With the cost of gas being what it is, scooters start to make more and more sense. For more on scooters in Canada, see the article in globeandmail.com: Are you cool enough?
Sex and the News
It is interesting that on Reuters web site, there is this article
Risque EU defends Internet orgasm clip
with a link to the YouTube video from the EU (it is not explicit, but it is NSFW).
The same article more or less on CNN.com:
Orgasm clip spices up EU meeting
has an image of the video but not a URL link to it.
I guess the software that CNN uses to make their web pages wasn’t working properly. 🙂
Here it is:
judge for yourself.
Be smart: eat chocolate
This study says eating dark chocolate lowers blood pressure. The participants in the German study ate just a small amount of Ritter chocolate. (Ritter is good and easily available in Toronto). The article goes on to say:
Every day for 18 weeks, the volunteers were instructed to eat
one-square portions of a 16-square Ritter Sport bar, or a similar
portion of white chocolate. White chocolate doesn’t contain cocoa.Systolic blood pressure,
the top number, fell an average of nearly three points and diastolic
dropped almost two points in the dark chocolate group, compared with no
change in blood pressure readings in the white chocolate group.Tests suggested that steady exposure to dark chocolate prompted
chemical changes that helped dilate blood vessels and regulate blood
pressure, the researchers said.
So there you go: take two blocks of chocolate every day, have a glass of red wine, and don’t forget the apples, and you should live to be 100!
For more details, see Chocolate reduces blood pressure – Yahoo! News
Anyways…that’s just the way we roll…and other infuriating thing-a-ma-bobs
Years ago, the Globe and Mail seem to take on a large number of columnists, likely to compete with The National Post. Over time, many of those columnists dropped off the paper. One who did not was Leah McLaren.
I have a love/hate relationship with her column. I read it every week, even when it is annoying. Perhaps it is her (professional?) self-obsession. Whatever.
Speaking of that, her latest column in globeandmail.com: At the end of the day, you are what you say. Totally
is one I found very funny. A nice, condensed summary of the banal cliches we use during the week and on the weekend.
Hmmm….banal….cliches….it makes sense now.
Running makes you smart
..but you likely already knew that. I am sure it is the same for walking, swimming, biking, &c. See:
Exercise Grows New Brain Cells | LiveScience
CatCam
Hookay. This guy builds a camera and puts it on the cat so you can get a view of a cat’s life. I am not sure what to make of this. I am simultaneously thinking “what a great idea” and “what a dumb idea”.
Judge for yourself! 🙂
I thought CheddarVision was a crazy idea.
How to paint the Mona Lisa using MS Paint!
You might think: that is insane?! MS Paint. The same MS Paint on my Windows machine that’s hasn’t changed since 1985!
Watch the video. It is amazing. I think Leonardo would approve.
An armful of Web 2.0 Apps
Over on the Read/WriteWeb is a large collection of Web 2.0 apps that will come in handy for anyone going back to college or university. But really, these sites can be useful for anyone. There’s tools to replace MS Office, to do Mindmapping, research, etc. Go check it out at Web 2.0 Backpack: Web Apps for Students
The Matrix meets Twitter
This is very cool: twitter displayed in The Matrix format.
How to Prioritize Quickly and Easily
While this is on a site for software development, it is not a bad approach to anyone of us — developer or not — who has alot of projects and can’t seem to decide which one to do next.
See: How to prioritize quickly and easily
FlickVision is the new Life
There is a new interface to Flickrvision: flickrvision (beta)
It is a 3D map of the world that spins around and shows photos people are posting on Flickr. You really have to see it. I find it profound to see all these images, from the sublime to the goofy, being posted. I even saw one of a trail around my neighborhood.
It reminded me of Life magazine, except it continual, and the photographs come from everyone.
I also had a thought watching this, imagine flying around the world, dropping down from time to time, and watching what everyone is doing. It is an approximation of omniscience. 🙂
Blogs on Books
The New York Times has a Blog on books called Paper Cuts.
What is it?
Paper Cuts is a blog about books and other forms of printed matter, written by Dwight Garner, senior editor of The Book Review. Look here for book news and opinion, interviews with writers, regular raids on the Book Review’s archives, and other special features.
