Archive 2003
Tiny Grow
It's Tiny Grow.
Wednesday, December 31, 2003 @ 6:33 pm
New NYC Subway Routes Hard to Explain
The Brighton line, currently the Q, formerly the D, and soon to be the B, will now go up Sixth Avenue. Well you try and explain the new service over NYC's Manhattan Bridge. It's pretty convoluted.
Wednesday, December 31, 2003 @ 6:16 pm
Is It Time to Sell MSFT?
Great arguments explaining how and why Microsoft is heading for the dustbin of IT history.
Monday, December 29, 2003 @ 8:45 pm
A lot of you were jerks
Canadian nerd Andrew Ironside gets elected valedictorian and has the last laugh.
Monday, December 29, 2003 @ 8:34 pm
The First U.S. President was John Hanson?
Nope, it wasn't George Washington. John Hanson of Maryland was chosen unanimously by Congress on November 5, 1781 as its first full term President. Apparently early American Federalists are responsible for the great American myth that George Washington was our first president.
Friday, December 26, 2003 @ 3:26 pm
Zip Map
MIT Media Lab doctoral student Ben Fry has come up with a fun little zip code visualizer that narrows down postal areas with each number of a zip code you type. Also checkout his efforts in genetic cartography, his main area of research.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 @ 7:38 am
What a Crappy Present Dot Com
This is totally fifth grader music. God, you're such a loser. CDs are bad gifts for kids apparently. Whatacrappypresent.com tells it like it is.
Monday, December 22, 2003 @ 6:25 am
The Futuro House
Finnish architect Matti Suuronen designed an all-plastic UFO-shaped house in 1968. Meant to be an affordable mass-produced home that could be flown into place by helicopter, only 20 were actually built.
Monday, December 22, 2003 @ 6:09 am
Back in the Day...
I used a cassette tape for storage instead of a hard drive. It was 1981 and I'd type run and then press play to load a program. (Usually a Defender knock-off game) My first computer was the Commodore VIC 20. Gather 'round now children and I tell you more... Check it out at Old-Computer.com.
Friday, December 19, 2003 @ 5:33 pm
I'd pay 11 cents not to shop at Wal-Mart
The world's largest retail is entering the music download biz. They plan to sell their Crappy Crap Crap for 88 cents per song, 11 cents cheaper than the Apple's itunes.
Friday, December 19, 2003 @ 5:21 pm
FUH2
Not a big fan of the Hummer H2? Well now you don't have to feel alone in your disdain for the 8,000lb. gas guzzling glutton. Share your feelings with others.
Thursday, December 18, 2003 @ 7:28 pm
Tiki Robots
Checkout the great stuff from mixed media artist Flounder, aka Scott Scheidly. Heyheyhey, don't miss the seven deadly sins.
Thursday, December 18, 2003 @ 9:57 am
I Guess It'll Help in Prison
I wanna see Michael Jackson wearing one of those little bow ties and a pressed dark suit now that he has joined the Nation of Islam.
Thursday, December 18, 2003 @ 9:55 am
They'll Pay You to use This Phone
When you add up the rebates from T-Mobile and Amazon, it turns out you'll get paid $30 to sign up and use a T-Mobile Color Sidekick Phone.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003 @ 10:50 am
Everything you wanted to know about Japan...
Why are most Japanese reluctant to whistle at night? How do Japanese people look words up in the dictionary? What is the sound of one hand clapping? (seriously, there's an answer to that.)
Find the answers in the JAPAN SAQ (Seldom Asked Questions).
Tuesday, December 16, 2003 @ 9:04 pm
Carteles Mejicanos Clásicos del Cine
Mexican movie poster for your enjoyment.
Monday, December 15, 2003 @ 8:44 pm
Just woke up one day and there it was
It was just floating over my house like a shoebox on stilts. Ontario College of Art & Design classroom by English architect Will Alsop.
Monday, December 15, 2003 @ 8:31 pm
Knit-wit Coffee Klatch
The latest value-added feature for your local java purveyor: knitting supplies. Apparently buzzing with knitters in its first week, Knit New York offers knitting classes and java to thirsty thread-bare Manhattanites and probably another goofy trend to the rest of the world.
Sunday, December 14, 2003 @ 12:55 pm
Anti-insurgents rally in Iraq
Not quite a pro-American demonstration, but definitely not pro-Ba'athist either. A large anti-insurgent rally took place in Baghdad this week and the Healing Iraq blog was there. Checkout the photos of the march: one, two, three.
Friday, December 12, 2003 @ 8:56 am
Don't run out of gas in Antarctica
So you're flying your plane across Antarctica and you run out of gas. You ask the neighbors for gas and all they can say is they don't run a gas station in Antarctica. You're just S.O.L.
Friday, December 12, 2003 @ 8:31 am
Vintage Racing Posters
Found a nice collection of vintage car racing posters. They accompany an exhaustive history of Vintage Grand Prix cars and German Silver Arrows from the 1930s.
Thursday, December 11, 2003 @ 10:55 am
Hipsters as economic engine?
Are imported hipsters the secret to revitalizing the economies of forlorn backwaters?
