iGoogle aGain

Google has updated the iGoogle page for the UK.

You probably don't remember this, but I first ran into the new iGoogle last year, while trying out Chrome. I hated it right off the bat.

Then that became the standard iGoogle for the US. I really tried to like it (thinking I was stuck with it) but in addition to WASTING SCREEN REAL ESTATE it breaks functionality. Sure, it introduces some new functionality, but it's all for things I don't care about (like being able to send an e-mail from the home page, I'LL JUST USE GMAIL KTHX). [Actually, two of the old functions that were missing from the new iGoogle (dragging gadgets to tabs and minimizing gadgets) have been re-added, but it now takes twice as many clicks to minimize/expand]

I found that if I used the UK iGoogle, it was the older, better version. I changed my homepage to http://www.google.co.uk/ig?hl=en

Well, today the iGoogle crapfection has reached the British isles. Dammit, Google!

Complaining won't work either. There are *THOUSANDS* of complaints in the forums. Google doesn't care. They aren't going to go back.

From the forums:

FINALLY! - I found an official response from Google on the iGoogle Tabs issue!!!

From http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Web_Search_Help-Personalizing/browse_thread/thread/4339c958abd05ce9/ace24bc4865066dc#ace24bc4865066dc

On Oct.22, 2008 : A user asks "Can you respond to the tabs-on-the left issue?"

Google (Paul) answers: With my bold'ing of relevant text.

     Hi there,

     I don't think I've answered this question since last Thursday, but I'm
     happy to again. The left-side navigation is an key part of the support
     for canvas view, and canvas view is an important new feature of
     iGoogle. We're planning on continuing to develop and support the new
     features (as well as add more new features into the area on the left
     in the coming weeks and months), and have no plans to include a toggle
     between tabs-on-top and tabs-on-the-left.

     -Paul
     iGoogle Guide

So, there you have it!

Google's current silence on the request for a Tabs-on-Top option is simply a polite phrasing of f... off.

Well, I guess it is just IMPOSSIBLE to both use canvas view AND not waste screen space. Oh wait: There is a Firefox addon to give me my space back. *THIS* is what Google should have done.

I'm not giving in yet though. I've found that http://www.google.com/ig?hl=all takes me back to the older, better iGoogle (for now).

Daily Dose

So, without planning to, I've managed to post every day this month. ^_^

(Yeah, this one is kind of a cop-out; what are you gonna do about it?)

Hey Phoenix (Part II)

Hey Phoenix! How is your project coming along?
Fantastic! You know how I was trying to get the Tomoe kanji handwriting recognizer to work on the iPhone? It was totally a dead-end! I got to START ALL OVER with Zinnia! Yay, more programming!

Wait, weren't you working on Tomoe for like, months?
Yup! All wasted effort!

Sweet!
Super sweet!

Hey Phoenix!

Hey Phoenix, did you get any sleep?
Even better! You know that fence they used to have around my apartment complex? They changed it! So, instead of sleeping I got to listen to the jackhammer all day!

Awesome!

Tron It

I'm just going to assume that we've all seen the trailer for the new Tron movie, AND knows about the Wizard of Oz + Dark Side of the Moon mashup and jump right in.

And I know a lot of the 'coincidences of timing' we spot in these things are a product of A) our own pattern-matching brains and B) the fact that a lot of entertainment follows certain rhythms. BUT, in the words of a Slashdot poster:

Somebody already mashed this trailer up with Michael Jackson's "Beat It" - it works disturbingly well.
--Ryv

Without further ado: Show/Hide

Experimental Gameplay

This is about a Windows game. If you don't have Windows, you can probably skip this (or it might work in Crossover...?)

So, there's a group of Experimental Gameplay guys. They've actually been around for a number of years; they got together at CMU and pitched the project in 2005. The goal was to discover and rapidly prototype as many new forms of gameplay as possible. A team of four grad students, they locked themselves in a room for a semester with three rules:

• Each game must be made in less than seven days,
• Each game must be made by exactly one person,
• Each game must be based around a common theme i.e. gravity, vegetation, swarms, etc.

The games themselves were hit and miss (as expected) but there were a few gems. One guy, Kyle Gabler, turned his 4-day prototype Tower of Goo into indie darling World of Goo. Unfortunately, I can't find any of the old games online anymore, so you can't see them for yourselves. Hopefully they'll get put back up sometime soon.

The experiment lead to the Gamasutra feature How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Day (an interesting read on its own).

ANYway, they guys recently got back together, revamped the ExperimentalGameplay.com site, and restarted the old competitions. One of the recent games is Bunny Blaster.

It's difficult to say why this is such a fun game. You shoot the bunnies to help them multiply (none of them die from being shot). The goal is to get to 1000 bunnies (at which point the game stops). It's crazy addictive.

I even managed to break 2000 (bombs already set will still go off after the game ends), and in less than 50 seconds. UNBEATABLE!



The creator, Shalin Shodhan, says he's working on an updated version to fix some annoyances with the prototype and add features (maybe an ENDLESS mode?). Of course, since the original took less than a week, the update may even be done before this posts (I'm writing this on the 14^th).

I Can Read Movies

So, there's this guy, and he makes retro book covers for modern movies (and some not-so-modern).

They're pretty good. This one was my favorite. ^_^

Yoga?

(via)

New Rule

Hollywood has a new rule:
All characters with substance-abuse problems must be played by Robert Downey Jr.

How did I miss a new Sherlock Holmes movie coming out?

