LEDs for Beginners

This instructable is great. If you have never wired LEDs before and would like to give it a shot then start here. After you have it down pat try a simple google search for LED projects and you will of course find an endless supply of ways to occupy time with your new skill.

Dumbest Things Bush Ever Said

I am, generally, a believer of respecting the office of the president no matter who occupies it, but this is too funny to pass on. 50 Dumbest things Bush ever said.

Interesting Fork Art

Fork Art. This really is a must see. I genuinely like when people turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, just like Matthew Bartik does here.

Open Source Alternative

It goes without saying that I am a huge fan of open source software. Osalt.com takes it to the next level, this is a great directory with a great mechanism for browsing. I was an instant fan of this site!

Caroline

My Niece Caroline. Born on 12/20.

graphical history of religion

What happens in your body if you drink a soda (Coke, Pepsi, etc.) right now

I don't know where this came from, but interesting. I find the part about the calcium, magnesium, and zinc most interesting. Also I'm sure I have had 10 teaspoons of sugar w/o phosphoric acid and not hurled...

• In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
• 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get it’s hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
• 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dialate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
• 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
• >60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
• >60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
• >60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, pissed away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

wonderfunk

Increasing Brain Power

22 ways to overclock your brain.

The folks over at the ririan project have an interesting article definitely worth reading.

The Mechanics Files - CarTalk - NPR

Anyone who knows me is certainly aware that I listen to npr almost constantly when I am in the car. WHYY is Philly is truly a blessing, and I find myself going crazy if I drive out of its coverage area.....particularly in parts of the country that have rationalized it to be a good idea to leverage half of their day broadcasting classical music instead of more interactive npr programming.

One of my favorites is of course Car Talk, if you haven;t listened you should give it a shot. Tom and Ray manage to make every call (whether pathetic or complex) a good time. The also have this great feature on their website called The Mechanics Files. Basically it is a community populated and reviewed mechanics directory. One of the most stressful things you can do is take you car to the shop, at least I am constantly feeling like I am being ripped off. With the Mechanics Files you can really have more piece of mind.

Dennis
wonderfunk

Top 10 Guitar Tab Sites

The Wonderfunk - Top Ten Guitar Tab Sites

10. ActiveGuitar
9. Guitare
8. alt.guitar.tab
7. Guitar Tab Universe
6. 911 Tabs
5. Tab Robot
4. Ultimate-Guitar.com
3. Pink Floyd Tabs
2. Led Zeppelin Tabs
1. Grateful Dead Tabs / Jerry Garcia Tabs

Gymkids Step2Play Great Idea for the Video Game addicted

Unless you have a Wii which forces interactivity, this product by GymKids is a great idea. Play all the Video Games you want, exercises the mind while you exercise.

TV Lands: Top 100 Greatest Quotes and Catchphrases

From TV Land:

In alphabetical order, TV Land's list:

"Aaay" (Fonzie, "Happy Days")
"And that's the way it is" (Walter Cronkite, "CBS Evening News")
"Ask not what your country can do for you ..." (John F. Kennedy)
"Baby, you're the greatest" (Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, "The Honeymooners")
"Bam!" (Emeril Lagasse, "Emeril Live")
"Book 'em, Danno" (Steve McGarrett, "Hawaii Five-O")
"Come on down!" (Johnny Olson, "The Price is Right")
"Danger, Will Robinson" (Robot, "Lost in Space")
"De plane! De plane!" (Tattoo, "Fantasy Island")
"Denny Crane" (Denny Crane, "Boston Legal")
"Do you believe in miracles?" (Al Michaels, 1980 Winter Olympics)
"D'oh!" (Homer Simpson, "The Simpsons")
"Don't make me angry ..." (David Banner, "The Incredible Hulk")
"Dyn-o-mite" (J.J., "Good Times")
"Elizabeth, I'm coming!" (Fred Sanford, "Sanford and Son")
"Gee, Mrs. Cleaver ..." (Eddie Haskell, "Leave it to Beaver")
"God'll get you for that" (Maude, "Maude")
"Good grief" (Charlie Brown, "Peanuts" specials)
"Good night, and good luck" (Edward R. Murrow, "See It Now")
"Good night, John Boy" ("The Waltons")
"Have you no sense of decency?" (Joseph Welch to Sen. McCarthy)
"Heh heh" (Beavis and Butt-head, "Beavis and Butthead")
"Here it is, your moment of Zen" (
Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show")
"Here's Johnny!" (Ed McMahon, "The Tonight Show")
"Hey now!" (Hank Kingsley, "The Larry Sanders Show")
"Hey hey hey!" (Dwayne Nelson, "What's Happening!!")
"Hey hey hey!" (Fat Albert, "Fat Albert")
"Holy (whatever), Batman!" (Robin, "Batman")
"Holy crap!" (Frank Barone, "Everybody Loves Raymond")
"Homey don't play that!" (Homey the Clown, "In Living Color")
"How sweet it is!" (Jackie Gleason, "The Jackie Gleason Show")
"How you doin'?" (Joey Tribbiani, "Friends")
"I can't believe I ate the whole thing" (Alka Seltzer ad)
"I know nothing!" (Sgt. Schultz, "Hogan's Heroes")
"I love it when a plan comes together" (Hannibal, "The A-Team")
"I want my MTV!" (MTV ad)
"I'm Larry, this is my brother Darryl ..." (Larry, "Newhart")
"I'm not a crook ..." (Richard Nixon)
"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" (Vicks Formula 44 ad)
"I'm Rick James, bitch!" (Dave Chappelle as Rick James, "Chappelle's Show")
"Is that your final answer?" (Regis Philbin, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire")
"It keeps going and going and going ..." (Energizer Batteries ad)
"It takes a licking ..." (Timex ad)
"Jane, you ignorant slut" (Dan Aykroyd to Jane Curtin, "Saturday Night Live")
"Just one more thing ..." (Columbo, "Columbo")
"Let's be careful out there" (Sgt. Esterhaus, "Hill Street Blues")
"Let's get ready to rumble!" (Michael Buffer, various sports events)
"Live long and prosper" (Spock, "Star Trek")
"Makin' whoopie" (Bob Eubanks, "The Newlywed Game")
"Mom always liked you best" (Tommy Smothers, "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour")
"Never assume ..." (Felix Unger, "The Odd Couple")
"Nip it!" (Barney Fife, "The Andy Griffith Show")
"No soup for you!" (The Soup Nazi, "Seinfeld")
"Norm!" ("Cheers")
"Now cut that out!" (Jack Benny, "The Jack Benny Program")
"Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" (Stan and Kyle, "South Park")
"Oh, my nose!" (Marcia Brady, "The Brady Bunch")
"One small step for man ..." (Neil Armstrong)
"Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" (Grey Poupon ad)
"Read my lips: No new taxes!" (George H.W. Bush)
"Resistance is futile" (Picard as Borg, "Star Trek: The Next Generation")
"Say good night, Gracie" (George Burns, "The Burns & Allen Show")
"Schwing!" (Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as Wayne and Garth, "Saturday Night Live")
"Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" (Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle)
"Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids" (Trix cereal ad)
"Smile, you're on `Candid Camera'" ("Candid Camera")
"Sock it to me" ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In")
"Space, the final frontier ..." (Capt. Kirk, "Star Trek")
"Stifle!" (Archie Bunker, "All in the Family")
"Suit up!" (Barney Stinson, "How I Met Your Mother")
"Tastes great! Less filling!" (Miller Lite beer ad)
"Tell me what you don't like about yourself" (Dr. McNamara and Dr. Troy, "Nip/Tuck")
"That's hot" (Paris Hilton, "The Simple Life")
"The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat" (Jim McKay, "ABC's Wide World of Sports")
"The tribe has spoken" (Jeff Probst, "Survivor")
"The truth is out there" (Fox Mulder, "The X-Files")
"This is the city ..." (Sgt. Joe Friday, "Dragnet")
"Time to make the donuts" ("Dunkin' Donuts" ad)
"Two thumbs up" (Siskel & Ebert, "Siskel & Ebert")
"Up your nose with a rubber hose" (Vinnie Barbarino, "Welcome Back, Kotter")
"We are two wild and crazy guys!" (Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd as Czech playboys, "Saturday Night Live")
"Welcome to the O.C., bitch" (Luke, "The O.C.")
"Well, isn't that special?" (Dana Carvey as the Church Lady, "Saturday Night Live")
"We've got a really big show!" (Ed Sullivan, "The Ed Sullivan Show")
"Whassup?" (Budweiser ad)
"What you see is what you get!" (Geraldine, "The Flip Wilson Show")
"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" (Arnold Drummond, "Diff'rent Strokes")
"Where's the beef?" (Wendy's ad)
"Who loves you, baby?" (Kojak, "Kojak")
"Would you believe?" (Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart")
"Yabba dabba do!" (Fred Flintstone, "The Flintstones")
"Yada, yada, yada" ("Seinfeld")
"Yeah, that's the ticket" (Jon Lovitz as the pathological liar, "Saturday Night Live")
"You eeeediot!" (Ren, "Ren & Stimpy")
"You look mahvelous!" (Billy Crystal as Fernando, "Saturday Night Live")
"You rang?" (Lurch, "The Addams Family")
"You're fired!" (Donald Trump, "The Apprentice")
"You've got spunk ..." (Lou Grant, "The Mary Taylor Moore Show")