The Buddha Project
If you have this Buddha on your mantle or your bookshelf that you think is special, why not share it with the rest of the world? Just snap a photo of it and hop on over to the buddha project.
As they say:
Images of Buddha can remind us to take a breath, to look around, to
feel calm and compassionate, to be here now. You can notice Buddha almost
anywhere — laundromats, store windows, barbershops, farmers’ markets,
souvenir stands, tucked away on someone’s night table.
It makes me hope this is success for alot of reasons.
77 Million Paintings By Brian Eno
Brian Eno has new work at the Long New Foundation that was featured at the Venice Biennale
You can (and you should 🙂 ) read more about it here: 77 Million Paintings By Brian Eno
Or go to The Long Now Foundation
and learn a whole lot more interesting things.
Such Great Heights or The Genius of the Postal Service
I have been impressed by this song and the video that goes with it (there is a yearning in the woman’s eyes, and a symbolic Victorian suppressed sexuality to it, I think): YouTube – the postal service – such great height
How great is the video? Well, Apple, who has known to make pretty good commercials, thought it was good enough to steal. The proof is here:
YouTube – Apple – Intel vs. Postal Service
While the video is great, the song is superb too. Here are too very different versions, showing the potential of the song:
China is changing
I think it is hard to appreciate the magnitude of change in a country like China. I see cracks appear, like this one:
Slave Labor in China Sparks Outrage | TIME
We saw similar cracks in Eastern Europe in the 1990s. It’s time to watch for more cracks such as this.
Is Holland the lab for Global Warming?
Technology Review has an article on Holland and what it is doing in coming to terms with the affects of Global Warming, since it will be affected sooner than anyone. See Part I: Saving Holland
Get (back) your life
I saw Tim Ferriss talk recently . Now he’s featured in the nytimes.com web site:
The Hectic Chronicles – New York Times
He has lots of great advice on his web site and in his book: The 4-Hour Workweek.
I recommend you check them both out now (instead of continuing to plough through your email. Go on…the email will be there when you get back 🙂 ).
Make LinkedIn work for you
Like alot of IT workers, I use LinkedIn, but pretty passively. However, the Web Worker Daily blog has a article outlining 20 Ways to Use LinkedIn Productively that I need to take a look at.
As Lotus Software used to advise: work the web. 🙂
How Cool is Project?
They say it is for “kids”, but who doesn’t like ice cream? Now you can make your own without no equipment other than a bag. See Kids Domain Crafts – Ice Cream in a Bag. The first person to try it, please comment here, ok?
(Image from gettyimages.com)
The hilariously brilliant Ken Robinson on Education
What I find remarkable about this talk by Ken Robinson is how it manages to be insightful and very funny. You can watch it just for the humour and have a good laugh. But like any TED talk, you will also gain alot by the ideas presented. Goto YouTube and see:
Do schools today kill creativity? (Ken Robinson, TEDTalks)
It’s also a Master class in how to present.
Your very own progress indicator
LabPixies – My Progress Bar is fun! You can set your own progress bar settings for things, such as: 30 minutes until lunch, 60 minutes of meeting …fun, 90 minutes to finish this presentation, etc. You can post it all kinds of places, like your Google home page, myspace, and other places.
Those LabPixie people have lots of fun gadgets you can borrow.
Bill Clinton was here
The washingtonpost.com has a cool map showing all the places in the world Bill Clinton has spoken. It’s impressive.
(Clinton’s Golden Voice | Bill Clinton’s Paid Speeches | washingtonpost.com)
If you read this article, Bill Clinton Made $10 Million From Speeches – washingtonpost.com you’ll see some impressive numbers, including:
For example, Clinton earned $750,000 from three speeches over three days in February in Australia and New Zealand and $1.74 million from six speeches over four days in September in England, Ireland, South Africa, Germany and Denmark. The latter total included $450,000 for a single speech in London on Sept. 26 at a gala dinner of the Fortune Forum, a nonprofit group that aids international charities.Clinton made 352 speeches last year, but only 57 of them were reported on today’s form as having generated personal income. The others were given for no fee or for donations to the William J. Clinton Foundation, a charity he founded to promote causes such as fighting HIV/AIDS and global warming.