The Great Loss

Recently, I had occasion to rebuild my PS2 hard drive, in part because I found a PS2 in the rubbish bin that worked fine except the laser wouldn't read discs. Anyway, plugged the drive into my computer, re-formatted for the PS2, re-added my game discs, etc.

When I went to disconnect the drive from the computer, I noticed something... curious. For some reason, it was telling me that there were TWO PS2-formatted drives plugged in. Isn't that funny? Haha.

A quick investigation told me that indeed, there WERE two PS2-formatted drives connected. And one of them looked just like my old PS2 drive. The one I had just reformatted.

Or....?

Here's an interesting bit of trivia for you: you know what OTHER drive has EXACTLY the same size as my PS2 drive?

The drive containing my "Gentleman's Videos" collection.

Or more accurately, the drive that USED TO contain my "Gentleman's Videos" collection.

I am without "Gentleman's Entertainment" for the first time since my stepfather discarded my "Gentleman's Magazines" when I was 17.

I'll survive this (I do have an Internet connection, after all), but it is momentarily disheartening. I had amassed a library of classics that will be difficult to find these days.

It's nearly enough to drive one back to dating.

Watch Your Back

Yeah, I don't know how I find this stuff either. :-/

(via)

Deadgirl

So I ran across this: Show/Hide


What did I just watch? A trailer for the indie film Deadgirl from last year. Reviews are decidedly mixed. People love it or hate it. I'm probably in the latter category.

Why wouldn't I like it? Is it the gore? Well, I'm not a fan of blood, but no. Is it that it portrays all males to be dicks? No, that's pretty accurate so how can I take offense?

So then why?

Because it looks like a shitty film.

Here's a clip. Watch as one boy lovingly rubs dark lipstick all over his undead girl's lips, because who wants to spend their days raping a zombie if she looks all tired? (NSFW?) Show/Hide
I couldn't find an embeddable online version, so you have to make due with Blogger's meh video hosting.

(via)


Watch that and tell me you think it's quality. The acting is atrocious, the dialog .. man and don't even get me started on the effects. The acting is the worst though. AND THIS IS THE CLIP THEY PUT OUT THERE! The people that made this film looked at this clip and thought "Yeah, that's what we want to show people. That's some of our best work right there." Ridiculous.

UPDATE:
Found a better trailer: Show/Hide


BTW, the official site is such crappy flash. LAME.

Sneak Sneak

He's coming to getcha!

I have no explanation for this picture.

Why I Exercise

Because I don't want to be this guy.

Great gym advert.

The Language of Swearing

I ran across this quite interesting talk by Steven Pinker regarding swearing. Here are two ~10 minute snippets:

Part 1: Show/Hide


Part 2: Show/Hide


Full hour-long talk available here.

Bathroom Prank

"Oh god!"
Show/Hide

(Yes, it's entirely probable that this is fake. So?)

(via)

Contagious Laughter

Why do we laugh? Sometimes, I have to think that it works like yawning. A person will yawn if they see someone else yawn; it's a group reflex (triggering a change of state, from passive to active or vice versa).

So anyway, I saw this video, and I laughed. I don't understand the language (German). Show/Hide

Sour Video

SOUR (flash warning) is a clever Japanese band. They put this video together with the help of 64 fans from around the world. Show/Hide

3 PSAs

...from the FUTURE! Show/Hide


(third one could have been better)

Party Cat

If by some accident, I haven't made you read this yet:

Here is a page with the rest.

Pepsi Logo

I didn't like the new logo anyway.

Destructoid Review: Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack

Here is a review for a Wii game that makes the best use of annotations YouTube has ever seen. Show/Hide

Happy Birthday Tesla!

Today (July 10^th) is the birthday of Nikola Tesla.

The Forgotten Wizard: Show/Hide

May we see his like again.

Shirt Suggestion

A friend of mine sent me a link to this shirt.

(source)

Train Story

Watch the video first. (Skip to about a minute in to get to the good stuff)
Show/Hide

Then go to YouTube and read the details.

Tanabata

source
Today is July 7^th, also known as Tanabata in Japan.

Orihime, the daughter of the Tentei (Sky King) wove beautiful clothes by the bank of the Amanogawa River(Milky Way). Her father loved the cloth that she wove and so she worked very hard every day to weave it. However, she was sad that because of her hard work she could never meet and fall in love with anyone.

Concerned about his daughter, Tentei arranged for her to meet Hikoboshi who lived and worked on the other side of the Amanogawa. When the two met, they fell instantly in love with each other and were shortly married. However, once married, Orihime no longer would weave cloth for Tentei and Hikoboshi allowed his cows to stray all over Heaven.

In anger, Tentei separated the two lovers across the Amanogawa and forbade them to meet. Orihime became despondent at the loss of her husband and asked her father to let them meet again. Tentei was moved by his daughter’s tears and allowed the two to meet on the 7th day of the 7th month if Orihime worked hard and finished her weaving.

The first time they tried to meet, however, they found that they could not cross the river because there was no bridge. Orihime cried so much that a flock of magpies came and promised to make a bridge with their wings so that she could cross the river. If it rains, the magpies cannot come and the two lovers must wait till next year.*

*An analog of our Groundhog Day festival?

Love Poetry

Blogger's new tinier "Large" image size strikes again. DUMB! Click for bigger.


UPDATE: If you go to the Picassa share itself (where Blogger stores uploaded images), there are versions up to 800px wide/tall! Why don't they let you use this size from Blogger? Voila, reshared larger:

"Every day I hope to see a moving truck pull in. Or an ambulance."
(via)

Japanese Lesson

I ran across this comment recently, regarding mokume-gane.