Thursday, December 11, 2003 @ 10:48 am
America's New Culture of Security
Have America's post-911 security measures given birth to a new culture of security? Katherine Lemons et.al. coin it Securitarianism. Keeping us safe from our own foreign policy.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003 @ 10:58 am
All you gotta do is ask
Perennial link trove Metafilter, has launched a great new thang. Ask Metafilter lets you post a question and get answers from, well, anybody who wants to answer. Collective knowledge seems like a great idea, but we'll see how it works.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003 @ 8:33 am
A Flash Supreme
Great flash site for johncoltrane.com from Austrian firm Automat. Clean as a whistle design.
Tuesday, December 9, 2003 @ 11:13 am
The Longest Line
Apple Computer opened its newest store in Tokyo's Ginza district a couple of weeks ago. It was a huge success. Checkout this video of people waiting in line just to get in to the store. Keep watching, you won't believe this. --and they are waiting in the rain!
Tuesday, December 9, 2003 @ 11:06 am
Grayson Perry wins the Turner Prize
The freaky crossing dressing potter Grayson Perry wins Britain's most coveted contemporary art prize. His vases with drawings of "boring cool people," pub signs and child abuse were interesting, intricate and crafty, but Anya Gallaccio was my pick.
Sunday, December 7, 2003 @ 7:35 pm
If you liked Michael Jackson's Number Ones...
You might also like... Amazon.com customer suggestions are brutal and hilarious.
Friday, December 5, 2003 @ 1:22 pm
A Blog Straight from the Streets
The Village Voice has an interesting piece on Crystal Evans, a 22 year-old homeless blogger in Massachusetts. Her blog, beinghomeless, is pretty inspiring at times. She's applying to Harvard University for fall of ’04 and hopes to emulate the valorous rise from the streets that took Liz Murray to Cambridge.
Thursday, December 4, 2003 @ 6:49 pm
Perfect for long Powerpoint presentation
The only watch that's also a weapon- it shoots BBs, dried peas, popcorn kernels, lentils and more up to 8 feet accross the room! It's the Amazing Catapult Watch.
Thursday, December 4, 2003 @ 6:01 pm
Why is this so addictive?
It's like that scene in Wings of Desire where Damiel can hear everyone's thoughts. The World as a Blog watches the world and spouts the latest entries from all the planet's blogs.
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 @ 9:37 pm
World's biggest asshole to pop the question
He's breezing over to an Upper East Side boîte and needs someone to watch his Hummer. It pays $7/hr and assuming you don't screw up, we should have some leftovers which you are welcome to.
Wednesday, December 3, 2003 @ 8:37 pm
Published continuously from 1850
Harper's Magazine has relaunched harpers.org. Though it has a sparse, almost dowdy design, it has some fancy coding under the hood. For instance, click around in the latest Harper's Index to reveal sources and past references to subjects mentioned. Read Paul Ford's description of the nuts and bolts of his redesign.
Tuesday, December 2, 2003 @ 8:45 am
Deoxyribonucleic Acid for kids
Look Dad, I cloned the cat! The hot new xmas gift this year seems to be the Discovery DNA Explorer Kit. With this deluxe, first-of-its-kind kit, you can extract, view and map real DNA yourself. Ideal for budding forensic-scientists or secret agents, the working lab and tools are just like the real thing.
Monday, December 1, 2003 @ 5:54 pm
Slow death of rural American towns
There's a nice flash presentation that accompanies an article in this week's New York Times about the slow death of rural American towns. I like these little flash features-- they're richer than a simple audio program but not as bandwith-heavy as a full-on video documentary. This is the way 21st Century journalism is published.
Monday, December 1, 2003 @ 8:57 am
I'm sick of work
Scientists at McGill University in Montreal have discovered that hitting the ventilation systems of office buildings with ultraviolet light reduced some respiratory symptoms in office workers by 40 per cent. Makes my throat kinda scratchy just thinking about it.
Saturday, November 29, 2003 @ 2:06 pm
What are you looking at?
Some great animated gifs from Belgian painter Doctor Hugo at his Fuzzy Dreamz project.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 @ 8:34 pm
Ipod batteries only last 18 months?
Man's iPod battery dies. He gets pissed and makes a PSA.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 @ 11:35 am
Segway hit and run
A man riding a Segway on a San Francisco sidewalk hit a 3 year-old girl. It could conceivably be thought of as a hit and run, said S.F. Police officer DeWayne Tully.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 @ 9:53 am
Costs an arm and a leg
You know, carrying around a folded dollar bill, an ID, or a credit card can really be inconvenient for some folks. They just don't have pockets or something, I guess. For them, there's VeriChip. About the size of a grain of rice, VeriChip is implanted under the skin of your arm and works as a miniaturized, implantable radio frequency identification device (RFID) that has the potential to be used in a variety of personal identification, security, financial, and potential healthcare applications.
Wednesday, November 26, 2003 @ 9:45 am
Tip of the day
Wanna know how to get the girls? There's one tip you gotta know: learn to disco dance.
Monday, November 24, 2003 @ 7:35 pm
Props to the VW Bus
The Old VW Bus, you gotta love 'em -- whether old or new or tricked out.
Monday, November 24, 2003 @ 7:04 pm
Step lightly there Tex
The fleet of helicoptors and electronic gadgetry which surrounded Bush as he was fortressed in Buckingham Palace during his recent state visit has wrecked the Queen's gardens. Apparently she's pissed.
