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Thursday, December 31, 2009

WOTD: Anatidaephobia

Anatidaephobia is the fear that a duck is watching you. The term was coined by Gary Larson, author of the comic The Far Side, who profited from ducks watching people. In these days of contextual advertising, the fear may be well-founded. Link to larger screenshot. Link to text article. -via Bits and Pieces


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/9fGF83HnRkI/

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Monday, December 28, 2009

100 mile detour...

Champlain Bridge goes down with a boom
CROWN POINT -- Shrouded by a snow squall, the 80-year-old Lake Champlain Bridge met its end Monday, witnessed in person only by a handful, but beamed live worldwide over the Internet. Shortly after 10 am, 800 pounds of ...

http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=R&sa=T&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimesunion.com%2FAspStories%2Fstory.asp%3FstoryID%3D882621&usg=AFQjCNFKzan33GLMqxVSRxXQX9miPARpKw

Extinct Ibex Resurrected By Cloning

The Telegraph is reporting that for the first time an extinct animal has been brought back via cloning. The Pyrenean ibex, a type of mountain goat, was declared officially extinct in 2000 but thanks to preserved skin samples scientists were able to insert that DNA into eggs from domestic goats to clone a female Pyrenean ibex. While the goat didn't survive long due to lung defects this gives scientists hopes that it will be possible to resurrect extinct species from frozen tissue. ... [Read more of this story at Slashdot. ]

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/xmMF1omX4bM/Extinct-Ibex-Resurrected-By-Cloning

Fw: [FCNYC] ADMIN: Many Recycling Events in January!

From: "freecycle_nyc", If you're cleaning house in January you need these events!

*RECYCLE UNWANTED ELECTRONICS with the Lower East Side Ecology Center
Sunday, January 3, 10am-4pm - Union Square (17th St. and Broadway)
Saturday, January 9, 10am-4pm - Riverside Drive at Dyckman St.
Sunday, January 10, 10am-4pm - 331 East 70th Street (b/t 1st and 2nd)
Saturday, January 16, 10am-4pm - Tekserve, 119 W 23rd Street
Sunday, January 17, 10am-4pm - Prospect Park West and 3rd St, Brooklyn

More details at http://www.lesecologycenter.org

*SWAP YOUR STUFF
The Stop N' Swap is the ultimate re-gifting party: http://www.cenyc.org/swap for more details.

Sunday, December 27, 2009

In Germany, kids get the big toys...

"In the northern German town of Reinfield the police got a surprise when they pulled over an excavator driving down a city street yesterday. The driver immediately pulled over and excited the vehicle he even admitted he did not have a drivers licence. The licence thing was obvious due to the driver being a seven year old boy. When asked why he was driving the 11.5 foot tall machine the boy stated that his dad had complained about road conditions so he, the boy, used the machine to clear the road. In fact the young man was on his way back to his parents place of business to park the excavator when he was stopped. The police collected the keys and returned them and the boy home."

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091224-24157.html

http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/permalink/a_boy_doing_a_mans_job/#When:22:06:00Z

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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Rollerskates on Roller Coaster

"
Some pics of the stunt:


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RandomGoodStuff/~3/UUe3Ovsn1uk/
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Fake Fingerprints by Plastic Surgery

"27-year-old Lin Rong re-entered Japan even though she had earlier been deported back to China. She wasn't caught until she was arrested on other charges, because her fingerprints were different. Lin had undergone surgery to have her left fingerprints moved to her right hand, and vice versa!"

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/HzMD_8IMYlw/
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Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Mobius bagel

George W. Hart has brought us a milestone in breakfast-related math feats, the mobius strip bagel. Directions for making your own are on the link. The author says these are superior to regular bagels for non-math-related reasons as well.

It is much more fun to put cream cheese on these bagels than on an ordinary bagel. In additional to the intellectual stimulation, you get more cream cheese, because there is slightly more surface area.

