More toys

How cool is this? Major tip'o'the hat to Tom @ IIRTZ for leading me to the world of Dumpr, where you can transform your pictures into museum curiosities.

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Beware the sparkly Vista

Yes, Windows Vista is the new operating system kid on the block. You would think that by now we have learned not to necessarily trust "dot-oh" versions of operating systems. However, people will still get Vista for the purpose of having the latest cool thing. That's fine. If you're one of those people, you better keep the following in mind.

If you purchase the upgrade, you cannot do a fresh clean install of Vista onto a new drive. According to Microsoft's support site:

This problem occurs because Windows Vista does not check upgrade compliance. Therefore, you cannot use an upgrade key to perform a clean installation of Windows Vista.

Your choices are to install Vista directly on top of XP, or to purchase a license that allows a clean installation onto an empty hard drive. For me, the only way to install a new operating system is to install it fresh without any extraneous junk files that could get in the way. I'm going to wait until the initial frenzy dies down, and then we'll see if things change. It might even be worthwhile to wait for the first service pack so all of the initial bugs are out of the way as well.

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Random Flickr Blogging: 5019

(Random Flickr Blogging explained)


IMG_5019.JPG
Originally uploaded by Isaac Isaac.

Once she noticed the concrete blocks nearby, Gloria then realized why she was taken to the docks. The pleading and begging started immediately.

IMG_5019.jpg
Originally uploaded by Magister2006.

Jade was torn between demonstrating either a rhombus or equilaterial triangle.

IMG_5019
Originally uploaded by feathermar.

Josie really wanted to get the party hopping, so she rocked on with the BMI measurements.

IMG_5019
Originally uploaded by Kanido.

Imagine Marge's surprise when she noticed everything around her started losing its color depth.

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Greyhound Girl

For those who are interested, I finally got around to posting an excerpt of Pete Townshend's performance of "Greyhound Girl" on my photo site. Since I used the still camera for the shoot, the video was originally shot portrait instead of landscape, so I needed to rotate the video and render it to WMV format.

The video resides in the video subsection of my folder for In The Attic from last September in NYC.

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Blinded me with science

The folks at Scientific American have posted their take on the 20 hottest gadgets from the Consumer Eletronics Show. The popup gallery is pretty nice, with some really exceptional snarky commentary. Among my favorites:


1. The attention-deprived hi-tech umbrella. Apparently, there's a chip in the grip that communicates, supposedly, with Accu-weather to get the latest forecast. If rain is in the offing, a light in the grip will blink, begging you to pick up the umbrella and comfort it. I guess there are people out there in the information age who are unable to get the weather forecast from the TV, radio, web, cell phone, shaman, groundhog, or their own eyes when they look up at the damn sky. Consider me unimpressed. What would be really cool is if the umbrella could sense a burglar outside the house and turn into a sword or something like that.


2. The CarMD. This is actually quite cool. According to their website, every vehicle made after 1996 has the same kind of connector which interfaces to the vehicle's computer brain. After connecting the device and turning on the ignition, the CarMD will retrieve all diagnostic data from the car's computer and store it. From there, you return to your PC, hook up the CarMD, and upload the info to the CarMD website for an analysis of all the return codes to see what's wrong with your car, if anything. It sure beats paying out 3 dinners' worth of money to accomplish the same thing.

3. R2D2 DVD Projector. I think we've all seen that scene multiple times. You know the one I'm talking about. R2D2 displays a holographic projection of the Princess begging ye olde Obi-Wan for his assistance. Well, now you can get the real thing. Of course, the projection doesn't exist holographically in free space; the image goes onto the wall. You could create your own moment of zen by having R2D2 project the image of its projecting an image.

There are plenty of other items for you to check out in the gallery, like an animatronic Elvis, a robot that roller skates, and a wireless power charger. So, head over there and get your geek fix for the weekend.

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Around the world in 80 dances

There is something beautifully poetic about the simplicity of how this guy, Matt, traveled around the world and took a quick video of himself dancing in each location. Some of the backdrops are nothing short of striking. Turn the speakers up when you play this, as the soundtrack is just as great.

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Random Flickr Blogging: 3776

(Random Flickr Blogging explained)


IMG_3776
Originally uploaded by cmwoodley.

