorsement. Here in the US we would've probably slapped a warning on it to avoid legal repercussions and said, "This game breaks arms, are you man enough to take it" and mass produced more. We could possibly see the rebirth of the arcade. Instead, there was a statement claiming that this machine was weak and it had to be some obscure accident. Sounds like a good time to turn your hat around and ..... over the top!

LOLCatz Grammer Guide

I was trying to talk in LOLCatz speak last night and my wife asked me "You don't think these are funny do you?". My response "I think it's funny that people think LOLCatz is funny". You must admit, it's a little weird that people are suddenly obsessed with picture of cats similar to the old "Hang in there" poster.
Just in case you are interested in LOLCatz, I thought I'd help you out some. If you ever want to make your own, here's an LOLCatz grammar guide. I enjoy the step that tells you to go to babelfish, translate your phrase into Japanese and then translate it back.
Ov all tangs, whyz itz gotzta b catz?????!!

Security Table

If you're worried about people breaking into your house at night, you may want to invest in this nightstand. Some one breaks in, they'll never suspect that banging of your lamp and clock falling off your nightstand is really you turning it into a club and shield. I'm sure the shield will protect you from a bullet, wood is pretty sturdy stuff. I just sleep with a ninja sword by my bed (no joke) mainly just because I can't find a better place to put it.

Bullet Proof Backpack

I used to accuse my parents for being over-protective when I was a kid (I think all kids do, probably because the kid down the street always gets to play "catch the yarddart" while you cannot). Looking back on things, they really weren't, or at least they didn't buy me a bullet-proof backpack.
When you see stories like this, it makes you wonder why someone would buy something like that. Bullet-proof backpacks, don't seem like the answer. If you're really concerned, put you kid in a private school (it can still happen there too) or home school them. I guess I can't really give too much advice on kids because I'm not a parent, but a bulletproof backpack seems a bit much. Just remember to tell them if there is a shooting, keep your back toward the shooter.

Speaking of Vick

We've seen and heard a lot on ESPN lately about Michael Vick and his "situation". Since we're on the subject, we may as well bring up some sports stars who have done some time. It's amazing these guys who have such talent, and work so hard to get where they are can't seem to straighten up their act. It takes lots of discipline to get to the professional level of a sport and in theory, they should be role models.

Right Place, Right Time

Sometimes you're in the right place at the right time. Recently a man had a heart attack as a sales person was demonstrating a defibrillator. Fortunately, according to the article, the man will recover.

Sasquatch Arrested + the Ballfork Monster

Recently in the province of Manitoba Sasquatch was arrested. A man dressed as a hairy monster was apparently going around camp grounds scaring people. Surprisingly alcohol was involved.
I blogged about this because it reminds me of an interesting story that happened not far from here about 30 years ago that created a local legend. In the 70's it was said that there was a sasquatch on top of Ballfork Mountain who was deemed the Ballfork Monster. He had several sightings and was actually reported to have done damage to vehicles. Turns out, the same thing happened as in the case in Manitoba, it was actually a drunken man in an ape suit. I'm not sure if he was ever caught and arrested, but it seems like I remember someone telling me it was their uncle.
Sorry the picture doesn't fit, but I thought it was cool anyway.

xkcd Compiling

I blogged not too long ago about the xkcd webcomic. I still check it regularly, and the other day there was one that was pretty funny so I thought I would share it. I was actually sent this one twice last week, so I know my readers also think it's pretty funny.

Cool Phishing Email

Sometimes phishers get creative and sometimes they don't. I see these things come into my inbox all the time and wonder who actually clicks on them. This got me thinking, most likely the only people who would click on these are the people who are just entering the "world of the internet". At this point, I would imagine there aren't too many newbies to the Internet. Sure there are some, but nothing like there were two or three years ago. It makes you wonder, if no one clicks on these, how is it profitable to send out millions of email like this and how is it worth the risk of getting caught. I guess that getting caught probably means you have your email account canceled from your ISP, but I like to imagine it means your house is stormed by FBI agents and you're heavily fined. On the other hand if you succeed, you could possibly gain access to someones bank account and identity leading you to thousands, maybe millions.
Ok, you caught me, the only real reason I blogged about this was to share this really neat picture here with you.