Monday, November 24, 2003 @ 6:51 pm
Personally, I welcome our nano-robot overlords
Scientists in Israel have finally created a self-assembling nano-transistor. Someday circuits will build themselves.
Saturday, November 22, 2003 @ 5:45 pm
Not all record companies are stupid
While the RIAA continues to sue grannies and 12 year-olds for the music on their computers. London-based Warp Records will post it's entire collection of music for sale on the internet. The site, bleep.com, will launch next month and directly sell MP3 tracks by artists including !!!, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, and Squarepusher, among others.
Friday, November 21, 2003 @ 8:35 pm
These dashboards have ears
Got OnStar in your car? It's a great device to notify an ambulance if you've been in an accident and a great tool to find your car if it's been stolen. It's also a great way for the FBI to listen in on you as you drive.
Friday, November 21, 2003 @ 8:06 pm
Facial hair envy
It's a little too late to enter the contest now, I guess. But you can still be a spectator at the Beard Contest 2003. It put on by Nershvul blogger Michael Eades' (that's his hairy chin to the left). Check out his yewknee.com.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003 @ 4:03 pm
Lighter than air
Stephen Hawking is selling his hot air balloon. In case you're in the market for such things.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003 @ 1:11 pm
America in full retreat?
An article in the British website thisislondon.com claims George Bush has ordered all U.S. companies out of the UK and that the US is on the verge of starting a full-scale trade war with England. US-based multinationals have been told they will receive compensation from American trade authorities if they cancel contracts in Britain and take jobs home, according to CBI director-general Digby Jones.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003 @ 9:08 pm
You only thought the US had the ugliest money
Take a snarky tour of the world's money, including a look at the weird bills used by the US Army (like the 1 MPC dollar at left).
Tuesday, November 18, 2003 @ 7:18 pm
Worth a thousand words
In case you only wanna look at the pictures and not be bothered by the news stories, go to news-images.com and see just images from the news.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003 @ 6:52 pm
Was Turner color blind?
An English opthalmic surgeon, James McGill, is convinced that the great English impressionist painter J.M.W. Turner painted his smoky riverside landscapes the way he did because he was color blind and suffered from cataracts.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003 @ 8:46 am
Royal Bush Bash
Wouldn't want to be dubya this week. Bush arrives in London today, where the mayor just said of our current president: I actually think that Bush is the greatest threat to life on this planet that we've most probably ever seen. The policies he is initiating will doom us to extinction. Scotland Yard is bringing out 14,000 police officers to protect him from protests that may reach 100,000. Good luck with that, George. More logistical info, if you're interested. You know, like a tank that can kill dozens of people, shoot to kill orders, and limited liability if the CIA kills protestors.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003 @ 8:37 am
11/17
Howard Dean, Daisy Fuentes, Rock Hudson, Martin Scorsese, Danny DeVito, that kid from Hanson, and more, all born on November 17.
Monday, November 17, 2003 @ 9:45 pm
The $244.5 billion elephant in the room
Is WalMart actually hurting the US economy? An interesting Fast Company article shows they just might be. One fact: 10% of all Chinese exports to the United States are sold in WalMart stores. Now that can't be good for US manufacturing jobs. It's great to have bargains, says textile CEO Steve Dobbins. But you can't buy anything if you're not employed. We are shopping ourselves out of jobs.
Sunday, November 16, 2003 @ 5:23 pm
From every continent on earth
Yep, blogging is everywhere, even the South Pole. During this upcoming Southern Hemisphere Summer it'll be interesting to check Michael Hoffman's blog from Antarctica . He's got a great photo gallery posted all ready. (If you see posts in German, scroll down a little. He's blogging in both English and German, the smarty pants).
Sunday, November 16, 2003 @ 5:01 pm
I normally go by Oracle or Great Seer
SweetRoxy215: are you a computer like Zola or a person like me?
sylloge: I am just a normal person.
Saturday, November 15, 2003 @ 6:46 pm
Dead soldiers in Iraq has reached a grim benchmark
More US soldiers have died in Iraq than died in the first three years of the Vietnam War. Startling, but true it seems. There were 392 fatal casualties in 1962, '63 and '64 in Vietnam. The current US deathtoll in Iraq is up to 418 today-- which includes the 2 Black Hawks shot down this weekend.
Saturday, November 15, 2003 @ 6:31 pm
Journalists just do this to annoy us, you know
Who the hell says David Lynch is the world's best director? A panel of judges picked by the UK Guardian, that's who. They've compiled a list of The world's 40 best directors There's even an asinine, faux-empiric point score for each director-- one that gives Terrence Malick and Steven Soderbergh an equal score of "85."
Saturday, November 15, 2003 @ 6:07 pm
More free stuff from the internet
From the guys who brought you Kazaa, comes the latest peer-to-peer network free lunch: Skype. Using the same peer-to-peer technology that allowed millions to connect and download each other's music files, Skype allows users to talk to each other using voice over IP. If you have a fast connection to the internet, you never have to pay for long distance now.
Friday, November 14, 2003 @ 2:40 pm
Like a magic 8-ball that does know the answer
The Ambient Orb slowly transitions between thousands of colors to show changes in the weather, the health of your stock portfolio, or if your boss or kid is on instant messenger.Just plug it into the wall and it gives you information by changing colors.