Larry, not one to take crap from anyone, showed his neighbors what he took from the snowman as souvenirs, just to make sure they knew whom they were dealing with.

3776
Originally uploaded by bunaen.

Woody Allen was clearly horrified that the press caught up to him at this favorite country bar.

101_3776
Originally uploaded by carissa_aimee.

Michelle was fascinated with the huge object hurtling towards her father as he was obliviously taking her picture.

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Big ol' jet airliner..

Let's face it: Air travel has become more and more tedious over time. What, with all the nonsense rules of what you can and cannot bring on a plane, delays, circling over airports until the air traffic calms down, baggage claim... OK OK I'LL STOP!

So imagine the eye-opening when I checked out Virgin America's new rides. Below is the video that CEO Fred Reid filmed in VA's effort to do a hell of a job in getting the stateside travellers to give the government hell to get VA the green light they need to start business.



They've even gone so far as to set up a separate website, LetVAFly, to further their cause (and to make all of you geeks, myself included, drool to the point of wanting to fly anywhere). This is the feature list that I caught from the little demonstration (see below the fold):

• 110-volt power outlets that do not require any adapters.
• Standard headphone jacks at each seat.
• USB and RJ-45 jacks at each seat.
• Touch-screen in-flight entertainment system running on Linux that is really the shit.
  
• Servers which house over 3,000 MP3 files so you can build your own playlist.
• You order food and drink through the screen and swipe your credit card, after which it's delivered to you.
• You have your choice of tv, streaming movies, music, and multi-player gaming (Doom).
• You can chat with other passengers with the included keyboard/game controller, or even join a full plane chat room.

My guess is that the already failing airline industry is scared shitless of Virgin coming in and stealing the spotlight. Maybe this is what is holding up the works. Technically, the issue appears to be the amount of foreign ownership within the country.

All I know is that I want to fly on this damn plane. Any other takers?

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Testing 1, 2, 3... Is this thing on?

OK Folks. Just embedding some Odeo audio to make sure all is in order before the big dive into podcasting.


powered by ODEO

Feel free to let me know if everything is working properly.

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Felonious Dipshit

Yes, Koral Karsan, that's your new name: Felonious Dipshit. I'll only mention your old name once so that in your obsessive search for fame and fortune, you might come across my humble blog to learn of your new identity. Let's go over some items from your blackmail letter that contribute to your earning your new name:

• You outright blackmailed Yoko Ono in writing. That's a level of stupidity that I'm just in awe of. Your parents would smack the shit out of you for that one. You actually thought that trying to shake someone down in writing would have no consequences whatsoever. Do you know why you thought that? Because you're Felonious Dipshit.
• You state that your family life has suffered:

  This is solely due to your excessive demands on my time, demanding my companionship for over 15 hours daily, seven days a week for the last six years.

  You know, I remember having a job a number of years ago that I thought was a right shithole. Know what I did? I left after six weeks. With all the horror you were experiencing at your job, you're telling me that you couldn't get your shit together to find another line of work in over six years. Do you know why you couldn't? Because you're Felonious Dipshit.
• While stating that you had been victimized and "stripped from any kind of dignity and self respect," you have the necessary self-respect and confidence to extort:

  Such a trial, regardless of if I win or lose, will provide me with a significant amount of publicity that I will use to promote a number of books that will portray You, Sean and John. These books will be written using information obtained from ten years of listening to you as well as pictures taken with hidden cameras and literally thousands of hours of recordings I have been compiling since 1996. Within these tapes, there are recordings such as the ones below that will quite frankly, astound the world.

  For someone without dignity or self-respect, you seem pretty resourceful in the hidden coverage department. Do you get off on installing cameras in toilets too? Or perhaps, you enjoy installing secret cameras to enjoy horticulture in upstate New York. Granted, that's unsubstantiated, but who knows? At least now we get the nitty-gritty. You must've watched a lot of Honeymooners episodes to come up with this Kramden-esque quick money scheme. Maybe we can get the dude from upstate to tell us if this is how you operate. Do you also have a spare neck brace in the trunk for those "car accidents?" I bet you do. Do you know why? Because you're Felonious Dipshit.