Chad Vader Does Chocolate Rain

If you like Chocolate Rain and you like Chad Vader, you'll love this video of Chad Vader singing Chocolate Rain. The best part of this is where Chad doesn't breathe into the microphone. I believe there is some kind of contest of the best remixes of the song, this may be the winner.

Bill Nye Illusion

We all remember Bill Nye the Science guy, right? Anyway, he is kind of like Mr. Wizard, except more modern, and probably not as popular. Anyway, I saw this really neat video on how the brain interprets what the eyes see. There is a point where you stare at a spinning wheel and it makes it look like clouds are boiling. I went back without looking at the wheel, and it is a valid illusion, really cool stuff (you'll see what I mean when you see the video).

CanGoogleHearMe Beta

Several months ago I posted a story about an average guy named Aaron with an idea he wanted to present to Google. Since then, he has really came a long way. If you didn't catch the story and would like to read it, you can go to the CanGoogleHearMe site and catch up on some reading.
Anyway, as it happens, I made an image for my blog which I have linked here as well. I sent him an email letting wishing him luck and let him know that I blogged about him. He saw my picture I created for him and actually posted a link to my blog on his page and has a smaller version of the picture in a slideshow viewer.
Every since I blogged about him, I have been keeping up with the amazing progress he made. Obviously Google heard him and decided to see his idea (still a mystery) out. I saw a few weeks ago where the beta testing for his idea came out, so I applied. Turns out I was accepted and will be a beta tester for the product, which sounds like a lot of fun. Obviously, right now, I don't know what the product is and probably won't be able to let anyone know once I do find out. Anyway, thought I'd throw out that update, and if you're up for a really cool story and haven't checked it out, have fun!

Howards Comments

If you're reading this, I'm sure you have some kind of daily Internet reading time where you visit your favorite blogs/sites. I have that time too (usually in the mornings and before I post stuff here) and one site I check is my friend Howard's blog.
I've known Howard since my freshman year of College while in Pikeville College band together (I was on the euphonium he was on french horn). A year later he was my first ever Computer Science instructor and first introduced me to the wonder world of Linux. Even after I annoyed him for a few years as his student, we still remain friends today.
I've added his page on the links section on the right of my page. I'm sure you'll also find he's an excellent blogger.

Straw Wars

It's been a while since I've posted a cool Star Wars video, so I thought it might be about time. Introducing the Straw Wars Trilogy. I thought the scene with Han and Luke shooting Tie Fighters looked a lot like the the Battle droids in the newer movies. Actually, maybe Lucas used straws in this special effects.

Vomit Inducing Flashlight

We've all heard of these non-lethal weapons people are now using for protection. Here's one called the "Vomit Inducing Flashlight" that I think I'd have to pass on. I could imagine the scenario of the crime...
Criminal "Hey Busta, gimme all ya dough"
Me "Sure, but let me use my nifty flashlight to find it"
/shine
Criminal "ralph"
Me -> in attempt to flee slips in chuck, wakes up an hour later messy and without a wallet.

Ok, not a likely situation, but although this flashlight sounds like a cool remedy for criminals, I believe their might be a better option.

Making a Cucumber Hand

If you have some time, and some extra cucumbers and want to do something really impressive, here's an instructional video on how to make a cucumber hand. The video is about 5 minutes long, and has some odd music, but if you're planning on a Halloween project, this may be a good idea. It's really cool how they use cucumber skin as tendons.

Bevis + Duct Tape = Dumb Crook

Friday a crook in Ashland, KY decided to rob a liquor store and disguised himself using duct tape. Hey, this stuff is good for anything, why wouldn't it be good enough to cover your face during a robbery. I love how they referenced "Cornholio" in the news story, also, the interview with the crook was just magnificent.

Chocolate Rain

From time to time I'll post the most current viral videos here just to keep everyone up to date. A couple weeks ago I came across this "Chocolate Rain" video by Tay Zonday. I hesitated to blog about it for some reason or another, and then kinda forgot that I didn't blog about it. At that point the guy had just over 1 million views on this video, now he's almost at 5.5 million. This kid has really made it big, it seems like everywhere I look I see references to him. He has quite an interesting voice and that song just gets in your head, I find myself singing it with my own made up words followed by "Chocolate Rain".

