http://www.flickr.com/photos/norby

Sorry for the shortage of posts: I've been without internet recently.

Let's compare recent email trends that I've been seeing a lot of.

Cool Email Trend: Gmail's ability to keep emails together leading people to send quick emails. Example email:
In emailing with my D&D group to coordinate a time when we could get together, Angie mentioned that her art gallery opening was soon but didn't mention a time. I emailed back with "what time" and then she did a quick reply with the correct time. Anyone in the group viewing the email afterword would have that conversation preserved and anyone that needed to figure out what time we could meet could have all the information in one easy to read email conversation, rather than 43 (the final number of emails in the thread).

Uncool Email Trend: Quick email replies in any other context.

I emailed the local Comcast rep to get a business account set up for a corporate suite and he emailed me back to let me know the potential time we could schedule it for. I wrote him back, saying,

Hi [Name] and thanks for your help

That would work out great, but we are open 10am-4pm on Saturday. Could we perhaps move the install date to Friday 5/8?

Thanks,
Mike

Here is his email response in it's entirety:

Cool little project

Yes, really.

Quote from the NYTimes Article:"The craft first surfaced like something out of a science-fiction movie. It was November 2006, and a Coast Guard cutter spotted a strange blur on the ocean 100 miles off Costa Rica. As the cutter approached, what appeared to be three snorkels poking up out of the water became visible. Then something even more surprising was discovered attached to the air pipes: a homemade submarine carrying four men, an AK-47 and three tons of cocaine."

Also, way to totally overburn the edges of that photo, NYTimes.

If you are my friend I hope that you have seen this and so in case you haven't, I give you "A Case of Spring Fever" an actual short film ridiculed by the good folks at Mystery Science Theater 3000

Via [ITOD]

http://briandettmer.com/ via Make

http://www.mattbeaudoin.com/zelda.PNG

in other news, Hulu needs a less processing-intensive flash player.

For signing up with AT&T UVerse, I got a $100 reward that I assumed would be in the form of a credit on my first bill. Instead they have decided to put as many steps as possible between me and my money.

1) Today I received a letter in the mail that told me in order to get my reward, I would have to log onto their website and get it
2) I had to relookup my AT&T acct number
3) I then had to go through a two screen process in which I picked the only option: $100 check. This check will be mailed to me.
4) I hit submit on this screen and ended up back at the first screen. Just to double check that it went through, I tried redeeming it and it says it was "In cart, not redeemed"
5) So I redeemed it
6) My reward is expected to be shipped by 5/24 (a month from now)
7) Then it's off to the bank to cash it.

I'm guessing that someone figured out the more steps you put in, the more likely someone is not to redeem their reward? Our credit card rewards work in the same way. If you're getting back $50, they can do it as a credit on your account. If you are getting less, they send it back as a check (only in increments of $10) which you then have to take to the bank (the same company that issued it) in order to get the money.

[via]

As I work on the computer at work, I like having task manager running so that I can see all the graphs go by as I do different things. Now, thanks to the following screenshot, you can share in my enjoyment. Below is a chart of network connection usage.


The red graph shows data uploaded. The plateau is me sending an email with a few differnt attachments. The yellow spike (data downloaded) is when I checked my sent items folder and my email client had to download that same email I just sent from the server.

The graph doesn't ever zero out because I have Windows Picture Manager open on a file on the network and for whatever reason that constantly uses a small amount of bandwidth.

If you thought that was exciting, you should watch CPU usage! If you didn't think that was exciting, you probably weren't the only reader out there with that thought.

The Consumerist has the story of the duo that attempted to break the world record for most text messages:

"A pair of friends in Pennsylvania decided to pursue the world record for text messaging. After they reached 217,000 texts, they learned that one of their providers, T-Mobile, really had an upper limit to "unlimited" texting, and sending 217,000 texts led to a $26,000 phone bill that cost $27 just to mail.

