"High Quality Daily Amusement"
Friday, October 31, 2003
The Ambiguously Gay Duo
Just because it's Halloween and I saw two guys dressed up like them, here are Quicktime versions of SNL's " Ambiguously Gay Duo" cartoons. Also, see my other weblog for my observations regarding popular Halloween costumes for young women this year...
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
IT ALL GOES TO HOMEDEPOT !!!!!! and BEER!
How do you REALLY feel about Beanie Babies, sir?
Knowing is half the battle
The other half is making parodies of those old G. I. Joe safety cartoons. I was particularly tickled by the fourth one.
Too much of a good thing
What do traffic jams, obesity, and spam have in common? Find out the answer in this interesting perspective [thanks, aChronic!].
Monday, October 27, 2003
Windows Longhorn
Yeah, I know there's more to the upcoming (2005? 2006? 2010 - Odyssey Two?) Windows Longhorn than the superficial UI features, but I'm sorry, I've vomited better UI's than this hideous new Explorer layout. Um... How much screen space is completely wasted here? Is this a conspiracy to sell 36 inch monitors? And why are my game icons enclosed in ice cubes? And, what's with that stupid big friggin' clock they seem so proud of? And how about leaving some room for files in the file save dialog? That gigantic purple bar doesn't really seem to add much to the file saving experience for me. More screenshots here, but... I mean... bleah. Seriously, is there ONE person at Microsoft who attended a graphic design course at any point in their LIFE? The utter lack of visual coherence here is baffling. Does ANYONE outside of Apple have ANY experience in software graphic design? Microsoft, you have FORTY BILLION DOLLARS in cash. You can send one programmer to a summer graphic design course at the local community college, guys!
Friday, October 24, 2003
Those crazy aliens...
Solar flare my ass... this is an offensive assault on Earth from the Solarian High Command. Apparently, they've been brewing this storm for a while - it's the size of Jupiter now - and they have positioned it directly to hit Earth. The Sun is like a big Death Star, and the solar flare generator is their primary weapon. 100 years ago, no one would have given a hoot if the sun was going to have a coronal mass ejection. What do you think people will have to worry about 100 years from today that we currently don't even know about? (Guess that's a hard question to answer if we don't know what the answer is. Perhaps it's rhetorical.) "Coronal Mass Ejection" would be a good title for a p0rn film. Maybe something about astronomers going at it.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Operation Rollback
Man, I want to be the guy who gets to name law enforcement initiatives. Or maybe I want to be the guy who gets to name government agencies, like the new Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
OK, now I feel kind of bad
Apparently, X10 just filed Chapter 11. Clearly that lawsuit put their finances over the edge. It's a real shame. The company actually made some cool technology. But they allowed their actual competencies to be completely overshadowed by the seedy advertising tactics that made X10 into a running joke for years.
A new reason to watch your weight
Or, I suppose it would be cheaper than getting the operation. Oooh, let's make a parody of Milton Bradley's "Operation" game, and let players visit the pitfalls and triumphs of various types of surgery...
Hasbro sues maker of Ghettopoly
Here's the story. Just playing devil's advocate here: Isn't parody protected against copyright and trademark violations? Of course, what's to prevent someone from stealing an idea and just claiming it was a parody... hmm... Thinking about that thought reminded me of this fine Simpsons quote... Homer: Marge, may I play devil's advocate? Marge: Go ahead, Homer. [Next scene: Homer playing a pinball game called Devil's Advocate]
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Mixed feelings about this...
OK, first off, frivolous software patents are bad. But when the victim is X-10, who just got slammed for $4.3 million, you just can't help but get a slightly guilty giggle out of the situation. Actually, considering the patent in question involves "pop-under" ads, I fully support the patent-holder's rights to egregious licensing terms and monopolistic practices, thus making it nearly impossible for others to use the technology. Of course, I haven't actually seen a pop-up ad in months...
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Free VoIP with Skype
The makers of KaZaA are back with another earthshaking peer-to-peer application: Skype, which lets you bypass the telecommunications system and talk for free with your friends (at least, those friends who also have Skype). Voice over IP (VoIP) has been talked about for a while, but no one has done a good job at it. It seems that Skype may have solved some of the tricky issues, although I haven't actually tried it yet. (I'm trying to figure out if the Skype download comes with spyware, in which case I'll pass)
The Wild Divine Project
Imagine a software game in which you make things happen by changing your breathing, lowering your stress level, and using other techniques of biofeedback. That is the challenge that The Wild Divine Project introduces.
Friday, October 17, 2003
Today's kids review yesterday's video games
Nostalgia ain't all it's cracked up to be... This is hilarious... If you thought E.T. for Atari 2600 was baffling back then, imagine trying to comprehend it from a 21st century perspective. Tim: [Points to lava lamp on TV stand] That thing's more interesting. John: Yeah, let's watch the lamp. It's more fun and less predictable. Tim: E.T. is unpredictable: You never know when you'll fall into a pit or when a kid is gonna enter your body... I mean use your skin as his own. Nico: Didn't they bury this game in Mexico or something?
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Wouldn't it be cool if...
Wouldn't it be cool if tonight, Roger Clemens decided, "Well heck, I was a Red Sox player for a good part of my life, and those guys deserve a shot at the World Series. After all, we Yanks have been there an awful lot these past couple of years. I think I'll throw one or two bad pitches to give them a leg up."
