All Things Interesting

Crazy 3D site

2007-03-04T22:26:00.000-05:00

The format of this site is what stands out, although the content (particularly some of the 'homemade music') is worth perusing...

British, U.S. kids worst off in industrial world, UN says

2007-02-14T12:12:00.000-05:00

And yet another reason 'socialist' countries fare better:

British, U.S. kids worst off in industrial world, UN says: "BERLIN — British and U.S. children are the worst off in the industrialized world, according to a UN report Wednesday that ranked the well-being of youngsters in 21 wealthy countries.

The Netherlands and Sweden rated first and second."

2007-02-05T22:39:00.000-05:00

micro compact home | welcome
http://www.microcompacthome.com/

CoffeeFool

2007-01-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

Found this and thought of our quests to perfect coffee....I think ullage is on to it - home roasting.

Nearly all of the coffee out there is stale. The good news is that stale coffee is drinkable if you've never had truly fresh coffee. The bad news is that once you've tasted truly fresh coffee, you'll be forever hooked. It will make you giddy every time you go to make a pot. Tingle right down to your toes. Reverberate around your head like a funky aura. That's because coffee, just a few days out of the roaster, is nature's most flavorful drink - more complex than even wine - containing well over 900 flavor compounds to dance on your taste buds. But after a few weeks, you'd be lucky to see half that number.

vespa with training wheels...

2006-12-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

Maybe the army will issue me one...

2006-12-19T19:49:00.000-05:00

You can read about these in the Dark Roasted Blend blog...

Peter Singer article in the NY Times

2006-12-19T13:06:00.000-05:00

What Should a Billionaire Give – and What Should You?

Interesting article by Singer. I like his idea, of course, but I'm not sure an economist would agree it could work? Don't all the rich people make money off of their money? If they gave this much away (see the article) then they wouldn't have money to continue giving? Or, is he saying that they'd only have to do this once?...that can't be.

Some times smart people think they can fix problems just by doing a little thinking on their own without consulting other "experts" on the subject....I hope that's not the case with this one.

See what you think.

Affordable homes: Habitat for hustlers - Buying a House - MSN Real Estate

2006-12-01T12:41:00.000-05:00

Affordable homes: Habitat for hustlers - Buying a House - MSN Real Estate: "The guiding principle of the nonprofit Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1976 to build affordable houses for underprivileged families, comes from the Old Testament: 'If a brother living near you becomes poor, you must provide for him . . . do not make a profit on the goods you sell him.' But that ethos doesn't carry over to the many banks, brokers and mortgage-servicing companies that deal with Habitat families and, increasingly, are profiting handsomely from the financially naive."

How to Regain Control of a Spooked Camel - WikiHow

2006-11-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

I found this HowTo extremely helpful on my way to class this morning:

How to Regain Control of a Spooked Camel - WikiHow: "How to Regain Control of a Spooked Camel

In some parts of North Africa and the Middle East, the camel remains the primary means of long-distance transportation. These remarkable animals are intelligent and strong, and they possess incredible endurance. They can also be quite fast: some camels can briefly attain speeds up to 40 miles per hour (64 km/h). While their speed makes them ideal for racing—camel races are very popular in many parts of the world—it can provide a camel rider with a harrowing, potentially deadly experience if a camel is spooked or otherwise begins to run out of control."

2006-10-28T13:27:00.000-04:00

http://pics.livejournal.com/tongodeon/pic/0004xhys/

kipple (382)

2006-10-11T21:43:00.000-04:00

AlterNet: EnviroHealth: Is Water the Best Medicine?

2006-10-07T19:48:00.000-04:00

AlterNet: EnviroHealth: Is Water the Best Medicine?: "Our cells need water to transport proteins and enzymes to nerve endings. Water also acts as adhesive material between cells and transports sugars for energy. If the body becomes dehydrated, a water-rationing process kicks in. The brain is first in line to receive available water, followed by the kidneys and liver. After that, it's every organ for itself. Because of that, Batmanghelidj -- who died of pneumonia in 2004 -- thinks dehydration may be a cause of many types of degenerative diseases, like asthma, arthritis, hypertension, angina, diabetes (type 2), lupus and multiple sclerosis. How is it possible that wealthy Western people are dehydrated?"

Nutritional charateristics of organic freshly stone - ground

2006-10-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

By far some of the best reading on food nutrition and bread I've seen in a long time. This article concludes that sourdough bread is the best to consume as its acidic environment allows for greater nutrient and mineral absorption. I just recently acquired a starter from the Little bakery here and am happy to say it is very active and tasty. Now I'm jonesin' for a Kitchenaid grain mill attachment so I can grind whole wheat and have the entire grain (as I read here, 'whole wheat' flour usually has par t ofthe bran and all the germ removed, which eliminates most of the nutrients).