Theoretically, the plan is unlimited, but T-Mobile's system does technically have a limit of 100,000 messages. Procedures for what to do when a customer exceeds that limit didn't exist, since no customer ever had."

http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/consumerist/full/~3/0YaS7RlhT54/man-runs-up-26000-t+mobile-bill-pursuing-text-message-record-thumbs-in-stable-condition

Thanks to a post on CRAFT, I have learned that at Gen Con (the tabletop gaming convention) there are people in charge of "spousal activities" in case people's wives don't feel like slinging dice all day.

Brought to you by the episode of American Idol that Karen was watching and AT&T UVerse's ability to pause and rewind TV

Karen spotted this photoshop disaster in her May issue of Nylon and was nice enough to let me post it. Click if you want to see it bigger.

Everytime I hear the song "Gravedigger," this is the first thing that comes to mind.

From a Fark Photoshop Contest: Star Wars characters start new careers in advertising


And there. I've now been able to get rid of all my open tabs. That's all the posts for today. See you tomorrow.

Manbabies.com is a site where full of father/son headswaps. Ciara, with your history of combining faces, this should be right up your alley.

It's not just for church. Twitter is also now being encouraged at a movie theater. I'd love a little bit of MST3k in my movie-going experience.

During a screening of "Zoolander," audience members could heckle the movie via text, then watch as their comments appeared onscreen with the film: "I want a comb-over like Trump" and "Breakdance fighting is becoming more popular in UFC."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0416-twitter-moviesapr16,0,3057577.story

The crew over at It's Lovely I'll Take It tracks the appearance of Chair in various real estate photos through the country.

Below: Chair enjoys a lovely view, Chair checks the fridge



More travels at: http://www.lovelylisting.com/search/label/Chair

May I also point out that I am reading your comic online for free?

http://www.thomasdoyle.net/reclfr_set.html

Below I've pasted the full artcile from http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/2341675/Hoax-call-backfires-for-woman

A young woman's hoax call about an armed robbery designed to distract police so she could drive home after drinking backfired on her.

A young couple who had been out drinking around 1am this morning thought they could outsmart police with a hoax call after they were told not to drive home, North Shore area commander inspector Les Paterson says.

After telling police they would walk to a nearby taxi stand, they instead they called 111 and reported a bogus incident of masked men with guns on the forecourt of a service station about 500 metres away.

"They had the brief pleasure of watching a bunch of police cars whiz past, they then jumped in their car intending to drive off in the opposite direction but a police officer took a detour on a 'hunch' and located them."

The pair denied making the call so the police communications centre redialled the number that had rung 111 and to the young woman's embarrassment the phone she was holding started ringing.

She then admitted her actions, Mr Paterson says.

A 22 year old east Auckland woman was arrested for making a false complaint and attempting to drive with excess breath alcohol and will appear in the North Shore District Court next week.

As usual, I've got a lot of open tabs that I'm kinda on the fence about. So let's just start posting and I'm sure there will be something you like today.

Compare advertisements to the actual food over at This Piggy

Fanfics (aka fan-written stories based on shows/movies) are a pretty steady stream of entertainment since they're usually rather poorly written. Here's a not-too-horrible example just to get a feel for it. So Karen, to answer your question about the latest in Gilmore Girls, it involves random shootings:

From this point on everything happened really fast. Rory appeared at the point where the noise came from. One of the man saw her and pointed his gun in her direction. Luke noticed it and made a movement to her. Then a bullet crossed the room…Lorelai was screaming “NO!”…and it hit Luke in the back. In the aftermath the two man grabbed the money and escaped.

Luke may be dead, but at least Rory is still alive to love Jess.

Alright then, so what is up in other TV universes? What ever happened on Boy Meets World? What is Eric up to?

"He stroked his gray hair with tender, loving fingers, his worried eyes fixated upon his handsome face. His love's face twitched, and Eric's breath caught in his throat. He did not want to wake him. He needed his sleep, but just as badly, he needed to be here with him, touching him, reassuring himself that he still lived and was all right."