Saving Energy with a Black Background

A few months ago, I heard a rumor that it was discovered that you could save energy if you had a darker background on your screen and browsed "darker" forms of webpages. This discovery could be huge being that very popular sites such as Google and Brian Green's Blog both have white backgrounds. I saw this article today about the facts and myths behind this discovery. I'll not ruin the results of it, but maybe I should consider changing the background color on my blog.

Faces

I came across this picture today and found it quite interesting. As you look at it you suddenly see hundreds of faces staring at you..... it's quite creepy, but fun to look at. If it were a higher resolution picture, I would actually try to zoom in and count them, but as it stands, I get frustrated trying to count them :).

Software Engineering Proverbs

I found this site of Programming Proverbs in my "links to eventually blog about list". It seemed like a good time bring it out. Even if you're not a programmer you should be able to appreciate these. I really like the Scheduling Algorithm and the "Software is too important to be left to Programmers" quote.

Tips for Life

I recently came across this list titled "147 Tiny Tips to Live Healthier, Happier, Greener and Better" that I found quite interesting. I admit these are pretty good tips, many which I use and many are just good old fashioned common sense.
Although these are pretty good tips, the biggest tips can be found in the Bible. The 10 commandments are a great starter. Also there is an entire chapter dedicated toward wisdom and happiness called Ecclesiastes (one of my favorite books). Another important tip to live by, deemed the "Golden Rule", is found in Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you".
This article just reminded me, that although we can read several articles and find several great things listed on the Interweb, really, the greatest guide for tips on life has existed for quite some time now.

Really Weird Fish

This is a little off the topics from what I usually blog about, but hey, it's Friday and I'm sure my audience is somewhat diverse on the topics they like to read about. Anyway, here's an article on some quite odd looking fish. Sea creatures are some creepy looking animals, probably because we're just not used to seeing them on a day to day basis. The humpback angler fish, that's stuff straight out of a horror movie. If I were diving and came across some of these I think I would probably be getting out of the water. Strangely enough I found that the "lumpfish" looks strangely like the Face of Bo from Dr. Who.
BTW I think I want to hug the "Axoloto" fish.

Conquering Donkey Kong

I've never really thought too much about it, but apparently competitive gaming is quite a contest. To be the High Scorer on a classic game such as PacMan or Donkey Kong has to come with a lot of bragging rights. Here is a link to a story about a rivalry between two guys on who is the Donkey Kong King. I wonder how many quarters these guys have spent over the years getting their records? One of the cool parts of this is their actually making a movie out of it. That should be interesting to see (I don't know that I'd necessarily see it at the movies, but it's worth a rental).

iPhone Thumb

Ok, here's your weird story of the day. A man has had thumb surgery to make his thumbs fit his iPhone better. I know that one of the major problems people are having is using the iPhone keyboard, but this guy just went overboard. It really sounds painful.... from the article

“the procedure involved making a small incision into both thumbs and shaving down the bones, followed by careful muscular alteration and modification of the fingernails."

Ouch!

Banjo Hero

If you like Guitar Hero, you'll definitely enjoy watching this video of Dueling Banjos played on guitar hero. If you get bored fast forward to about the 2 minutes mark and it starts to pick up some. I don't own a PS2, but it has been tempting to buy one just for this game, hopefully it'll be out someday on Wii.

Beer Me a Mustang

In many states it's illegal to drive with an open alcohol container in your vehicle. I wonder what the punishment is for having a vehicle made of 5000 alcohol containers. Talk about someone who has a little too much time on their hands. They did a great job, but you gotta wonder, how drunk do you have to be to say "Hey, lets make a car out of beer".

Look What the Tide Washed In

In the Dutch sea the otherday, a giant Lego man was rescued. I'm not really sure how you lose a giant Lego man so this story brings once again sparks the stupid scenario part of my brain. My only guess would be, you're playing with him in the normal fashion one plays with giant Lego men and accidentally knock him overboard. In a distraught panic, you can't determine the proper way to say "man overboard" due to question of "is it cargo overboard or man overboard" so you just throw out a giant lego piece as a life raft and hope it attaches. By the time you try it a couple times, it's too late, you realized he's lost.