Mokume-gane should be spelled moku-megane. Moku-megane comes from 2 Japanese words, moku meaning wood, lumber, timber etc. and megane meaning eyeglasses. The literal translation would be "wood eyeglasses", however the most popular translation is "wood eye".

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. ^_^

Mokumegane is three Japanese kanji, 木目金. The commenter recognized two Japanese words there, 'moku'=wood and 'megane'=eyeglasses, but that isn't the meaning here. 'Megane' (eyeglasses) is two kanji, 眼鏡, literally "eyeball mirror". These are DIFFERENT from the kanji used in mokume-gane where 'me'=目 (eye), 'gane'=金 (metal), even IF the two kanji were part of the same word, which they aren't.

'Me' is part of mokume, literally, wood-eye. BUT, it does not mean an eye made of wood, it refers to (for example) the way a knot in a plank of wood resembles an eye. A better translation would be wood-grain.

Mokume-gane, wood-grain in metal.

Here's a picture of a mokume-gane ring. See how it resembles wood-grain?

(via)

Amusingly (to me), I did a google search for the term mokume-gane, and the vast majority of non-Japanese sites incorrectly broke the term down by kanji. Wood-eye-metal. Yeah, that's the same meaning as metal wood-grain. Way to go, western world.

A Famous Person Has Died

I meant to post this earlier, but the queue filled up.

via
(btw, Pictures for Sad Children is really good)

A Challenger Appears

Gosh there are a lot of videos of cute kids on the Internet. Thomas already mentioned Capucine, and now there's Nina: Show/Hide

I like how he is speaking to her in English, and she is responding in Japanese. ^_^ Kawaii!

FOTC, LOTR. Wait, WHAT?

So, remember that episode of Flight of the Conchords where they reference New Zealand's most famous film trilogy?

No? Maybe this will jog your memory: Show/Hide



Ha ha, everyone in New Zealand has something to do with LOTR. Ha ha. Then I saw THIS: Show/Hide

BRET was actually IN Lord of the Rings?


Here is the actual scene in question (sorry for the uploader's aspect-ratio fail): Show/Hide

Elephant-sized post

For no reason, here's a picture of elephants painted like pandas.

Recovering Lazyholic

Stumbled across this photostream recently.

Some of my favorites:

Fornication


Dilemma


Priority

On The Job

Installing Linux at work today. For some reason, the Ubuntu Live CD has an interesting... quirk on this hardware. If it stops getting input (mouse movement, keypresses), it stops responding. Completely.

Since we're moving partitions around, it's got quite some time before we can do anything interesting on this box. BUT, I have to sit here and move the mouse, or type (like this). For ... hours.

This is my job. This is what I'm doing with my masters degree in computer science. Wiggling the mouse.

My Graduation

Saturday before last, I went through the Grad student graduation ceremony (even though technically I won't finish until August). Afterward, I spent the day with my family, culminating in a graduation dinner. AT the dinner, my sister popped open her laptop and showed us this wonderful slide show she made. This will no doubt be of interest only to me. ^_^ Show/Hide



Here it is on YouTube with annotations:


A funny thing happened on the way out of the restaurant. A bunch of us were in front of the horse statue at PF Changs, posing while 5 or 6 of our clan were snapping pictures like paparazzi. Well, this unfortunate family was stuck on the side, too polite to run through and interrupt our photo frenzy. I tried to wave them by, but the guy did me one better and just jumped into the pictures with us. ^_^

His name is Marcus. Thanks for the memory!

My Heart Attack

Summer job, working for the CS department. Yesterday's task was moving pallets of paper around. Fun! Glad I skipped my morning workout in anticipation of heavy lifting. ^_^

When we got to the last load (finally!) I began to get dizzy/lightheaded. I crouched down for a moment, and that seemed to help. But we were so closed to being finished! So I pressed on.

Paper moving done, I took five and sat down with a bottle of water. Still dizzy, even sitting, and now my arms were tingling.

In fact, the more I sat, the worse it got. I made a joking comment about (haha) my arms tingling, and then my face and legs. Haha. My boss asked if I wanted to lie down on the bench nearby. Probably a good idea, I thought. Just for a moment. Just until I feel better.

Things got worse lying down. My hands went cold and numb. My entire body felt the pins and needles of when your leg falls asleep. Even my EYES (an entirely new experience).

Paramedics were called.

I had great difficulty moving my hands at this point. The hands and fingers seemed pulled back. Very strange. I also had trouble speaking, due in part to my now-numb face and tongue, and also because I stutter when I'm nervous, and I was beginning to be VERY nervous. My boss pointed out that these were signs more of a stroke than a heart attack. Strokes are one of my big fears. ^_^

Fire department arrives (hi, Kenny!). Ken tries to put me at ease while they check my heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar... everything seems fine. What? I can barely move, but apparently I'm OK.

Ambulance arrives. The recommendation is that I go to the local clinic for further examination. I opt for a car ride instead of the ambulance, because I'm poor.

When I stand up to go to the car, I nearly pass out. MUCH worse standing up than lying down. My teeth begin to chatter for no explained reason.

Game time elapsed, roughly 30 minutes so far.

I spend the next hour and a half at the clinic, and they draw blood and trace my heart and take my vitals lying/sitting/standing. Still no solution to the medical mystery. Where is the REAL Dr. House when I need him?