Clinton has earned more than $40 million in speaking fees in the past six years, records show. After leaving office, he made more than $9 million a year in 2001 and 2002. His income from speeches dropped to $4.4 million in 2003, when he was writing his memoirs, and less than $1 million in 2004, when he had heart surgery, before picking up in 2005, when he pulled in $7.5 million.
352 speeches last year?! That’s almost one a day!
Get running!
The Zen habits blog is full of great advice. For those of you who might want to start running, or used to run but haven’t run in awhile, I strongly recommend you look at this: Beginner’s Guide to Running | zen habits
There’s lots of great tips there.
One site they didn’t mention is Hal Higdon‘s web site. It is PACKED with good advice. You can buy lots of magazines and books on running. Or you can save your money for better shoes and use these sites instead.
Surreal Wallpaper
Sure, damask is pretty bold. But for B-O-L-D, check out the warping wall paper at SURREALIEN
Captchas or the V-K Test
The nytimes.com online has a good article on the problem of captchas are having. It’s a bit worrisome. See A Dog or a Cat? New Tests to Fool Automated Spammers – New York Times
Perhaps it is time to get out the Voight-Kampff machines.
The social effects of Facebook
The globeandmail.com
has a great column on the effects social networking site, Facebook, is having on family dynamics. It will be interesting to see FB transform from a college dorm party to a family wedding.
Here’s the article:
(Finger)Tips for Father’s Day
Father’s Day is coming up, and with ties going the way of the dodo
bird, perhaps the next best thing for a Father — new or old — is all
things BBQ. So if you are going to give your father something BBQish,
perhaps give him a print out of this article:
Grill The Best Steak Ever – Men’s Health
Oh. Some nice steaks would be good too.
How to (successfully) get the most out of life
Time is money. In fact, it is more valuable. And since you want to get the most out of your time, read this article while eating a health snack and doing some isometric exercises. Ok, at least read:
Time is All We Have: 3 Ways to Increase Return on Investment
An awesome, terrifying, beauty
When I watch this video, I feel like two different parts of my brain are working at the same time: one part comprehending the beauty and another comprehending the terrifying content. See it yourself:
Manga Shakespeare
When I was a kid, we had the Classics comics. Now there’s Manga Shakespeare. I think these are better.
Smartly, they started with Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet. Get some for the teens and preteens you know at:
Yes, you know you want to read them
God works in mysterious ways….
….perhaps this is his way of saying: shutup, already?
Philip Johnson’s Glass House is officially opening to the public on June 21, ’07…
..my question is: why? What’s closed about it now? 🙂
For those of you who think about such things as I do, check out Memories of Life and Death in an Architectural Masterwork – New York Times
For such a slight building, it’s also very influential. I think the key to living there is good pajamas. And not scratching your butt. Or scratching your butt but not caring anyone might notice. 🙂
Bono and Bush
I get the sense from looking at this photo from the 2007 G8 summit that Bono is thinking what we all think.
BTW, since when did Bono become the leader of a G8 country? 🙂
How to be snarky on the Internet.
Over at someecards.com are some REEEAAALLLLYYY snarky e-cards you can send friends people. Some of them are really rude. Which appears to be the point.
Jokes For Nerds: Schrödinger’s LOLcat
For really hard core nerds, check out
WiReD has the latest on LoLcats. It has to end soon.
More bad web site design from people who should know better
You think that with all the money they have, the good folks at The Saatchi Gallery might have a top notch web site. Instead, it looks like a MySpace reject.
Perhaps the next time they’re contemplating buying a dead animal, they might use it to redo their web site instead. 😉
Philippe Starck and Web site usability
I have always been a fan of the design of PHILIPPE STARCK. I’ve been to alot of his hotels and cafes (such as Cafe Costes above) and I have a number of his consumer designs (including a fly swatter!) I think he is a good designer.
So why is his web site such a usability nightmare!? Just try finding anything there.
Maybe it is just the English version, but I doubt it.
5min = DIY + YouTube
My friend Jean-Francois told me about this site. People post Do It Yourself videos on the web for others to see. If this takes off, it could be quite something. I wonder if Home Depot knows about this? Beat them to it. See
Smart People I Know 