Thursday, November 13, 2003 @ 1:13 pm
Hey Look! It's Girl Repellant
Photos from the Sixth Annual Vintage Computer Festival held last month in Mountain View.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003 @ 6:57 pm
Shooting around corners
The CORNER SHOT is the ultimate solution for dealing with the deadly threats that lurk "around the corner" in a variety of tactical situations encountered by military and law enforcement personnel, anti-terror units and SWAT teams operating in open or built-up areas, inside buildings, rooms and enclosed spaces, and especially in forced entry situations.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003 @ 5:17 pm
Perfect wonderpill finally discovered?
Researchers at the University of Arizona have accidentally invented a pill which makes subjects thin, tan and horny.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003 @ 3:59 pm
Stay Gold PonyGirl
Nice site for the photographer John Arsenault. Careful of the flying bullets.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003 @ 3:52 pm
Domenikos Theotokopoulos
Is it just me or is Cardinal Niño de Guevara (at right) wearing shades? If you can't see it in person, go check out the cartoonish colors and long strange anatomy in the Metropolitan Museum's new El Greco show online.
Monday, November 10, 2003 @ 9:47 pm
TDCollins
I like the looks of this site: tdcollins.com.
Monday, November 10, 2003 @ 8:37 pm
Feelin kind of shaggy lately
I definitely need a haircut, I think.
Monday, November 10, 2003 @ 9:00 am
Hack the vote
Holy Crap. Diebold vote count software could be the most dangerous piece of technology in the country. Not only is it incredibly easy to hack the diebold voting software and cover your tracks, but poll workers are prohibited by law from checking to see if the machines have been hacked (it's proprietary software, afterall). How did we come to privatize the most public act we have as Americans? And why can't the new machines just include a paper copy of your vote as backup? Our analysis shows that this voting system is far below even the most minimal security standards applicable in other contexts, said one Johns Hopkins University study of the Diebold software.
Sunday, November 9, 2003 @ 12:20 pm
Oregon Man Grows Tomacco
Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Oregon has successfully brought to life a Simpsons gag by grafting a tomato plant onto tobacco roots to produce tomacco. It's smooth and mild -- and refreshingly addictive.
Saturday, November 8, 2003 @ 11:12 am
This space smells
Space smells like a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation. It reminded me of my college summers where I labored for many hours with an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment for a small logging outfit. It reminded me of pleasant sweet smelling welding fumes. NASA's ISS Science Officer Don Pettit describes what it smells like up there.
Friday, November 7, 2003 @ 11:02 am
Arnold from the archives
Magnum Photos has a terrific collection of photo features on their site from some of the best photographers in the world. There are a lot of great gems including the Elliot Erwitt photo on the left from the feature on Arnold in the '70s.
Thursday, November 6, 2003 @ 7:18 pm
The sound of one fish farting
Scientists at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver are studying the possibility that some fish communicate in darkness by farting. I'm not shitting you. Here, go ahead, listen to a herring fart.
Thursday, November 6, 2003 @ 6:31 pm
1 billion mp3s is about 5,000 years of music
McDonald's to give away 1 billion itunes downloads.
Thursday, November 6, 2003 @ 6:17 pm
The Meatrix is all around you
Take the Red Pill and The Meatrix shall be revealed to you.
Thursday, November 6, 2003 @ 6:05 pm
Maybe they're coming later
There are no women in this photograph.
Wednesday, November 5, 2003 @ 9:18 pm
26.2 miles
Nice first-hand account of the NYC Marathon from runner Maciej Ceglowski.
Wednesday, November 5, 2003 @ 9:10 pm
Standcleardaclosindoors
The last redbird rolled down the line.
Tuesday, November 4, 2003 @ 9:54 pm
Here's a new way to spam people
Now you can send a fax by email.
Tuesday, November 4, 2003 @ 9:49 pm
Who the hell just messaged me that my jacket's ugly? Who?!
Now that flashmobing vanished back into obscurity quicker than Gary Coleman, the kids these days (and those older journalist who follow them) are pimping the latest form of anonymous crowd communication: bluejacking. Use your bluetooth-enabled device to send messages to other strangers' bluetooth gadgets. Tell 'em you like their shoes, or hate their hair. When you see 'em on the subway reading that book you've already read, spoil the ending.
Tuesday, November 4, 2003 @ 9:30 pm
Just a little something for getting around town.
Maybe I need a little more power for getting up the hills. A 48 cylinder motorcycle ought to do it. The engine and box alone weight just over a ton.
Sunday, November 2, 2003 @ 12:06 pm
Baby Doll.... of DEATH
Krypt Kiddies, they're cuter than hell.
Sunday, November 2, 2003 @ 11:49 am
I'd call 'em the best album covers ever
Devastatin' Dave with his zip zap rap is the turntable slave.
Friday, October 31, 2003 @ 10:43 am
Here's a user interface for ya
I don't know what the hell is going on here either. But I like it.
Thursday, October 30, 2003 @ 5:46 pm
in case you're cravin' carvin'
Get some carvin' tips from extremepumpkins.com.
Today we will seize back this ritual. Today is the day we throw away those safe, cute carving tools. Today. We will buy a big, ugly, pumpkin so large one man cannot lift or move it. Today. We will carve that sumbitch into something ugly and plop it on the front porch. October 31st we will light it brightly enough to give visiting children suntans.