Link Via Popurls


http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/rDDHjcbLOQE/The-Ultimate-Geek-Christmas-Card

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Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Start Trek A-Team

This is a funny video. BTW, the actual movie makes a good stocking stuffer.

PS: Please join us at the Cornell Club next week: http://bit.ly/RPIevents.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

VCR Toaster

For your Christmas shopping: "Inspired by this scene from the BBC show The Young Ones, the how-to blog Instructables turned an old VCR into a functional toaster. It even prints "VHS" on the face of every piece of bread toasted.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Neatorama/~3/faE52YgVB1U/
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Thursday, November 26, 2009

New home for Harwich's ‘mystery piano’

New home for Harwichs 'mystery piano': The newest addition at the Brooks Academy Museum – a Ba... http://bit.ly/7CfP9n

http://twitter.com/WLCapeCod/statuses/6080083735

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

FYE:

Pres Bartlet on the Butterball Hotline: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TcGEcKjSu4

Turbacoducken: http://bacontoday.com/turbaconducken-turducken-wrapped-in-bacon/

How not to burn your house down with Alton Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E270Qx5OpxU

Friday, November 06, 2009

15 Social Media Twitter Lists to Follow and Expand

#snip#
As you can probably tell from our extensive coverage this week, we're extremely excited about the possibilities of Twitter Lists: from how news organizations are leveraging the feature, to a full Twitter Lists FAQ to the potential for real-time journalism and the utility of lists after the tragic Fort Hood shootings.

As such, we've started work on our own project to categorize Twitter into what we hope will be useful lists. These are nowhere near finished, of course: just a starting point. We'll be adding more and more names over the coming weeks. If you see people you'd like to include (and there are many, many more to add - sorry if we missed you!), just send a Tweet to @mashable with your suggestions.
---------------

Twitter Lists from Mashable
---------------

You can explore all our evolving lists here >>

Media Thinkers: media thinkers and commentators.

Social Media Linkers: social media experts, thinkers and linkers.

Mashable Team: the Mashable team, social media musings and personal Tweets.

News Orgs: news organizations on Twitter, breaking news.

Marketing Experts: marketers who Tweet, digital marketing insights and links.

Top Designers who Tweet: web designers share their insights and musings.

Music: popular musicians on Twitter.

Web People: the web scene, a growing list of all things webby.

Top Brands on Twitter: brand names on Twitter, official company accounts.

Tech: interesting voices in tech.

Foodies to Follow: foodies who Tweet, top chefs share knowledge.

Celebrity: celebrities who Tweet.

Journalists and Journalism Tweets: journalists talk media, newspapers, tv and the growth of online journalism.

The Twitterati: early Twitter stars who share interesting links.

Healthcare on Twitter: healthcare experts and organizations on Twitter.
---------------
Reviews: Mashable, Twitter

Tags: twitter, Twitter Lists


http://mashable.com/2009/11/06/15-social-media-twitter-lists-to-follow-and-expand/

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Sunday, November 01, 2009

SquawkFox: 6 Words that make your resume er, well ...

Advice from SquawkFox - 6 Words that make your resume er, well ... not as good as it could be http://bit.ly/14Hedw

http://twitter.com/SunLifeCareers/statuses/5334315227

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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Real Life iPhone Costumes Put Your Crappy Halloween Outfit to Shame [VIDEO]

FYE, Mark
###
http://mashable.com/2009/10/25/iphone-costumes/
Dressing up as Balloon Boy, Kanye West or some other Internet hit this Halloween? Don't even bother: these real life iPhone costumes already took 1st and 2nd place for best novelty outfits ever.

The costumes took 3 weeks to build, with each weighing 85lbs and requiring a car battery to be worn between the wearer's legs. An iPhone 3GS is attached to a 42 LCD screen (not touch screen, alas), turning the wearer into a human-sized iPhone...
...Does geekery know no bounds?
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Saturday, October 24, 2009

MTA Could Turn Swiping Your Metrocard Into a Fun Game!