A Face Workout

Recently it seems like Nintendo has really taken hold of this "Fitness from Games" idea. We have Wii Sports and Wii fit, but now we can also workout our face. This new DS game allows you to take a picture of yourself, and work on your smile. It seems a little odd, but Nintendo can come out with some odd games. I find it funny that they encourage you to limit your face workouts as to not strain yourself. I agree with Nintendo though, it wouldn't hurt the world to smile a little more.... my approach would have been to buy the world a Coke.

Hello Kitty as Punishment

Here is a great article from CNN about how Thailand police must wear Hello Kitty armbands as punishment. So, any "dirty cop" must now wear their shame as a form of a cute Japanese kitty. This is such a wonderful idea that I wish would be implemented in the US as well. For the unmarked cop cars with Franklin county tags that pass me while they are going 90 in a 55 every morning (making our highways very safe I'm sure) should have Hello Kitty painted on their cars.

Technical Support Wisdom

I saw a link on Digg earlier today about 20 things learned from Technical Support that for the most part hold true. The reason I say "for the most part" is that it isn't so much true for the job I have now, but when I did support for MSN Internet Access, it was right on. During that time period I talked to some very interesting people who just couldn't tell you what their problem was.

Interview With a Segwayer

Reading this article was the first time I have heard of the man who took a Segway cross country. I'm really surprised the Segway company did not provide more support when they found out the guy was really going through with this idea. I imagine at first the adventure was kind of exciting but after the first day or two at 10 mph it could get boring and result in an aching back. Personally I've never driven a Segway, but perhaps someday I'll take the Segway Chicago tour.

Top 50 Movie Robots

My wife sent me this list of top 50 robots earlier today, and I found it quite interesting (and really, what Nerd doesn't like robots). I like how the author prefaces the article with his rating system. Personally, I would've rated C3PO and Marvin the robot much higher, but then again, it's not my list. Overall, I felt this list had a great rundown and variety of robots.

Bush Vs. Zombies

Many of the US citizens really disagree with some of the decisions our President has made lately. One item I believe he acted perfectly on is the $50 Billion added to the budget to help fight zombie attacks. I couldn't have said it better "This is a real problem"...... "they have objectives". Strangely enough, these videos make him seem more intelligent than when he is talking about a real issue.

Internet Crash 2007

Last week I blogged about Elton John wanting the Internet to be completely shut down. This week, the Onion covers a story about that very incident happening. I love the way this whole story was put together..... who hasn't multi-tasked on their computer like that before :). They do have a good point though, YouTube is a lot like America's Funniest Home Videos.

Another Strange Laws List

From time to time we see these sites/email going around about strange laws in different states or areas. I came across this one the other day and found it interesting. I should've fished in my pajamas while I was at Chicago pier a few weeks ago, however the thought didn't even cross my mind. I can imagine being locked up in a cell with a group of thugs, they ask you what you're in for, you say "Peeling an Orange in my hotel room", everyone else shudders in fear and moves to the other side of the cell.
On a side not, I think it is illegal here in Kentucky to transport ice cream cones in your back pocket.... sometimes theirs just not a better place for them though.

Some Old Crow Updates

It's been a while since I've mentioned my favorite band Old Crow Medicine Show in my blog, so I thought I'd give you some updates on some recent goings on. As you may recall, I've been saying they'll hit it big soon, and now may be the time. Their video "I Hear them All" has recently been placed in the regular CMT lineup. There is also a link here to vote for them in the top 12 countdown. One last, but probably best link, is that AT&T has put some of Old Crow's Bonnaroo videos up for viewing. I found this link really great, it takes you through 5 or six of their performances, kinda like watching them live.

Swearing Words

I was reading something the other day and came across this "How Stuff Works" article about Swear Words. When I first saw the article I didn't think it'd be too interesting, but I decided to check it out and it actually has some good information in it. The article is kinda long, but well worth the read. It also offers a list of swear word alternatives and advice on what to do when your kids use swear words.

Toner Lung

Living in Eastern Kentucky, I have known several people facing hazards such as black lung from working in the coal mines. This is one job hazard I hoped to escape by going into the IT field. New evidence is indicating, however, that many laser printers emit harmful toner smoke into the air.