Thursday, October 30, 2003 @ 12:33 pm
Dangerous to drive an SUV at the University of Georgia
It's not your father's Oldsmobile, or maybe it is. Gas-guzzling backlash spurs vandalism of SUVs at UGA.
Thursday, October 30, 2003 @ 12:30 pm
end of the world
It's the End of the World. And Australia is like WTF?
Thursday, October 30, 2003 @ 10:32 am
Feedup with media bias, fox threatens to sue itself
Fox News Channel threatened to sue Fox Entertainment over a parody newsticker spoofing Fox News on the Simpsons.
Thursday, October 30, 2003 @ 10:23 am
hot blog
Joseph Urbaszewski is blogging the Lake Arrowhead fire.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003 @ 9:30 pm
Careful what you blog, mister
After Michael Hanscom posted an entry on his blog that his place of temp employment, Microsoft, just received a big shipment of Apple G5s one day he got canned.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003 @ 10:26 am
Mental health warning
If you listen to Japan-a-radio long enough you will go insane.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003 @ 8:05 pm
The Late Night Triad
From February to August of 2003, I obsessively recorded the major US late night talk shows. This amounts to hundreds of hours of the David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brien programs. From this perspective, the collection can be seen not as a set of discrete jokes and bits and interviews, but as a generalized contour of structure and rhythm. From Jason Salavon's The Late Night Triad. Also see his Every Playboy Centerfold, The Decades.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003 @ 9:12 am
Now that's a phone
The new Nokia 7700 seems to do any damn thing you want it to. But obviously, something this cool is not sold in the US. The 7700 is only available in Europe, Africa, and the Mid-East.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003 @ 8:22 am
MIT students share music without RIAA hassles
A couple of MIT students have figured out a way to bypass copyright restrictions and share music with students on campus. Although the NYT article is less than clear on the logistics of the setup, an AP article explains how it works by having the music broadcasted over cable lines but controlled via the internet.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003 @ 8:05 am
Fires seen from space
You can really see the off-shore winds in these amazing photos from space of the Southern California fires.
Monday, October 27, 2003 @ 7:20 am
Mo Kin
No, not more kin. It's Mo Kin playing the xylophone.
Sunday, October 26, 2003 @ 1:45 pm
God doesn't like Wolfowitz invasion of Iraq, throws lightening bolt
No wait, it was just Iraqis firing rockets on the Baghdad hotel where he was staying. Don't worry, he's okay.
Saturday, October 25, 2003 @ 11:10 pm
Is Microsoft.com running on Linux servers?
It looks like the Microsoft.com domain is running on the Linux OS. This comes from the incredibly useful (though kinda ugly) site Netcraft.com that lets you snoop around the architecture of web hosting.
Saturday, October 25, 2003 @ 11:59 am
D'oh! That's my cellphone
Fox is set to launch Simpsons themed wireless services for cell phones.
Saturday, October 25, 2003 @ 10:52 am
God pissed with the way actor portrays Jesus, throws lightening bolt
During filming of Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ an actor playing Christ gets struck by lightening. The assistant director gets struck for the second time during filming.
Saturday, October 25, 2003 @ 9:35 am
What the hell am I supposed to do with these?
Sell them on ebay, that's what. This belonged to my ex-wife who had about a 1000 of these Beanie Babies and when she moved, this one box of these got left behind, and now I am selling the goofy little things. Whatever money I make from them will be spent at the local Home Depot on tools and other cool stuff. I do not know which of these babies is retired or new, or whatever.
Thursday, October 23, 2003 @ 8:20 pm
Judge a book by its boolean search
Amazon.com has added a cool new feature that allows you to search for words in books. And it's a feature that has now been integrated into the search widget here at houze.net. It's over there, on the right --that pulldown thing with all the search engines. Try it out.
Thursday, October 23, 2003 @ 7:29 pm
To the roof!
German architect Werner Aisslinger has developed LoftCube, a tiny "mobile home for urban nomad" that is made to be placed atop urban rooftops. It is meant to be helicoptered aloft, on assumes.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 @ 6:40 pm
It's a smokey drinkey town
I'm gonna see what's playing at The Empty Bottle next time I'm in Chicago
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 @ 3:16 pm
Elliott Smith
Elliott Smith was found dead Tuesday in his Los Angeles apartment from an apparent self-inflicted knifewound. Listen to a few snippets of his music.
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 @ 2:40 pm
Forget something?
What happened? Did you just come back one day after work and find your front tire stolen and then you think to yourself, "oh well, I never liked that piece of crap anyway." Or did you just forget where you parked it? Think you took the bus that day instead of the bike? Why did you abandon your bike?
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 @ 10:10 pm
Smokin' cigarettes and drinkin' red stripes
Doorsteps is a terrific little animation.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 @ 5:58 pm
It's Cheltenham for the Times
The New York Times has switched to the Cheltenham typeface throughout the paper.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 @ 5:44 pm
Right On, Terry!
Here's Terry, from Ages of Metal, a celebration of heavy rock in 5 inch plastic figurines. Designed by James Jarvis. Other collections include the Forever Sensible Motorcycle Club
and Juvenile Delinquents. Let's not for get Lars either.