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Just your average million dollar apartment
Current apartment prices in Manhattan: Average price for a 1 bedroom: $471,531 Average price for a 2 bedroom: $1,073,966 Average price for a 3 bedroom: $2,468,286 Average price for a 4 bedroom: $5,698,266 This makes Boston prices seem like backwoods Arkansas...
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Dear Friendster User - Everything is Broken
Here's an excerpt from an email I got from Friendster: Our site is currently experiencing technical difficulties due to high usage, primarily issues with database lag. As a result, you may receive e-mail from Friendster notifying you that a friend has sent you a new message, but you may be unable to access the message because it does not appear in your Friendster inbox. You may also experience problems when trying to delete messages from your inbox. In addition, you may notice that changes you have made when editing your profile have not been saved, photos you have uploaded may not be displayed, or you may not be able to approve/reject/delete pending friends, testimonials, messages, or bulletin board posts. Even though your profile/friends list/testimonials/photos do not appear to have been updated, please be aware that our servers have saved and stored this information. Finally, the e-mail server that sends out the verification code you should receive after creating a new profile or changing your e-mail address on your Friendster account is also experiencing lag[...]Hm... Anything else? I do understand that the Friendster service has become wildly more popular than anyone expected, but having experienced some of these very confusing oddities first-hand (and thus contacted them, and thus got on this mailing list), it's clear they have some truly wacked-out error handling code (or lack thereof) going on behind the scenes.
De clunibus magnis amandis oratio
Want a Dell PowerBook?
It must drive companies like Dell nuts that all the people from Clip-art Land use Macs.
Mom, Dad, and ???
Scientists create a fetus with three genetic parents... There was an interesting episode of Enterprise (one of the few) where the crew comes in contact with a humanoid species that requires three people to procreate: a mother, a father, and a 'facilitator'... and the facilitators were treated like property.
Monday, October 13, 2003
Huh?
Can someone please explain to me what they mean by " Cowboy Up"?
Government propaganda effort?
Are these letters from the Ministry of Truth?
Sunday, October 12, 2003
California Election Followup
In case you were wondering who managed to come in LAST, out of the 135 candidates, it's none other than Todd Richard Lewis, producer of a rip off of the infamous Bum Fight videos. How low does this career path put him on the totem pole of humanity? Well, with a whopping 172 votes, he trailed Hustler publisher Larry Flynt by 15,292 votes (or, roughly, 99%).
Rude Food
An excellent web site featuring photos and info on questionably named foods. There's something from Aruba called "Grated Fanny", and a beverage from Poland simply called "Fart", but what's interesting is that, being a UK based site, American snacks aren't off the hook. The site's author seems to get a giggle out of "SweetTarts", "Nips", and "Otis Spunkmeyer".
Friday, October 10, 2003
Would you like to be an extra in a movie?
Sign up at Extrasoncall! Hmmm, I think this could be fun. I've never wanted to be a full-fledged actor, but it would be neat to have a bunch of extra credits under my belt! All I need are some glamour shots. Is anyone out there a budding photographer? You help me with a photo, and I'll help you with photographic material (= me).
If this doesn't invalidate the DMCA...
Jokes about the SHIFT key being a DMCA circumvention device have been flying around since that silly CD protection scheme was, uh, "hacked", but now SUNNCOMM IS ACTUALLY SUING THE GUY WHO PUSHED THE SHIFT KEY!
Thursday, October 09, 2003
Time for audience participation!
How many English words can you make from the word "planets"? I'm inspired by " The DaVinci Code", where one of the characters recounts how her grandfather used to play word games with her when she was a child (page 99). The book claims that there are 92 other English words in the word "planets".
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Red Sox Win Game 1
Huzzah! The lads from our local sporting team have bested the foe! Pip pip!
Monday, October 06, 2003
Gas Powered Rollerblades
How many ways can YOU think of that gas powered Rollerblades just might not be a Good Idea.
Whizbang "CD Copy Protection" Scheme Defeated by Single Keystroke
Yet another futile attempt at CD Copy Protection fails miserably. This one doesn't even require a Sharpie Marker. How to defeat it? 1.) Hold down SHIFT key 2.) Insert CD 3.) Rip CD Wow, I feel like such a 1337 hax0r. If you actually dare to visit inventor Sunncomm's website, you will find that they did not waste all their programming time making a user-friendly web site. This is the first web site I've ever seen with a Flash "splash page" which launches another Flash splash page.
Who needs AAA?
When you can get a Trunk Monkey, instead? (Thanks to vowe)
Sunday, October 05, 2003
Call the telemarketers!
Would you like to call the telemarketers to tell them how you feel about their services? Follow Dave Barry's lead, and give them a call! Apparently they used to have another phone number that Dave Barry revealed in August, but it got so flooded with calls that they changed the number.
Friday, October 03, 2003
Must... Not... Be... Geeky... Fanboy...
Normally, I leave the Transformers fanboy posts to Dave, but I can't help geeking out to the fact that they finally made a Unicron toy!  Dammit... I guess I am still a hopeless geek. But hey, it's not my fault they took 17 years to come out with it. I wanted one of these when I was 11!
Truth in names...
Rapper C-Murder has been convicted of ... wait for it ... murder.
Animal Rights activism goes awry
The "Animal Liberation Front" broke into a mink farm and freed 10,000 minks. The newly emancipated minks then went on a cannibalistic feeding frenzy, eating each other, as well as attacking a flock of chickens, some exotic birds, and a Labrador retriever...
Thursday, October 02, 2003
Yoda, Y-O-D-A Yoda...
An oldie but goodie... thanks, aChronic!
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