This ends up being bad news for business people and worse news for IT professionals. Many times I have worked on printers and had a puff of black smoke blow up in my face. One guy I worked with has experienced this effect so much some of the ceiling tiles in his office have been stained black. I wonder if there has ever been a case where someone has become ill due to the effects of toner dust. Without such evidence I'm not too certain of a study such as this.

Bonds vs. Vader

With Bonds approaching 755, what's more appropriate than a comparison of Barry Bonds vs. Darth Vader. I never thought about putting the two side by side, and I'm not even certain they did such a good job, but it's an interesting concept nonetheless.

Elton John's Internet Opinion

Recently Elton John stated that the Internets should be SHUT DOWN due to it's ill effects on music. I'm really confused at his opinions on how the Internet is having a negative effect on the creation of modern music. One of his claims is that it doesn't allow people to communicate ..... howabout services such as Email, IM, Skype, YouStream, and all the millions of other communications sites/apps out on the internet.
Another point I didn't understand is if the internet is causing the music being produced to decrease in quality, why didn't his last album do too well? Apparently, he doesn't use the internet to help him produce music, so as a rule we would think he would be producing the best music out there. If that were the case, when asked what his secrets to success were, he could just say "Oh, it's because I never use the Internet to communicate, I find it makes my music much better" and inspire other artists. Eventually, I'd stop blogging, join a rock band, hit the road and make it big. I guess I'd better finish this entry and prepare my hair for the sweet hair band I'm gonna create.

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Pigeons

As I've traveled over the past few weeks I noticed there are lots of pigeons in cities, so I was quite interested to find this article on 21 amazing pigeon facts. I'm not sure if other's would be interested in these or not, but I tend to like fowls for some reason or another. One other fact I did learn from reading this article that I had not known in the past is that a pigeon and a dove are pretty much the same bird called a Columbidae.
Also a quick story about a pigeon. When I watched the Cubs play the Astros a few weeks ago in Chicago, there was a pigeon on the field for the whole game taunting the players. If you care to see it, here's a link to the picture I took of him covering 2nd (although you can just barely see him).

"Bill Buckner" World Series Game on RBI Baseball

In 1986 you will recall the Mets played the Red Sox in the World Series. An amazing reenactment of the bottom half of the 10th inning of game 6 has been done in RBI baseball on the NES . I'm sure at this point you're thinking wait a second, I know that game, that was on October 25, 1986 when Bill Buckner made the error...... you are correct.
This reenactment had to take a lot of time and a lot of knowledge of RBI baseball for the NES. Job well done for taking the time to recreate a historical baseball game on a historical baseball game.

Amazing Illusion

I've never watched the "America's Got Talent" show, but I've heard it's pretty good. Here is an amazing video of an illusion that was performed on the show. I'm not too sure how this is done, I thought maybe, the guy who is cut in half is anamatronic, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong. I can't see how they could do it elsewise. I did notice however that as it first started the guy that got cut in half is not moving too much. Pretty neat stuff.

Microwave Fun

Microwaves have been a source of fun for us for years now. Sometimes though, you just don't want to put some items in your microwave in fear of ruining it. Thanks to the internet we can now have the fun of watching the power of microwaves without having a fire extinguisher and first aid kit on standby. Some of the foods on here actually look really good once they're heated and don't miss watching the Christmas lights.

August 07 Question of the Month

This month's question is related to the new Harry Potter book. I'm not quite sure of my audience's interest in Harry Potter, so I thought I'd ask. The question is "Have you read the most current Harry Potter book. My answer to this one is I'm currently the process of reading it. If you haven't read any books in the series, I highly recommend trying them even if you've seen the movies and didn't like them. It's quite an intriguing and easy read .
As for last month's question, here are the results.

What Internet Site/Service Could You Live Least Without?		Votes
Wikipedia	33%	7
Your Favorite News/Sports/Weather site	19%	4
YouTube	14%	3
Amazon	10%	2
iTunes	24%	5
21 votes total

It looks like the winner is Wikipedia. That's what I voted for as well, I'm not sure what I'd do if it weren't for Wikipedia. I reference it for most things.... my answer is "If it's not on Wikipedia, it doesn't exist".