But it's not just TV sitcoms that get fanfics...

She made her way up to Bill, then took his hand into hers, and he could see a light, 100 watts of perfection, glowing in their midst. Life was good.

“Do you, Bill Nye, the science guy, take Jill Hurl, the science girl, as your wife?”

Bill was choking with tears. “I just…yes!” he exclaimed, looking into Jill’s eyes.

Jill also gazed into his eyes as well.

“And do you, Jill Hurl, the science girl, take Bill Nye, the science guy, as your husband?”

“I do! I do! But on one exception-“ she pronounced.

“And what’s that, Jill, anything for you!” Bill smiled.

“We’re taking my last name. I don’t want people to know I’m married to THE Bill Nye. After all, everyone knows I’m too smart for you!”

“Wha-what? I AM NOT STUPID!” Bill screamed.

“Oh yes you are!” Jill taunted.

“NO I AM NOT!”

“Well I bet I can create a better science show than you!” Jill challenged.

OH IT'S ON NOW

FFWD to :50 for the good stuff.

Not that the Life Cake isn't cool too.

Like Phil, I took got one of these in the mail today. Cover includes dinosaur and some sort of cheetah hydra.

[MIKE LAUGHS]


[via]

Just because I printed 50 copies of the last thing I printed does not mean I want the "50" to carry over for the next thing I print. I did need to print 50 applications. I did not need to print 50 copies of someone's 3 page GSI income information.

The same person that asked how a recent bankruptcy would affect getting approved for an apartment seconds later told me she wanted to rent out biggest, most expensive, never-on-special apartment for $1140/mo when we have other two bedrooms that rent starting at $793/mo.

Why not have carrier pigeons smuggle in cellphone parts to you?
http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/16/devious-carrier-pigeon-caught-trying-to-smuggle-cellphone-parts/

[via google reader]

Sign one: Your move
Sign two: Checkmate

The consumerist has an article about 9 legal drugs with extremely disturbing side effects

The kind of trombones the Arkham Marching Band would use

[From a trombone type gallery via neatorama]

Amber's cat, Ozzie, showed up on I Can Has Cheezeburger. I bring you the breaking story as it happens in gchat:

me: who wrote the caption! tell me the entire glorious backstory
Amber: a couple weeks ago i was playing on their lolcat builder
and i couldn't think of a caption to submit it with, so i just scratched the idea
but i guess if you load it onto the builder they have the photo still
so someone added the caption and it was just randomly on there when i looked today!!!!

If there can be one girl-cat-named-after-a-boy-person on ICHC with Ozzie, then Zooey needs a piece of the fame. I'm looking at you, Joel.

"As night falls, puzzler enthusiasts gather outside a residential block in Ukraine in an attempt to decipher the world largest crossword.

But unlike your newspaper variety, this puzzle is more than 100ft high and fills the entire external wall of a tall building in the historic city of Lvov.

Clues to the massive puzzle, which is 19 squares across and 34 squares high, have been scattered around the city's major landmarks and attractions including parks, fountains, and theatres.
[...]

The brainteaser is too big to be penned by hand, so fluorescent letters are placed inside every square and turned on at night revealing the complete solution."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1119722/The-worlds-largest-crossword-puzzle-built-100ft-tower-block-Ukraine.html

Our UPS guy, Steve, came by the office today to drop off some packages for residents that weren't home. He also told me there was a huge box that he delivered to our apartment that Karen signed for. I got excited since we weren't expecting any kind of package, so I texted Karen to see what it was.

It was a giant empty box that Comcast had sent us to send back our old cable boxes in.

[via bb]

Let me save you some time: ffwd to 2:00.

[via iotd]

"Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city (NYC) with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal."



Time saving alert: nothing happens at the end of the video.
[via MAKEblog]

^obligatory pun^
"AN architect has painted his entire house, and everything in it, bright blue as part of a barmy experiment.

Not even the pot plants have escaped an airbrushing.

