Sometimes even I can enjoy online advertising...
I was recently reading a blog I enjoy,
Neatorama, when I noticed an unusual combination of banner ads at the side of their page. I found it a bit humorous, and thought that I would share.
Enjoy.
Labels: Humor
Some People Think of Everything...
A lot of people like their brownies to have an edge on them, instead of coming from the middle (I for one like the gooey center parts, but to each his own). Well, now you can bake brownies that have an edge on ALL of them. The clever people from
BakersEdge.com have created a baking pan for brownies and cookie bars, etc., that lets everyone who likes the edge have their favorite part.
Now with all that chocolatey goodness inside:
Labels: Things of Interest
PMS Survival Tips
Every guy needs to watch this at least once; I would suggest watching it until it's commited to memory. It should serve you well if you ever plan on dealing with females on a regular basis in the future.
Labels: Humor
Man, this world is weird...I love it.
When a 14 year old girl in Honolulu opened up her new
iPod, she got something she wasn't expecting: a slab of raw meat. Her mom had bought her the
iPod as a gift, but it was missing and the meat was there in its place. The
Wal-Mart where they bought it found out that a previous employee had apparently put meat in some boxes and taken the
iPods. Now that guy (I'm assuming it was a guy) has a sense of humor. And probably some jail time.
Another bit of humor some people didn't appreciate comes from Dallas. Several parents are complaining that a book they bought to help their toddlers learn how to use the bathroom is inappropriate. "Potty Time With Elmo" is supposed to be an interactive book that says several phrases when buttons are pressed to teach children how to "potty," but one of the buttons didn't seem to have much to do with
pottying at all! When pressed, one button prompted Elmo to ask, "Who wants to die?" One of the mothers called it a "sick joke," and that if it was a joke, "then it's a bad one." I might agree with the "sick" part, but I find it kinda funny.
This one's sort of cool. A twenty dollar bill was printed over A Del Monte fruit tag. It was printed in 1996 in Fort Worth, but no one has any idea how the tag got onto the bill. It was sold recently in an auction for $25,300 in Orlando.
Speaking of auctions for a lot of money, I will relate the quasi-misfortune I experienced recently concerning one. Quasi because I didn't actually lose anything, but I also didn't make a bunch of free money. As I'm sure most of my 3 or so readers know, OJ Simpson was writing a book about how he would have
committed the famous murders if he had actually done it called "If I Did It,' and there was also to be a
corresponding special on Fox. Well, due to public outcry, the special was cancelled, and all the books were recalled to be recycled. As soon as I heard that, my first thought was that I should try to buy one or two and sell them on
Ebay. I didn't know whether they had actually been shipped everywhere or not, but the word "recall" gave me hope, so I hit up Barnes and Noble to try and find a copy. Alas, I could not. But I just read
this article on the bid frenzy taking place over 3 copies of the book. Some of the legitimate bids have been several thousand dollars. I missed my chance. :(
Labels: Current Events, Humor, Things of Interest
Just give up, guys...
Those crazy guys at the U. S. Mint are at it again. They announced Monday that starting in 2007, they are going to release more $1 coins, this time with the faces of presidents on them. They hope that the presidents will be able to do what women couldn't: get people to actually spend them.
Starting with Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison in 2007, they plan on releasing a series that will eventually have all the presidents on them. Van Buren will be released in 08 and Fillmore in 10. One of the reasons they hope these will be more succesful than previous coins is that they think people will collect them. I've only taken a basic Econ class in college and even I can spot the flaws in that. If people collect them, they won't be spending them. They might get out into the populice fairly quickly (especially if they do what they've done previously and give them to Wal-Mart), but if people hoard them, that's where it stops. They're passed around like a hot potato that no ones wants. It's a general principle of Econ: savings = leakage.
But other than that, I really don't think they'll take off. People like what they're used to. One of the things brought up in the article I read is that they'll have to either get rid of the dollar bill or just mass produce so many coins people are forced to use them. I don't think many people will go for getting rid of the bill. I think one of the things the governments not looking at is how much more convienient it is to carry aronud bills than change. I hate change, and whenever I get it I put it in a jar in my car. I then use it at drive throughs and such, and when it fills up I take it to a CoinStar machiene and normally get about $20 off it. Bills you can just fold up and put in a wallet, change makes noise and weighs more and takes up more space. Just forget it, U. S. Mint. I for one will not be swayed. Bills only!
