Typefaces, geeks, Syfy and March Madness
As a graphic designer, I love this: Periodic Table of Typefaces. Design firm Squidspot created it.
This is another amusing chart, illustrating a range of geekiness that includes published science fiction/fantasy authors, Renaissance fair folk, Trekkies and even erotic furries: The Geek Hierarchy.
So, what’s the difference between a geek and a nerd? Ah: Geeks and [...]
8-Bit Jesus, recycling, burritos, Patton Oswalt
Get into the holiday spirit by downloading this free mp3 album of Christmas music from Doctor Octoroc: 8-Bit Jesus: New Christmas Chip-tune Album. Relive 1980s Nintendo nostalgia to the beats of your favorite holiday songs! So far there are nine different chip-tune versions of classic Christmas songs done in the style of different NES [...]
T-Mobile Shadow’s low volume (and hardy kiwis)
So, let’s say you have your new Windows Mobile 6 smartphone, the T-Mobile Shadow, and everything is almost great. The only problem with the Shadow (and it’s a big problem) is that in-call volume is absurdly low, even with the volume control maxed out. What do you do?
(By the way, following my smartphones post [...]
Financial services collapse, SNL premiere, salad dressing
What a week (so far) in the financial services industry! We’ve had Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch’s sale, AIG’s $85 billion bailout by the Federal Reserve, the SEC’s new rules against naked short-selling (thus reining in that particular criminal playground), and other fantastic economic disasters.
Question: Are corporate bailouts the new rate cuts? Can this [...]
Tennis shoes, aliens and Wimbledon on Independence Day
The Oregon State University Nutrition and Exercise Sciences office is collecting old shoes this month to benefit kids in the local area through the Congressional Reuse-A-Shoe Drive. The goal of the drive is to collect as many worn-out athletic shoes as possible, which will then be recycled and turned into donated sports and play surfaces [...]
Giving in to Doritos: The Quest
Well, the Frito-Lay marketing ploy worked for a second straight summer. Today was grocery-shopping day. I hadn’t bought a bag of Doritos in over a year, not since the X-13D Flavor Experiment . . . which of course turned out to be the oddly compelling but ultimately quite gross Cheeseburger flavor. Now, today, I couldn’t [...]
Purple potatoes, Sparks, Martini Ranch music video
This week a guy I know was walking around with a bowl of purple potatoes for lunch. I don’t mean purple-skinned potatoes, but the radioactive-looking purple-all-the-way-through kind. The only question is whether he was eating a normal, terrestrial species of potato/yam (Peruvian or similar) or perhaps somehow got hold of a starchy product of [...]
Miniature disasters and the Democratic nomination
Today this blog turned six years old. I’ll take a cake with marzipan icing, please (but hold the marzipan babies). Mmm . . . sugar-almond paste.
Yesterday was a weird day of accidents in Corvallis. Driving to work in the morning, I was forced to stop because the westbound lanes of Philomath Boulevard had [...]
Flavor tripping with miracle fruit (and Snuff)
Interested in flavor tripping? Try the miracle fruit. It’s a cranberry-sized West African berry (Synsepalum dulcificum) that numbs your sour and bitter tastebuds for a couple of hours after eating it, making certain foods taste weirdly sweet. Flavor-tripping parties are being held in New York City and San Francisco. The New York Times reports [...]
WebVisions 2008 in review: Part one
On Thursday and Friday, May 22-23, I am attending the WebVisions 2008 conference at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. (Also see my review from WebVisions 2007. I didn’t compose a write-up when I attended in 2005 and 2006.)
Below is a quick (read: marginally coherent) overview of all five sessions I attended on [...]