Science Addiction

Oh noes!

So, what’s hot this summer, asks AllPosters.com?

Via Schneier, here’s a funny little photo that sums up many thoughts I have about Airport security. I wish there was a button to click to fix the problem…

I walked by a Brookstone the other day and saw this:

Now this may seem like a totally random and totally acceptable clock to many people. These people are clearly not fans of the funniest cartoon on the Internet, a.k.a. Weebl and Bob about the wobbling, oval shaped Weebl and sometimes his friend Bob. Now tell me the Brookstone folks thought up the name Bob Wobble Clock without ever having seen Weebl & Bob!

To prove I am not crazy, or at least my form of madness is common, here’s another blogger who had the same idea.

A brilliant comic from xkcd for a Friday morning:

Take a look at this video my parents took in Florida: Read more »

Just got a piece of spam with the following text (in addition to a .gif that was pushing some penny stock):

See – I think that “Happy Feet” would just never work as a film without its penguin predecessor “March of the Penguins. , but not enough for our upcoming foreign trip. James Bond is a Whovian!
I still insist on a live tree, but we did not have one shipped from Maine this year. Pelosi Pelosi Pelosi!
I, for example, mentioned to several girlfriends that they should see the new Bond flick using just three words: “Daniel Craig. Reaching for his own cola, Eagleburger continued: “He was a little loaded.
75Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott – 3.

I agree- Pelosi Pelosi Pelosi!

Also, even though James Bond is probably not Whovian I am going to try to be one pretty soon.

Oh yeah, and Happy Feet doesn’t work in spite of its predecessor.

aka What is this * of which you speak?

For many months or years or decades- I am not sure- I have used to the phrase “What is this * you speak of?” to great humorous (my opinion) effect. It has usually been greeted with chuckles and makes me feel all warm and superior on the inside.

Maybe you don’t understand the context in which you would use this phrase; let me illustrate. Let us say people are talking about the NSA wiretaps. Someone says that they think it might be legal to which someone else replies that it is not in-keeping with the constitution. At this point, I will interject with the classic line, “Constitution? What is this constitution you speak of?” and will be treated by chuckles all around. If you don’t get the joke- and I’m sure it loses some lustre in written text- it means that people at the NSA or in government seem to not be aware of the existence of the constitution. Ha ha, funny, right?

Maybe not. I like to make myself laugh more than I do others, so I succeed. It is a low bar I set for myself.

The trouble, however, is that I do not like to use lines without knowing their roots. Where does this phrase come from? Surely, it is not my own creation- though I may admit as much in lesser company- so where does it come from? I hate using quotes or phrases that are in common use without knowing the source- you know those people who spout lines from Monty Python or SNL or Abe Lincoln without knowing where they came from? They irritate me. So what are the origins of my pet line? Off to the all-knowing search engines for that answer… Read more »

This is one of the great videos in the history of Internet viral videos- the fountains of Bellagio recreated using Diet Coke and Mentos mints (required Quicktime).

Newsday has a fantastic animated cartoon song on the NSA wiretaps set to Stevie Wonder’s I Just Called to Say I Love You. This one goes, You Just Called and We Were Listening. Good stuff.

Including cab drivers. Watch how the BBC mistakenly pulled in a cab driver to comment on the latest issues with Internet piracy, digital downloads and iTunes. He actually had some interesting things to say: Read more »

You know what they say about beans- they make you… how should I say… flatulent. Well, a few smart scientists in Venezuela have figured out how to make beans ferment more before they’re cooked removing their undesirable qualitites. Nice.

You know those people who even spend their time picking apart charity? When my story about geek charities was reported on at Slashdot there were people in the comments there who spent time picking apart my motivations and so on.

Then there are others who pick apart open sourcey communities and people who would spend their times in them. To them, I say go forth to The Onion where altruism is being mocked.

[...] said freelance writer Eric Bergstrom, who was eating at a local diner when he saw Eisenfeld buy the confused man a cup of coffee and ask him where he lived. “Because, you know, it’s not like there’s cops or emergency workers trained to do that stuff. Must be nice having all that free time to be a big hero. What a stuck-up prick.” As of press time, Eisenfeld’s ulterior motive had not been determined.

It seemed as though yesterday was an overactive April Fool’s day; maybe because it was a Saturday or because I was actively seeking pranks. And I found many.

Some of my favorite pranks for this year: Read more »

If you have a GMail account (and who doesn’t these days?), Google has a quirky little advertisement for your enjoyment. Go to your GMail account and click on the “Spam” link in the left sidebar. Read more »