Arty Peter Kaschnig said he wanted to see the psychological effects of living surrounded by just one colour."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2374671.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News

"A polar bear attacked a woman at Berlin Zoo Friday afternoon after she climbed a fence and jumped into its habitat during feeding time, police said Saturday.

One adult polar bit her several times after she plunged into the moat, police said."

http://digg.com/d1oWAs

It amuses me when someone sends us an email through a website and they put their name as something like John D so that, I'm assuming, they don't give anyone their full name.

But then their email will be something like JDoe83@website.com

[via CRAFT]

[via Cake Wrecks
]

Fark brings us the story of a woman that was driving down the road with 20 cats loose in her car

"Sioux City's finest practiced their cat-herding skills Friday afternoon after pulling over a woman driving on Interstate 29 with approximately 20 cats roaming her Dodge Neon.

Sioux City Police Sgt. David Bishop said Patricia Edwards, of Garland, Texas, was pulled over just as she crossed from Iowa into South Dakota, because the sheer number of uncaged cats in the car was a driving hazard.

"She's got so many cats she can barely see out the back of the car," Bishop said.

Things got interesting when four of the cats crawled out of the car while Edwards was standing outside the vehicle talking to police. She quickly grabbed one of the cats, but the other three made a break for it."

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2009/04/11/news/local/d09db42c89bc240b86257595000bdc50.txt

[watching this was like watching the end of a movie]

We had AT&T U-Verse installed Saturday and finally are free of Comcast. For what we were paying with Comcast, we not only get a DVR, but also get a bunch more channels. And we got our first month free. The install is very time intensive, but it's worth it.

Anyhow, back when we were getting our AT&T appointment set up, I mentioned how it was nice because now I could call Comcast and schedule our turn off date. The AT&T rep told me that I shouldn't do that yet because they "wouldn't want any interruptions of service" and AT&T's email confirming my appointment told me the same thing. I ended up not calling Comcast anyhow just because I knew our appointment time may have needed to change.

So Saturday I called Comcast to get service shut off. They took me through the usual stuff ("We're sorry to lose you as a customer" etc) and then got to the part that I knew was coming: they offered me deals (in fact they offered me the triple play for $10 below list price). I turned them down and was happy with the service rep who did her job without being a jerk about it.

Anyhow, I realized that that's the reason why AT&T didn't want me to call and cancel service: if I called before I had AT&T service, Comcast would have the opportunity to try and get me to reconsider and could point out that AT&T has a long installation. So in "making sure I have uninterrupted service" AT&T is also making sure that I don't get to talk to Comcast until Comcast has already lost me. Pretty smart.

This is not my favorite Easter painting. Don't get me wrong: the resurrection is the the best part of Easter itself, but that doesn't mean it is my favorite painting.

This is my favorite.


I like Giovanni Bellinni's Pieta because it's one of the few death of Jesus ones where you look at his face and He truly looks dead and like He has suffered greatly in death. He doesn't look like he is sleeping and there aren't little cherubs floating about. I think it gives better perspective to the whole suffering and really makes you think more about the time on earth between His death and His ascension and makes you wonder what dark times those must have been between the time He died and came back. It makes the resurrection all the more miraculous.

The internet is also for things titled "Worst _______ Ever"

Just in case you ever hear Please Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna and wonder "What is she saying at that one bridgey part?" [ffwd to 2:30] let me save you some googling time since it's not in the lyrics online. Some sites refer it to it as "Ma ma se, Ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa" or "mama say mama say". It's actually something sampled from a Michael Jackson song which is sampled from "Soul Makossa. Tell it, wikipedia:

"Soul Makossa" is a 1972 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist Manu Dibango. [...] It is probably best remembered for the chanted vocal refrain "Mama-ko, mama-sa, ma-ka-ma-ko-ssa", which was also used in Michael Jackson's 1983 "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (albeit in a different key with a not-so-monophonic melody) during the song's final bridge. It is also sampled in the hip hop song "Face Off" by artist Jay-Z on his album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 as well as the single "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna. "Makossa" means "(I) dance" in Duala, a Cameroonian language."