Monday, October 20, 2003 @ 9:12 am
Polaroid in a polaroid in a polaroid...
130 polaroids one inside the other over the past seven years from German photographer Mark-Steffen Goewecke.
Saturday, October 18, 2003 @ 8:45 pm
That's all we need
Aw crap, now the President's spirit has been cursed and tossed into the Ping River in northern Thailand.
Saturday, October 18, 2003 @ 8:30 pm
Houze Style, oh yeah
In a parallel universe far, far away there is another houze.
Saturday, October 18, 2003 @ 9:34 am
Download this now
Get the new iPod Software for Windows. It's head and shoulders and ass over any software you are now using for playing mp3s on your windoze machine. Delete musicmatch from your machine.
Friday, October 17, 2003 @ 5:35 pm
I can't pay the lawyers! You must pay the lawyers!
The Great MP3 Caper.
Friday, October 17, 2003 @ 5:08 pm
The Universe: now with 73% more dark energy!
The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe floating 1 million miles from Earth has provided a startling new description of the universe. First off, the big bang happened exactly 16.7 billion years ago and is still continuing. And here's the universe's current recipe: 4% baryonic matter (stuff like atoms and energy we can measure), 23% dark matter, and 73% powerful and elusive dark energy.
Friday, October 17, 2003 @ 7:51 am
Thrifting Their Way Across America
Christopher Wilcha And John Freyer thrift across America in a 1978 Ambulance. I'm watching out for Second Hand Stories this season on PBS.
Thursday, October 16, 2003 @ 9:18 pm
Lego Master Builder
When I was about 8 I probably thought that if I worked hard enough and built enough kewl lego thingies, then when I grew up I get a job as a Lego Master Builder. Why did I let that dream die?
Thursday, October 16, 2003 @ 6:16 pm
I Left My Heart... on an expressway ramp in Atlanta
Human heart found on I-75/85 by inmate work crew.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 @ 12:58 pm
This I Gotta See
Seven foot, seven inch tall basketball star Manute Bol is set to make his debut as a horse jockey this coming Saturday.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 @ 12:54 pm
And The Republic of Fat to which it sits
It's not necessarily fast food and portion size, says an article in the NYT Magazine, which has made U.S. citizenry so damn fat. It's the overproduction of corn and an abundance of cheap corn sweeteners, cornfed meat and chicken that's to blame.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 @ 9:55 am
Chi Trib: The Mitt hits the Fan
The dumbass 26 year-old fan who cost the Cubs game 6 last night was escorted by security guards out of Wrigley Field with his head covered with a jacket because hostile fans were throwing beer at him and cursing at him.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 @ 8:52 am
X marks the spot
If you're like me and are sick of visiting places just because of tourist book reviews, dramatic scenery, preponderance of yummy restaurants, good live music scene, or other arbitrary reasons, then you should try browsing the Degree Confluence Project to pick your next destination by its longitude and latitude. The project is trying to creates an organized sampling of the world by visiting each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and
to take pictures at each location.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003 @ 8:21 am
Fat people up 400%
Creepy fat guy charts up 1000%.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003 @ 10:43 pm
Word, Prince goes knocking on doors to preach the word
But not during a Vikings game, you little dweb. On Yom Kippur. At a Jewish household. And the Vikings had possession of the ball about two seconds ago.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003 @ 10:15 pm
What makes little kids scream in terror?
Really big robot animals, that's what-- Like a house fly with a 10-foot wingspread and a giant squid with 18-foot tentacles.
The Robot Zoo is a traveling exhibit that reveals the biomechanics of giant robot animals to illustrate how real animals work. It also kinda creeps me out. Right now it's showing at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA and going to Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta next.
Tuesday, October 14, 2003 @ 5:21 pm
The Doctor is in
Armed burglers break into the home of a marshal arts expert who is know as the doctor and a Jackie Chan/ Quentin Tarantino film ensues.
Monday, October 13, 2003 @ 9:37 pm
Undercoat this
Almost time for the new 2004 cars to roll off the lot. There are lots of great looking autos coming out, except of course the 2005 Chrysler 300C, which is ugly as hell.
Monday, October 13, 2003 @ 9:25 pm
Zimmer still full of piss and vinegar
The only thing I'm sorry about is that I didn't knock that skinny little SOB's butt clear into the Charles River... he pulls some shifty little move you wouldn't expect from a 10-year-old girl. The 72-year old Yankee's coach Don Zimmer gives a hilarious press conference after his fight with Red Sox pitcher Martinez.
Monday, October 13, 2003 @ 10:27 am
Personally, I welcome our new robotic monkey overlords
Duke University scientists have been able to translates the brain signals from monkeys into movements of a robot arm. The monkeys appeared to be treating the robot arm as their limb.
Monday, October 13, 2003 @ 9:55 am
Open Video Project: a digital video collective
Check out the Open Video Project, a large digital library of video compiled by researchers at UNC Chapel Hill. Be sure to watch 2 a.m. in the subway.
Monday, October 13, 2003 @ 8:53 am
I keep having these dreams of a train
going through a tunnel...
Continuing Chicago's history of introducing groundbreaking architecture to America, a major new work by Dutch Architect Rem Koolhaas has opened on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Monday, October 13, 2003 @ 7:48 am
Mom's proud and you get $1.3M for your trouble
In case you've been looking for more details about this year's winners, checkout the Nobel Prize site.