Article here.For those of you who read the old school Encyclopedia Brown books, you might want to check out the new, updated version:
Wikipedia Brown.
Labels: Current Events, Politics, Things of Interest
True football enthusiasts (players and fans alike) won't let a bit of snow stop them.
Thanksgiving has always (at least, since the advent of televised football) been hailed as a day to sit around in a tryptophan-induced stupor and watch football to your heart's content, but in 1950 something threatened all this, at least in Ohio. What became known as the Great Thanksgiving Storm, the deepest snowstorm in Ohio's history, reared its ugly head and covered Ohio in 20 to 30 inches of snow for 5 days, from November 23-27. But the Ohio State-Michigan game was scheduled for the 25th (which actually wasn't Thanksgiving, that was the 23rd, but whatever)! Whatever could they do?
Play the game, of course.
In an heroic effort, the teams marched out to compete in manly battle upon the frozen gridiron in what was called the "Blizzard Bowl", with a temperature of only 5 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 40 mph. In the end, Michigan came out on top, 9-3. There had been 27 yards gained total and not even one first down. It was truly a glorious day for the kickers.
What really gets me though, is that the marching band played. In my old days as a marching bander in high school (oh so many years ago), everyone complained if the temperature got below 40 or it was drizzling. We didn't march on several occasions because of a light rain. Sure, sometimes we toughed it out, but not often, especially on away games. Yet the band at this game not only went to the game and played (I assume; the video doesn't have sound), but they also marched their show in 5 DEGREE WEATHER. I wish today's bands (at least the ones I've had experience with) would follow their example and grow a pair. Harding's at least has been fairly good about this.
The stands are pretty filled as well, for the weather.
Read about the Great Thanksgiving Storm and see a video of its affects at
OhioHistory.org.
Labels: Things of Interest
Larry King has never used the Internet
Larry King was interview Roseanne Barr and started discussing the Internet as a political medium. He told her he had "never gone searching" on the Internet at all, and Barr started gushing about how great it all is. I think my favorite quote would have to be, "What do you punch little buttons and things?" by King. I can understand not liking it or not understanding it, but NEVER having used it, especially someone in his position? That's nuts. There's a video of the interview and the transcript
here.
Labels: Current Events, Humor
It's Halo Day Today!
It's be 5 years today since Halo was released. It's funny, but it actually seems like it's been longer, because in my memories I was so young, so new to the world when I first played it...those were the days.
But anyways, these are the days as well, because to commemorate the occasion, Bungie announced several exciting things. The first is a television commercial for Halo 3, set to appear on December 4 during Monday Night Football. They're doing something new with it this time and making it CG instead of actually gameplay like the other trailers have always been. They say they have always decided not to show the game until they think it's ready to be shown, so they're going more with the photorealistic graphics for this comercial. But they still gave all their models to Digital Domain, the company doing the CG, and they said it will still be scenes from the game. Should be cool.
Bungie also announced that next spring they will be releasing new multiplayer maps for Halo 2. The only thing is, they're only going to be for the Xbox 360, which makes me sad. Bungie says they will be amazing, so it may be time for me to trade up to the 360. The main thing keeping me back (aside from paying $400 for it) is that I don't want to lose all my saved data on my old Xbox, but I'm going to want one for Halo 3, so we will see.
Speaking of Halo 3, the last thing they announced was that, get this: next spring they are going to be releasing a multiplayer demo of Halo 3 on Xbox Live. That's right, before the game is out you can play beta Halo 3 multiplayer. But, once again, only on 360. That might tip my hand, but it will depend on several factors. Maybe I'll just ask for one for Christmas.
Read about it all on
Bungie's website.
Labels: Things of Interest
Things of Interest from Around the World
Today I've stumbled upon several stories from the plain interesting to the downright bizarre. The first one is about a humorous (in my opinion) new way they are collecting taxes in India. They are sending a group of eunuchs door to door to people who haven't paid their taxes, where they sing outside their homes until they pay them. So far, they've been very successful, according to
this Wahington Post story. Think about waking up to the gentle sounds of 20 eunuchs standing outside your window, singing about taxes. Sounds like a weird dream I had a while ago.
Next, we have something about our usual tricksters, North Korea and Iran. Apparently the Indian Coast Guard picked up an empty North Korean cargo ship headed for Iran after it broke down in Indian waters. Why would an empty ship be headed for Iran? No one knows, and the crew's not saying anything. That's reassuring. As
Mark Levenstein puts it in his blog, "I'm sure it was just a pleasure cruise."