Fye, Mark

###

Baby needs a new pair of shoes.

In a piece exploring the ramifications of new MTA chair Jay Walder's fascinating new ideas for subway fares, such as charging less for rides at night and on weekends, the Times interviewed behavioral economist Dan Ariely, who had this so-crazy-it-just-might-work suggestion for increasing off-peak ridership:

"Instead of reducing all fares by 50 percent on weekends or late at night, he suggested, maybe the transit agency should make every other fare during those hours free, turning a turnstile into a slot machine of sorts. He remembered an experiment he was part of years ago at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, rigging a vending machine so that every third candy bar was free. Sales increased by 30 percent."

YES, please do this! Anything to make the world more fun, right? Though it's all fun and games until famous subway rider Mike Bloomberg gets his first free fare.

Link Prices All Over Town to the Time [NYT]

Read more posts by Lindsay Robertson

Filed Under: metrocards, mta, subway fares, subway hell


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nymag/intel/~3/G-nnQjaR4N0/mta_could_turn_swiping_your_me.html

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Friday, October 16, 2009

Turn RSS Feeds Into Printable Email PDF Newsletters With Tabbloid

I am a big fan of RSS but I know of many people who live inside their email inbox and refuse to come out.  Some people prefer the simplicity of email and some just don't want t0 come out of their comfort zone.   Which is fine.  As I always say, the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same.  Nevertheless, not using RSS means you are constantly checking countless sites for updates one at a time and that is a lot of time which could be used someplace else for something else.

There's an option to have RSS feeds converted into printable PDF newsletters (which can then be emailed to you) and the service is called Tabbloid.   The only slight drawback to this service is that the recipient has to, at least, have a basic understanding of what a RSS feed is (so they can enter it into the right boxes).   But assuming they know what a RSS feed is when they look at one, they can set up Tabbloid to have website updates emailed to them as a very neat and tidy PDF newsletter which they can then read at their leisure and pleasure (and print out if they want).   Or a RSS-knowledgeable person could set it up for them.

You could also use this service to start collecting blog posts in PDF format as a kind of archive.   Have them emailed to you and then archive them for posterity.  There's quite a few possibilities to this service.

Getting it set up is a cinch - and you don't even need to set up an account!

1.  Add the RSS feed

When you click to get started, you will be asked to enter the RSS feed in the first box in the top left.   Let's choose MakeUseOf's feed as an example :

Or as you can see, the site also offers lists of recommended feeds, if you are not sure what to subscribe to.   MakeUseOf isn't there though!   Oh dear..

You can see on the right hand side which feeds you have chosen and you can remove any of them at any time.

Enter Your Email Details

Now you have to enter your email details.

You can choose between daily delivery and monthly delivery (just remember that with a monthly delivery and a very busy feed like MakeUseOf's, you are going to get a HUGE file!).   Also choose your delivery time and time zone.

If you want to preview the issue before clicking on "save delivery options", just click the big blue "generate sample issue now" button and you will get a PDF to preview.   One thing here though - your issue will come through without a pdf file format at the end (which is slightly irritating I have to admit).   So in Explorer, open it by right-clicking on it, choose "open with" and then choose Adobe Acrobat or any other PDF reader.

You can view a sample issue here that I quickly made using the MakeUseOf feed.

As you will see, all weblinks are clickable and the layout is fantastic.   One little minor gripe that I would make is that the rest of the newsletter is not very customisable.   You can't give the newsletter another name for example.  But that is all very minor and may only bother you if you wanted to make a personalised newsletter to send out to your blog subscribers.   But if you only want to use Tabbloid for post archiving purposes or to read RSS feeds inside your email, then it seems to be a perfect service.