I'm stilling waiting to hear about the last of the blood work, but so far, I still don't know exactly what happened. It was ... a new and unpleasant experience. :-/

Anyway, just thought I would let everyone know the adventure I had yesterday. ^_^ I spent most of the day after the clinic in bed. I still feel a bit out of it, but much better than earlier (I can move all my fingers, for example). It's now after 2am, and I'm still nervous about falling asleep. What if this is the time I don't wake up? Ah, life.....

Limp Biscuit

(via)

Patrick Duffy and The Crab

Discuss A Threesome Show/Hide

What did I just watch?
(There are more)

[No posts = End of quarter and graduation ceremony and parties and family visiting. I really don't know when the next post will be.]

Womanizer

I don't think that Britney Spears' Womanizer is a bad song. I just prefer this version. Show/Hide

How can you beat a cimbalom?

The World of Chemistry

Show/Hide

Chlorine is hot.
(mariecurious)

Huntington's Awareness Day

Today is June 6^th, and National Huntington's Awareness Day. It may be Huntington's, but it's not lupus.

It's never lupus.

(Edit: ARGH. When I wrote this post [half a year ago], there was a House/lupus video. It has since been deleted.)

Get Dropbox

So, remember my Dropbox Rant?

Well, that problem still exists, but at least they have some explanations now. And I'll admit that the (technically inclined) people that run into this problem are also the same (technically inclined) people that can run the workarounds. Really, they need to hire an interface guy, but they apparently do not agree. Anyway.

More importantly, they now have automatic versioning! So if you accidentally delete a file, or save at a bad time, or corrupt your data, they still have a good copy. Hop online, log in, and fix it. ^_^ I like it a lot.

In fact, I'm now using Dropbox to help sync up my final grad project work on all my different Win/Linux/Mac computers at home and at work. It is SUPER HANDY!

Anyway, I bring it up because today I noticed that they have a referral program now! If you follow MY LINK and sign up, you get an automatic 250 meg space bonus on top of the free 2 gigs they give you. And so do I. ^_^

So if you'd like to give Dropbox a try, or just would like to help me out, follow this link to get there.

Turbo Heather

Show/Hide

What did I just watch?

David Carradine

David Carradine (born John Arthur Carradine)
December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009.

Rest in peace, Bill "Grasshopper" Frankenstein.

For Michael

Explosions and Boobs dot com

Christmas Disaster Special

Well, I tried and tried, but the new Blogger won't let me upload large images PERIOD. So you have to go to the site to see it. Possibly my favorite of their fantastic body of work.

The comic, "A Lesson Is Learned, But The Damage Is Irreversible" plays with form in a way too rare in my opinion.

The Octopus

"Did you know the Octopus is twice as intelligent as the average kindergartner?"

"That's simply not true." I said.

"And its dreams are twice as long."

I watched it thrashing when the car moved. It was spilling Octopus water all across the back seat.

The next week our vcr and stereo were gone. The kitchen had been raided for food. Slices of bread were spread across the linoleum.

"Check the tank."

It was empty.

We found a large wet black egg between the couch cushions.

"Rub it everyday." She instructed.

Seven days later it began to squirm.

"This is it!" She declared.

I felt uncomfortable and a little nauseous. I set it on the coffee table. It wasn't going to get any more help from me.

Nothing came. I would drive home from work thinking about it.

Eventually, it shriveled up in to a little black raisin on top of the magazines. The color in all the magazines' photographs tinted green. The covers stuck to it. I had to throw them out too.

Taking the garbage bag out, I slipped in the falling snow. I cut my head and my hand and tore the bag. The little raisin tumbled in the snow, drawing a tiny path. I picked it up and licked the gash on my hand. The briny taste of its salt was in my blood. Before I could help it I consumed the entire thing. Feeling dizzy I sat down for a moment. A distant sound was in my ears.

She was watching tv as I entered. She looked me up and down. And surprisingly, I found myself studying her damaged grey eyes. I went in to my room and shut the door. I sat in bed and saw the thin blue line beneath the door flashing to the soundtrack of the television.

That night I dreamt of a throbbing heart pumping through a warm liquid.

The next night I had something in my grasp but could not open it. Whatever was inside I knew was delicious.

A few days later I drove to the harbor. I stood on one of the unguarded piers which stretched out on the inky black water. The city's neon signs bounced along the dark surface. I stripped down and stood there but could not jump in. Later, I thought, I'll finish it later.

The next night I was lying in bed. I had just awoken from a wonderful dream. I was lying in soft silt unable to focus on a blurry visage.

Only later when I walked across the living room and she did not turn her head did I realize that I was completely invisible. My body was changing colors to match its background. I waited until she prepared to go to bed and stood in her room. She slipped off her jeans. I looked for my reflection in her full length mirror swinging on her closet door and did not see it. A nightgown fell over her body and she crawled in to bed.

A few strands of blue light fell on to her sleeping form. I could hear her breathing.

The next day I did not go to work. I looked for awhile out the window where the sunlight leaked indoors. Trees stirred there in a troubled wind.

There was a knock at the door. It was the Octopus. To my horror I knew somehow it could see me. It broke the door open and scuttled furiously up the stairs. It veered suddenly to the right, making a beeline for the kitchen, going where I was going, to the drawer where the sharp knives were kept, which clattered on to the floor, spilling everywhere, gleaming brightly, sixteen in all, eight each.

-Dale

(via) Tomorrow will be an actual comic from these guys.

Exclusive Interview with the Moon

The moon talks about what drove her away from the earth, reveals her dark side, and why she never reads Dante.

