Activity Corner

• If you know Trader Joe's, then you know why this is the greatest Trader Joe's commercial ever. (Thanks Andy!)


• 15 awesome ultramodern fireplaces.


• Since we all use battery-operated technology, an article everyone should read: Four essential tips for charging and extending battery life.


• In the 70s, the game of Battleship wasn't sexist, it was status quo.


• Using Rubik's cubes as pixel art.


• I think I'll just quote the video description: Some kinda weird bollywood beatles clones. (I love the "recreation" of Western 60s dancing.)


• Proof that people will invent descriptors when none exist (or they don't know the proper ones), here are the results of asking kids what they call LEGO pieces.


• Kinda long, but interesting to see American Idol's Simon Cowell on his first-ever TV appearance as a contestant on a British game show.


• I can't help but crack up each time I watch the dog AT-AT costume video. Many viewings I've made, yes!


• Check out the amazing finalists in the Star Wars diorama contest.


• If you're not familiar with Lady Gaga, you need to see her hit Poker Face before you can truly appreciate Christopher Walken performing Poker Face.


• The 20,000-piece LEGO kitchen counter.


• The literal periodic table.


• A collection of motorcycle club colors and logos.


• Everyone's heard of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But there are other lesser-known ones. Here are 13 additional leaning towers.


• I don't know what to call this other than photography of photography.


• The 15 best man caves on the internet.


• How to use an apostrophe.


• 15 abandoned theaters.


• The most popular Christmas toys, by year, since 1960.


• Recycled train cars.


• 2 musicians 1 guitar.

Friday Game

Here's an interesting game that combines shooting with typing. I know, I know, "typing game" sounds boring, and it might be at first, but just wait until the waves of bad guys come bearing down on you. See how long you can last against the onslaught in Word Shoot.

Pithy Python

Two tickets for John Cleese at The Moore: $110
Two veggie burritos at Taco Del Mar: $12.51
Two "suckerpunches" in the theater basement bar: $14
Seeing Raggs, world's biggest Monty Python fan, go apeshit when John came on stage: Priceless

Music Appreciation

Spotted on Dexter Avenue. I have a feeling there's not so much appreciation any more. Still, it makes me wonder how exactly one appreciates G&S.

Hippo Birdy

Happy birthday, weebat!

Watching History

Reading about history is so last century, especially given today's internet attention span. Thankfully, YouTube is there to collect all sorts of historical videos, whether authentic or recreated. But how do you find them? By tuning in to a site that has tracked down and categorized 101 historical moments you can relive on YouTube.

To The Batcake!

The scene: Murder mystery dinner on Halloween at DK and Crazy Ash's house.
The food: Cupcakes made by Nicole.
All mine: Chocolate. With a bat on top.
The photo: Poor low-lite iPhone picture.

Caption Contest

Acronym Abuse

It's common for departments, agencies, and organizations to use acronyms to shorten their official names. But sometimes you have to wonder why they didn't check those acronyms ahead of time. Do they know, or are they just blinded by original intent? See when initialisms go awry at Acronyms Sometimes Suck.

Caption Contest Winner

This week's winner is Hurley.

See the original image here.

Activity Corner

There will probably be some Halloween stuff mixed in here today. Just sayin'.

• A math professor's Halloween lecture.


• Cool interactive comparison (move the slider at the bottom) of cell size and scale.


• For the gamers like me: an MMO player analyzes Facebook games.


• Nerdy forum conversation started by the question How come Gandalf didn't know Bilbo had the One Ring?


• A Grand Prix pit stop is only 7 seconds, but contains almost 116 man-seconds of tasks. Here's how they do it.


• I don't speak Klingon, so I don't know what's going on in this Klingon military recruitment video.


• How big is Antarctica?


• When decorating for Christmas, sometimes it's better to just say ditto.


• When geeks have twins.


• The world's greatest treehouse.


• For Halloween, don't make a meat loaf, make a meat hand.


• Continuing the 3-wolf-moon t-shirt theme, it's the 3 Worf moon t-shirt.


• Razor blade soap. I love the comment about rust.


• Make your bed look like you're a homeless person with the oxymoronic cardboard print duvet.


• What will they invent next in the name of fashion? How about LED eyelashes. Make sure you watch the video.


• A proper British write-up of how to prepare a scone for tea. So that's that, then.


• Why settle for an ordinary powered wheelchair when you can go offroad with the 6x6 Explorer 6-wheel drive electric wheelchair?


• Hilarious video of a woman recreating YouTube hits.


• Flammable ice.