Do you know of any other similar services that do a better job?  If so, tell us all about them in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/
Related posts
Offer Your Readers A RSS To PDF Option With Feedbooks (3)
How To Create A PDF Newsletter The Easy Way With MS Paint (5)
Forward and Store important feeds with RSSfwd (13)
What is a FeedReader ? (17)
Ways to Stay on Top of The News (10)


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Makeuseof/~3/ghMXG_KCdMk/

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Robotic 'mood tail' is everything you hope it to be, and more

Why hang on to your emotions when you can wag them proudly with a robotic mood tail? Sure, you may never have asked that question yourself, but intrepid DIYer Wei-Chieh Tseng seemingly has, and he's done something about it. Apparently, the tail makes use of the ever dependable Arduino and an RFID reader to detect different emotion cards that set off varying degrees of tail-wagging, or you can simply control the tail yourself using a Wii nunchuck -- because, why not? Did we mention there's a video? Check it out after the break.

Continue reading Robotic 'mood tail' is everything you hope it to be, and more

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wearables

Robotic 'mood tail' is everything you hope it to be, and more originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/15/robotic-mood-tail-is-everything-you-hope-it-to-be-and-more/

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Saturday, October 10, 2009

Area Man Murders Palm Pre At Local Bar

[FYE -Mark] "If you're Palm you're hoping that Pre owners love their phones so much that they cherish and protect them for always. So when a guy who owns a Palm Pre drops it in his beer just to see what happens, you can't be too happy. It just doesn't say a whole lot about how much a person values a phone when they drop it into a mug of beer.

On the upside, it stays on for about a minute before giving up the ghost. Compare that to the possibly real video directly below it of an iPhone 3GS that was dropped in a pool and kept recording video."

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/dKAbBA1c-VA/
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Gantter – The Ultimate Free Creative Project Management Tool

For the most part, I'm a very task oriented and "to-do list" sort of guy. At work I'm able to manage the many projects and even small tasks that I'm responsible for through Microsoft Project - which is, in my humble opinion, one of the most powerful project and task management applications available for desktop PCs.

The problem is that most home users of moderate means can't usually afford the Office package that includes Microsoft Project. The majority of home computer users will have the standard office package, such as the 2007 Home and Student edition which has Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote.

However, at home I also have a number of involved and complicated projects that I'm trying to manage, as does my wife and if you have any teenage kids at home - project management software could help them tremendously with managing their time between homework, school projects, sport events and everything else life dishes out upon a vibrant and busy family. I am very pleased to present a shockingly free and very creative online project management tool called Gantter.

Free Creative Project Management Software Just By Typing a URL

Here's what blew me away. I'm accustomed to testing dozens of free applications every month, and most of the time you need to at least provide an email address or some other way to identify yourself. Surprisingly, when you first visit the Gantter website, you'll see yourself instantly staring at what looks like Microsoft Project. The website itself is the application, and once you visit it, you can instantly start creating your own project management file.

For me, such a creative way to use a project management application is like a dream come true. You can create a Microsoft Project compatible file for any project that you've got going on. This application lets you save those files (or even PDF exports) onto your USB flash drive. Later, when you want to make changes to your project, just go to any computer, pop in your USB drive and visit Gantter, where you can open that file and modify it however you wish.

It doesn't matter whether the computer you're using has MS Project or not. And if you already use MS Project at work? Even better - now you can take your work anywhere with you and edit those MS Project files remotely, whether you're working on a computer at an Internet Cafe, a library or anywhere else.

I decided that I would finally start writing that novel that I've always wanted to get started on but couldn't because these MakeUseOf article deadlines keep getting in the way - so why not work on my novel while I'm working on a MakeUseOf article?  My first step was to create my task list for the novel project.

Creating the task list is fast and easy, but the real power of this online application is where you set the predecessors (the work you need to get done before you can start on that task). Just like in MS Project, Gantter automatically schedules out all of your work based on what you need to do and when you need to do it. All you need to think about is one task at a time.

For example, here I've clicked on setting up the predecessor for writing the second chapter, which I can start doing the moment the first chapter is done (I don't need to finish revising the first before I get started on the second.)

