Vampire Weekend

I thought this was fitting for this weekend.

Toyota Is Full Of Mad Scientists

What does Toyota do when they can't make cars less harmful to nature? FIX NATURE. They've genetically engineered flowers to absorb harmful gases.

Read about all the crazyness here.

I Love Halloween

My only problem with Halloween is that it only comes once a year, and there are so many costumes I want to wear. Han Solo, Dr. Horrible, Scary Steve Jobs.

Maybe I'll just wear the Steve mask around this weekend for fun, handing out apples instead of candy.

Apple's Italian Floor

I have a whole new respect for the stone floor tiles at the Apple Store. The amount of detail Apple puts into everything they do, from products, to the store, to job offers is incredible.

Quote from the quarry: "The glass staircase, just as modern-day computer communication, abandons gravity and rises up from the stone floor to the vault of an immaterial consistency,” the company says. “Metaphorically speaking, it is as though the stone were held down to the floor purely by its own weight, giving the rest of the architecture a new and light dimension.” “The orderly horizontal planes of grey stone accentuate the sought-after ascensional-white emotion.”

Funny, I feel the EXACT same way about bacon.

via ifoAppleStore

The World of Tomorrow?

Just one of the top 20 entries from an "If The Internet Disappeared Today" photoshop contest. With Net Neutrality suddenly becoming an issue again, it might be a good idea to take a (hilarious) look at what would happen if we didn't have the easy access to all the information we do now.

No power in the 'verse can stop Nathan Fillion

A good follow-up to a post about Felicia Day:



In case you missed it (like me).

Money quote:

"Didn't you wear that 5 years ago? ... Don't you think you should move on?"

Ouch. I don't think I'll EVER move on.

This Just In: NASA Discovers Sense of Humor

Check out NASA getting in touch with their prime

demographic in this PSA about colliding galaxies.

Just another notch in Felicia Day's Queen Nerd belt!

Ramblin' Dogs

DailyMotion and Steve Martin are having a video contest!

The only rules: you have to use Steve Martin's song "Wally on the Run" as your soundtrack, and the video must have a dog or dogs in it.

Winner gets $1000, deadline is Dec. 1st.

Monty P. has offered to model for anybody that wants to give it a try. Headshots upon request.

OMGCUTE

Gizmodo shows off some cute twins with nerd parents.

Update: Even cuter mac nerd twins.

Strong Female (Characters) V. Strong Characters (Female)

Ann Hornaday, in the Washington Post, writes about Hilary Swank's new movie "Amelia", and about the increasingly small pool of strong female roles for women in Hollywood.

Now, up front im just going to say that

1. I have not seen "Amelia", and probably won't because

2. It got mediocre at best reviews and

3. Im not a Hilary Swank fan, I think she's overrated.

That being said, I think Ms. Hornaday's observation that powerful women-oriented movies are being overlooked (and therefore underrepresented) because they have "No Manolo Blahniks! No ABBA! No vampires!" rings sad-but-true. There is an upsetting amount of rom-com, girls night out formulaic tripe out there because so many women (sadly, like my mother) enjoy forgetting themselves in a predictable, feel-good movie with simplified characters and neatly solved problems. And im not judging, (okay, im totally judging, but I concede that everybody needs their brain candy. Hell, I will still watch "Clueless" anytime time its on) but its a symptom of a larger issue.

These days, when it comes to women, people don't seem to understand what a "strong character" is.

I don't want Megan Fox's "Transformers" character-I-can't-remember-the-name-of. Just because she can fix a car does not make her a strong female character. "Catwoman" is another example (Pfeifer or Berry, take your pick). She's strong (super strong), a female and a character, but NOT a Strong Female Character.

Now I know these aren't exactly benchmarks of groundbreaking cinematography, but here is my thing- women don't need anymore strong female characters, we need strong female characters. Characters with flaws and goals and a history! No more to the ass-kicking, gun-toting, computer-hacking supermodel! No more to the stiletto-wearing CEO whose life would only be complete if she could find a man! More Brockovitch less Bradshaw!

Im also frustrated because I feel responsible. I should be supporting the types of movies I want to see, but frankly, I just don't go to the movies anymore. Its harder and harder for me to justify dropping $10+ on something I can rent a month later from iTunes or Netflix for 1/3 of the cost. Usually I just stay in and watch TV, where the real characters (Liz Lemon, Joan Holloway, Tami Taylor) live.

Don't Cry For Me, Cupertino

I always knew David Pogue was a huge dork. But I never knew. Until now.

Word Nerd

My excitement level for the new Woot! shirts derby is way above normal.

Visual Puns!

IMO: Top 5 Monty Python Sketches

Because they're all over the news and in my head. I feel like I just need to get this out there.

5. The Lion Tamer
An accountant wants to be a lion tamer. Maybe. I love this sketch...from the introductory song to the "gay banter" throw away line to the 'Lion Tamer' hat, its a great scene.



4. Lumberjack Song
All this barber wants to do is be a lumberjack-sleep all night and work all day. And...other things....



3. Argument Clinic
It just never stops being funny to me.



2. Fish Slapping Dance
Brilliant in it's simplicity.

t>

1. Ministry of Silly Walks
When I first saw this, I spent the whole rest of my day thinking up silly walks. But unfortunately, none of them were particularly silly enough to receive a government grant.

The Best Way to Talk On Your iPhone

-6 hours of talk time
-160 hours standby time
-Bluetooth V2.0 Class2

-Fully charged in just 2 hours

-Stylish, easy to hold banana form factor

Only $17.70. Must...resist...urge...

