October 29, 2003
Ahhh! The power of vegetables
You know the old cliche about parents telling their kids that they need to eat a lot of veggies if they want to grow up to be big and strong? Scientists have now discovered that one reason that the dinosaurs managed to grow to be such large animals is because they had more vegetation to eat
October 28, 2003
Its new R.E.M. album day!
In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 hits the stores TODAY.
October 27, 2003
Write like an Egyptian
See what your name would look like in Egyptian Hieroglyph
October 24, 2003
Recyled Slashdot
David should get a kick out of this. The Complete Far Side is now available on Amazon. Weighing in at an impressive 19 pounds, it's not one you'd want to drop on your foot. There's also a leather bound edition available for preorder.
Also, I thought of a prank today. Has anyone ever microwaved chewing tobacco? Email me at brettatnightswimming if you've done this. I'm interested to know the results first.
More useless information
Useless, but fun.
We're going to assume that everyone has played, or at least heard of, the Kevin Bacon game. Well, some genius has written a page to play the game for you:
Mr. Bacon
I was pretty impressed. It found Liv Tyler (mmmmmm.... Liv Tyler.....) and Charles Chaplin. Who is, btw, only three steps from Kevin. Who needs Big Brother when we have Kevin?
October 23, 2003
Mini Power Plant
Toshiba has designed a smaller nuclear power plant about the size of a spruce tree and wants to test it in Alaska. While it sounds like a very exciting and promising step forward in nuclear power, the reservations against it are well founded. (Kudos to Brian for the find.)
October 22, 2003
Pat Brady Cameo
In case you didn't know, I am a big fan of the comic strip Rose is Rose. The author, Pat Brady, is a guest cartoonist for Today's Dilbert. If you are a comics fan, you may want to check the rest of this weeks Dilbert to see who else is guest cartooning for Mr. Adams.
(P.S. You may also want to check out my Rose is Rose Tribute Site if you haven't seen it before.)
Nice Shootin' Tex
While I'm not a big gun advocate, here are some high speed photographs of things being shot. I do tend to wonder how many times they had try and shoot that Queen of Hearts before they hit it AND got a good picture.
New Supercomputer Record
Virgina Tech has built the world's fourth fastest supercomputer using off the shelf Macintosh parts. (NY Times website requires registration.)
October 21, 2003
Happy Indiana Jones DVD day!!!
Yeah, baby! Picked up my copy this morning.
October 20, 2003
Sopwith is Back!
Somebody is remaking the DOS classic Sopwith so that it will work with windows. I can remember back in high school when you were considered cool if you just get the dang plane to take off. Anyway, if you've never played it before and are thinking of downloading it, you will have to read about the key controls because there is no help file.
October 19, 2003
What is Special About This Number?
Some guy's collection of interesting facts about numbers
Book Review - God's Debris
I recently finished God's Debris, a novelette by Scott Adams. Even though most of you know him as the guy who writes Dilbert, this books is definitely a stark contrast to anything he has put into his comic strips.
The main idea behind the story is that a package delivery guy meets an old man who also is the only person on Earth who actually knows how everything in the universe works. The two end up having several conversations that delve into philosophical ideas but when put together as a whole outline the old man's explination of the universe.
There is a lot of discussion about omniscience, free will, and how the laws of probability affect the outcome of our lives. Not a lot of this will be new to people who have read some religious philosophy, but the book does break the arguements down into very simple and easy to swallow segments. He also presents an interesting analogy between human bones and dishware that will make you think about your beleifs in evolution.
In the end though, you do need to think very critically about everything that is being presented in the book. Some of the analogies and even fact presented aren't correct. Mr. Adams also prefaces the book with a disclaimer that he doesn't beleive everything presented in the novel. It is one man's mental exercise that you are meant to think about and analyze rather than just accept. Overall, its not a great novel, but its a good read for those that might be looking for a quick mental diversion.