Nutritional charateristics of organic freshly stone - ground: "Cereal grains and legumes play an important role in supplying the nutrients, as well as over 70% of the daily energy requirements, of over two-thirds of the world's population "

New Doc's

2006-10-01T18:26:00.000-04:00

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2006-09-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

Regina's canolli

2006-09-28T14:37:00.000-04:00

Here's my new bike. It's a schwinn cruiser. The front shocks work amazingly well...sidewalks feel a lot smoother now. I like riding to work a lot more than I used too :)

Speeds:	21 speed shimano with grip shifters

Suspension:	Mozo suspension forks

Frame:	Schwinn hand-built steel frame

Bike Type:	Comfort & Cruiser

Shipping Weight (in pounds):	42.0

Your cell phone is charged. Please unplug | CNET News.com

2006-09-25T12:49:00.000-04:00

Your cell phone is charged. Please unplug | CNET News.com:
The members of the task force, a project of the European Commission (EC), agreed to include alerts on the cell phones they make that will remind people to unplug their charger once a phone is fully charged. If 10 percent of the world's cell phone owners did this, the group's final report said, it would reduce energy consumption by an amount equivalent to that used by 60,000 European homes per year.

"The EC listed passenger cars, meat products and housing as having the largest impacts on the environment overall."

PAV 40 41 TRAILER VESPA LAMBRETTA JAWA HEINKEL GS RARE

2006-09-24T23:13:00.000-04:00

They do make trailers I see...ok, this is it for now, but if we are going to do this, maybe we should start thinking about what we'll need to take and how to divy up storage...

eBay Item

2006-09-24T23:04:00.000-04:00

Ok, here's a tour bike....

Vespa 150 GS

2006-09-24T23:02:00.000-04:00

Vespa 150 GS

The spirit of Phil Ochs

2006-09-20T20:04:00.000-04:00

Here's to the State of Dick Cheney:

'In a solo acoustic remake of folk singer Phil Ochs? 'Here?s to the State of Mississippi,' Eddie Vedder takes on Chief Justice John Roberts, Dick Cheney, Jerry Falwell, Alberto Gonzalez and, of course, President Bush.'

Hard to make out all the new lyrics (co-authored with Tim Robbins), but if you watch the whole video you learn that Phil planted secret messages to later generations in the techniques required to play him."

YouTube - Jesus Camp : Kids Worshipping to a George Bush Picture

2006-09-18T07:13:00.000-04:00

YouTube - Jesus Camp : Kids Worshipping to a George Bush Picture

Hoosier skydiver sets world record

2006-09-09T13:25:00.000-04:00

600+ jumps in 24 hours
This really is impressive...read how he made each jump in about 2min 40sec each...

La Gloria Cubana Home Page

2006-08-24T21:40:00.000-04:00

La Gloria Cubana Home Page: "Produced both in Miami and the Dominican Republic, La Gloria Cubana's uncompromisingly bold flavor is sought out by those who value rich taste and expert craftsmanship. "

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2006-08-24T09:16:00.000-04:00

7000mi

How to Taste Dark Chocolate - WikiHow

2006-08-23T14:01:00.000-04:00

I am finding this feed/site to be quite interesting these days (esp one's on exercise and eating, though I'm doing more of the latter, as you can see here):

How to Taste Dark Chocolate - WikiHow:

The actual flavour compounds found in dark chocolate exceed that of red wine, and detecting all these notes can be an extremely fun and educational endeavor. The following will serve as a guideline so that you can extract the fullest flavor potential from dark chocolate."

Wheaton College prof fired for converting

2006-08-18T10:14:00.000-04:00

Interview with the prof in the Sun-Times

A couple quotes from the article:
"I was sad to be leaving my colleagues and students and an institution I valued very highly," said Hochschild, 33. "But I support in principle the right of the institution to have exclusive hiring policies. Not every institution is a liberal democracy. We both agreed that Wheaton has a right to exclude Catholics if it wants to. We both agree there are significant differences between what a Catholic believes and what a Protestant believes. Our significant difference was over whether the statement of faith was an effective way of implementing a policy of excluding Catholics."

"Faculty members at the west suburban evangelical Protestant college must sign a faith statement that the Bible is the final authority. Catholics follow the authority of Scripture and the pope."