Sunday, October 12, 2003 @ 7:40 pm
If Cuban cigars kill thousands each year,
perhaps they are WMDs
Is President Bush mulling over just going ahead and invading Cuba? The U.S. administration seems set on strengthening enforcement of the ban on tourism by Americans to Cuba.
Saturday, October 11, 2003 @ 9:49 am
Show some snap in your step
A group of scientists are studying the biology and psychology of social recognition and have come up with a gadget to show biological motion patterns. Try pressing the "lines" button to make it easier to see.
Thursday, October 9, 2003 @ 3:36 pm
Like cava for your eyes
Try out this exhaustive virtual tour of Barcelona.
Thursday, October 9, 2003 @ 3:24 pm
Evidently out of practice, Vatican priest don't understand condoms
Despite assurances by the World Health Organisation that their notions about condoms are untrue, The Catholic Church is telling people in countries stricken by AIDS not to use condoms because they have tiny holes in them.
Thursday, October 8, 2003 @ 2:33 pm
Faces in the crowd
Middle Manger from Shakse.
Thursday, October 7, 2003 @ 2:32 pm
Texans use Hitler as an uplifting icon
High school marching band plays Hitler anthem and waves Nazi flags during a halftime show on Rosh Hashana. This was in Texas.
Thursday, October 2, 2003 @ 2:30 pm
I'm eating dinner right now, let me call you back
The home telephone numbers of 11 top executives of the Direct Marketing Association are on the FTC's Do Not Call list.
Thursday, October 02, 2003
New Arts and Culture database
The Cultural Policy & the Arts National Data Archive is the world's first interactive digital archive of policy-relevant data on the arts and cultural policy in the United States.
Thursday, October 02, 2003
half price electricity
Europe's largest semiconductor maker says that by next year they will be able to produce solar cells which generate electricity at one half the cost of burning fossil fuels.
Thursday, October 02, 2003
Cruizin with the remote and chips
Casual Lofa: This sofa is fully street legal!
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
$87b here, $87b there
Ted Turner calls the war in Iraq a failure: We spent $87 billion to blow Iraq up and then we spent another $87 billion to put it back together, and all to get one man and we still haven't got him, Turner said.
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Tough town, Baghdad
Unemployed Iraqis riot beause job bribes are too high. Number of U.S. forces killed in the Iraq war tops 300. But the good news is classes started today for most of Iraq's 5 million+ students. 1,061 schools have been rehabilitated by the Provisional Authority.
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
Take a bite out of crime
The secret to crime prevention: dogs, lights and Metallica.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Too much to bear
Here you go, a bear trampoline video.
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Segway, my way
Build yourself a homemade Segway.
Monday, September 29, 2003
Lots of money to throw around
What's on the shopping list for the $20 billion for Iraq.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Nice old tree in your yard
A Jurassic age tree once thought extinct, the Wollemi Pine will soon go on sale as the perfect patio plant.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Billy's bday
Today is William Faulkner's birthday.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Blowin' by the gas pumps
With laptop batteries under the hood, the Tzero by AC Propulsion is an electric car that goes 0-60 in 4 seconds with a 300 mile range.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Hair to remember
It's about being in the right place at the right time. And it definitely all came together in Sweden during the 1970s. It must have been a magical time.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Can't stop
Juego super adictivo
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Don't go shavin'
Well, my money's on Willi Chevalier, the current world champion. The World Beard and Moustache Championships will take place in Carson City, Nevada, on November 1, 2003.
>Wednesday, September 24, 2003
Find a plumber in yer 'hood
Google has launched a new search by location feature.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
Compare and contrast
How well does the U.S. stack up against the rest of the world? Check out nationmaster.com to find out. We are 47 in the world for education spending per person, ranked between Brazil and St. Vincent. And only 42 in the world for life expectancy -- nestled between Jordan and Guadeloupe. And while the U.S. is ranked first in rape, we should at least be thankful we pay low taxes-- 30th in the world.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
They know it, man
Just brilliant. What fifth graders think of Radiohead.
Saturday, September 20, 2003
But what did his RA have to say about it?
From parts salvaged from junk yards and charity drops, freshman creates a nuclear fusion reactor.
Friday, September 19, 2003
U.S. economy living on borrowed time?
The chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, Kenneth Rogoff, said today if a 'poor developing country' tried running a deficit equal to 5% of annual output, the market would give them 'just enough rope to hang themselves' before credit stopped and the currency went into freefall. He's talking about the U.S.!
Friday, September 19, 2003
A flash site from a long, long time ago
Create your own Historic Tale. A beautifully useless flash site.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
This is broken
This Macy*s sign is broken. Find pics of more broken things at thisisbroken.com.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Ocean's a'rockin
Yeah buoys, check live raw data reports around Isabel. Or if you're really geeky, try Dial-a-Buoy at (228) 688-1948, and just punch in the buoy id. The open-sea buoys #41001 and #41002 are already reporting 25ft waves.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Window on a wet world
This webcam from the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse might be a good window to watch Isabel. Until the camera gets blown the hell outta there.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Who is Mr. X?