Also, on this screen you can add additional notes for this task, as well as assign resources that you've configured in the "resources" section of the application. Gantter takes all of this information that you feed it and generates a nice, clear schedule (Gantt chart) for you off to the right side of the screen.

Exploring the software a bit, it's apparent that this isn't some cheap, fly-by-night web app - this is a well thought out and very well programmed online application that works fast and efficiently throughout my testing on Firefox and Internet Explorer. The features are many, as you can see from my drilling through the menus.

Saving and Accessing Your Projects

So, what do you do when you're done planning out your project and you want to save the file? Obviously, you can't store the data in your account, because you don't have an account. If you pretend that this application is just like any other desktop application you use, then the answer is simple - just click save!

That's the beauty of Gantter - it's like you're using a desktop application even though you're using your Internet browser. You can either save the file or export it to MS Project. Saving downloads your file as a "project.xml" file, which you can access later from this same website.

Copy the XML file to your USB drive, and later when you come back to the website (no matter where you are in the world), just click File -> Open and you'll be able to browse to your USB drive and open up your saved XML file.

Simple. Easy. Convenient. Those are the three words I think about when I use this awesome online application. No sign-up required, no download required and no money required. The application was written by Volodymyr Mazepa, a Ukraine-based IT project manager - one IT manager who clearly knows his stuff. I encourage anyone who uses this application to click on Help -> About and send Volodymyr a hearty thank-you for his excellent work and for offering us this high-quality online application at no cost, a very rare act of kindness these days.

Do you have any online project management apps that you prefer? What do you think of Gantter? Share your opinions in the comments section below.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/
Related posts
Organize Your Life With Yahoo Calendar (11)
Ubidesk: Fresh Comprehensive Online Team Collaboration (12)
Tracks - An Advanced "Getting Things Done" Application (10)
Toodledo- Online Task Management App with iPhone Integration (6)
Todoist - Simple but Powerful Task Management App (7)


http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Makeuseof/~3/ecuP1UAc3KI/

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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Didn't win the lottery last nite

But found these interesting lottery stories:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/lottery.asp

Also, please join us for German-American Month:

http://GermanParadeNYC.org/events
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Slashdot: Amazon Confirms EC2/S3 Not PCI Level 1 Compliant

Jason writes "After months of digging though speculation and polar opposite opinions from PCI experts, I finally sent a direct request to Amazon's AWS sales team asking if they are in fact PCI compliant and will provide documentation attesting that they are as is required by PCI guidlines. I fully expecting them to dodge the question and refer me to a QSA, but to my relief, they replied with a refreshingly honest and absolute confirmation that it is currently impossible to meet PCI level 1 compliance using AWS services for card data storage. They also very strong suggest that cardnumbers never be stored on EC2 or S3 as those services are inherently noncompliant. For now at least, the official verdict is if you need to process credit cards, the Amazon cloud platform is off the table."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/YZxY3trCXZE/Amazon-Confirms-EC2S3-Not-PCI-Level-1-Compliant

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Thursday, August 06, 2009

Chinese bride trains eye on wedding dress record

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - A Chinese bride is hoping to enter the record books after getting married in a wedding dress with a train more than 2 km (1.2 miles) long trailing behind her.

http://mobile.reuters.com/mobile/m/FullArticle/CODD/noddlyEnoughNews_uUSTRE5751VE20090806?src=RSS-ODD

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Saturday, August 01, 2009

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Blackberry Apps

Does anyone have good recommendations for apps on my Blackberry?

I am considering Skype, and I already have Google Voice, Mobile, and Maps.

What recommendations do you have? Shazam?

Some apps are WAP-only: LinkedIn

Today's interesting products

We're getting the usual batch of catalogs. Here are my interesting picks:

Simple Lasagna Pan (***), OXO Good Grips Salad Chopper (**), Bacon Genie (****), Henry VIII Mug (****), Fishing scale (****, useful for weighing propane canisters to avoid hosting a "bring your own propane bbq), shop glasses for the kitchen (*),
Alphabet/Number Cake Pan (***), Globe with Constellation Night Light (**).