Interviewed by Dale Beran

So how did you come to circle the earth?
Well, actually I broke apart from the earth 3.5 billion years ago when we were a single mingled mass, super-heated, but quickly cooling.

Oh, wow. So are you still on good terms with him?
[laughs] Well, that was a long time ago.

And the sun?
Yes, he was there too, years back. It was very strange. We were all living together, compressed into the head of a pin.

Was it better then?
You know it’s hard to say. We had no money. I sank into a deep despair. But there were good things. Sweating in that little apartment, the rest of the celestial bodies pushed against yours, young, waiting, for what? You had to go crazy. The fights we would have. The sun would catch my fists as I flung them at him. Nothing was ever in the refrigerator. How I burned then to be alone.

Everyone knows you have a dark side, but what's it like?
The sun is a powerful force. I'll be the first to admit that. But it's not like I'm hiding anything from him. It's just that the earth wants to see all of me, and I don't think that's what I want. So some things... some things remain obscure.

How often are you kissed by the stray asteroid?
It happens now and then, but not as often as people think. It's just that each one, over the eons, leaves an indelible mark. It's difficult to tell how many because when I regard my reflection, it is often broken into a million pieces in earth's troubled waters.

Yes, in desperate times, I've noticed.
Do you watch me?

I watch you change, sometimes, from my bedroom window. It's not something I'm ashamed of, but not something I mention to anyone.
It's ok.

Really?
Yes.

Wasn't that how the poet Li Po drowned?
How?

"And Li Po also died drunk
He tried to embrace a moon
In the yellow river."
I didn't know that.

Do you feel responsible for the death of poets?
Partly.

Do you think it was fair how Dante portrayed you, a sphere of imperfection, not quite in heaven, not quite as flawed as the earth?
People can write what they like. They are ephemera to me. I can only see the larger picture, longer than the brief pattern of their lives.

Do I have enough oxygen to reach home?
[laughs] Apparently not.

What should I do?
You should stay with me forever in the Mare Lacrimae.

Is there such a place?
It is a curved pool of silken silt.

[laughs] Thank you, moon! You've been a great interviewee!
My pleasure.

(via) There will be another one tomorrow.

The Lonely Heroes - Jizz in My Pants

Lyrics are probably NSFW Show/Hide



There is another.

Schnappi

Ein Lama in Yokohama Show/Hide




"Ein Lama in Yokohama" is a 2005 song released by animated German crocodile, Schnappi. It was the second single from the debut album Schnappi und Seine Freunde and was released on April 25, 2005.

Texte und Übersetzung (Lyrics and Translation) Show/Hide

Ein Lama, ein Lama das fliegt nach Yokohama. (A llama, a llama, that flies to Yokohama)
Es freut sich schon auf Reis und Fisch (it’s already looking forward to rice and fish)
und sucht die Gabel auf dem Tisch. (and searches for the fork on the table) 1*
Ein Lama, ein Lama das fliegt nach Yokohama. (A llama, a llama, that flies to Yokohama)
Es freut sich schon auf Reis und Fisch (it’s already looking forward to rice and fish)
und sucht die Gabel auf dem Tisch. (and searches for the fork on the table)
Wo ist die Gabel? (Where is the fork?)

Hallo hallo du Lama in Yoko Yokohama (Hello, Hello you llama, in Yoko, yokohama)
schnapp dir einfach Reis und Fisch (just get yourself rice and fish) 2*
mit den Stäbchen auf dem Tisch. (with the chopsticks on the table) 3*, 4*
Steck alles in den Schnabel, (put everything in your mouth/beak)
es geht auch ohne Gabel. (it works without a fork as well) 5*
Nur Mut, nur Mut (only courage, only courage)
das klappt doch schon ganz gut. (It’s already working pretty good) 6*

Das Lama, das Lama, das schimpft in Yokohama. (The llama, the llama, the rants in Yokohama)
Der Magen knurrt und Reis und Fisch (The stomach growls and rice and fish. . .)
fallen runter auf den Tisch. (. . .falls down onto the table)
Das Lama, das Lama, das schimpft in Yokohama. (The llama, the llama, the rants in Yokohama)
Der Magen knurrt und Reis und Fisch (The stomach growls and rice and fish. . .)
fallen runter auf den Tisch. (. . .falls down onto the table)

Wo ist die Gabel? (Where is the fork?)

Hallo hallo du Lama in Yoko Yokohama (Hello, Hello you llama, in Yoko, yokohama)
schnapp dir einfach Reis und Fisch (just get yourself rice and fish)
mit den Stäbchen auf dem Tisch. (with the chopsticks on the table)
Steck alles in den Schnabel, (put everything in your mouth/beak)
es geht auch ohne Gabel. (it works without a fork as well)
Nur Mut, nur Mut (only courage, only courage)
das klappt doch schon ganz gut. (It’s working already pretty good)

Das Lama, das Lama, das lacht in Yokohama. (The llama, the llama, that laughs/smiles in Yokohama)
Es klappert wie ein Stäbchenstar. (It clacks like a chopstick-star)
Reis mit Fisch schmeckt, alles klar. (Rice and fish tastes good, all right) 7*

Alles klar, alles klar (all right, all right) 8*
du bist der größte Stäbchenstar. (you are the biggest chopstick-star) 9*
Alles klar, alles klar (all right, all right)
du bist der größte Stäbchenstar. (you are the biggest chopstick-star)

Bravo, du Lama in Yoko Yokohama. (Bravo, you llama in Yoko, Yokohama)
Endlich hast du zugeschnappt und es hat geklappt. (Finally you snapped to it, and it worked.)

