March 2009

An omen?

“All the things that we used to be sending into space, those kinds of broadcasts are ebbing. Everything is through wires now,” Abumrad said. “If you were an alien watching the planet, you would see that the earth is gradually going quiet.”

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Cleaning with water, imagine that! el liquido milagroso (aka electrolyzed water—sounds like Gatorade) #

OMG, dogs dream!? Sleeping Dog Runs Into Wall #

File this under “working groups I need to get on”

A United Nations working group on near-Earth objects (NEOs) met last month to discuss drafting international procedures for handling the asteroid threat.

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The Household Debt Vs. GDP chart referenced in This American Life’s Bad Bank episode #

My new favorite single-serving site: Greg Rutter’s Definitive List of The 99 Things You Should Have Already Experienced On The Internet Unless You’re a Loser or Old or Something aka youshouldhaveseenthis.com (via Andy) #

My new favorite song: George Washington #

Do I do it because I can blog it?

People will choose what activities they do in the physical world based on how it will appear to their friends in the virtual world via their Twitter/Tumblr/Flickr/Facebook/etc.

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My Melt-in-the-Mouth Cookies, a brief history post gets featured nicely on Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn blog #

Sam Ruby’s classic first tweet Iñtërnâtiônàlizætiøn #

In the Big Picture today: Cambodia and its War Tribunal (I recently imported my photo galleries from Cambodia into my blog. Here’s my post with pictures from The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and The Killing Fields.) #

Perpetually in the market for a DSLR, I found this article (and the comments in particular) illuminating: Where are the portrait lenses? #

Too funny book title/cover: Yummy! #

It never fails, I’m pondering a DSLR and a sexy point-and-shoot catches my attention instead: Panasonic Lumix LX3/Leica D-LUX 4 (especially its 24-60mm equivalent lens with f2.0-2.4 maximum aperture—compared to my Ricoh’s 28mm/f2.4) #

Scroll down to and click on the toboggan run photo: First Ride of a Warming Season #

I thought it strange that my Niagara Falls post was my most requested post today. Oh: Man survives 180 foot plunge over Niagara Falls #

And there goes Sarah Palin’s last shred of credibility: Alaska Gov. Palin’s daughter’s, boyfriend break up #

Dear god, how many fake-me twitter accounts are there?! fakejustinsmnia #

Oh this is just freaking brilliant: iDaft #

Man, I’d hate to get vertigo on the can: Trompe l’oeil ski-toilet mural #

Turns out I know someone who works at Aardvark #

I think I just found a reason to get an iPhone (no, not Twitter): Eliss #

Next up: Confit? #

*Jaw drops* How to write like an architect and How to letter with lead (people are so amazing) #

I got home from a weekend out-of-town and discovered the whole internet talking about Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable. Since it’s right up my alley, I figured I’d link to it too. Here’s one choice excerpt if you haven’t read it yet:

The newspaper people often note that newspapers benefit society as a whole. This is true, but irrelevant to the problem at hand; “You’re gonna miss us when we’re gone!” has never been much of a business model.

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It was sick watching how good Stephanie was at Looptastic after just 5 minutes fiddling with it #

If I had a band I’d name it Gutta-percha #

This hit a little too close to home: SuperNews: Twouble with Twitters (the first part, where they fly into the twittersphere)

Dammit Derrick, you are a young, hip, tech-savvy 20-something, and I will not let you turn into my father.

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You stay classy, Benedict: Pope visits Africa, reaffirms ban on condoms #

Wow, weird: Who owns Colorado’s rainwater?

according to the state of Colorado, the rain that falls on Holstrom’s property is not hers to keep.

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This is such great news: Artists buying cheap houses in Detroit (expect Detroit to become a new center of cultural innovation) #

An altogether different kind of scanner art: Scanwiches #

This is super-neat, especially if you know the original song: MGMT tune played by iPhone orchestra #

Stop-motion tilt-shift (seems to be one of the best reasons to get a Canon 5D): Bathtub IV #

Wow: IBM Signals Strategy Shift With Talks to Buy Sun #

Some days it astounds me how much transparency the internet engenders: Wikileaks reveals secret blacklist behind proposed Great Firewall of Australia (and how clueless some people are about its power) #

Question:

You’re a troubled media dinosaur struggling to find your way on the Web. What steps can you take to actively discourage people from linking to you, thus reducing your pageviews and revenue?

Answer:

Send out DMCA takedown notices to popular blogs! #

If I’d ever used punchcards, I’d probably find this awesome: Use this cardpunch emulator to create a PNG or JPEG image of a punched card #

I think this is what you call change: Obamas to Plant Vegetable Garden at White House #

Cool Vespa lamps: Lamponi’s Lamps (via Stephanie) #

This is hot: nudes painted on skateboard decks #

That’s ironic: Suicide bomb blast kills 23 at funeral in Iraq #

What a heart breaking story: Broken Trust Shakes Web From Farmer to Cow #

So kawaii! AT-ATs: not just for xmas #

That can’t be good: Moody’s Investors Services and Fitch Ratings lowered California’s credit rating to the lowest among 50 states #

Still looking for that $1500/month SF mortgage…

In some U.S. markets, prices appear to have fallen enough to make buying cheaper than renting. Mix that with mortgage rates that are near record lows and renters who want to become buyers are rejoicing.

Still thinking I’d rather travel than settle… #

To try next time I’m out by Mount Diablo: Bo’s Barbecue #

Scary: Wikileaks.de domain-owner’s house raided over publication of secret government censorship lists #

Apparently my co-workers are interested in starting a prank war:

We replaced justinsomnia’s usual Farm Fresh to You delivery (top) with our own not-so-fresh replacement (bottom) to see if he’d notice. He noticed.

I actually called FFTY to complain… #

This looks like it could be incredible: Where the Wild Things Are #

It’s wrapped in bark:

Forsterkase is a classic “lumberjack’s” cheese from Canton Thurgau in Northern Switzerland. The wheels of Forsterkase are made from cow’s milk, washed in a white wine bath, and wrapped in fir bark.

Had this last night. #

This Artisanal Cheese site looks pretty cool. Check out their CheeseClock. #

It’s always a surprise what French cultural treasures Stephanie will share with me next. Tonight it was Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot singing Bonnie and Clyde followed by Brigitte Bardot singing Harley Davidson. She knew every word. #