God's Debris was originally an e-book only but recently was published in book form. It is a VERY short book - 132 pages, but they are only half pages and the type is somewhat large. I read the book in less than two hours and I tend to be a slow reader. I borrowed a copy from the library.
If you read this book and find it interesting, you might like The Paradox of God by Clifford Pickover. Some of Adam's ideas in the book also seemed somewhat Tao-esqe, so the Tao Te Ching would also be another good reccomended reading.
October 18, 2003
Stupid cat tricks
My day just started, and already it sucks. I scheduled the day off because it's my first anniversery with Beth, but the guy who's supposed to work for me didn't show up. So I'm sitting at work and I need something to cheer me up. And this is it. Stupid cat tricks.
October 16, 2003
Weak
I'm weak. Even though I already own it for the PC, I just bought this for my trusty iPaq.
Have I mentioned that I hate it when the weather changes?
Well, since Trillian has finally released a Yahoo update I might see you online tonight and talk about your bad day. If my head cold clears up, that is. I hate it when the weather changes.
Oh, and that site also labeled me Spock, which I don't think describes me at all. I prefer to think of myself more as Nightcrawler. Now that would be awesome. Pointy ears and the ability to teleport.
bamf, baby!
Time to do something productive at work in misery.
October 15, 2003
Find your Sci-fi/Fantasy Identity
- For those that care, I am Spock!
- However, I do tend to question the validity of any that claims to tell you your Pirate name but doesn't immediately recognize me a Davy Jones. Mad Davy Kidd is pretty close though....
P.S. to Brett - because I was having a really bad day.
What tha...
Is anyone else wondering why Davy's talking in the third person in the previous post? Brett knows he is.
October 14, 2003
Recycled Fark
- As much as I hate to disappoint you Brian, The Wonder Twins are, in fact, one of the 10 Worst Cartoon Characters of All Time
- New Book exploits the unreality of Comic Book Physics
- HP CEO Carly Fiorina has been appointed to Arnold Schwarzenegger's Transition Team. That sort of makes sense; we all know how good she is at telling people they're fired.
- The fact that Chick-Fil-A was ranked number one in fast food service just reminds Davy how much he misses Chick-Fil-A. (There are none in Portland.) On the other hand, he had never had Taco Bell give him a correct order on the drive through and finds it impossible to beleive that they are number 2. (Doh! Davy just admitted he eats at Taco Bell!)
- Life's lessons as learned through Nintendo
- Speaking of Nintendo, Davy is thinking about getting a cell phone. He wants the one with the Gameboy Emulator
- Hey, all you call center reps out there, how would you like a job at McDonalds?
- This one is too weird for me to comment on.
October 13, 2003
Silly Dice Games
"Petals Around the Rose may be almost as great a drag on the national economy as Startrek." - (Click on the Bill Gates story at the bottom of the page for the quote reference.)
October 12, 2003
For you call center geeks...
Yesterday's Real Life Adventures should strike a cord with at least half the people I know.
October 11, 2003
October 09, 2003
Bar Code Clock
As if you really need another way to display time on your PC
October 08, 2003
Fifteen meg hard drive!
I need one. Anyone have $4999.00 that they can donate so that I can get me one of these babies!
Two weblinks
- Amuse all of your office co-workers by learning these amazing pen tricks
- It's raining frogs in Connecticut! Well, it was
October 05, 2003
Need a Good Fib?
Just in case you run out of good tall tales on your own, somebody has created "The World's Largest Repository of Lies" to assist you.
October 02, 2003
Recycled Fark
- In a past blog entry, I posted pictures of a Lego trebuchet that I built at work. I have to admit, though, that there are certain projectiles that I don't think Lego bricks are meant to handle, like, say, bowling balls
- Find out how rich you are on a global scale.
- Cecil tells us how touch lamps work
- The true history of Murphy's Law
- The 100 most significant documents in US History.
October 01, 2003
M&M World Record Set
Man sets new world record for eating M&Ms with chopsticks