• Epic Oldsmobile jump.


• Are you afraid of bats?


• All the famous vampires get together for a vampire reunion.


• Details on the Disneyland/Disney World Haunted Mansion's tombstones named after real people.


• How to growl like Chewbacca.


• Minimalist nativity set.


• Halloween cocktail: the bloody brain shooter.


• The 12 most creative bathtubs.


• The top 10 ghost ships.


• I have Beatles Rock Band and am also a geek, so of course I love the Hey Jude flowchart. (Thanks Rod!)

Friday Game

Here's a fun little Halloween physics game. Try to save the good pumpkins by removing the rotten ones in Pumpkin Remover.

Good luck with the last level.

Net Neutrality Simplified

I use the internet a lot, and I pay for it too. But what everyone pays could change drastically if the Big Cable companies (Comcast, Time Warner) get their way. Here's a simple illustration of what could happen if they pass McCain's bill to block the FCC's net neutrality rules:


(click to biggify. Source: reddit.)

Do we really want internet access to be =more= confusing than cable TV packages already are?

For more info, including how to make your opinion heard, see The Consumerist.

Old Timer

Wow, that is one tall-ass old-growth tree. You don't often see these monsters in built-up areas around Seattle.

Automatic Advertising

At first, the idea of a computerized "ad generator" sounds strange. All this site does is match up Flickr pictures and supposedly random "slogans". But, being exposed to advertising everywhere, you quickly become mesmerized by the apparent appropriateness of the slogans to the pictures.

I went expecting to just look, and ended up staying for quite a while. In fact, I left the window open and just switched back to it from time to time for a little hit. The fact that the ads go by a bit too quickly adds to the appeal. After you watch it for a while, you'll see some of the same words being reused, but it's still pretty interesting.

See the ad generator for yourself.

Post-It Planning

Wall of post-it notes for some kind of project planning. I especially like the "Oh shits" part.

Caption Contest

Dude! I'm gaming here. Can I get a little privacy?

Hand-Made Regrets

If you're not familiar with Etsy, it's a site where people who "craft" can showcase and sell their works. But, as in any endeavor, some (both people and crafts) are more talented than others.

And, of course, the internet is there to make fun of those who may not measure up. Welcome to the world of Regretsy.

Caption Contest Winner

This week's winner is seayjay.

See the original image here.

Activity Corner

• The sordid story of the Pixar lamp.


• 11 ingenious signs on The Simpsons.


• 9-year-old scores amazing hockey goal. (Warning: the video replays the shot like 8 times.)


• Now that the economy is rebounding, maybe you can afford to buy a military hovercraft. Check out the list of "Extras".


• Is that a car remote key fob? No, it's a keychain spy camera.


• Take a projector and a special LED roller and do some video painting.


• Sweet alien animatronic mandibles.


• The foldable electric Yike Bike. Pretty frikkin' cool.


• They still make regular graphite pencils? Yes, they do, and now include a built-in pencil sharpener.


• Actual Google street views go into this video about the Google street view guys.


• Mr. B, the gentleman rhymer, brings his banjolele (yes, you read that right) to old school rap in Chap-Hop History.


• First came the three wolf moon t-shirt (and accompanying reviews!). The internet quickly combined two memes for the three keyboard cat moon t-shirt. And taking it one step further, the amazing three Teen Wolf moon t-shirt.


• One guy and 14 different video tracks gives us the multitrack Ghostbusters Theme.


• Bacon jam. Awesome.


• Massive underwater mine detonation.


• Generated video of NASA's new Ares rocket.


• T-Rex wall decal. RAWR!


• Movies, one letter off.


• 10 bizarre wine brand names.


• Top 10 weirdest Halloween handouts.


• Launching anvils. Sweet!


• Editing last weeks' video of the drunk in the convenience store and turning into a silent movie style gives us Larry Goes to the Market.


• The Ten Commandments in Star Trek.


• 10 pathetic packaging fails.


• The greatest spiral stairs in the world.


• Parasailing with hawks: parahawking.


• A visual history of football helmets.


• A pictorial record of pollution in one of the world's most remote marine sanctuaries, Midway Atoll: death by plastic.

Friday Game

This game is a fun variation of the "cutting" puzzle physics games. You have 30 cuts per level to free or otherwise move the Vikings from the ice onto their ship. How far can you go with Ice Breaker?

(I especially like how the little Viking commander bashes any ice that lands on his ship.)

Wall Walking

Holds on the wall at the climbing gym. I have Raggs to thank for turning me into a rock climber.