And from Hammacher Schlemmer: Faraday Wallet (*****), Negative Converter (****),
The Solar Pool Heating Rings (***) And a few really bad ideas: Steering wheel speaker (*/2), The Safest Pet Nail Clipper (*).

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Roundup: BlackBerry Twitter Clients | CrackBerry.com

I'm reloading all of my apps on my BB. Any suggestions?

Here's a good link on the twitter clients: Roundup: BlackBerry Twitter Clients | CrackBerry.com

Friday, July 10, 2009

Google Voice

This just in: Google Voice is now a Blackberry Applet:
http://www.google.com/mobile/products/voice.html#p=blackberry

I figured out how to dial by url, so I can script it now!

https://www.google.com/voice/m/caller?number=+1212.5551212

Other tips:

1) Track your niche with http://news.google.com/news...

2) Use RSS for personalized news: http://www.google.com/reade...

3) Find clients with http://m.linkedin.com/membe...

4) Feedster searches your RSS feeds: http://feedsifter.com/?f=ht...;

5) Try http://youtube.com/mameres

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Meet the Mrs. Met






Mythology Genealogy

I was reading up on my mythology and wandered into a few genealogy charts. (Powerpoint Version)

Learn to Fly!


Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Saturday, June 06, 2009

D-Day

Don't forget that today is D-Day. You may want to fly the flag, if it's not raining in your area.

On a personal note, you can actually ride one of the D-Day ships between Orient Point, Long Island and New London, CT.

I discovered this by accident when I was making a round trip of Long Island Sound to take care of a whole bunch of errands between Cape Cod and Ramsey, NJ.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Happy Birthday from The Beatles

YouTube - Happy Birthday - The Beatles: "Happy Birthday done by the Beatles"

You've Dropped Your Landline — Now What?

Slashdot Ask Slashdot Story | You've Dropped Your Landline — Now What to do with the copper already in our house? My first thought was an intercom system, but that just seems so old school!"

(geeky, but fun reading from Slashdot -Mark)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

RPI-NYC Elections

Please join us for the Rensselaer Club of NYC elections on Monday night:

https://arpinet.rpi.edu/default.aspx?Page=EVNTEventDetail&EventID=1610

Monday, May 11, 2009

Yorkville, Manhattan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkville,_Manhattan
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USS Von Steuben (SSBN-632)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Von_Steuben_(SSBN-632)
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USMA Bicentennial

Rensselaer was the 2nd engineering college in the US, after West Point: http://www.usma.edu/Bicentennial/history/history_impact.asp

I found this as part of some research on Von Steuben:

http://www.vonsteuben.org
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Thursday, April 02, 2009

The Straight Dope: What are the 36 basic literary plots?

We were discussing how many different movie plots were possible the other day. This lead me to researching what the officials had to say, which lead me to The Straight Dope. Depending on how detailed you want to be, there are probably 36 basic plots.

Blackberry App Store

http://tinyurl.com/c368do
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Sunday, March 29, 2009

This is insanely useful. PageZipper - auto-MORE for websites

This javascript button is great for reading news pages"
http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/pagezipper

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Three Stooges movie: Jim Carrey as Curly!?

"Maybe you thought it was a terrible joke when word surfaced a while back that the Farrelly brothers were intent on making a "Three Stooges" movie. Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck, joke"s on you. It turns out there really is a movie in the offing, and now we have some unlikely names attached to the starring roles. MGM has set amiable Oscar-winner Sean Penn to play the dunderheaded Larry, and negotiations are under way with Jim Carrey to play Curly. He"s reportedly already making plans to gain 40 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome "Curly" Howard. The studio wants Benicio Del Toro to play the eye-ball-poking, head-slapping ringleader, Moe...."