Here is a follow-up article by Andy Jacobs, a Wheaton English prof and personal friend of Hochschild.

subterranean palindromes

2006-08-14T13:06:00.000-04:00

This is too funny. Every line is a palindrome.
"Weird Al Yankovic" - Bob

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2006-08-03T20:28:00.000-04:00

32nd b-day @ wescott beach

ExxonMobil profit tops 10 billion dollars

2006-07-27T14:30:00.000-04:00

Sparks fly as ExxonMobil profit tops 10 billion dollars
This is unacceptable. Unbelievable that this could be going on. I just spent $3.09 per gallon to fill up my car....if this was due to a high tax that somehow helped pay for some social benefits, then fine. But apparently it's all going towards oil company profits. The white house response to this will be....oh yeah, there won't be a response.

LiveScience.com - Hybrid Scooter Would Run on Hydrogen

2006-07-27T01:31:00.000-04:00

While I'm saving up for the Smart car to come in 2008, I'm going to get this...

LiveScience.com - Hybrid Scooter Would Run on Hydrogen: "An industrial design student in The Netherlands has built a prototype scooter that is designed to be run on hydrogen.

Crijn Bouman of Delft University of Technology designed the scooter for use in inner cities.

He calls it the Fhybrid."

Dylan downloads

2006-07-21T09:27:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to hear Dylan's XM Radio show "Theme Time Radio" but haven't looked very hard. Yesterday I stumbled on this part of the expecting rain web site and found all (most?) of them. Check out the link below and look around the discussion board for "xm radio" and "theme time" and you'll find them. The rapidshare download site is a pain, but if you're patient you can download everything for free. If possible, choose the links from sendspace.com for much faster downloads.

http://expectingrain.com/discussion/viewforum.php?f=9

show listings

I realize this post makes me look pretty much like a geeky dylan fan...but, I guess our site is called ubernerdy...

Billy's history continued

2006-07-21T09:21:00.000-04:00

Billy Bragg’s Blog

Billy added a third podcast to his blog. This stuff is just great. I wish every artist (I like) would put out something like this! If you haven't listened to any of these, I recommend starting with the third and working your way back.

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2006-07-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

5000mi

YouTube - Zidane

2006-07-20T11:54:00.000-04:00

YouTube - Zidane
I don't know...I just thought this was funny.

I want one of these. Now.

2006-07-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

smart

Train to the Roof of the World

2006-06-30T16:24:00.000-04:00

Wired Article

Guys, this is just an interesting article in this month's Wired magazine. China is expanding it's rail system further west all the way to Tibet. The two interesting parts are 1) the technology is just plain cool....they had to build over permafrost without heating the ground...and other interesting things like the high altitudes which caused some issues, and 2) the political aspect where it will allow Tibet to be more quickly incultureated with western ideas and allow China to force even more control on the province.

I believe the latest leg they're opening is 1,215 miles long at a cost of 2 million per mile?

Read the whole article when you get a chance!

high tech tools for the LAPD

2006-06-30T16:11:00.000-04:00

Stick It To 'Em

I guess this is a good use of technology. Apparently the LAPD will be able to shoot a dart at cars that transmits a GPS signal through an encrypted cellular channel so they can aprehend vehicles without the dangerous chase. The computer will just track the car and allow for a calmer arrest.

I wonder what type of warrent system they'll need to shoot one at a car? Can they shoot one at your car to track you because you were speeding, or ran a red light? Then just stop and pick you up later when you stop by the grocery store?

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2006-06-30T13:34:00.000-04:00

18lbs of berries picked for jam

The Escapist - OMG Girlz Don’t Exist on teh Intarweb!!!!1

2006-06-28T21:12:00.000-04:00

You've got to read this- at least through case 4.

The Escapist - OMG Girlz Don’t Exist on teh Intarweb!!!!1: "I am a girl on the internet. Yes, I said it. A girl on the internet. There really are quite a few of us. I can type. I can play games with the best of you. And you, my friend, are about to get owned by a girl."

World RPS Society

2006-06-28T07:48:00.000-04:00

Humorous video on the ultimate sport:

World RPS Society - Home: "art 3 of the Championships. Find out about what kind of training it takes to compete at the World Class level of Rock Paper Scissors"

Shopping for Justice

2006-06-20T15:15:00.000-04:00

Shopping for Justice, Sojourners Magazine/May 2006

This article is very good and I believe the same things the author does. But what I need to know is where do you shop when you live somewhere like Upland, Indiana? Even when I shop at the local supermarket, Lance's, I don't know where the stuff is coming from. I suppose I could just ask?

Oh, and I guess this is a good followup to the last post :)

--Jeff

Amazon Groceries

2006-06-17T02:55:00.000-04:00

Did you all know about Amazon Grocery? Seems to have a nice selection--handy for those who do not live in an area with a lot of grocery items, especially for organic/natural foods...