Willard Wigan

I have talked about this guy ( Willard Wigan ) before. I love his stuff, a must see if you missed on my last round of posting. Some background:

Willard Wigan was born in Birmingham, England in 1957 and is the creator of the smallest works of art on earth. From being a traumatised and unrecognised dyslexic child, he is now emerging as the most globally celebrated micro-miniaturist of all time and is literally capable of turning a spec of dust into a vision of true beauty.

protopage

I might be able to be won over. I have been exploring protopage a little bit more lately. As you all know I am a big fan of netvibes and have been using the tool since its inception. I am going to experiment with a protopage vs. netvibes comparison this month. I will replicate my netvibes pages in protopage and alternate days of usage for 30 days, I'll report back my findings. If you think there is another reasonable contender in this space let me know and I will add them to the test. speed, efficiency, functionality, bugginess are probably the key test areas I will explore.

Very cool taxonomy visualization

Interactive Tree Of Life is an online tool for the display and manipulation of phylogenetic trees.

There are several pre-computed trees available for display, including the main Tree Of Life, described in Ciccarelli, et al., 2006. In addition to the precomputed trees, you can upload and display your own trees and data, using the 'Data upload' page.

Use the tabs on the top of the page to navigate or click the trees below to proceed to the interactive pages. Extensive help pages, which provide detailed explanation of iTOL's interface and functions, are available. For further questions, comments or suggestions, please contact us.

If you find iTOL useful in your work, you can cite Letunic and Bork, 2006.

The Wii has been acquired

Wii - The revolution has begun. I have been able to purchase a Wii, one of the lucky I guess. I also purchased Zelda and Super Monkey Ball based on their reviews. The console came with Wii sports, which is the only game I have played so far and it is awesome. This is definitely the best console I have ever owned. It remains to be seen how racing and downhill games will be on the system, but I have high expectations. Based solely on WiiSports I would say get it!

Favorite Brunches

I am definitely a fan of brunch, possibly my favorite meal. After this weekend I think I have discovered my second favorite brunch ever. I'll start with my first. If you ever get a chance and find yourself in Portsmouth, NH you should make your way over to Molly Malones and do me the favor of having eggs any way you like them, but be sure to get the guinness braised corn beef hash, keeps us coming back again and again. Ok so now on to my 2nd favorite brunch. It happened to be at a funky dineresque like place called Meils in Stockton, NJ. It was really outstanding I had eggs benedict with bacon and the the bacon was super thick and tasty. This place was definitely worth it, you won't leave hungry.