A little bit closer to home, it seems that the confidence in Republican leadership has sunk to a new low. A dead woman (a Democrat) was elected county commissioner in Pierre, South Dakota over the Republican incumbent, 100 votes to 64. She had been dead for 2 months, so the voters knew about it and it wasn't an accident. Things aren't looking good for the Republicans. (Found at
MSNBC)
Last but definitely not least, we have
Season Shot, shotgun pellets that season the bird inside and out so you don't have to. You're able to cook the entire bird without having to worry about any of that nasty shot cracking your teeth when you eat it. It's not out yet, but it's in development. I readily await it's release.
Labels: Current Events, Things of Interest
The Robots Are Coming
It seems like everyone's about to be able to have their own personal robots soon. Scientists at Stanford are trying to create a robot to do tasks around the house, such as load and unload the dishwasher or cleaning up around the house. They're tryingt o develop a rudimentary form of A.I. for the original designs, but also trying to go further with it. "The ultimate aim for artificial intelligence is to build a robot that can create and execute plans to achieve a goal."
"'Within a decade we hope to develop the technology that will make it useful to put a robot in every home and office.'"
They've got some big names backing them: "Funding for the project has come from the National Science Foundation, DARPA and industrial technology companies Intel, Honda, Ricoh and Google."
Should be...interesting.
ArticleLabels: Technology, Things of Interest
Dressing Guide For Men
Very useful.
Labels: Humor
Finally...
Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to hang, more than three years after his capture. He wanted to be killed by firing squad, but they refused his request.
It's not quite over, however. The verdict is automatically sent to a group of 9 judges for appeal, who can take as long as they want to decide and can call new witnesses. But once they decide the verdict has to be carried out in 30 days.
If you want to read more, take your pick of news services:
Sky NewsWashington PostReutersBloombergABC NewsLabels: Current Events, Politics
Pictures and Links! Happy!
Ok, first off,
another gallery. Except this one's a gallery of famous sites and landmarks, with souvenirs replacing them. Observe:
Most of them are like this one, held perfectly over the landmark, creating very strange and cool effects. Check it out.
Next, we have a wonderful pie chart showing how much of itself resembles Pac-Man. Very educational.
Now, a cool little thing called
Drawing with Blue Water. Very neat.
Last for tonight,
40 Things That Can Only Happen in a Movie.
And with that, I'm going to watch Finding Forrester, because I'm not going to class tomorrow.
Labels: Gallery, Things of Interest
The Northern Lights
I recently stumbled upon an
amazing gallery of pictures of Aurora Borealis, taken by Bjorn Jorgenson. There are some really phenomenal shots on there. Here are a few of my favorites, but with more than 70 pictures in the gallery, I'm barely scratching the surface.
Now a little education, courtesy my Astronomy class. Aurora Borealis (and Aurora Australis, its southern counterpart) is formed when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's magnetic field. Normally they are deflected around the earth by its magnetism, but near the poles the field forms almost a funnel shape, and the particles spiral down it towards the ground, creating the lights. But you know, it doesn't really matter
how they happen, they're just really cool.
Labels: Gallery, Things of Interest
"The Vanishing Date"
The Morning News, an online magazine I keep up with, had a feature for Halloween I found entertaining. They wrote the beginning of a "classic" Halloween spooky story, and had all of their writers write endings to it. This is the beginning, then my favorite ending, which was by Matthew Baldwin, the author of
Defective Yeti, a blog I read (wow, that's a lot of commas).
The BeginningAs Henry pulled into the restaurant parking lot, he scanned the people lingering around the entrance and quickly identified his date by the ruby brooch on the shoulder of her wool coat.
“You’re early!” he said as he approached. “Susannah?”
“Henry!” she grinned. “Yes, I thought it would be easier if I let you figure out who I was; I hate introducing myself to strangers.”
“Well, if you had let me pick you up at your house,” he said, fake-accusingly.
“Let’s eat,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the door. “I’m starved.”
After dinner and a bottle of red wine, Henry was a little woozy as they walked back to the car. He was still drivable, though, and soon they were cruising down side roads, at Susannah’s direction, toward her house.
“There it is!” she said, pointing to an older house. The porch light was still on, even though it was nearly midnight. “Mom and Dad left the light on for me!” Henry slowed down to pull into the driveway, but her cold, small hand on his arm stopped him. “No, keep driving. I’m having too nice an evening.”