Goodbye, Blog

2006-06-14T10:05:00.000-04:00

I agreed with most of this article and I know who Alan Jacobs is up at Wheaton. But I think he's a little off target on what most people think about blogs? I do believe blogs are a great starting point for conversations, because they provide the information necessary for good conversaton. But I never thought of blogs and the comments that people post as being good conversations themselves.

I for one plan to keep using the heck out of netvibes to keep me updated on the information I'm interested in. Most of my conversations with people are informed from these many blog postings.

What do you guys think?
The Friend of Information but the Enemy of Thought?

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

2006-06-09T10:06:00.000-04:00

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (from Wordsmith)

A lung disease caused by inhaling fine particles of silica.

[From New Latin, from Greek pneumono- (lung) + Latin ultra- (beyond, extremely) + Greek micro- (small) + -scopic (looking) + Latin silico (like sand) + volcano + Greek konis (dust) + -osis (condition).]

At 45 letters, it's the longest word in any English language dictionary. It's a trophy word -- its only job is to serve as the longest word. In day-to-day use, its nine-letter synonyms "silicosis" or "black lung" work just as well, and the latter is more descriptive. Whatever you call it, it is deadly.

A condition that is quite common here in WV by the way...

New running shoes!

2006-06-09T08:48:00.000-04:00

Check out the specs here

I've been having this terrible heel pain all year and haven't been able to run with Madeline like I want to. So my friend Dan tells me about this place in Fort Wayne called 3 Rivers Running Co. It's a running store where they check your arches and then analyze your running gate by video taping you while running on a tread-mill and then looking at it in slow motion. They said I had a mid to high arch but that it is really flexible. That means it flattens out when my foot hits the ground.

So they put me in this really nice shoe (actual ones in the picture) and I've run twice now with no pain. When you're standing in them it feels like you're wearing a Birkenstock because the arch support is so good. Unbelievable. Okay, I thought this was blog worthy information :)

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2006-06-05T21:38:00.000-04:00

Alright, last one

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2006-06-05T21:26:00.000-04:00

Working across street

Google Calendar SMS feature officially launched - Lifehacker

2006-06-05T11:21:00.000-04:00

Briefly I've tried to get Gcal to sync with my Razr and bypass my pda in the process (sounds so dorky) . I see I can save the calendar as an .ics file then import it into the pda, then bluetooth events individually to my phone, but that is too cumbersome. Here's a temporary solution, (but alas, I have no free sms feature though it is only 5 cents a message, if I'm not mistaken). Any luck with gcalsync lately? What about the xml feature, would that work to sync via Opera?

Google Calendar SMS feature officially launched - Lifehacker: "Google Calendar SMS feature officially launched"

A Safer Table Saw

2006-06-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

Dave, I think you'll really appreciate this one! A table saw that doesn't cut off fingers. Check out the video linked to the article where they used a hot dog for testing purposes.

Also, note that this is still a long way from actually being implemented due to the high costs of manufacturing, etc.

NPR : Making the Case for a Safer Table Saw

'Fly Electric' - CD-Rom motors

2006-06-01T17:27:00.000-04:00

Sent to me by Scott:

'Fly Electric' - CD-Rom motors: "'CD-Rom' brushless motors are fantastic! They generate stunning power from very little weight. Combined with LiPoly cells they are unbeatable. I have made dozens of these motors for myself and friends, and more to experiment or understand the principles."

Bathroom pre-plumbing

2006-06-01T13:41:00.000-04:00

Freshly painted

Taylor Accident update: This is unbelievable.

2006-05-31T14:21:00.000-04:00

Laura VanRyn: Wednesday, May 31, 2006 1:00 pm

I'm still trying to decide if I am awake or dreaming.

2008 presidential candidates

2006-05-31T11:41:00.000-04:00

I'm adding another tab to netvibes for the 2008 presidential elections. I'm going to start now and keep myself very informed on who's running and what they're talking about. If you know of any good sites to add, let me know. Two sites I'm adding are
http://thenextprez.blogspot.com/atom.xml
http://www.ovaloffice2008.com/atom.xml
I have no idea if either have good info yet. I'm also adding blogs that some of the potential candidates keep, like Barack Obama's blog.
http://obama.senate.gov/blog/index.xml

Thoughts? Ideas?

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2006-05-27T19:14:00.000-04:00

Hiking...

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2006-05-27T02:54:00.000-04:00

Extend the hand of friendship...(my first cell phone picture post--it was the only thing interesting to snap at the time...)