Hosting Your Windows 7 Torrenting Party

Hosting Your Windows 7 Torrenting Party - watch more funny videos

Far more accurate. And british.

Oh, Maine.

Photograph of the Great Falls, on the Androscoggin River

I was born when this river was flooding. My middle name "Andrew", supposedly comes from the name of this river, which flows between the city I was born in and it's sister city.

Report: Androscoggin River One Of Nation's Most Toxic

Notice how it's in the "Top 20". Actually an improvement from about 5 years ago, when it was #4 on the list.

Stalker-ish Creepy

John Gruber, on this Microsoft Store grand opening video.

It’s creepy, as in like stalker-ish creepy, just how blatantly they’ve copied Apple.

Sonya Thomas, "The Black Widow" of Competitive Eating

Thank you, Woot, for this incredible, unintentionally hilarious website. The homepage of a Sonya Thomas, "The Black Widow" of Competitive Eating. Yes, she's a tiny Asian lady.

Why is she called "The Black Widow", you may ask? Here's the answer from her FAQ page:

Because like the female black widow spider, it is my desire to eliminate the males. In competitive eating I want to eat more or faster than the men. I want to make boys out of them.

She will make a boy out of you. Watch out, Takeru Kobayashi.

Microsoft "Apps Lab" Not Painfully Cringeworthy

Actually, it's a little clever, and pokes fun of all the "trash" apps on the iPhone's App Store. It remains to be seen how many quality apps actually show up in Windows Mobile, and whether you'll actually be able to use the phone without stabbing yourself repeatedly in the face in frustration.

GE takes us one step closer to the Tricorder

via Engadget: GE VScan portable ultrasound earns the Leonard McCoy seal of approval

One day, we'll all carry tricorders. And we'll scan EVERYTHING. Because we can. Rocks, kittens and coworkers beware, you will be scanned.

Sure, you think you know EVERYTHING about iTunes ...

Just a nice little article on the various windows that you can use in iTunes. I learned a couple of things.

The Dead Parrot Society, 40 years on

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/30583033/john_cleeses_towering_legacy

The Cookie Diet. (AKA The Are-You-Shitting-Me?! Diet)

Not even kidding, here.

The "Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet" is the hottest insane diet plan since Atkins. Apparently all you do is drop about $50 on cookies (the nutritional value of which isn't completely known) and eat only those cookies, water, plus one small meal and voila! 40 pounds lighter!

I mean, traditionally when you think "weightloss" or even "diet", "cookies" are not the first thing that jumps to one's mind, unless its "Damn, I wish I could eat a cookie right now. But I CAN'T. Because its a F-CKING COOKIE and im on a DIET."

The popularity makes sense, though. A new diet giving you the green light for a forbidden food? What's not to love?

Well, other than the texture, the cost, the fact that you don't know what's in it, the disapproval of most accredited doctors and nutritionists and the fact that you're LIVING OFF OF COOKIES.

There are other "smart cookie" brands out there. One of them, Soypal, is based on "okara, or soy pulp, which absorbs any liquids you drink with the cookies." Delicious! And the website recommends you drink two glasses of water or another beverage with each cookie, because all these little treats are really supposed to do is trick your body into thinking you've eaten.

Which sounds totally healthy to me. Right, guys?

Just remember: Cookies are still a "Sometimes Food", and nutrition is really hip!

My New Personal Hero

This man shoots ANVILS into the air. Anvils. Thank you Gizmodo for covering things that matter to me, and men in general.

I think I'm done posting for now. But who knows, they still haven't given me any work to do today, and there are SO many interesting things on the internet.

Wish I Read More

Because the Barnes & Noble Nook is awesome. And I kinda want one.

Why didn't I do this?

Oh yeah, because Stephanie wouldn't have made it that far in the level.

Windows 7 Starter: Making the Netbook Even Crappier

So, check out this wikipedia chart on Windows 7 editions. Confusing as it is for consumers, some will never have to make a choice. Their new PC will come bundled with a version of Windows, and they'll go on their merry way unaware of what they're missing. But for those unlucky souls who still think netbooks are a good idea, be prepared to scale a massive wall of frustration and anger and gooey stuff that makes you slide back down after you've already climbed half-way up, as chances are they'll be getting a bundled copy of Windows 7 Starter Edition.

Microsoft named it "starter" for a reason. They took it behind their headquarters in Redmond and beat it with an obsolescence stick until it couldn't do amazing modern things like "change desktop backgrounds" or "support more than 2gb ram".

So, while Windows 7 has gotten some warm reviews (using fresh installs on new hardware with no bundled crapware), you're gonna have to be prepared to shell out some cash to get the full experience. Fortunately, Windows is allowing you to upgrade from cheaper versions of 7 to some of the more fully-featured with the Windows Anytime Upgrade program, anywhere from $80 to $140 big ones. Did I mention that the one version of Snow Leopard costs $29? With the Anytime Upgrades, the regular upgrade versions and the full versions of 7, and different versions for 32 and 64-bit, there are well over a dozen different versions of Windows 7 floating around, all with different features and ways to upgrade.

If you make a well-reviewed product, and you want people to actually use it without feeling like a masochist, why make it so inaccessible? Why only let a few people have the full experience, when you extend those features to everyone and maybe have people who enjoy using windows?

Didn't I start off talking about netbooks? Oh yeah, you guys are screwed. If you wanna be able to change your desktop background, why not think (way) different?