“All right,” Henry nodded dutifully. Eventually, they pulled into a local park. Henry turned off the car and turned to Susannah. He put his arm around her shoulders and was trying to pull her toward him when she jumped.
“Oh!” she said, putting her hand to her mouth in surprise. “I have to go!” Without another word, she broke from Henry’s grasp, opened the car door, and ran off into the dark.
Henry tried to follow her, but the alcohol was really beginning to work; he called her name for several minutes, to no avail. In the end, all he could do was get back in his car and drive home.
The next day, when he got into his car, he saw Susannah’s ruby brooch on the passenger’s seat. He backtracked through his memory of the evening and was able to find her parents’ house with surprising ease. He parked the car, grabbed the brooch, walked up the path, and rang the doorbell…
Matthew Baldwin's EndingThe woman who opened the door greeted him enthusiastically. “Welcome!” she cried. “Please, come inside.”
Henry stepped into the foyer of the mansion. “I, um—I’m looking for a girl,” he stammered.
“We know who you are,” cooed the woman. “And you’ve come to the right place.”
The woman stepped aside and gestured toward two beautiful ladies standing at the back of the room. Both were clad in magnificent gowns, and they eyed Henry with undisguised hunger.
An older man stood by their side, and he stepped forward to greet his guest. “You grace us with your presence, my lord,” he said with a bow. “These are my stepdaughters, and they have been eagerly awaiting your visit.”
“Oh. OK,” said Henry, confused. “Well, I have this brooch—”
“A brooch?” muttered the stepdaughter on the left. “But I thought—”
She and her sister exchanged crestfallen glances and then looked downward. For the first time Henry noticed that their shoes were soaked with blood.
A moment passed. “Never mind,” said the sister on the right. She hobbled forward, wincing with each step, then stopped before Henry and composed herself.
“It was I you danced with last night at the ball,” she said. “You have only to pin the brooch to my gown to know this as the truth.”
“The ball?” said Henry, his face the very picture of perplexity. He looked from one sister to the other, recognizing neither. “No, last night I—”
Then, abruptly, Henry’s befuddlement melted into chagrin. “Ohhhhh, no,” he moaned. He turned to father and asked, “What kind of story is this?”
“Oh, you know,” said the elder. “Fable. Thinly disguised morality tale, that sort of thing.” He jerked his head toward a doorway, through which Henry could see the kitchen. “I could bring out my real daughter, the cinder maid, if you want to cut to the chase.”
“No, no,” said Henry in embarrassment. “I—I think I’m at the wrong house. This was supposed to be, like, a spooky ghost story.”
Henry’s mortification deepened as the father burst out in laughter. “I’m so sorry to have bothered you,” Henry said sheepishly.
“No worries,” said the father, waving away the apology. “Happens all the time, to tell the truth. That’s the problem with these stories, you know: They never actually describe the house. It’s always just ‘her home’ or ‘an older house,’ so they all wind up looking the same.”
Henry visibly relaxed as the father continued. “We get folks from other genres here all the time. A coupla months ago we had a guy from a crime noir story. He kicked in the door, pulled a .38 special, and demanded to know where he could find ‘The Mook.’ We had a good laugh over that one, once we got it all sorted out.”
There was an awkward pause after the father finished chuckling. Eventually Henry broke the silence. “Look, I’ve kept you long enough,” he said. “I’ll get going and leave you alone.”
“Hang on,” said the father, putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You said you were looking for a scary story? Well, look: This is one of those original fairy tales, not that Disneyfied crap. So if you want to hang out for a few more minutes, you might get a suitable ending after all.”
Henry looked dubious. “Probably not the ending you were expecting,” conceded the father. “But horror stories that end unexpectedly are always the best kind anyway.”
Having imposed on the family thus far, Henry figured it would be impolite to decline the father’s offer. So Henry agreed to stay. The cinder maid brought mugs of ale, and they sat at the table, swapping tales. The father groused about the three pigs that lived next door; Henry told of the time he had returned home from a date to find a hook on the handle of his car door.
Then, suddenly, the front window exploded inward, and a flock of pigeons burst into the room. The bird swarmed the two stepdaughters
and pecked out their eyes!!Thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived.
“Awesome,” Henry said to their father. “Thanks!”
Read the other endings in
the full article.
Labels: Things of Interest