Today we stopped at McDonalds and were greeted with a cheery prerecorded message at the drive through "Welcome to McDonalds! Would you like to start you day off with a big mac?"
1) That is a poor way to start off a day
2) It was 8:32pm

When we got our free phones (me a Blackjack II, Karen a Blackberry), we got them free from let's talk because we agreed to buy a data plan for 6 months (this, btw, is the mobile phone definition of "free"). Today is the first day without it. Pratically speaking, I realize that it's not worth almost doubling our monthy wireless bill (data plans add on $30 per phone) to be able to check movie times on the go, but it's amazing how much you miss it when it's gone. This is why Obama was reluctant to give up his Blackberry.

I don't get $30 of enjoyment out of being able to check my email from anywhere, but it's crazy how you get accustomed to it. Karen's laptop lives very near the bed, but she would find herself checking for emails on her phone instead. And when I would go to bed, even though I was at my computer 20 minutes ago, I would check to see if any new emails came in. If I woke up before my alarm, I'd always check my emails right after I checked the time.

In the end though, I like having money more than I like looking at lolcats on the go via mobile Google Reader. But only slightly.

The internet is for cat videos

"A former Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers actor has been sentenced to death for the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks of Prescott, Arizona."

Let this be a lesson, parents. This is what happens when youth are IN shows that have too much violence in them. Who's next? Leonardo?

http://perezhilton.com/2009-04-10-power-rangers-star-sentenced-to-death

The New Yorker runs a cartoon that is verrrrry similar to a cartoon that already exists

http://blog.toothpastefordinner.com/index.php?blogid=366

While currently waiting for the AT&T U-Verse guy to show up and install my cable, I read an interesting NYTimes story about the people paid to fill up the RSS feeds of the internet.

Mr. Arrington says he has gained 30 pounds in the last three years, developed a severe sleeping disorder and turned his home into an office for him and four employees. “At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen.”

“This is not sustainable,” he said.

I think it's the article's last paragraph that really makes it.

and is selling $200 gift card codes for 2 bucks: http://digg.com/d1oIPt. That'll buy a lot of 1.29 DRM free music.

Someone out there sees this shirt and says "This shirt says so much about me! I must have it!"

Karen found this one for me.

According to USA Today, Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series, accounts for 16 percent of all book sales so far this year. Sixteen percent! In other words, just under 1 in 6 of all books sold had "Stephenie Meyer" on the cover.

[source]

I saw this on the back of my Knights of the Dinner Table magazine and knew it had to be a blog post. For just $20 you can have this on a shirt.

Today I learned that on myspace, you can merge profiles with someone. I realize that some couples like to share emails and stuff, but I didn't know it was now possible with social networking profiles as well

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh [and one myspace]

In an unrelated note, I canceled my myspace account today. I can't even keep up with facebook, let alone the same people friending me on myspace (and I can't even remember why I made a myspace acct). Cancelling is a multi step process that involves myspace saying "are you SURE you want to do this?" every step of the way. So now I can just behind on keeping up with one site rather than two.

While I have you reading, if you are my facebook friend, please allow me to wish you a happy early/late birthday.

Definitely the most unlikely shot I have ever seen

and turn your volume down.

This monday Ann Arbor's Best Game Store is running a Carcassonne tournament. I am all about this.

In other Carcassonne news, they have apparently run out of tile laying expansions and are resorting to dexterity based expansions that sound bizarre and lame. Yes, they added a catapult.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22149195

[via bb]

I get 100 bonus nerd points for mentioning IG-88 in a March post. If you ever wanted to get a handle on just how nuts people go with Star Wars character backstories, this is the place to see it.