Do Not Resuscitate!

2006-05-19T12:38:00.000-04:00

Dyersville, Ia. — Eighty-year-old Mary Wohlford has informed family members of her wishes should she ever become incapacitated. She also has signed a living will that hangs on the side of her refrigerator.

But the retired nurse and great-grandmother now believes she has removed all potential for confusion.

She had the words "DO NOT RESUSCITATE" tattooed on her chest.
The rest of the story...

Historical Sounds

2006-05-18T22:04:00.000-04:00

The Free Information Society presents Historical Sounds in MP3 format
Find speeches and radio broadcasts from our history--hear presidents, astronauts, Einstein, Ghandi, Mandela, Castro, and more...
Although one could probably Google up most of these, it is nice to see so many profound audio clips from history in one place.

YouTube - We are MuKappa

2006-05-18T17:03:00.000-04:00

YouTube - We are MuKappa
Here's a video some kids made in my class. I thought it was cool that they put it up on You Tube.
--Jeff

Google Notebook

2006-05-17T09:18:00.000-04:00

Google Notebook
Google has released Google Notebook, which enables quick web clipping of any article or picture. Multiple notebooks, search capability, private/public status, a handy firefox plugin, ajax interface with easy organization, are but a few of the handy features of this service. There are also sub-headings within each notebook, which further enhances organization. This may be a direct competitor with bookmarking services, such as del.icio.us, but I rather prefer to use both--one for bookmarks, and one for short clips. There is no tagging feature in Notebook, but Google search capability within the Notebook is quite powerful. Check it out at www.google.com/notebook.

The Hype Machine

2006-05-14T19:54:00.000-04:00

Hey,
I put something new in our links to the right...you may need to scroll down a little. It's a link from a site called "The Hype Machine" which labels itself as an audio blog aggregator. The links take you to blogs where people are discussing "interesting" music. If the music does indeed seem interesting to us we can think about keeping the links there. If not, we can take them down. I'm really looking at lots of blogs and other sites to feed into netvibes...I just have a feeling that we haven't scratched the surface of all the good stuff out there :)
--Jeff

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2006-05-11T08:22:00.000-04:00

2000miles

My new netvibes screen shots

2006-05-10T18:14:00.000-04:00

Ok, here's what my netvibes looks like now. My blogs page is the best and my news page is a mess. I need to get the news part in order. I've been overwhelmed with the whole thing ever since they provided tabs!

Pesco/pollo vegetarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2006-05-10T09:10:00.000-04:00

Just read that Steve Jobs consideres himself a pescetarian...hmm....

Seems that identifying according to a single category exclusion is suspect. I am a 'safe driver' b/c I don't run red lights, I am 'anti-fashionite' because I do not read GQ, I am 'political' b/c I vote. Maybe I am just a linguistic boundary facist here, but this doesn't seem equivalent to vegetarianism, which has reasons for its position in addition to exclusions (plural).

Pesco/pollo vegetarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Pesco/pollo vegetarianism', 'pescetarianism' or 'semi-vegetarianism' are neologisms coined to describe certain lifestyles of restricted diet. Most commonly, these include the practice of not eating certain types of meat (most commonly red meat such as beef, pork, lamb) while allowing other meats, such as seafood. There are usually no restrictions on non-flesh animal products such as dairy and eggs. Noteworthy is that not a single vegetarian organization considers the term a valid one."

Blog Crazy!

2006-05-10T00:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm adding people's blogs left and right to netvibes. Here are some helpful links and tips for converting various blogs into rss feeds.

Xanga: go to this site and follow the directions in the first paragraph exactly (the populist example)
MySpace: even easier
Livejournal: just add rss to the end of the url
Blogger: and of course anyone with a blogspot address you can just add atom.xml to the end of the url.
Theparagon: I have one friend with a blog on "theparagon"...and at the bottom of his page it provides a syndication link in xml format.

Any other blogging/syndication tips?

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2006-05-09T20:56:00.000-04:00

1000miles

New Blog: Stillwater Gardens

2006-05-08T14:37:00.000-04:00

Stillwater Gardens

Dan and Julie Perkins are gardening along with us this summer. I thought it would be a good idea to blog our experiences and post a bunch of pictures. I have a feeling Angie and Preston Abbott will be joining us quite a bit too! So add this to your rss feeds and we'll keep you updated.
atom feed: http://stillwatergardens.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Peter Singer's new book

2006-05-08T08:47:00.000-04:00

Singer's new book, 'The Way We Eat,' co-written with Jim Mason, looks at the eating habits of three different American families: vegans, 'conscientious omnivores' and a family eating the 'standard American diet.' The elements of each diet and the production chain that brought it to the table are then carefully considered in light of environmental impact, fair trade, the organic movement, the grow-local movement, genetically modified foods, animal rights and the depredations of agribusiness."

Check out the article here

Hacker fears 'UFO cover-up'

2006-05-07T07:14:00.000-04:00

Hacker fears 'UFO cover-up' from the BBC News
BBC interview (watch the video or read the transcript) is about a hacker who infiltrated various branches of the military, NASA, and the Department of Defense in search of proof of suppressed evidence of UFO's.

In 2002, Gary McKinnon was arrested by the UK's national high-tech crime unit, after being accused of hacking into Nasa and the US military computer networks.
...There was a group called the Disclosure Project. They published a book which had 400 expert witnesses ranging from civilian air traffic controllers, through military radar operators, right up to the chaps who were responsible for whether or not to launch nuclear missiles. They are some very credible, relied upon people, all saying yes, there is UFO technology, there's anti-gravity, there's free energy, and it's extra-terrestrial in origin, and we've captured spacecraft and reverse-engineered it...

Pickled corpse tumbles out of rum barrel - Peculiar Postings - MSNBC.com

2006-05-05T10:38:00.000-04:00

Pickled corpse tumbles out of rum barrel "BUDAPEST, Hungary - Hungarian builders who drank their way to the bottom of a huge barrel of rum while renovating a house got a nasty surprise when a pickled corpse tumbled out of the empty barrel, a police magazine Web site reported.

According to online magazine www.zsaru.hu, workers in Szeged in the south of Hungary tried to move the barrel after they had drained it, only to find it was surprisingly heavy and were shocked when the body of a naked man fell out.

The Web site said that the body of the man had been shipped back from Jamaica 20 years ago by his wife in the barrel of rum in order to avoid the cost and paperwork of an official return."

According to the Web site, workers said the rum in the 300-liter barrel had a “special taste” so they even decanted a few bottles of the liquor to take home.

The wife has since died and the man was buried in a proper grave.

Democracy - Internet TV Platform - Free and Open Source

2006-04-28T06:28:00.000-04:00

Works in Mac, Linux and Windows:

Democracy - Internet TV Platform - Free and Open Source: "Download and watch all the best internet TV shows and videos in one powerful application. New channels arrive daily in the built-in Channel Guide. Stop squinting at tedious web videos: sit back and watch big, high resolution videos.

Features: Democracy Player is a new kind of browser for watching videos-- grab webpages with video and video RSS feeds (including podcasts, video blogs, and BitTorrent feeds), and watch them full screen, one after the other. It's free and open source."

Students, Staff Involved in Fatal Crash - Taylor University

2006-04-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

Updates can be found here

Updated: 1:40 p.m., Thursday, April 27
Taylor University officials report that a van carrying professional staff and students was involved in a collision with a semitrailer on Interstate 69 near Highway 18.

Four students and one employee were killed in the accident, including:

Whitney E. Cerak, freshman (photo, .jpg)
Laurel E. Erb, junior (photo, .jpg)
Bradley J. Larson, senior (photo, .jpg)
Elizabeth A. Smith, senior (photo, .jpg)
Monica Felver, Creative Dining Services employee

One student and three employees were injured in the accident, including:

Laura J. VanRyn, senior
Vickie Rhodes, Creative Dining Services employee
Connie Magers, Creative Dining Services employee
Michelle Miller, Creative Dining Services employee

Laura VanRyn and Michelle Miller suffered serious injuries and are currently recovering at Parkview Hospital. Vicki Rhodes and Connie Magers are recovering at Marion General Hospital.

Large Photo (.jpg)
Indiana State Police Release (.pdf)

Updated: 1:40 p.m., Thursday, April 27

Video Demonstration: Peel a potato in one step - Lifehacker

2006-04-25T22:41:00.000-04:00

Video Demonstration: Peel a potato in one step "from a Japanese television show that turns peeling potatoes it into an easy, one-step process. "

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | BBC unveils radical revamp of website

2006-04-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | BBC unveils radical revamp of website: "Ashley Highfield, the BBC director of new media and technology, also announced proposals to put the corporation's entire programme catalogue online for the first time from tomorrow in written archive form, as an 'experimental prototype', and rebrand MyBBCPlayer as BBC iPlayer."

Casket Furniture

2006-04-19T03:03:00.000-04:00

Casket Furniture from casketfurniture.comvia gizmodo
This company makes furniture that will last a lifetime...and then some.

"...our products can last you a lifetime, and still be the perfect vehicle to carry you to the great beyond..."

Why didn't I think of a practical idea like this one? They have pool tables, coffee tables, entertainment centers...I guess the toilet ideas did not fly too well. Puts a different twist on "lifetime warranty," I should think...

500 lb potato battery

2006-04-19T02:56:00.000-04:00

500 lb Potato Battery posted in Make
Remember making power from potatoes? This guy has generated significant power by stringing 500 lbs of potatoes together...Now if you could run an electric stove off the power and boil the potatoes using their own power--that would be something...

It Rocks Everything. » How indian people drive

2006-04-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

you've got to watch this video, the whole thing (about 2mins)

It Rocks Everything. » How indian people drive: "driving with their own rules"

Flickr: Photos from stoneth

2006-04-13T20:34:00.000-04:00

You've got to check these out, so troubling and intriguing at the same time...

Flickr: Photos from stoneth: "stoneth's photos"

Podcast Genres on PodcastAlley.com -- The place to find Podcasts

2006-04-12T23:26:00.000-04:00

In my brief search this evening, this seems to be a good place to go searching for podcasts...

Podcast Genres on PodcastAlley.com -- The place to find Podcasts

Billy Bragg’s Blog

2006-04-12T20:22:00.000-04:00

Billy Bragg’s Blog

Complete with rss feeds, a new free song to download, and a nice interview with him talking about how he learned to play the guitar...

Stickyrice

2006-04-12T19:08:00.000-04:00

Stickyrice

No exactly sure how I found this blog, but it always has otherworldy pictures of food and great descriptions of Vietnamese culture....

Project collaboration, management, and task software: Basecamp

2006-04-12T18:35:00.000-04:00

Project collaboration, management, and task software: Basecamp: "What is Basecamp?

Basecamp is a unique project collaboration tool. Projects don't fail from a lack of charts, graphs, or reports, they fail from a lack of communication and collaboration. Basecamp makes it simple to communicate and collaborate on projects.

It's elegant, easy, and web-based. You don't need to download, install, or configure anything (no IT department required!). All you need is a web browser and an internet connection. And don't worry, your data is safe with us.
How can Basecamp help us?

Basecamp makes it easy to centralize group communication with co-workers and clients.

Assign to-dos and tasks
Post messages and gather feedback
Simple scheduling and permissions
Share files internally or with clients
Track people's time"

Vitaly Friedman's Notebook: Icons Round-Up: Free Mini Pixel Icons

2006-04-12T18:28:00.000-04:00

Vitaly Friedman's Notebook: Icons Round-Up: Free Mini Pixel Icons: "Mini-icons are becoming more and more popular. You can use them every now and again – developing web-sites, weblogs or eCommerce-portals. Few hours ago n.design-studio has released a set of Mini Pixel Icons. The icons are divided into 5 categories – File Type Icons, Web Design Icons, Web Blog & CMS Icons, User Icons, E-commerce Icons."

Ian's Shoelace Site - Shoelace Knots - How To Tie Your Shoes

2006-04-12T11:57:00.000-04:00

Another practical-geeky site (now I can fold my t-shirts and tie my shoes in 3/4 the time). Not sure about the speed of this one, but it seems just cool when you do it:

Ian's Shoelace Site - Shoelace Knots - How To Tie Your Shoes: "I tie my shoelaces with an 'Ian Knot', the World's Fastest Shoelace Knot: Make a loop with both ends and simultaneously pull them through each other to form an almost instant knot. It's a truly revolutionary way to tie your shoelaces!"

RSS and Avantgo

2006-04-10T15:16:00.000-04:00

Maybe I'm way behind on this, but I just found out that you can put RSS feeds on Avantgo (i.e. create your own). So, I've just put a few of my netvibes feeds on Avantgo and wow, nice interface and quite handy for sorting through stories before attempting to read the whole thing...another technophile moment of having everything at hand.

2006-04-08T14:15:00.000-04:00

New rack!

Netvibes keyboard shortcuts

2006-04-08T07:50:00.000-04:00

I am on the hunt for keyboard shortcuts for Netvibes (i.e. to close a specific window and get back to main feed page, to switch between tabs, to 'scroll' down through stories, etc), so if any of you find info on this, I'd love to see it.

On another note, I did notice you can, under 'Settings', change the number of columns displayed (from 2-4 now). Thoughts on the new tabs? Any new feeds lately? I'm always on the hunt for geeky podcast feeds.

