Boundary Layer

2008-06-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Says it all

"The Republican Party is a dead rotting carcass with a few decrepit old leaders stumbling around like zombies in a horror version of 'Weekend With Bernie,' handcuffed to a corpse."
(from here)

2008-04-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Can't Stop

Magic Pen Physics

2008-02-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

Beat It

This is a trainwreck.

2008-02-18T10:18:00.000-08:00

The Bush Legacy

Two recessions.
One terrorist attack, 3000 people dead.
Two wars, lost.
One city, destroyed.

Heckuva job.

2008-02-15T21:20:00.000-08:00

The Edge of Life

This site explores just how small life can get and what happens in that fuzzy area between life and pseudolife.

2008-01-24T09:44:00.000-08:00

Rate of Change

In just a few years the consensus on two big issues, universal health care, and climate change has completely shifted. It's remarkable how five years ago these two issues were ignored and people raising them ridiculed. Now it's considered a given that both need to be taken on and addressed in a big way. They are also two issues in which the United States is lagging behind the rest of the world and needs to play catch up to compete.

2008-01-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Fun

Cursor*10. (via Metafilter)

2007-11-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

No warning

The mysterious deaths of 1,700 people in Cameroon.
(via delicious popular)

2007-10-26T14:59:00.000-07:00

Space legos

An animation showing the assembly of the ISS. (via Robotwisdom)

2007-09-21T16:57:00.000-07:00

Brick walls

Randy Pausch gives a talk about life and following your dreams.

2007-09-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

The story of Oedipus

Homework gone terribly wrong. NSFW (via delicious popular)

2007-09-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

Space

Pictures from orbit. (via delicious Popular)

2007-09-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

Oil

Who has it and who uses it.

2007-08-04T12:39:00.000-07:00

Wisdom

Keep your desire turning back within and be patient. Allow the fulfillment to come to you. Gently resist the temptation to chase your dreams into the world. Pursue them in your heart until they disappear into the Self, and leave them there.

It may take a little self-discipline - be simple, be kind, stay rested. Attend to your own inner health and happiness.

Happiness radiates like a fragrance from a flower, and draws all good things toward you. Allow your love to nourish yourself as well as others. Do not strain after your needs of life - It is sufficient to be quietly alert and aware of them.

In this way life proceeds more naturally, effortlessly.
Life is here to enjoy.

-Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

2007-07-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

iPhone: The Morning After

Engadget has a thorough review of that new phone that came out recently.

On the downside, it's inexplicably missing some basic utilities and features that are standard on current phones (IM, MMS, voice dialing, voice memo, cut and paste, mp3 ringtones etc.). The camera is also several generations behind with no video capabilities, no flash, no digital zoom, or alternate modes. And working with email is cumbersome by all accounts.

On the plus side, the battery life is great.

But seriously, no one is buying this thing for the features, they are buying it for the interface, which definitely lives up to the hype. And most of the flaws will be fixed with the inevitable firmware upgrades, even the frequent crashes.

The never buy a 1st generation product rule seems to be true in this case. This is an ambitious product that will hopefully move the whole industry forward, but at the moment, it's more of a work in progress.

2007-07-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

It rocks

Wolfgang's Concert Vault is a set of concerts made available by mondo promotor Bill Graham aka Wolfgang Grajonca that are free to stream. They've got tons of material from Pink Floyd, and Devo to Motley Crue and U2.

2007-05-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

Edible structures

3d printing with sugar. (via Metafilter)

2007-05-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Surprising a Grizzly and her cubs

Johan looked up. Jenna was running toward him. She had yelled something, he wasn't sure what. Then he saw it. The open mouth, the tongue, the teeth, the flattened ears. Jenna ran right past him, and it struck him — a flash of fur, two jumps, 400 pounds of lightning.

It was a grizzly, and it had him by his left thigh. His mind started racing — to Jenna, to the trip, to fighting, to escaping. The bear jerked him back and forth like a rag doll, but he remembered no pain, just disbelief. It bit into him again and again, its jaw like a sharp vise stopping at nothing until teeth hit bone. Then came the claws, rising like shiny knife blades, long and stark.

A harrowing story of a bear attack in Montana.

2007-04-07T16:29:00.000-07:00

Live from New York

If you were in New York and you wanted to see an episode of Saturday Night Live you could go to the studios and wait in the standby line. But to be one of the first 100 or so who get a ticket you would have to get there on Friday afternoon and spend the night. This is the story of a guy that has done that 539 times.