Notizen (Notes)

*1. “. . .auf dem Tisch” Dative singular, masculine. “auf” here implies that the Stäbchen are on the table.
*2. “einfach” – The word “einfach” means “easy” or “simple” in German. But it also means “simply” and it often used as “just,” as in English’s “He just left (because he was mad.)” In German it would be “Er ist einfach gegangen. . .” In the context of this line, Schnappi is telling the llama to just scoop up some food with it’s chop sticks.
*3. “. .mit den Stäbchen. . .” – “mit” is always dative. Dative plural article = “den”
*4. “Die Stäbchen” literally means “the little sticks.” This word is the German expression for “chop sticks.”
*5 “es geht. . .” – the verb “gehen” means “to walk” or “to go,” but it is very often used for “it works.” For example: “This chair is a little uncomfortable, you sure you like it?” “Es geht.”
*6 “es klappt. . .” – “klappen” is most often used for “to work out”
*7 “Reis und Fisch schmekt,” ’schmecken” is the German verb for “to taste,” but when simply used as “schmecken” it means “to taste good.” Many waiters will ask you after your meal “Geschmeckt?” or “Hat’s Geschmeckt?,” (the past particle of “schmecken”)
*8“alles klar” ‘Alles klar” literally means “all clear” or “everything clear,” but is also used to acknowledge that an idea or instruction has been understood. So, it is used here, as the llama has understood how to use the chopsticks.
9* big- groß
bigger- größer —don’t forget umlaut!
biggest- (am) größte(n) —don’t forget umlaut!!

(source)

Empty Nest

So my brother's visit is over. His stay had immediately followed two other friends' visits, so it has been a busy apartment for a while.

Cons: It's very quiet now.
Pros: No more pesky pants-wearing!

Don't Panic

Douglas Noel Adams (1952—2001)

Not part of my x/x holiday posts, but today is Towel Day, as it is every 5/5²th of the year.

Some D.N.A. quotes for the day:

• The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened, it's just wonderful. And . . . the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.
  • Answering Richard Dawkins' question 'What is it about science that really gets your blood running?'. as quoted in Richard Dawkins' Eulogy for Douglas Adams

• Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.
  • Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
    

• [The World Wide Web is] the only thing I know of whose shortened form — www — takes three times longer to say than what it's short for.

Teach The Controversy

Ran across this sweet t-shirt recently. ^_^

"I Lost $20"

"I lost $20," I hear, as I walk into the Safeway parking lot, "on scratch tickets."

Wait, what was that last bit?

You didn't lose $20, you spent $20 POORLY.

Bangin'

I can hear my neighbors outside complaining to each other. Apparently they can hear a banging sound, and they don't know what to do about it. So far, one has tried banging on his ceiling, and now they're all out of ideas.

Hello, my neighbors that play Rock Band at 4am. I'm putting some shelves together. (If they bothered to ask; they know it's coming from my apartment, why don't they knock? Am I scary?)

Was Jesus Gay?

Callers can be so mean.

Show/Hide

Mac Daddy Revisited

Today was the day. I shopped around, I found the best deal (looking at all specials and deals and coupons), and I picked out my mac.

I got out my credit card. This was it.

And I saw this:

The Love Of Money

This video is probably NSFW! Show/Hide

Openmindedness

You may have seen this elsewhere, but I thought it was important enough to repost here. Show/Hide


QualiaSoup has other great videos, but is displeased with YouTube at the moment.

The Principal's Decision

(via)

Answer Honestly

Would you prefer...

To be able to time travel
-OR-
Live forever?

Hugh

Big Bang

Antonio Banderas is coming to Spokane?

Apparently so. "The Big Bang", a neo-noir detective story starring Banderas, is starting production up here in September.

The script is by Erik Jendresen, who also wrote "Band of Brothers" which was pretty good.

Fingers crossed, guys.

(via & via)

Say Uncle

(via osatan)

Found in Forum

"I'm not american, so sorry for the badass english"

Duke Nukem ForNever

So, if you've been on the Internet in the past few days, you've heard that 3D Realms has shut down. :-(

"I'm here to kick ass and fund development; and I'm all out of funds."
GNHMBDS7347025

Destroy Money

Douglas Coupland’s thought provoking contribution to the Penny Smash project.
(via)

I F'ing Love Deadpool

Ignore this post if you're not a comic book nerd. Deadpool!

Cinco de Mayo

Today is the 5^th of May, or Cinco de Mayo. A celebration, not of Mexican Independence (as many people believe), but of the Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla. Know your history!

In Japan, it's also Children's Day, and the end of Golden Week.

Exceptional Proof

Think you know English? Then, surely you know the phrase "the exception that proves the rule" right?

Or, do you?

The old-fashioned meaning of the verb 'prove' is 'to test'. "The exception proves the rule" made perfect sense when it was first stated - the exception casts doubt on the rule by 'testing' it and finding it inadequate; it makes no sense at all when it is used today to justify ignoring awkward exceptions.

"The exception disproves the rule" would be a modern aproximate.

The More You Know!
....--------======✩

(source)

Weight Loss Week #?

So it's been a year since my last weight-loss post. Partially inspired by Kris' posts, I thought I'd give an update.

A year ago, I weight approximately 229 pounds. Then I got busy with schoolwork and my weight suffered. It eventually climbed up to 240 pounds around the start of last quarter (eg, right after Christmas).

240 pounds is the most weight I've ever been. It's the max, the upper bound. That's the weight I reached as an undergrad that triggered my huge weight loss back in the day. And I was back there again.