Picasa and other google tools

Truth be known I am a huge google fan, there have only been a few moves that they have made that I haven't been a fan of, but all and all I think they are absolutely advancing the way we utilize huge information sets. A tool that I feel does this particularly well is Picasa, it has allowed me to very easily do everything I need with my digital photos, and I love features like the timeline. If you haven't checked this out yet you need to. (see picasa section on the right to download)

Another tool that is worth checking out because I believe it will revolutionize real tiem collaborative authoring and the model for application procurement and delivery in the corporate sector is Google Docs and Spreadsheets

I am listening to: We are the Dinosaurs by the Laurie Berkner Band

Farecast

New site that is imperative for travelers, the accuracy and approach to fare prediction is impressive. Check it out, also recently won a best in 06 award from popular science.

Robot Discovers Itself, adapts to injury

Robot Discovers Itself, Adapts to Injury from PhysOrg.com

Nothing can possibly go wrong ... go wrong ... go wrong ... The truth behind the old joke is that most robots are programmed with a fairly rigid "model" of what they and the world around them are like. If a robot is damaged or its environment changes unexpectedly, it can't adapt.

[...]

Jean-Luc Picard singing the alphabet

This cracked me up.

FlickrFont

This is pretty cool.
Static or Dynamic text using a FlickrPool and this wizard from Greg Hill.



comes with it's own very truthful warning:

Warning: This is not recommended from a usability, design, engineering or aesthetic point of view. In fact, it is so gimmicky with such garish results that I refuse to use it myself. Please think hard before inflicting this on your readers.

American Science and Surplus

American Science and Surplus Pretty cool site, I love catalogs like this online or not, I have always been a fan of the hand drawn entries...these guys also link to a full color photo with every entry, but still I love the nostalgic look and feel. As a kid I used to love the Campmor catalog, which did a similar thing back then.

Anyone have any others similar to American Science and Surplus?

What I am listening to: The Fray - Over My Head (Cable Car) - How to Save a Life

Helium

Wikipedia it is not, however if you are looking for multiple viewpoints on a particular topic, by people who care about it then Helium is your place. I must say I have grown addicted to this site, and not nearly as annoying as about.com.

Runningmap

Ok I have recently decided to try and start running (no audible laughs please) Consequently I came across this mash-up called runningmap ....very cool I am impressed with this tool.

Firebox - great stuff

Gadget Heaven.
Extremely interesting stuff.

---

Some reasons why english is such a tough language to learn:
We polish the Polish furniture.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
A farm can produce produce.
The dump was so full it had to refuse refuse.
The soldier decided to desert in the desert.
The present is a good time to present the present.
At the Army base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
The dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance for the invalid was invalid.
The bandage was wound around the wound.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
I shed a tear when I saw the tear in my clothes.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

Rollerman

When I saw this video, I immediately thought of my friend Larry and his summer sled.

Jellyfish and the Smack deal of the Day

Ok so here is a web 2.0 site with an interesting premise.

Jellyfish basically allows you to shop for goods and then get cash back accumulated into an account. Cash back rates I presume is negotiated by them in advance with retailers in a manner similar to an affiliate program except the purchaser benefits.

The smack deal of the day, which is every weekday at 1 pm EST has a sliding scale of cash back based on how close to sold out you get when your purchase is executed...some amazing deals have been had.

Upgrading to the new Blogger Beta

Here goes nothin'

I'll let you know shortly whether or not I love it or hate it.

Also looks like, that if I want to take advantage of any of there features, I'll have to use one of there prepackaged sucky templates.

What I am listening to: Lots and Lots of Led Zeppelin

Getting Sick of Attack Ads and Mudslinging campaigns?

Well have your very own fun creating glimmering educated endorsements with the George W. Bush Speech Writer...quite funny

Hot Deals and Poll Daddy

A couple of interesting sites:

I have found a few excellent deals here on Info About Hot Deals

Another cool site is PollDaddy - there is always a question you would like to know the answer to.