2007-03-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

Future <-> Present

Jan Chipchase's job is even more interesting than his name. One of the hats he wears is as a human behavioral field researcher for Nokia. He spends much of his time traveling around learning about how people use their phones and applying that information to the phones he helps to design. (via Nussbaum on Design)

2007-03-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

It keeps going and going...

Can you believe these things are still going after three years? What are the odds that one of them will still be exploring by the time the next rover lands in 2009?

2007-02-17T01:56:00.000-08:00

Unsustainable

U.S. Energy Flows (2002). (via Metafilter)

2007-01-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Michael Pollan on what to eat. (via Metafilter)

2007-01-03T10:45:00.000-08:00

Any questions?

This is your spider on drugs. (via Metafilter)

2006-12-26T16:19:00.000-08:00

Superbad

James Brown remembered on Fresh Air with interviews with Bootsy and Maceo.

2006-12-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

Enhance 224 to 176. Enhance, stop. Move in, stop. Pull out, track right, stop.

High, high resolution panoramas. (via Metafilter)

2006-12-12T19:01:00.000-08:00

Random Rant

Today I went to my bank to get quarters (because laundry is expensive) and would you believe that they didn't have any? The clerk looked in the drawers then wandered around the bank out of eyesight and came to tell me that there aren't any. I looked at her blankly.

"You don't... have...any quarters?"

I was confused.

"This is a bank, right?"

"Yes"

Before I could ask another question she told me to wait and went to go ask the manager to get some from the vault. I told her I would wait to the side so she could handle the long line of customers that I had been at the front end of moments before. The manager brought two rolls and I was off to do my laundry but still unsure of what had just transpired.

2006-11-22T21:59:00.000-08:00

Croc jumping 101

Outtakes from Live and Let Die. (via Of Interest)

2006-10-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

Growing Popularity

Visualizing Diggs in real time in two different ways. (via Businessweek)

2006-10-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

Are you some kind of tough guy?

What happens when you become a parody of yourself? Chuck Norris finds God and Chuck Norris Facts. (via Metafilter)

2006-10-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

IPTV

Within a few years paying $50 a month for cable will seem quaint because of networks like this.

2006-10-08T00:59:00.000-07:00

Riveted by waitresses

Some perspective on fear and intimidation. (via genehack)

Maybe it's just, I cast my eyes back on the last century ...

FDR: Oh, I'm sorry, was wiping out our entire Pacific fleet supposed to intimidate us? We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and right now we're coming to kick your ass with brand new destroyers riveted by waitresses. How's that going to feel?

CHURCHILL: Yeah, you keep bombing us. We'll be in the pub, flipping you off. I'm slapping Rolls-Royce engines into untested flying coffins to knock you out of the skies, and then I'm sending angry Welshmen to burn your country from the Rhine to the Polish border.

US. NOW: BE AFRAID!! Oh God, the Brown Bad people could strike any moment! They could strike ... NOW!! AHHHH. Okay, how about .. NOW!! AAGAGAHAHAHHAG! Quick, do whatever we tell you, and believe whatever we tell you, or YOU WILL BE KILLED BY BROWN PEOPLE!! PUT DOWN THAT SIPPY CUP!!

2006-09-22T00:41:00.000-07:00

Kinetic art

Dominoes squared. (via Quartz City)

2006-09-21T23:49:00.000-07:00

Practically Useful

20 free ways to save energy. (via Robotwisdom)

2006-09-15T12:48:00.000-07:00

Freedom Lung

It's what happens when the government lies to you.

2006-09-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

Mars track

The Mars Rover Opportunity odometer reads about 8km.

2006-09-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

Gammzzle?

Warbears. (via Metafilter)

2006-08-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

Mad Bombing

Seymour Hersch thinks the Lebanon war was a test for a future war with Iran.

2006-08-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

Video spam

The Wall Street Journal calls shenanigans on Big Oil YouTube astroturf campaign. (via Fark)

2006-08-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

Are you ready to rock?

Frets on Fire is a Guitar Hero clone that is so good you will turn your keyboard upside down. It's one of many games you can download that were made for the Finnish computer festival.

2006-08-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

Random Thoughts

It is too much to ask that Google use the same interface standard for Google Maps and Google Earth? Why should rolling the scroll wheel away from you zoom in on one service and zoom out on the other?