Do you know Mr. X ? An amnesiac 20 year old turns up in an Oslo hospital. He may have lived in SF.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Group Knowledge is power
How To: group knowledge shaping intuition. By a new car on the last Friday of the month-- good tip.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Great new job, sort of
You think your job is bad? Popular Science magazine ranks the most torturous ways to make a living in science.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
How did Canada get so hip?
Dude, I just got burned by the Man-- Again! Medical marijuana users in Canada complain their federal government is selling them shake.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Nice Bench. Where'd it come from?
I hope they scrape off the gum and snot first.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Can't stand the heat?
Get inside the best restaurants in NYC.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Arrr, 'twil be a fine day
Don't forget! September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Monday, September 15, 2003
WMDs Found!
Weapons of Mass Destruction have been found! Trouble is they're in a redneck's meth lab in North Carolina.
Monday, September 15, 2003
Every minute of 9/11 triangulated and disected
The most exhaustive timeline of 9/11/01 you've ever seen.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Not so popular
Going over like an $87 billion lead balloon.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Yellowstone, full of ashholes
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory is Monitoring the Largest Volcanic System in North America. A 2000 BBC documentary described the earth's last supervolcanic eruption as having so much ash and sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere that it blocked out the sun, causing the Earth's temperature to plummet.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Yelllowstone ready to blow?
Yellowstone Super-Volcano might be building for a Pompeii-like explosion, but 100,000 times worse.
Saturday, September 13, 2003
jeffjet, it has a nice ring to it
Kinda like the URL jeffjet.com. Too bad it'a already taken by an awwwsuuum site
Friday, September 12, 2003
Ground zero panoramas
Ground zero QTVRs.
Friday, September 12, 2003
John Ritter
John Ritter has died of a heart condition.
Friday, September 12, 2003
Johnny Cash
The Man in Black has died.
Friday, September 12, 2003
'nother segway
Burning Man Segway mod.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
oops
Oops, dropped the satellite.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Soul? I don't need no stinkin' soul
Finally, a way I can pay off my debts. WWYS® will give me cash for my soul.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Boowoooaaaaaaah
Now that you ask, the lowest note in the universe is a B-flat 57 octaves below middle C. It's coming from the Perseus Cluster, 250 million light-years away.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Look away
My eyes! They're goin' crazy.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Well bless your heart, Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz City Council requests the U.S. House Judiciary Committee to investigate the President for impeachment.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
I (heart) the big Snapple
Some of us have been calling it the big Snapple for years.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Public Library of Science
Coming soon: Public Library of Science.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
5sec. rule put to the test
Scientists exam the five-second rule.
Monday, September 08, 2003
Not so Happy Meals
Guantanamo Bay is a tough place, even with Happy Meal enticements.
Monday, September 08, 2003
Overlooked
From the New York Times, A Rare View of 9/11, Overlooked.
Monday, September 08, 2003
Sometimes ya just gotta shake it
stealthdisco
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Slip is showing
Bush's job performance rated at good or excellent down to 45%. Sunday, September 07, 2003
Rainy Day Feelin'
Hurricane Fabian, up close and personal.
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Snack time
Tongue Tape(TM) Makes the Perfect Lunch Time Treat
Friday, September 05, 2003
Cruizin' cross the bay
No more bridge tolls with my next car.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Power of the House of Saud
The New York Times cities a Vanity Fair article which says that while all U.S. aircraft were grounded in the days after 9/11, private planes picked up Saudis (including members of the bin Laden family) from 10 cities and spirited them out of the U.S. Holding $1 trillion on deposits in U.S. banks, another $1 trillion in the NYSE and having the world's only surplus production capacity of 2 million barrels a day will give you a lot of leverage in Washington it seems. Robert Baer's Atlantic Monthly article The fall of the House of Saud is pretty eye-opening.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Faces of the Fallen
467 U.S. soldiers were wounded in action in the Persian Gulf War. 1,124 have been wounded in the War on Iraq. Check out the interactive timeline of U.S. casualties in Iraq created by the Washington Post, Faces of the Fallen.
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
WMD!
A weapon of mass destruction has been found! And it's 20 million times bigger than the Hiroshima bomb. Trouble is, it's 10 1/2 years away in outer space.
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
You are here
Lewis & Clark and the Revealing of America from the Library of Congress is a great site and has a few original artifacts including the map they started out with.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
New bar
Google's toolbar? Then make your own Explorer bar.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Running for the bus is good for you
So it turns out living in cities might be good for you after all.
Friday, August 29, 2003
Guns and Dope all the way
Thinking about putting my support behind Guns and Dope party's Robert Anton Wilson for governor. His positions on social issues sound pretty good: --guns for everybody who wants them; no guns for those who don't want them. --drugs for everybody who wants them; no drugs for those who don't want them --freedom of choice, free love, free speech, free Internet and free beer. Although his plan to replace one third of the state legislature with ostriches seems troublesome.
Friday, August 29, 2003
Tour d'O
Ishmael Reed gives a nice tour of Oakland in the New York Times.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Hot Sockie
Monkeys for the multitudes.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Ahnold
A bunch of dirt on Ahnold in this 2001 article in Premiere Magazine.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Hail of a flight
Flying into a hailstorm can really do a number on a jetliner.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Outta the water!
Okay, the rest of the summer I'm not going in the water.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003