In the last quarter and a half, I've dropped 22 pounds. I'm now around 218, just (10 pounds down from last year). Which is about a third of the way to my new goal weight of 176 (instead of the nebulous <180). A third of the way in four months, hopefully I'll reach it by the end of the year.

Actually, this is my final quarter of school (hopefully), so the rate of weight loss is actually increasing at the moment. Since I don't have a fixed schedule, I always have the time to do my exercises on work-out days (mon-wed-fri [I _should_ ride the bike every day, but I don't]). Not that it really takes that much time anyway.

I am once again surprised at how a little effort goes a long way. Almost always less than an hour, and only three times a week, and the pounds drop away. Of course, it's a pretty intense hour, but still, time-wise it's not a lot.

Or perhaps most of it is food discipline. I rarely give in to my urges for unhealthy snacks anymore. At the moment, those urges are fewer and farther between, but I do remember how intense they were at the start of the year.

So that's it. Once again, the secret to rapid weight loss turns out to be diet and exercise. We should tell people!

UPDATE:
OK, so I wrote this post before the weekend that George visited and we had the big dinner and Ken brought two pies and a tray of brownies and two huge bags of chips and all the other things I don't normally eat, and George and I gorged ourselves at the excellent Bangkok Thai restaurant and then China Buffet... Anyway, long story short, I weight myself this morning. 225. Wut... I'm sure hoping that a lot of that is just regular weight fluctuation... I think I'll go hit the bike for a while.

LRN2INTERNET

(Alternate title: HOW I SHOT INTERWEB?)

Opened my iGoogle today and found this:

The Gmail gadget does not support the "Always use https" setting that you chose in full Gmail. If you would like to use https, please open full Gmail. Learn more

Google fails at httpsing? For shame, G.

This gadget worked fine yesterday; iGoogle also works fine in https. In fact, *ALL* of The Great Grand Google works fine in https except the Gmail gadget all of a sudden.

DUMB.

Google Font

Rhett Dashwood (a hero name if I ever heard one) spent months viewing Victoria, Australia through Google Maps, collecting images for each letter in the alphabet. If one were inclined, one could probably duplicate this for any region, giving each country/state/city its own Google Maps font.

Full alphabet (and map coordinates) on Rhett's site.

(via Geekology, who saw it on Gizmodo, who ran across it on today and tomorrow)

I have invented a device that controls you

YOU ARE NOW
BREATHING MANUALLY.

I have invented a device that controls you

THE SONG
"THE FINAL
COUNTDOWN"
IS NOW
PLAYING IN
YOUR HEAD

For Al: Show/Hide

We're Linux "winner"

So the Linux Foundation contest is over. It has been for a while, but I'm closing my tabs today and I ran across it again.

Remember that pantsless guy singing about your mom? Well, surprise he lost. SHOCK!

Here's the final winner:
Show/Hide


WOW that's a steaming pile of shit bit disappointing.

So far, nothing has reached the level of IBM's old ad. Anyone besides me remember this?


OH! I was just reminded of those old Mac vs PC vs Linux spoofs. (I like the 2nd one)

Keaton

Keaton takes a photo of himself every day for 1 day.
Show/Hide

Small Town Strife

For such a small town, I sure hear a lot of sirens in Cheney.

Mac Daddy

So I might be looking to buy a Mac in the very very near future (possibly tomorrow).

$617.42 Mac Mini
$164.23 RAM and drive upgrades
$781.65 total (with tax and stuff)

Not great, but not terrible. Hmmm.....

What It Is To Be Natural

This ... takes a bit to get going, but stick with it. Show/Hide

What did I just watch?

Genius satire. It's a response to this video. And there are others, but this one was my fav.

Death and TurboTaxes

I got a notice from the IRS today, so let's talk about my taxes.

In years gone by, I used to file by phone, which was way easy. Unfortunately, now that my money is earning interest, I no longer qualify for the 1040EZ. Anyway, I don't really have time to do all the math on the 1040A by hand, so my brother recommended TurboTax.

Let me tell you, it was great. It asked what forms I had, and had me entered my data. It did all the number crunching for me. Bing bang boom, I was done. This was March 27^th.

I filed electronically. The estimated date for my refund direct deposit was April 10^th. When the 10^th came and went and no deposit was forthcoming, I went to the IRS's Where's My Refund page. I was then informed that my return (which I had already been told was accepted) would now be accepted on the 14^th. So, even if there were an error that was caught in time, I would only have a single day to fix it.

Well, then I forgot about it. The refund deposit never did show up and I just got busy with schoolwork. And then the notice came.

Through the little window on the front of the envelope, I could read "We are writing to you because there is an error on yo[...]". Awesome. :-( I opened it up.

Why We Are Sending You This Notice
We are writing to you because there is an error on your 2008 Federal Income Tax Return. We will explain why we made the change and what you need to do.

Why We Made The Change

• We changed the amount of the recovery rebate credit you claimed on Line 42 of your Form 1040A because the amount entered was computed incorrectly.

Wait, what? Recovery rebate credit?

I looked at my tax return, line 42 "Recovery rebate credit (see instrs)". I can't see instrs because I don't have the tax booklet or any of the actual forms. TurboTax calculated this value for me ("95" says TT).

Ahhhh.... I'm beginning to remember now.

I didn't receive a stimulus check last year, because my income for the previous year indicated that I probably wouldn't qualify (I came back to the US towards the end of 2007, so I didn't earn enough income). The stimulus check itself was just a prebate (is that a real word? I saw it on the IRS website, but I think they might just be fucking with me) against our 2008 taxes. Since I didn't get the check in 2008, I should have qualified for the money on my tax return. SOMEhow, TT didn't crunch the numbers right, or just assumed that everyone got the check last year, or something.