2006-07-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

Click here

Click survey. (via Metafilter)

2006-07-22T23:30:00.000-07:00

Steely Dan vs Owen Wilson

An open letter to Luke Wilson from Steely Dan. But why did they have to make it an image? (via Metafilter)

2006-07-20T23:32:00.000-07:00

Sunlight->Power

Another way to turn sunlight into usable power. (via World Changing)

During a stint in the Peace Corps in Lesotho in southern Africa, Matthew Orosz, an MIT graduate student advised by Harold Hemond, professor of civil and environmental engineering, learned that reflective parabolic troughs can bake bread. Now he plans to use these same contraptions to bring power to parts of Africa baked in sun but starved for electricity. His solar generators, cobbled together from auto parts and plumbing supplies, can easily be built in a backyard.

2006-07-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

If we waited we wouldn't have invaded

Excellent Colbert interview of Ron Suskind. (via Robotwisdom)

2006-07-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

Random thoughts

Embedded flash music players are great but I've lost track of the number of times I've accidently navigated away from the page and interrupted the stream.

2006-07-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

Mind the gap

Hans Rosling of the non profit group Gapminder presents data in an innovative and effective way. He gave an talk at the TED conference that is online. It's interesting how much is revealed and how much is concealed by these animations. (via Nussbaum on Design)

2006-06-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

When stick figures rebel

Animator vs Animation. (via Robotwisdom)

2006-06-05T00:28:00.000-07:00

The Iverson Effect

Malcolm Gladwell reviews the book 'The Wages of Wins' which analyzes NBA players individual contributions to it's teams win column. The obvious result is that Allen Iverson is overrated. The book sounds interesting but he easy way to evaluate a player's effect is always look at the teams record when a given player is injured compared to when that player is playing. (via Of Interest)

2006-06-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Sureality

The artwork of Rob Gonsalves . (via Metafilter)

2006-05-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

Keep Zooming

A never ending photomosaic. (via Boing Boing)

2006-05-23T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Yolk Broke

Natalie Dee tries to eat an emu egg.

2006-05-21T14:31:00.000-07:00

Random Oddity

I'm starting to notice that Toyota's Scion line which was supposed to be hip and appeal to a younger crowd is actually popular with all kinds of people from the old to the young. The xB especially seems to have broad appeal.

2006-05-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

Another trailer remixed

Ten Things I Hate About Commandments. (via Metafilter)

2006-05-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Between wit and wisdom lies irony

Colbert owned. (via Eschaton)

2006-04-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

Totally Sweet

The last ninja. (via delicious/popular)

2006-04-21T11:25:00.000-07:00

Busheviks

For a strong America. (via Robotwisdom)

2006-04-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Why soccer

David Eggers explains why soccer is what it is in America. (via Robotwisdom)

2006-03-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

The Simpsons Live

Live action intro to the Simpsons shot for British TV. (via Metafilter)

2006-02-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

MMPONG

Massive multiplayer pong. (via Metafilter)

2006-02-22T23:04:00.000-08:00

Flying Balls

Juggling and more juggling. (via Metafilter)

2006-02-13T09:51:00.000-08:00

Violineage

The story of a lost violin. (via LA Observed)

But for me, it's likely that only memories will be left if the Alcantara is sold—of the worthiest of legal battles for a violin-making lawyer, where the prize was rare and ours; of the feel of the subtle slope and rise of the violin's archings and scroll; of a sweet and transporting sound that washed over a room of people who listened in absolute silence; of a violin's labyrinthian past that is more lost than found, filled with ghosts like Nadia Tupica and a Spanish duke. I cannot pierce the past's barrier and retrieve those who are gone forever, but I can sense them. The bridge that is the Alcantara, by name and deed, links the centuries and its inhabitants.

2006-01-30T17:50:00.000-08:00

Who here speaks wookie?

Chewbacca has a blog. (via Metafilter)

2006-01-27T00:40:00.000-08:00

The bottom fifty

The 50 most loathsome people in America according to The Beast.

2006-01-18T22:57:00.000-08:00

It's not over yet

A presidential journey in text. (via Metafilter)

2006-01-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

They said it

Fuckers.

With the country still a shambles, U.S. officials are promoting a tough-love vision of reconstruction that puts the burden on the Iraqi people.

"The world is a competitive place," Tom Delare, economics counselor at the U.S. Embassy, said this month during a news briefing. "You have to convince the investor that it is worth his while to put his money in your community."

Get Your War On has the appropriate response to crap like this.

"No pain, no gain," Andy Wylegala, whose job at the embassy is to help Americans do business in Iraq, said at the same briefing. "It's a very difficult procedure to pass through. But when I look from my side, I see it as a long-term, very favorable development."