What I am listening to: When We Were Kings - Fugees and A Tribe Called Quest

Amaznode - visualizing related items

Amaznode:

Love this....cool way to find interesting related items to feed your conspicuous consumption. A cool visualization utility that tree maps all of the items "other people also purchased" related to a particular query. Here is a link for David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest

What I am listening to: Al Green - Take Me To the River

Placeholder for future rants

I don't have time right now, but you can expect some future rants on the following topics that have been eating away at me:
1) How Teachers Unions force bad teacher retention.

personal note - some resources to help my memory:

most importantly: Hershberg, et al

http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/09/08/teacher.quality.ap/index.html
http://www.turnexchange.net/about.html
http://www.psrf.org/issues/impact.jsp
http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm?id=1869
http://www.ncctq.org/

2) Legalized Gambling that is limited to slot parlors.

What I am listening to: ALO - Fly Between Falls (on songbird, BTW)

The hunt for TMX elmo

The TMX Elmo Tracker

The hunt begins, I actually had 3 on backorder from the PBSshop but they cancelled it, citing that they are not guaranteed another round, however at least they offered that I will have a shot at ordering before the general public should they get another shipment.

P.S. There is also a nintendo revolution tracker for anyone interested.



What I am listening to: Nothing becuase iTunes 7 completely hosed my computer, so now that I back from countless Blue Screens of Death.....I have to find an iTunes alternative....maybe songbird. grrrrrrrrr.

Tags:

• cool

Handy Cheat Sheets and Essentials for Web Development

The quintessential list and probably all you need is right here.

Others:

• Cheat Sheet Round up
  
• Essential Utilities
• Handy Color Codes

Comment away if you have more to share.

What I am listening to: nothing right now, installing iTunes 7

Completely Random List

Chronicling and online scrapbooking over at: Our Story


Make it happen weight loss and social networking motivation...nice tracker: Traineo



Random but useful: 50 Useful Web Design resources

One of my all time favorites, makes you understand the traineo link a bit better: Cooking for Engineers

Who could resist: Robert DeNiro and Elmo....can you tell my son loves sesame street?

Way cool color changing tile....remember those winter gloves and tee shirts when 20 years ago....well now for your bathroom

What I am listening to: Matisyahu - Live at Stubbs

Parent Hacks and Minti

Parent Hacks not a bad site that I discovered recently. I'm also a big fan of Minti. hancocd.minti.com

I am amazed at the number of parenting blogs, some are actually pretty interesting, especially when you get one of those...my kid does that kind of moments.

What I am listening to: Nothing...sorry just being honest.

Surlygreetings shout out

I can't believe I have been blogging this long without giving a shout over to my friends at surlygreetings.com honestly I think these guys have great tees. Not afraid to push the edge a little and always funny. Enjoy here are a couple of my favorites:


What I am listening to: ALO - Girl I Wanna Lay You Down - Fly Between Falls

A few Web 2.0 sites

Ok Ok I know its been a while since I listed some of the Web 2.0 sites I have been using. So here goes.

BTW silly logo below created with the Web 2.0 v2 Logo Creator

I have claimed before that I dig and frequently use NetVibes and popurls and can highly recommend them both, I particularly like Netvibes for the feed aggregation and popurls is just a quick way to get the buzz.

I just recently started to use CrazyEgg to heat map this blog and for stats.

I can honestly say eyespot has come in handy, just more power than I thought I'd ever see in a web ui. Video, Photo, Music editing.

I also recently discovered Squirl which is perfect for anyone with a collector mentality track anything you want easily from albums to cards to coins to three toed sloths.

I am also crazy about the GoogleNotebook extension for Firefox.

I also need to make a pitch for my local install of Tracks which is a Ruby on Rails implementation of Getting Things Done. I survive on the (10+2)*5 Procrastinators hack...savior

Update:
Reference:
Other Start Pages besides NetVibes - protopage, goowy, pageflakes

What I am Listening to: Six Pacs by The Getaway People from Turnpike Diaries