Anyway, the IRS was kind enough to catch it and bump up my refund by $205. Thanks, IRS.

My favorite part of their notice was the second half, where they tell me all about my options for disputing this change. It does put me in quite the quandary, as I am ethically opposed to government handouts (they're giving me money I didn't earn), but I'm also a broke college student. Hmmm....

GoRemy Show/Hide

Spokane Police Are Incompetent

Apparently they think squatters fall under the landlord-tenant act.

If any officers happen to run across this, here's a quick tutorial on how you can tell if someone is a tenant: Is there a rental agreement? No? THEN THEY'RE NOT FUCKING TENANTS.

Crime & PUNishment

Based on an actual conversation I had this morning.

PHOENIX is on his way to the laundry room, wearing a t-shirt that says "Ursines excrete solid waste in silviculture", and he runs into STEVE. STEVE reads PHOENIX's shirt, and starts a conversation.

STEVE: Did you hear about the Energizer Bunny?

PHOENIX: That he got arrested for battery? Yeah, I heard.

S: It was really shocking to him when the coppertop arrested him.

P: *groan*

S: They even had to put him in a Dura-Cell for a while, because he was too energetic.

P: Ouch.

S: Yeah, and all they could find for him to wear were some shorts. He tried to meditate to regain his composure (Ohmmmm...) but there was just too much resistance - he couldn't get through.

P: *wince*

S: But he'll be discharged in a couple of weeks.

P: Oh yeah?

S: They ran a battery of tests on him and found he was bi-polar. They put him on lithium, and that rectified the situation.

P: Well, that lithium is powerful stuff.

Change Is Constant

Blogger changed the feeds for comments, breaking the PEEK function (which then broke the entire page). Awesome.

So no PEEKing until I have time to fix it.

Phoenix Watches Heroes**

**much to his regret

Blogger doesn't let me post the full size directly anymore? Dumb.

FANTAstic

I was on Digg recently and there was a thread on 10 Commercials that are Exercises in WTF.

Those 10 were OK, but better ones appeared in the comments.

Feel Great (Nutrigrain)
Show/Hide

Apparently this is from 2003. I missed it.

Sync Is Everything (FusionONe)
Show/Hide

Short and sweet. I didn't get it until the end.

Swiss Family Robinson (Emerald Nuts)
Show/Hide

Low volume warning. Heavy into WTF territory on this one.

Tailor / Mirror (Skittles)
Show/Hide

translation from comments
Man on Suit: "Wait... I'm not eating Skittles"
Tailor (Thai): "Hey! You can't eat during work!"
Filipino: "But I am hungry"
Tailor:" "I don't understand what you're saying"
Filipino: "I am hungry so I am going to eat"
Tailor: "You lazy worker!"
Filipino: "Don't you... (gibberish)... Don't do this to me."
Thai: (starts speaking gibberish)
Filipino: "Son of a ****, I want to... (*kicks mirror*)"
Thai: "Hehehehe"

The obligatory Skittles commercial

Finally, the REAL reason for the post:

Japanese Year Three Teachers (Fanta)
Show/Hide

This is a whole series of commercials (in Japanese, but with subtitles). As a former 3^rd Grade Teacher in Japan (third year in middle school, equivalent to high school freshman), I identified with this commercial. ^_^ There are more (sans subtitles). This was posted to YouTube in 2006, so it must have aired in Japan while I lived there. I guess I didn't watch enough TV. :-/

Children's Day

Today is April 4^th. It's also Children's Day in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Fapril Mules

Today was (is?) April Fools. Quite a lot of good stuff today.

YouTube made this video even more awesome.

Slashdot added achievements (which will probably stick around)

Google's big show this year was impressively extensive. Although... remember when everyone thought that GMail was an April Fools joke? It did sound too good to be true...

Reddit had a pretty good sense of humor to make itself look like Digg for the day (a lot of content makes its way from Reddit to Digg, and vice versa).

For the end-all be-all rundown, checkout http://aprilfoolsdayontheweb.com/

You can't just CWalken to Twittor

(Sorry, title is three memes deep, and I'm not going to explain them)

So, CWalken, the "Christopher Walken" twitter account, has been removed (impersonations are verboten).

I'm glad.

See, I loved the CWalken tweets, but I hate everything about Twitter (including the terminology. Tweets? I feel like I'm taking CRAZY PILLS).

I almost even made a twitter account, just to follow CWalken more easily.

But, now that they've banned the account, I won't have to do that. In fact, now that the only interesting (to me) thing about twitter is no more, I can forget about it entirely.

The ONE THING I regret is not keeping a record of my favorite CWalkens. SOMEONE should do the same CWalken thing*, except with a blog. (CWalken at Blogspot is already taken by a couple of douchesacks that don't even use it)

*And by "The Thing" I mean how CWalken wasn't written by just one guy. It was an open account; people who thought of something that would be funny if said by Christopher Walken would post stuff to the account. Now, I think a little moderation would have been better, but the basis is sound.

Fenix Down

School is back in session.

I spent the week of spring break mostly in bed.

It's the oddest illness. Recently, I'm sick every other day. I'll be fine, fantastic in fact. The next day I will be unable to sit up without getting dizzy.

What the EFF?

So, if you've been wondering where I'd disappeared to (and judging from your comments, you have NOT), now you know.