2006-01-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

Mind expanding

A bunch of ways to blow you mind.

2006-01-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

Tap that tune

This neat little website will guess the song if you tap it out with your space bar. (via Metafilter)

2006-01-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

A reintepretation

Westside story as homosexual space opera. (via Robotwisdom)

2006-01-11T00:14:00.000-08:00

Sense and nonsense

Take three random panels from Garfield comics and you get this. (via BoingBoing)

2006-01-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

Please throw your daughter in the air

What people will do for a couple free pictures. (via Metafilter)

2006-01-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

The story behind the story

If the words Manos: The Hands of Fate, mean something to you then I suggest you read this piece which contains interviews with some crew and this piece with an interview with the one of the stars. (via Metafilter)

2006-01-03T21:40:00.000-08:00

In the future...

Robots will be as common as cars and pets. The compositing in that movie is nicely done. (via Robotwisdom)

2006-01-01T12:28:00.000-08:00

Craparagus is more like it

Some simple drawings.

2006-01-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

A Happy New Year to All

2005-12-30T22:47:00.000-08:00

Serious Driving

This is an impressive display of choreographed driving. (via Metafilter)

2005-12-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Or something

This readers poll of the #1 Indie Rock Hottie of 2005 is actually a great way to find some new music. Yeah, new music. (via Robotwisdom)

2005-12-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

OMGWTF2CUTE

Cute Overload.

2005-12-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

This is how we build it

A photo tour of a Volkswagon plant. It looks more like an art gallery. (via BoingBoing)

2005-12-20T21:59:00.000-08:00

Lingering questions

9/11 widow Kristen Breitweiser is determined to understand the holes in the official "We couldn't have done anything to prevent the attacks" story.

2005-12-14T18:35:00.000-08:00

Very impressive

Windows Live Local is like whoa, especially the Bird's Eye view feature.

2005-12-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

But not forgotten

Myspace deaths. (via Metafilter)

2005-12-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

Big fish

Fishosaur catalogues pictures of people next to large sea creatures. Fishosaur.

2005-12-07T18:36:00.000-08:00

Things that go boom

The biggest bomb ever made.

2005-12-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

The pre-funny stage

This cartoon complete with introduction by Seth McFarlane appears to be some sort of proto-Family Guy. It's amazing to see how far removed the show is from this short in terms of quality of animation, characters, and humor. (via Metafilter)

2005-12-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

Terror Alert Xylophone

Finally a company has stepped up and decided to make toys for todays freedom-loving children. (via Robotwisdom)

2005-11-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

Oh no he didn't

This shit right here is bananas. Just watch. (via Metafilter)

2005-11-28T17:53:00.000-08:00

Maps

This blog catalogues all the neat tools using Google maps. (via Digg)

2005-11-25T19:23:00.000-08:00

Any questions?

This is a wax dummy. This is a wax dummy on drugs. (via BoingBoing)

2005-11-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

Images and impressions

Dreamlines takes a few keywords and produces photoshopesque-filtered images. (via Metafilter)

2005-11-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

Quick bites

Here are some of peoples' most intense food experiences including Tommy Lee's?!!?111. (via Robotwisdom)

2005-11-18T16:19:00.000-08:00

Superfluous Wookies

This abridged script almost makes watching Revenge of Sith worthwhile. (via Metafilter.)

2005-11-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

YTMND

Books your kids shouldn't read.

2005-11-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

Install at your own discretion

Brick EULA.

2005-11-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin launchin

This reason number 357 why America is the greatest country in the world.

All in all, Punkin Chunkin is a symbol of what makes America great. Only in the richest country on earth could regular guys spend tens of thousands of dollars building a pumpkin gun. Only in a nation with such a fine tradition of inventiveness, not to mention martial prowess, would so many choose to. And only in a land of wide open spaces would they be able to practise their chunkin without killing their neighbours.

2005-11-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

Play time

This site has about 1000 classic and not-so-classic console and PC games. The catch is you need to download the newest version of Java which I'm unwilling to do at the moment. (via Metafilter)

2005-11-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

Snow is n-ice

Beatiful photographs of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Polar Bear Den pic is my favorite. (via BoingBoing)

2005-11-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

Pastafarianism

A prayer for Our Noodly Father. (via Robotwisdom)

2005-11-07T12:14:00.000-08:00

Recurring patterns

Does every story ever (and never) told fall into one of these 36 categories? (via AskMetafilter)

2005-11-06T22:08:00.000-08:00

Bore no more

When you're bored you now have options. (via Metafilter)