Home | Comments | IM or Webcam Chat | Forum
email me: chris@chris-karath.com

<--Previous Month | Next Month -->

Blog starts below


This page is closed,
for new content... go to my blog home page and click "Current Blogging"


Mon 01-30-12 09:28:29 PM #

Rustle of bag noise and this walks across the room
Ptw Rustle of bag noise and this walks across the room

I want to hear your




Sun 1/29/12 1:27pm #

Let's Go Surfing



How To Extract Images From PDF Files & Save Them For Other Uses [Windows]
source: MakeUseOf.com

Cool program, rip the images out of a PDF. Download here.





Standardizing Android
source: ReadWriteWeb



Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea
source: Boing Boing

Good Stuff. Watch video.



Robot and Frank is the next great science fiction indie [First Look]
source: io9

Four pages, four video clips, worth watching. Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, Perer Sarsgaard, Live Tyler and Cyclops: James Marsden.

Casting Breakdown For The Green Arrow Show Reveals Black Canary And More Will Appear
source: Bleeding Cool

The descriptions of the characters in this Green Arrow TV show reveal alot of potential plot. There's alot of drift from what most fans would consider a "true Green Arrow" story.


Digital Death - What Happens Online When You Die
source: Likecool

Weird little animated video, it makes alot of assumptions, the largest of which is that we are likely to be on Facebook and Twitter for the rest of our lives. That's a big leap since for most people these services are only a few years old and even Youtube is only a bit over 7 years at this point.

Future World Orchestra: Desire (1982)
source: Boing Boing

Epic.








I want to hear your




Sun 1/29/12 10:29am #


It's been a really light winter so far, and while we don't have a blizzard going at the moment, we do have a constant accumulating pile of the white fluffy stuff that will probably keep Jenn and I from ranging too far from home today.

I want to hear your




Sun 01-29-12 09:34:57 AM #

Sunday morning
Ptw Sunday morning

I want to hear your




Sat 01-28-12 11:22:12 AM #

10th Doctor Who action figure
Ptw 10th Doctor Who action figure
I got this off an ebay auction for 99c. Less than $5 with shipping, and it was sent directly by a guy in Great Britain too, so, bonus authenticity.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/28/12 10:46am #

Some Apps I've tried recently on iPad

Simply B&W Nice app for making black and white photos, free at the moment.

Draw Pad Pro Nice notebook apps, this one isn't vector, it's pixel based but it has a nice pinch to zoom and a variety of templated background sheets, also has the abillity to mail an entire notebook as a PDF. Free at the moment. It probably won't replace my favorite Notes Plus but I can see some uses that I'll use Draw Pad Pro for.

Eden - World Builder A Minecraft type game, free for the iPad right now.

Modern Grunge HD Nice Grunge photo app, it's the app I used in the stylus photo a little further down the page. It has a nice method for making rips and tears.

Poly Poly is an interesting graphics app that let's you make a triangle like mosaic out of your photos.

Mole Kart A very nice Mario Kart clone. May or may not still be available.

HTML Mail Editor Nice way to create or modify HTML email templates from your iOS device.

Auto Adjust Does one thing well, Auto adjusts color and contrast of your photos.

Taskboard Nice finger touch friendly task/todo list board. This has become a regular day to day app I use.

I want to hear your




Tue 1/24/12 7:49pm #

State of the Union Bingo Cards.

I have an app on an ASP web server at work that I've been making Bingo cards with for years.

Below is a zip file containing a bunch of cards printed from that site.

[zip file gone - see you next year]

(It's behind a firewall, otherwise I'd post a link.)

I'm playing 8 and Jennifer is playing 13.

Feel free to play along with us over twitter. Reply below or let us know on twitter what card number you're playing.

Basically if Obama says one of the things on the card, you cross it off, I like crossing things off with crayons, but if you don't like crayons or markers or crossing things off, you can also take a drink every time Obama says something that's listed on your card.

Oh, and there is a lot of Jobs stuff on these cards, so basically if this turns into a big night for foreign policy we're all screwed.

I want to hear your




Mon 01-23-12 12:36:45 PM #

Cartoon
Cartoon

I want to hear your




Mon 01-23-12 12:18:38 PM #

First Day playing with @Penmoto at work
First Day playing with @Penmoto at work
Interesting so far. Definitely entertaining to fiddle with in meetings.

I want to hear your




Sun 1/22/12 11:44am #

1039/365 - Hanging Cat Toy
source: Jennifer's 365 Project

Jennifer made this cool little cat toy over the last couple days. Leki, really likes this Dr. Suess Thing 1 toy, so Jennifer made this cat door knobhanger in the same colors. I think it came out pretty cool.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/21/12 11:21pm #

Press, Pause, Play

Arty documentary on the digitization and democratization of media creation. Give this a watch if you like that sort of thing.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/21/12 11:19pm #

Let's Go Surfing


VIDEO: I'll ski on your lunch if I want.
source: THE BEAT

James Bond Humor.

Zippered Bag
source: Instructables: exploring - featured

Useful.

DIY CONCRETE :: Concrete iPad Stand
source: Instructables: exploring - featured

Really neat idea to work with concrete.

Finally, an easy solution to the much coveted,...
source: Unhappy Hipsters

This rolling bed is interesting.

Font Squirrel API: Commercial-Use Free Fonts and Web Typography
source: ProgrammableWeb

Some nice fonts here.

Shit Comic Book Nerds Say
source: Bleeding Cool

Ha.

AirPlay and Raspberry Pi
source: Raspberry Pi

Very cool.

MakerBot releases free-to-download Playsets, will have you printing a Captain Kirk Chair in no time
source: Engadget

Primitive, but if you squint, you can see what is to come really quick. I'm looking forward to the inflection point where this technology is cheap enough to escape the technologists and engineers and become a playground for artists.

Tasskr: A Minimalist Task Manager
source: MakeUseOf.com

Nice looking little web app.

Cubicity, a big collection of simple paper toys
source: Super Punch

Lots of little paper people, looks like it would be a fun project for small kids.


CNN: Why I am learning to code and you should, too
source: Rushkoff Blog

Most people will not be able to learn to code. There are prerequisites that are difficult for many people to come by in later life, those prerequisites are: Logical thinking, comfort with failure, a love of problem solving, the abillity to teach oneself and a love of solitary activity. Those are high hurdles to jump past if you don't acquire those behaviors early in life.

Apple iPad 2 16GB with Wi-Fi
source: Woot! - One Day, One Deal

Woot has fantastic copywriters.

Undetectable Technology
source: The Technium



Insatiable
source: Seth\'s Blog

Interesting.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/21/12 10:07pm #

Let's Go Surfing

Masked Ninja Turtle beanie keeps your face warm, awesome [This Is Awesome]
source: io9

This is an awesome knitting project. I think I'd have to go with red though.

Samsung Series 7 Slate PC review
source: Engadget

It'd be really cool if iOS had mouse drivers as well. I have a coworker at work that had his bluetooth keyboard and mousepad out with his android tablet, and it's really cool. Touch screen is nice but sometimes a good mouse is really useful too.

LoremPix: Use Easy Image Placeholders For Your Web Design
source: MakeUseOf.com

This is actually pretty cool. format is: http://api.lorempix.com/width/height/backgroundcolor/foregroundcolor
ie: http://api.lorempix.com/250/150/cccccc/ffffff creates the image ar the right.


Candy Corn Cookies
source: Instructables: exploring - featured

Cool idea.

P:R Approved: Cliff Chiang's Justice League of Japan!
source: Project Rooftop

Batman in the Battle of the Planets style is just cool. There's a neat Lensman type Green Lantern at the link as well.

Lighting Techniques for Video Interviews
source: swissmiss

Bright ideas.

Andie
source: swissmiss

Nice simple style. Would work well for a Kindle or iPad case as well.

Punchfork
source: swissmiss

Jennifer showed me this app. Neat Pinterest like app for food.

Stripe Shower Curtain
source: swissmiss

Nice shower curtain.

Three Drunk Monkeys And The Office They Work In
source: Office Snapshots

I really like this simple seating idea.

Square Incs New Office Expansion
source: Office Snapshots

As much as I hate this open cafeteria style office seating, I really like these little work alcoves.

Not Into Sports
source: RIPT Apparel

I really should have bought this shirt for my work's next team sports apparel jeans day.

Incredible Animal Shaped Bows
source: PicoCool / Popular items


All Of Area Man's Hard Work Finally Pays Off For Employer
source: The Onion

Love The Onion. So true, so true.

All of Area Man's Hard Work Finally Pays Off For Employer

SAN DIEGOFollowing seven straight years of long hours at the office and sacrificed weekends and holidays, all of account manager Sam Hemstead's hard work and single-minded devotion to Pinnacle Automotive Insurance has finally paid off for CEO Charles Pardahee, Pardahee said Friday.

"There were definitely some nights I'd lie awake in bed and wonder, 'Is Sam absolutely killing himself day in and day out for nothing?'" Pardahee told reporters while driving to his weekend home in a recently purchased 2012 BMW luxury sedan. "But Sam just put his head down and never looked back, and this year his blood, sweat, and tears have proven profitable to the tune of a 15 percent larger bonus for myself."

"It just goes to show that if you're really passionate and dedicated, eventually it all comes back around to your superiors," Pardahee continued.

The stress-related physical and psychological tolls for Hemstead, 34, have been high, but the hypertension, weight-gain, and crippling migraine headaches he has suffered due to his rigorous work schedule have been worth the rewards he has reaped for his employer, Pardahee confirmed.

"I'm sure there were times when Sam wondered if it was all really worth it, especially considering he had to pay for a lot of his medication and doctor's visits out of his own pocket," said Pardahee, who in 2009 forced all his account managers to become contract employees so he would no longer have to provide them with health care benefits. "But he never complained once, and now that Sam has helped Pinnacle earn record profits by not taking a single day off for more than five years, I can finally relax and take another long vacation to Turks and Caicos. After all, Sam earned it for me."

The CEO added that nothing is more satisfying than a job well done by someone else.

While Hemstead's total devotion to the company has come at a steep personal cost, these too are reportedly acceptable considering the immense financial gains and professional accolades he has garnered for Pardahee.

"When Sam's wife filed for divorce and eventually won custody of his two daughters, he completely threw himself into his job in an attempt to cope as his life fell apart all around him," Pardahee said. "That was great, because it allowed me to drastically scale back my workload and spend even more time with my wife and children."

"Seeing most of his paycheck go to child support has made me really value all the things I can do with my kids because of Sam's hard work," Pardahee continued. "Considering all he continues to do for this company without even thinking about taking a break, he's afforded me all the time in the world to just enjoy life and not be defined by my job."

According to the CEO, Hemstead's contributions to Pinnacle Insurance will pay even greater dividends when he is let go and replaced with a college graduate willing to work for half the salary, allowing Pardahee to give himself a substantial raise


How to make a poster sized (high quality) tiled image for under $5!
source: Instructables: exploring - featured

Neat.

DC Universe Classics The Class of 2011
source: thefwoosh.com

Lots of figures in 2011. Lot's of great big photos at the link.

Parrot unveils AR.Drone 2.0 with 720p HD camera, autonomous video-recording, we go hands-on
source: Engadget

Pricey, but interesting. Not sure often the average person needs to use a flying camera drone but this is cool.

Clothes Shopping With Bodymetrics Lets You Try It On for Virtual Size
source: Mashable!

Interesting. Although I'm not sure how much something like this get's used on the Xbox, plus once you have your measurements, do you really need the Kinect integration? Wouldn't it be easier just to have one of these in a mall or a gym that people could use to send their metrics file to themselves?

Coming Soon: Look beyond your photos with AntiCrop
source: The iPhoneography Blog

I installed this app, there are some photos it works well for and alot that it does not.

How To Enable AirPrint for iOS Printing From Any Mac or Windows PC
source: the How-To Geek

None of these really worked for me. But I have set up Google's Cloud printing in my chrome browser and if I can get the document into Google Docs or Gmail, I've been able to print things through that quite nicely from my iPad.




Risk for Facebook Pits Cats Against Zombies Against Robots [REVIEW]
source: Mashable!

I downloaded this, we'll see if I ever play it.

Lumus see-through wearable display hands-on
source: Engadget

I can see the lawsuits happening over people wearing these while driving already, but Apple, you would be so cool if you came out with a pair of these and thereby make it mainstream and dare I say it: affordable.


Play Grand Theft Auto IV as the Terminator
source: Super Punch


Grand Theft Auto with a Terminator Skin, nice.


Production begins for Raspberry Pi's $35 Model B Linux computer
source: Engadget

Looking forward to this becoming available.




Amazon Releases An iPad Version Of The Kindle Store [News]
source: MakeUseOf.com

It's a nice store.

My $30 DIY Standing Desk
source: Unplggd

This is pretty neat, it's also neat that technology is getting so compact that a workstation this sparse can actually be practical.

How to make a stuffed Hobbes
source: Super Punch


Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera Runs Android
source: Likecool

Pricey, but cool.

Skyrim In Real Life
source: Likecool




PhotoPin: A Simple Way To Search For Stock Photos
source: MakeUseOf.com

Possibly useful site.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/21/12 7:55pm #

Let's Go Surfing

Open Letter to Apple Shareholders
source: Modeled Behavior

Amusing.


The Little Printer goes where no computer dares to
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia

Very neat looking little device, I could see using one of these quite often. I'd love to print quick todo and grocery lists etc. from my phone to a little receipt printer like this.

IDWs Chris Ryall teases Darwyn Cookes next Parker book
source: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment

I love these books (although I actually haven't finished the second one yet.) This is the type of book you want in hardcover instead of digital.

Jesus riding a dinosaur paper toy
source: Super Punch

Cool. PDF at the link.

Indie Game Takes Social Media by Storm With One YouTube Video
source: Mashable!


This looks like it will be a very fun little game.

1024/365 - Ferret Egg
source: Jennifer\'s 365 Project

Jennifer crocheted a Ferret toy a bit back.

Nuance Acquires Voice-Recognition Competitor Vlingo
source: Mashable!

I like this app alot. Unfortunately the mic on my phone is crap in the car, but at home this app works very well.

How To Use Your iPad as a Second Monitor for Your PC or Mac
source: the How-To Geek

I like the idea of this, but I pick my iPad up so much while at my desktop and use it as an iPade, I can't see using it as a monitor extension very often. Of course I've already got a handful of monitors on my desk to, so if all you have is a single monitor or a laptop, something like this might be of more use to you.

Tony Piro asks readers to help stop the copying
source: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment



Inside Facebooks New Headquarters [PICS]
source: Mashable!

I could not imagine working all day in an office layout that was essentially a library or cafeteria style design.

Disney-branded AppClix camera for iPad turns you into the world's happiest shooter
source: Engadget

Even at $60 this feels overpriced, but the iPod/iPad connector is kindof neat. I've got it on a watch list though just in case it drops down a bit further.

3D printing in ice
source: Boing Boing

Neat.



Sex is no accident
source: Super Punch

Funny.

I Love This $1 Graphics App For iPad [Video]
source: Gizmodo

Poly is a fun little iPad App. I took the photo of me with my sonic screwdriver and ran it thru Poly real quick. Fun results.

Illustration roundup
source: Super Punch

Weird Superman design, The bag is interesting.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/21/12 6:47pm #

Penmoto video review


I made this real quick unboxing and review video of the Penmoto styli pen holder. Neat little piece of geekery.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/21/12 10:51am #

Toys

Got some various deliveries this week.

First up, the Polaroid Pogo Zink Instant Mobile Printer. About $45 on Amazon. Neat little device. It prints on special Zink 2x3" paper. The printer does not use ink. It actually raises a color image out of the special Zink paper. The paper costs about 40 cents a sheet. And each sheet is also sticker backed if you want to stick your photo somewhere. Since there is no ink, there are also no smudges. Printing was really easy. I just went into my phone's blutetooth settings, connected to the printer and then from the photo gallery I could send the photo to the printer and it starts printing immediately. No app needed on Android.

Next up, I got a cool external battery sled for the iPad 2. I just gave this a test drive this morning and so far it seems to be worth the $34. It has a 8500 mAh rechargeable battery, nice LED status indicators and it can charge/pass thru using the standard apple iPad connector. With the iPad in the sled my battery indicator went up about 1% every couple minutes with the device on. I haven't yet tested the charging speed with the device off. But the fact that it can positively charge the device while powering it is pretty cool. The iPad already has an impressive 10 hour charge, with this sled, I think my entire day will be more than covered.

Last but not least I got this kitchy 7" tall Steve Jobs figurine for $11, although the price seems abit higher at the moment. The figure comes with a little iPad 2 and a little iPhone. Probably not an authorized product, but a neat desk toy.

I want to hear your




Fri 01-20-12 08:13:21 PM #

Posterous Post
Sometimes the photos just are too funny with the Zite stories


Photo

If you read all the stories, I agree this the expression of the young girl at top right.

Auto created newspaper #win

I want to hear your




Thu 01-19-12 03:19:33 PM #

Posterous Post
The New DC logo... what it really will remind people of


Dc_bandaid

It's just a bad logo design.

I want to hear your




Wed 1/18/12 1:01pm #

Protest

Heres my thoughts on protesting.

Four forms of protest.

One. Be Visible.
Be visible, vocal and be somewhere that you shouldnt. Be embarrassing or bring shame, and thereby damage the status of your opposition.

Two. Boycott/Blockade.
Deny new money to those you oppose. People with enough money can buy gated communities, country clubs, islands etc, and ignore your visible protest.

Three. Theft/Destruction.
The next step from a boycott/blockade (ie not giving someone something) is to take things they already have. If One, visibility and Two, denying new money doesnt get their attention, then Three, taking things from those you oppose is the next step to get your point across. (re: Boston Tea Party)

Four. Violence.
If, One, Two, and Three do not work, then Violence is the next step. It is very hard to ignore people engaging in violence against you. (Re: Revolution)

One and Two, our society tolerates, there are hurdles to jump over before Three and Four are accepted by the mass public. There are also few loopholes whereby the government will tolerate much of Three or Four (or even an active rather than passive expression of Two). So by using Three and Four, you are likely to also make the government your enemy. That ups the stakes considerably. The government is larger than Disney.

As to SOPA, I think its interesting that government officials are as ready as they are to attack something as popular as the internet. But I think SOPA is not the real issue. The real issue is what it always is, extreme concentrations of wealth and power. That is what needs to be spoken out against and adjusted. Im not sure if there is a black banner for that.

I want to hear your




Tue 01-17-12 06:41:36 PM #

Adam and Comfort drew us into a comic.
Adam and Comfort drew us into a comic.
I'm sure we'll be fine, whenever people are staring up at something in a crowd in a comic, nothing bad happens right?

Created using Skitch by Evernote.

I want to hear your




Mon 01-16-12 12:13:13 PM #

Posterous Post
Check out Hero Academy


Played this game yesterday with Jenn. It's cute, turn based, etc. My userid is the same as my twitter handle if another twitter peep wants to play.


Check out this application on the App Store:

Cover Art

Hero Academy

Robot Entertainment

Category: Games

Updated: Jan 10, 2012

464 Ratings

iTunes for Mac and Windows
Please note that you have not been added to any email lists.
Copyright 2012 Apple Inc. All rights reserved

Sent from my iPad

I want to hear your




Sat 01-14-12 02:43:26 PM #

Hooray, the trees are still covered.
Hooray, the trees are still covered.
Jennifer took the above shot of our apartment complex this afternoon. When we do eventually move, this look is something I will miss.

I want to hear your




Sat 01-14-12 12:55:36 PM #

Yarn
Yarn
Went running around with Jennifer this afternoon. Miscellaneous little shopping errands here and there. Good day.

I want to hear your




Sat 1/14/12 10:46am #

iPad 3

Every day in the tech news feed there is some speculation story or other about the iPad 3. Lately there have also been stories about the iPad 4. Beyond the speculation that one is to be released in March and the other is supposedly in October, they are fairly useless speculations unless maybe you are in the market right now for an iPad 2 and are trying to figure out if you should buy now or later. Personally I'd expect anything bought from Apple to potentially be cut down a tier after 6 months and while not obsolete, certainly less shiny within a year. So if when the 3 or when the 4 are coming out mean something to you, you probably might want to reconsider getting on the Apple train anyway. It's a train that don't stop, and if you what to ride, prepare to buy a new ticket once a year.

3D Printing

There is a $1,299 3D printer available now. The Cube No assembly required. Considering that my first laster printer was more expensive than that, it's not too outrageous. I'm not sure my desire to print small widgets in plastic is quite at the $1,299 level though. Hopefully within the year they get the price down to about half that.

CES

I'm not sure I saw anything much out of CES that was that interesting but here are what few thoughts I have.

The Lytro camera was probably the coolest thing I saw mixed in with the CES coverage and that is hardly new.

Cheap 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwhich tablets should be plentiful later this year. At least if you import them, my guess, it'll be well into fall before any mainstream retailers start featuring truely useful cheap devices at a low pricepoint.

Makerbot had a cool thing on display with their Replicator announcement, but jacking up the price to $2K doesn't seem at all likely to broaden the dissemination of 3D printing to the masses at all. They seem to be doubling down on the more intense hobbiest.

Despite even more 3D TV stuff this year, I still have no interest at all in getting or watching one.

I was interested in the Dragon Nuance, and the perpetual Siri rumors that it looks like you will be able to talk to your tv soon. That moreso than 3D will be very useful.

I'm not sure what to make of Microsoft's Kinect for Windows either. Kinect for Xbox is $149, but Kinect for Windows is $249. For that price I don't think they are going to get much mainstream penetration for the device when people are routinely picking up desktops and laptops in the $300 to $500 range. Pity, because Kinect is a pretty neat thing.

All that said, I'm not sure exactly what I would have liked to see...

It would have been cool maybe to see some heads up glasses stuff. (There was some, but nothing that looked at all ready for mainstream.) Perhaps we'll have to wait and see if Apple has any future interest in iGlasses, since I imagine they'll have to likely be closely integrated with a smartphone to be useful.

I would have really like to see someone take a stab at a low cost 3D printer. Perhaps because most of these companies are geared toward solid state electronics, something like 3D printing is just requiring too much mechanical engineering to interest the ususal players and mass roll out of such a device may take longer than it otherwise would if we we're just talking chips and screens.

I'm kindof suprized that noone is really going anywhere with phone connected watches. With the interest in the iPod Nano and otheres, it seems like someone would have stepped up and found a way to roll something out by now, perhaps the miniaturization involved just doesn't let them do it for a price that would work though.

I think also there was only one camera announcement that was using Android. That's sort of suprizing, you would think Point and Shoot Camera makers would be all over integrating that OS, apps, and wifi into their devices.

There were a couple demos of some tabletop large touch monitors, but nothing that looked even remotely close to hitting mainstream, a shame since we are years now away from the first looks at things like Microsoft's surface.

Overall, it looks like we'll just have to wait now to see what Apple announces at their handfull of events this year.

I want to hear your




Thu 01-12-12 08:01:56 PM #

21
21
Picture Jenn took. Veggies by her, Brat wrapped in bread by me, inspired by a Meijer video.

I want to hear your




Mon 01-09-12 09:41:13 PM #

Leki looks very interested in learning knitting.
Leki looks very interested in learning knitting.

I want to hear your




Sun 01-08-12 07:21:00 PM #

Post from Jenn's blog.

Repost from Jennifer's Blog
1026/365 - I Left The Apartment Today!



I felt slightly better today so we headed outdoors. And by outdoors I mean from the apartment to the car, and then the car to the grocery store. But hey! At least I left the apartment today, which is more than I can say for the last few days...

I want to hear your




Sat 01-07-12 07:32:52 PM #

Still not feeling 100% today
Still not feeling 100% today

I want to hear your




Fri 1/06/12 7:15pm #

Let's Go Surfing


Gaston
source: swissmiss


Short Order Designer
source: swissmiss

I could totally see using these if I could also get one of those little spinner racks you hook them up too.

iPen is the most advanced iPad stylus you'll find
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia
Looks worth it for $89. Cregle site.


Ui Sketch Design
source: Dri

le/Popular


Neat.


Movie Poster Minimalism: 41 Stripped-Down Examples
source: WebUrbanist

Nice collection of minimalist movie posters.



What's Outt: Check Out The Latest Movie, Music, Books & Game Releases
source: MakeUseOf.com

Clean and useful site that show's what's out.

Use a Bluetooth keyboard or headset to take pictures with your iPhone
source: The Red Ferret Journal - gadgets, cool sites, freeware and tech trivia


Atlas' Revenge
source: Likecool

Very cute video at the link.

Toy Boarders
source: Action Figure Insider - Best Toy News on the Web!

Cool.


Movie360: Record & Create Films With Your iPhone
source: MakeUseOf.com

Interesting free app. The pause and resume while shooting alone should save alot of editing later.

Newspapers, Paywalls, and Core Users
source: Clay Shirky

Very interesting article and look at current newspaper models. Pretty much anything Clay Shirky writes is worth a read.




Gatchaman vehicles
source: Super Punch

Very Cool. Too pricey, but very cool. I was as a kid and still am very partial to this ship design.



Marvels lawyers toy with humanity of mutants
source: Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment

This is just wrong.


Don Draper illustration.
source: Hey Oscar Wilde!

Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. Its freedom from fear. Its a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever youre doing is OK. You are OK.

Open Letter to Apple Shareholders
source: Modeled Behavior

Amusing.



Papercraft Paris
source: Boing Boing

I want to hear your




Fri 1/06/12 4:24pm #

Houses

Jenn and I have been looking online at various houses, discussing what we do and do not like etc. So far, I'd have to say, there are some pretty interesting decoration and design decisions that have been made with a fair amount of these homes. And by interesting, I mean bad.

I want to hear your




Thu 1/05/12 3:51pm #

Action figures

I've had an assortment of action figures piling up lately with no pictures being taken of them.

The new ones below are Young Justice Aqualad, DC Classics Stargirl, Factory Entertainment: Green Hornet and Kato, and DC Direct Figures of Blue Lantern Brother Warth and Green Lantern's Arkis Chummuk and Soranik Natu.

All in all a nice selection of figures.

Young Justice Aqualad
Young Justice Aqualad
Nice figure, lots of accessories that would work well with a Blue Lantern too.


Stargirl
Stargirl
Nice figure, works well in the DC Classics scale since she looks even more like a teen with the DC Direct Figures.


Star Girl and Power Girl
Star Girl and Power Girl


Young Justice
Young Justice
Aqualad, Superboy, Kid Flash, Robin, Artemis.

Just need a Ms. Martian now.


Green Hornet and Kato
Green Hornet and Kato
Nice figures. Not very poseable at all, basically their arms move and that's it. Not so much a problem for Green Hornet, but you're going to need some shelf space for Kato.


Green Hornet and Green Lantern
Green Hornet and Green Lantern
Up until the recent movie, Green Hornet was what everyone called Green Lantern, so I now finally have a Green Hornet figure for my case.


Pow Biff Zoom!
Pow Biff Zoom!
Batman and Green Hornet.


Brother Warth, Arkis Chummuk, Soranik Natu
Brother Warth, Arkis Chummuk, Soranik Natu
Brother Warth is just a neat looking figure, Arkis Chummuk however I was really happy to get, as a kid I never knew his name but I always referred to him Werewolf Green Lantern. Soranik Natu is a nice looking figure too, although I'm not too keen on how she is essentially a replacdement for Katma Tui.

I want to hear your




Thu 01-05-12 01:58:19 PM #

Leki watching
Leki watching
there are squirrels out there, he just knows it!

Great picture by Jenn.

I want to hear your




Thu 1/05/12 1:02pm #

A coworker sent some pictures of an office work party (covered previously on Jenn's blog) and the above which I've cropped out of the background of a larger shot, amused me.

I want to hear your




Thu 01-05-12 12:30:12 PM #

Posterous Post
That's a nice app you have there, it'd be a shame if anything happened to it.


Photo

War on general purpose and open source computing.

It's hard to read in the above but the 3rd from the top bullet reads: "Apps from the Windows Store will be kept." and the 2nd to last bullet point says: "All apps you installed from discs or websites will be removed". That's some evil functionality.

I want to hear your




Wed 01-04-12 08:36:18 PM #

lots of fluffy stuff
lots of fluffy stuff
Jennifer did alot of cooking Wednesday. One of the tasty things she made were these marshmallows. You can read more on her blog

I want to hear your




Tue 01-03-12 11:32:00 PM #

Below is a post from Jennifer's blog about our trip to Flint to hang out with Adam and Comfort Tuesday.

Repost from Jennifer's Blog
1021/365 - A Day In Flint With The Uniques


It's Tuesday and the first official day "vacation" day of the work week. Today is the only day we really have plans (for the four days we're not working) and those plans are driving to Flint to see Adam and Comfort.
It wasn't long after we go there that Chris was demonstrating all the new magical apps he'd downloaded to his iPad recently.
After a little while we headed to downtown Flint to check out the much raved about Flint Crepe Company. It's a very adorable little restaurant with a hipster bistro feel. To top it off they're using iPads and Square to take credit card purchases.
They even sell Calder Dairy & Farm milk in fancy glass bottles. They remind me of the Shelter Family Dairy milk I fell in love with from up north (seriously, their chocolate milk is like liquid ice cream). Adam and Comfort really liked it.

We headed back to their place for some awesome entertainment ala RiffTrax. Seriously, they really do make horrible movies better.
Before we headed home we stocked up on Withers Mountain Honey Farm honey. I've also learned that there are early and late season flavors that taste very different. I really liked early season, but for cooking purposes I think the more robust and stronger flavored late season will go better with granola and the like. Next time I'm out there though I'm going to snag some early season too, just to have both (going into this I didn't even know there were different flavors - I feel like a whole cooking experiment door has opened!).

Mr Withers was even kind enough to gift us with an adorable little bear of Candy Cane Honey. This means a lot of my hot chocolate is going to be spiked with peppermint honey, and I'm ok with that (by the way, the bear comes with a delicious sounding recipe for just this sort of beverage).
It was a long drive home and the cat was very happy to have us back.

I want to hear your




Tue 01-03-12 05:20:41 PM #

Flint, Y U cliche?
Flint, Y U cliche?
Picture from Jenn.

I want to hear your




Mon 1/02/12 9:58pm #

Google ROS - Open Source Robotic Operating System



This is pretty much blowing my mind.

I want to hear your




Mon 01-02-12 05:45:08 PM #

Nap
Ptw Nap

I want to hear your




Mon 01-02-12 05:41:54 PM #

Hung Jennifer's custom frame in the small foyer entrance to the Bedroom.
Ptw Hung Jennifer's custom frame in the small foyer entrance to the Bedroom.

I want to hear your




Mon 1/02/12 12:40pm #


Video has a weird graybox flashy thing.

Social Media Musing

Facebook is a giant public space. Everybody is there.

We don't hangout much in giant public spaces though do we?

We hangout in small bars and coffee shops, a friends backyard or living room. We hang out in the work breakroom, a church lobby, or a school event.

But rarely do we go down to a local arena and mix with 500 of our friends plus each of their 500 friends.

Facebook has done big.

But how do we move back to small? How do we create the manageable suburban culdesacs, the gated communities, the private clubs, and the polebarn out at a friend of a friend's house in the social media world?

It won't be Facebook Pages, Facebook Groups or Google Circles. Those places all have advertising and big corporate logos, sponsorships and etc. The places we really like to hangout, don't have ads, aren't brought to us be a brand.

One service, can't set this up. The solution is going to need to be more atomized than that. A small black box on my home network perhaps, a background app running on my desktop, or maybe it's a bunch of independent apps all writing encrypted to some random cloud data store, don't have the keys? You can't enter.

Maybe it's not even available all the time, maybe such a hangout only goes online from 7pm until 10pm. Hangout, chat, share, download and at 10, flip the sign to "We're Closed" as everyone goes home.

Facebook doesn't seem to be the final answer yet though.

I want to hear your




Mon 01-02-12 12:22:58 PM #

Haircut
Ptw Haircut

I want to hear your




Sun 01-01-12 08:09:21 PM #

Getting snowy out...
Getting snowy out...
Jenn pic during a quick late night walk.

I want to hear your




Sun 1/01/12 5:41pm #

Let's Go Surfing

Birds on a Wire Photo Clips
source: Likecool

Cool. Would be a cute way to hang up tweets too.

Wage Slavery Discuss.
source: HiLobrow

Interesting.

picNYC TABLE
source: Likecool

Neat idea, but could be dangerous with a cat.

Njustudio Hockenheimer
source: Likecool

Cool.

Travelteq Pencil Holder
source: Likecool

Nice, the hard thing is, with the iPad, I'm not sure I'd ever have a use for real colored pencils again. Graphite pencils, sure, there's still nothing better than an actual pencil to paper for quickly sketching something out, but for actual color rendering? I'd shoot a photo of that pencil drawing and bring it into the iPad and simulate colored pencils in layers there.

Renault's tiny Twingo autos reborn as big art exhibit
source: DVICE

Interesting idea. Make a livingroom inside a car.

Mega Bloks Planning a WoW of 2012!
source: Action Figure Insider - Best Toy News on the Web!

Hmm... Lego has Lord of the Rings and Mega-Blox has World of Warcraft. Yeah, that sounds about right.

The Coming War on General Purpose Computation
source: Boing Boing

Good Video.




Fun with perspective
source: Super Punch

This is something I really should try.




Shoot in the dark with NightCap
source: The iPhoneography Blog

Pretty useful app.

The Ender Scrolls V: Minerim Trailer
source: Likecool

Skyrim trailer redid in Minecraft.

Watch Ron Moore's fantasy cop show 17th Precinct, and see what we missed out on [Video]
source: io9

This was a really interesting concept. Probably would have been too involved for an NBC audience though.

Most Rented Redbox Films of 2011 [INFOGRAPHIC]
source: Mashable!

The interesting thing is these movies do not at all mirror the box office. People really do seem to be making choices about what they will see in theaters and what the will rent-cheap instead.

Find My Ring Size: Easily Find Out Your Ring Size
source: MakeUseOf.com

Neat idea using a credit card to calibrate the users screen size.


MIT and the future of open-source education
source: Boing Boing

Sometimes I feel like the above is a little like Brave New World. All that knowledge sitting there, yet largely untouched.


P:R Redesign: Rob Nix Justice League!
source: Project Rooftop

Nice Fan designs. The Superman cotume design in particular is pretty nice.


The Timeline of Doctor Who [Infographic]
source: the How-To Geek

Really nice Episode Chart of Doctor Who. Spoilers abound, but if you're pretty current with the show, it's worth checking out.

I want to hear your



<--Previous Month | Next Month -->