Full Article from Den of Geek Via Fark

I wish I would have thought of this: just take a segway and turn it into a small car-like thing. The internet says "deathtrap" but not any more so than something like a motorcycle. And if more people drove these, they wouldn't be the smallest thing on the road. FFWD to the part where they show it.



http://digg.com/d1o8vT

Let's think for a second. Games that were popular on Gamecube: Metroid, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Super Smash Brothers, Mario, Mario Party, Zelda. Games that now exist on Wii? All of those. Popular SNES games from 15 years ago? Metroid, Mario Kart, Mario, Harvest Moon, Super Punch Out, Zelda. All on Wii or scheduled to be on Wii.

I know I'm not the first blogger to point this out, but Nintendo needs to get some new games out there. And by new games I don't mean "Release the same Pikmin game but this time with motion controls".

It's funny how many of the Wii's top games have already been done before. When Nintendo does put out an original game, it does great (see: Wii Fit, Wii Sports).

The weird thing is, despite the wild success of Miis, Nintendo hasn't done anything with them since, what, Wii play? I'm of course not counting the fact that Miis show up on the sidelines in Mario Kart.

There was a letter in the most recent issue of Nintendo Power in which the reader suggested that they make a Mii RPG in which, at the start of the game, you get to pick who is in your party and who the evil bad guy is. So I could play the game being the lead w/ Karen as the cleric and together we could try to overcome Steven Colbert. Genius. Everyone would buy this.

I'm not sure why the wii is so short on innovative games. The DS gets great titles like Elite Beat Agents, Professor Layton, and Brain Age, but they just keep working on the same old franchises on Wii. As the letter shows, it's not like there's a shortage of good ideas out there

p.s. Nintendo, if you want ideas on how to make Animal Crossing 2, I would happily tell you how to make the game different and new

In the end, I think the next game that Karen and I are most looking forward to for the Wii would be the virtual console release of Super Mario World 2 from the SNES.

E3 is coming up, but so far the rumors about what's going to be shown include a new Zelda and the new Punchout. Punchout features the same character as the NES version.

FFWD to :25

[Via]

Edit: Also, Karen suggested that this was perhaps someone doing a voiceover, but the exact same video plays on their website.

I am going to make a product called the SmartCrazyStraw that you use to suck spilled liquids right off the floor. Only $1! And you call now I'll give you 2 for the price of one (just pay separate processing and handling).

"Birds generally lay eggs that are 1 to 10 percent of their body weight. But the kiwi produces a single egg that is 20-25 percent of its weight. The San Diego Zoo's Web site compares it to a 120-pound human female giving birth to a 24-pound baby."

This and more at 10 Things You Didn't Know About Eggs

Someone called today asking for directions to a lake that would be 5 miles away from us if it existed. It does not.

The main facebook guy has started sending out company emails to his workers with subtle changes so that he's able to figure out who's leaking his memos to the internet
http://valleywag.gawker.com/5196078/mark-zuckerbergs-status-update-paranoid-as-hell

[via Allie]

Zaragon Place is about to open up in downtown Ann Arbor in May. It's crazy expensive: they offer two bedrooms for $2000-$2500 per month (aka 24k-30k a year) and they've got this six bedroom that takes up two floors and goes for 6k-6.5k per month (72k-78k per year), giving people new opportunities to spend more on housing than they do tuition. Oh, and keep in mind the prices don't include any utilities other than cable and internet. They're furnished with flat screen tvs and all sorts of other fancy furniture. And while they're cool, yes, I don't know who's going to rent them.

It's one thing to pay $1250/mo plus utilities to live at your own one bedroom apartment, but it seems like it would be really hard to find another person that wants to do that so you get a two bedroom together. And I realize that people get 6 bedroom houses together, but they do that to save money because it's cheaper when you split something six ways.

Another intersting thing about this place is they allow people to sign individual leases. Everyone's responsible for their own rent rather than being jointly responsible. It sounds good if you think about the "what if a roommate skips town and we are responsible for his rent" scenario, but at the same time if that roommate did skip town, the Zaragon people would be able to fill that vacancy themselves and you could end up with a random living with you.



click to view full inside brochure: