Random Distractions Archive
These posts are all in this one category.
A friend IM'ed me this:
would you buy this book?
http://www.bbrandonbarker.com/
Heck yeah! I have no idea what the book is about, but in my opinion the best reason to buy a book (vs library) is for how it looks on the bookshelf. With art like this, it should make a fine addition to even the most particular of literary collections.
Click for the full image.
No Amazon link yet - according to the author it won't be out until this summer.
Have unlimited text messages? Take full advantage of it and get into the Guinness Book of World Records.
From Engadget.com:
Deepak Sharma went on record with the Guinness Book for having sent the most SMS messages in a single month: 182,689.
That’s about 6,100 messages a day, 253 an hour, 4.2 a minute, or a new one every 14 seconds or so.
His phone bill was 1411 pages long.
Full Story [WebIndia123.com]
The Acurabot holds a secret in the trunk....
![a_trnk_optpri_1_75[1].jpg](http://www.gspr.com/blau/images/_cars/a_trnk_optpri_1_300.jpg)
![a_trnk_optpri_2_75[1].jpg](http://www.gspr.com/blau/images/_cars/a_trnk_optpri_2_300.jpg)
![a_trnk_optpri_3_75[1].jpg](http://www.gspr.com/blau/images/_cars/a_trnk_optpri_3_300.jpg)
![a_trunk_ext_ovrview_1_75[1].jpg](http://www.gspr.com/blau/images/_cars/a_trunk_ext_ovrview_1_300.jpg)
The dashboard holds a few secrets too... such as how fast you are going... where is that dial again?
![a_ckpt_dash_3_75[1].jpg](http://www.gspr.com/blau/images/_cars/a_ckpt_dash_3_300.jpg)
I'd be way to distracted to drive this thing...
i am 8-bit is an exhibition at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight in Los Angles. It's open until May 18, which happens to be the first day of E3, which is also in LA.
Here are some of my favorites:
More items from the show.... [Fort90.com]
From OhGizmo!:
Leave it to Ideationdesigns.com to come up with an improvement on the thumbtack. Not only does it look good, but it can do two things the old thumbtacks couldn’t.
First, it prevents whatever paper you’re tacking from swivelling in the wind, since it has two needles.
Second, you can thread strings or wires through them for countless creative uses.
I have no idea what this is...
I hate teasers like this. At least say what the point is, or who the target audience is.
The one good thing? It has an RSS feed.
Oh - and if you stare at the page too long, the glow seems to fade in and out. Maybe Microsoft and IDSA are reinventing the light bulb.
Leave your guesses for what this is in the Comments....
Update:
Thanks to TNL, I now have an account and 100 invites to give away.
My 360 page: http://360.yahoo.com/dylangreene
Leave a comment here if you'd like an invite.
Original Message:
I don't have any Yahoo 360 invites to give away just yet, but while you are waiting, I suggest checking out dhteumeuleu.com the witness some of the coolest interactive DHTML demos I've ever seen. I strongly recommend you visit using Internet Explorer since Firefox is unable to render some of his coolest effects. All of the demos include access to his elegantly simplistic source code. Flash and Java were not used for any of the demos.
One of my favorite demos is a DHTML PowerPoint-like slide show built as a ZUI (zooming user interface) - each slide zooms into view while the next slide approaches from the distance.
Meanwhile, Yahoo 360 mini-reviews have appeared from Steve Rubel and Tristan Louis, and some info from well-known Yahoo bloggers Russell Beattie and Jeremy Zawodny have good things to say.
So.... is Yahoo 360 what started the XBOX 360 rumor? That would be pretty funny.
We all know to avoid McDonald's because of the high fat and carb content, but what about "America's favorite drug dealer," Starbucks?
Maps and Legends' Craig Pfeifer, a proud Starbucks junkie, wrote about the upcoming Starbucks Chantico - a 6-ounce "chocolate bar in a cup" with 390 calories, 21 grams of fat and 51 carbs.
Chantico is the Aztec Goddess of the hearth and terrestrial fire.
From GodChecker: "With her red serpent accessories and crown of poisoned cactus spikes, she symbolizes the combination of pleasure and pain."
Kinda fitting?
Know this building? A friend sent me the this: -Built in 1983 as the 4th largest facility in the United States. -Unbuilt tomorrow apparently. Here's the details: The old Washington Convention Center will implode tomorrow, at 7:30 a.m. Apparently, the sight of an implosion is something else, making it really more of an experience. For those who are into the mind/body thing, the experience may hit the "zone". It releases all kinds of juices and energies in the body and is a good way to close the year. For those who are familiar with Burning Man in Nevada, the experience comes close to it If it has been a stressful year, here is your chance to "release" it. (cheaper and more effective than seeing a shrink). The email came from his yoga group email list, to which he quickly brought up that they also do kayaking. If I can wake up in time I'll be down there. Not sure where the best place will be to stand, and I bet it will be cold, but I've never seen a building imploded before in person, especially not one that I've been to fairly frequently.
Some great XBOX announcements today, including EA finally adding support for XBOX Live across all of their popular sports and action games, a new digital camera peripheral for multiple-person video chat (and hopefully in-game support as well), and Doom III will be an XBOX exclusive.
However, the most anticipated news is about Halo II. Halo II now has an official release date of November 9, 2004.
And for your viewing pleasure, here is a video of a demonstration of some of the new features in Halo II. All videos are WMV and may require Windows Media Player 9.
These videos require you to right click on the link and choose Save Target As...
- Halo 2 E3 2004 Video Part 1
- Halo 2 E3 2004 Video Part 2
- Halo 2 E3 2004 Video Part 3
- Halo 2 E3 2004 Video Part 4
If those video links don't work, try this TeamXBOX page instead.
That's not all, here are some more cool E3 videos:
These videos require you to right click on the link and choose Save Target As...
- The Novice - A funny Apprentice spoof putting the XBOX senior management team against the Playstation senior management team. Some funny cameos you wouldn't normally expect in a spoof like this. A must see for any Apprentice fan.
- Doom 3 - You know what this is about.
- XNA Crash Demo - XNA is the new framework MS released for building XBOX games. This demo shows off what can be done with two detailed Saleen car models smashing into each other at high speeds. It's an impressive technology demo but will the games really look that good? It might be done using XBOX 2 technology.
- EA announces Live support - EA brings out the big guns for this announcement!
I got all these video links from TeamXBOX.com's E3 2004 web site. If any of the video links stop working, just go there and you'll find those videos, screenshots, and more.
All geeks, especially in software development, will appreciate the humor in this great parody:
Real World meets Microsoft (Media Player 9 required)
So many great lines...
"Hey, how many days until we're live? Great, 5 then."
"If you can show beyond a shadow of a doubt it was my bug, then maybe I'd believe you."
"I don't know, maybe our developers are busy blogging, or playing XBOX."
Too bad Microsoft doesn't show their humorous side in their software. Thanks to Brian Goldfarb for this the link. He also smaller versions of the video if you're on a slow connection.
DARPA Grand Challenge video clips
Sad but real.
The last one in the video is a robotic motorcycle. Now you'd think: Why build a motorcycle? It would be so hard for the computer to keep it balanced, never mind navigating the 300 mile off road trail?
I won't spoil the ending.
Thanks to Mike Diehl for finding this must watch training video for anybody who has ever had any interest in operating a fork lift. It's also damn funny.
It's in German, but you'll see that doesn't matter.
Watch it: Forklift Training Video (or: How Not to Operate a Forklift)
Count the number of people in the picture.
Wait for it to change.
Count the number of people in the picture again.