At the end of the day, Dipshit, there are no sordid details of anything that you could write that anyone would be surprised or give a shit about. It's not about what Yoko did or didn't do. John & Yoko are bigger than all of us, and John's music will still be around, long after the maggots have finished the all-you-can-eat buffet on your rotting corpse. Once the jury reads that you, in your own words, have been secretly recording conversation for years for the sole purpose of blackmail, do you think that will help your case? I don't think it will. Do you know why?

Because you're Felonious Dipshit.

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Random Flickr Blogging: 4616

(Random Flickr Blogging explained)


IMG_4616.jpg
Originally uploaded by AndyToad.

While the experiment wasn't a complete success, Bill could still perform admirably in an arm-wrestle.

IMG_4616
Originally uploaded by tloftus.

Chester, the ever-reliable rock hound, was clearly vexed over the duo's attempted power stance without even using real Strats. I mean, really.

IMG_4616
Originally uploaded by NatBat.

Jay, clearly the weaker of the two, lost the top bunk bed after a vicious headlock.

DSC_4616
Originally uploaded by mpredosin.

Before continuing, let us first thank our sponsors. Today's ceremony has been brought to you by....

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I actually found it!

I found a real live blog whose posts are made up entirely of hand drawn index cards! For sure, Shakes is never gonna believe this. The blog is called Indexed, and the author expresses herself on each post in a single index card with mathematical diagrams.

There are so many to choose from, but this is one of my favorites so far:



Welcome to my blogroll, Indexed!

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Random Flickr Blogging: 1847

(Random Flickr blogging explained)


1847
Originally uploaded by briansugar.

Terry had a hard time accepting that the baby was really his.

IMG_1847
Originally uploaded by jomerrit.

Technology always on the march, the pool-potty was revealed last week. Just hook this bad boy up and waste is removed without your ever having to leave the pool!

(And no more of those warm spots in the water either!)

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Sunday Cat Blogging

Moon: "Your blog reading will cease immediately in favor of attention to me."

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Drink water for maximum spray

This video comes by way of one Marked Hoosier. He truly found a gem in this one. If anyone is in dire need of a really good laugh, please watch this.



Thanks Mark!!

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Performance of Atom Heart Mother

PINK FLOYD ATOM HEART MOTHER
Uploaded by allainraphael

This performance from 2003 is nothing short of remarkable. As per Brain Damage:

Back on March 3rd, 2003, a collection of very talented French students performed Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother in its entirety at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP). The 35 minute video of the performance is now online, and is wonderful

Quick note: I would like to welcome all of the new visitors to my blog who have come here to enjoy a truly memorable performance of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother at the Conservatoire de Paris. I give thanks and a friendly tip of the hat to Astah from Kopikol who found the post.

It is wonderful to know that there are so many of us who love Pink Floyd!

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Cat blogging from the UK

Our favorite English cats, Monty and Sammy, have agreed to let themselves be shown on the blog for all to enjoy and worship. To start, we have Monty verifying that his new favorite chair is adjusted properly for feline ergonomics.



Next, we have Sammy striking quite the amazing "What are you looking at?" pose from inside a basket.

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"God? I've got Pat Robertson on line 4."

For starters, I find it interesting that any "news agency" gives this guy any air time. Regardless, get a load of this horse shite from Pat Robertson:

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (AP) -- Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday that God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a "mass killing" late in 2007.

"I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

"The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."

Robertson said God told him about the impending tragedy during a recent prayer retreat.

God also said, he claims, that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.

I sure hope The Lord didn't say "nook-you-lure" either. That might actually explain a few things. You know, it wasn't so long ago that folks didn't want Osama-bin-forgotten's tapes to be aired for fear of their containing coded messages to followers.

Just sayin'..

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Friendly Public Service Announcement

For all those, like myself, who were enjoying The Who channel on Sirius, they've moved from channel 10 to channel 98. I'm not sure exactly when this happened, but when I heard Carole King earlier today, I knew something was up.

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Random Flickr Blogging: 0101

IMG_0101
Originally uploaded by Pablo Terradillos.

With her mother keeping close watch, Maria was not allowed to practice her ballet without the proper safety precautions.

0101
Originally uploaded by guyladouche.

Much to his chagrine, Dave found the rather turbulent subway ride quite relaxing.

bmmf_0101
Originally uploaded by 衝刺吧！幫手阿琨～.

The original inventors of the Chinese finger puzzle have just recently branched into novelty outerwear.

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