Windows to Ubuntu Transition Guide

2006-04-07T22:47:00.000-04:00

Windows to Ubuntu Transition Guide: "Alright, so you have successfully installed Ubuntu Linux, but now what do you do with it? You are in the right place. I am going to get you started with a guide on how to use your new Ubuntu system. "

2006-04-05T19:30:00.000-04:00

Not best pic, but there it is

Top Ten Coolest Laptop Cases

2006-04-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

View here

Laptop cases are no longer simply about getting your laptop from one place to another; you can do that with a plastic grocery bag. With more people than ever daily toting their computers between the office and the home, the laptop case is now expected to mix durability, security, style—the ratio of those elements is up to you. Here’s a list of some of our favorite laptop cases that we’ve come across over the last year, each mixing function and fashion in their own way. Which works for you?

-----------------------------
I like 4 and 8 the best...

Dogone Dog Thong

2006-04-04T16:26:00.000-04:00

Dogone Dog Thong Flatulence Suppressor--on sale at Flat-D.com (the #1 name in flatulence odor control products)

Fly Free

2006-04-01T06:51:00.000-05:00

A radical fix for airlines: Make flying free from Business 2.0 via CNN Money

...Europe's most profitable airline, wants to make air travel free. Not free as in free from regulation, but free as in zero cost. By the end of the decade, he promises, "more than half of our passengers will fly free..."
...the Irish airline puts a price on virtually everything except tickets, from baggage check-in to seat-back advertising space. As a result, last year Ryanair collected $265 million--15.6 percent of overall revenues--from sources other than ticket sales...
...charging passengers for practically every amenity they might consume...
...charging $3.50 per piece [of checked baggage]...
..repaint the exteriors of Ryanair's planes, effectively turning them into giant billboards...
...Ryanair intends to offer in-flight gambling in 2007, with the airline earning a tiny cut off of each wager...
...charge passengers for the ability to use their cell phones at 35,000 feet...

(comment mine) I guess this would make flying a little more gaudy, but for those who want to fly at little to no cost, this would be quite an opportunity. I do think it would help open the option of flying for the very poor. What do you think?

Coffee, Coffee...

2006-03-31T14:23:00.000-05:00

Aeropress review

As I posted on 3/27/06, I ordered that coffee press. We had our first cups this morning and both Carrie and I agreed, it was very good coffee. Technically (and I forgot this), it is more espresso than coffee. You can add hot water to it to make it coffee (an Americano I guess is the name for 'watered-down espresso'). The manufacturer states that the Americano is better than regular coffee b/c you pass less water by the beans, thus not extracting the acidic and bitter portion of the bean that usually follows with the last portions of water in a drip maker. It was very smooth (the filter is thin but effective) and you could drink the last swallow w/o a mouth full of grounds. And, it was concentrated, so I have to say, the 'morning shot' is a nice feature (instead of the morning sip, sip, sip, sip....it's cold..).

In short: for now, I am convinced. My french press is going into the cupboard (though not the trash). Now I just need a good grinder :) aka...

Saab BioPower Hybrid

2006-03-31T10:22:00.000-05:00

Saab BioPower Hybrid Concept: World's First Fossil-free Hybrid Vehicle World Premiere at Stockholm Auto Show from theautochannel.com (via digg)
Innovative hybrid concept based on pure bioethanol
Zero fossil CO2 emissions in all modes
260 hp Saab BioPower engine running on E100 fuel
Increased performance with threefold torque boost from electric motors
Fuel saving 'Zero Mode' for city driving on electric power only
Energy saving features including regenerative braking
Space efficient modular design uses existing vehicle architecture
All-wheel-drive for improved traction

Iraq War Coalition Fatalities

2006-03-30T13:07:00.000-05:00

Iraq War Coalition Fatalities

Quite an interesting animated map.

It Ain't Just Paint

2006-03-29T04:32:00.000-05:00

It Ain't Just Paint from thesmokinggun.com
I've run into this guy around here...click on the pic so you can see him more clearly. They always say the metallic paint is best...

(By the way, this is about 'huffing' paint--this guy has been at it for > 15 years...)

Welding plastic bags

2006-03-28T23:07:00.000-05:00

Possibly another solution to the pocket kite:

Welding plastic bags: "Intro Welding plastic bags"

Plastic bags can be welded together with a soldering iron. The resulting seam is strong and water resistant. This is a very useful technique for making kites."

my netvibes

2006-03-28T22:30:00.000-05:00

click here for my netvibes...

All Things Interesting

2006-03-28T20:12:00.000-05:00

above is my netvibes page and here is a zoomed version (I'm stealing feeds from your sites though too)

LinkedFeed

2006-03-28T16:21:00.000-05:00

LinkedFeed is a Netvibes-like site, although not so aesthetically pleasing...