Watching chriswinfield @ #SESNY

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=chriswinfield
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The Home of HaRo - Shankman.com

This site, home of Help A Reporter Out, is my latest fascination. Not enough to reply yet, but it's interesting to see how reporter gather their story info.

http://shankman.com/haro-master-faq/
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Friday, March 20, 2009

WOTDs

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by changing a letter, and supply a new definition. The winners:

1. Cashtration. The act of buying a house, which renders
the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus. A person who's both stupid and an
asshole.
3. Intaxication. Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which
lasts until yourealize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation. Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone. The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign ofbreaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy. Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of gettinglaid.
7. Giraffiti. Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
8. Sarchasm. The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person whodoesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte. To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis. A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon. It's like, when everybody is sending off all these reallybad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a seriousbummer.
12. Decafalon. The grueling event of getting through the day consumingonly things that are good for you.
13. Glibido. All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler Effect. The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when theycome at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic Fit. The frantic dance performed just after you'veaccidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug. Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into yourbedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpallor. The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published alternate meanings for common words. The winners:

1. Coffee. The person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.
3. Abdicate. To give up all hope of ever having a flat
stomach.
4 esplanade. To attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly. Impotent.
6. Negligent. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.
7. Lymph. To walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle. Olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run overby a steamroller.
10. Balderdash. A rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle. A humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon. A Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Thursday, February 19, 2009

What’s Your Favorite Tech Folk Remedy? - NYTimes.com

Call me before you try these at home.

Anyone know how to fix a bad lcd screen?

M

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/whats-your-favorite-tech-folk-remedy/?partner=rss
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

From Google Reader: Sleep-mailing

Sleep researchers at the University of Toledo, Ohio, reported the first case of someone using the Internet while asleep.  A 44-year-old woman had gone to bed about 10 p.m., then got up a few hours later, logged on to her computer with her username and password, and composed three e-mails to friends inviting them over for drinks. She only found out about it when they called the next day to accept.

Her e-mails contained a mix of upper- and lowercase characters, were badly formatted and contained odd expressions.  One read: "Come tomorrow and sort this hell hole out.  Dinner and drinks, 4 pm.  Bring wine and caviar only." 

http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/?source=mobilesearchapp&v=3.1.135&rlz=1H3GGLE_en-USCA311&i=509584999285328678&c=CNPM37Ce6JgC&n=1
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Saturday, February 14, 2009

The Human Camera

Check out this fascinating video from the NGC on YouTube - Stephen Wiltshire: The Human Camera

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Remembering James Harder

"JAMES HARDER has appeared in over 140 Broadway, Off-Broadway, and stock productions ... For his performance as the lead in the Broadway pro­duction of Very Good Eddie, he received a Drama Desk Award nomination. Off-Broadway roles include Frank in The Kitchen, the Captain in Bonds of Interest, Simon in Isn't It Romantic, and Michael Flaherty in Playboy of the Western World. Harder has been seen in numerous films, including Bananas; Author, Author; Pater­nity, and The Night They Raided Minsky's.His television credits include Search for Tomorrow; Stop, Thief; Captain Kangaroo, and The Doctors."

DRAM: Notes for "Fifty Million Frenchmen"

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

7 Great Resources For BlackBerry Applications

I'm always on the lookout for new blackberry applications. Does anyone have any good recommendations?

Friday, January 16, 2009

Remembering James Harder, RIP

Harwich, Mass. — James D.R. Harder, a New York actor, died on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009. A graduate of the Buckley School, St. Mark's and Princeton, he had resided in Harwich for the past 10 years.

Jim is survived by his beloved wife of 48 years, Dorothy; a daughter, Elizabeth; son-in-law, Mark Ameres; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.

As an actor, he appeared in more than 130 stage productions, many television shows and movies, and made more than 3,000 commercials. He was always tickled when Cape residents recognized him as the Big Fig from the Nabisco Fig Newton commercials of the 1970s.

There will be memorial services in Cape Cod and New York City.

News: Cape Cod Times, NYT, Don Buchwald.

Happy Fig Newton Day

Since today is National Fig Newton Day, I decided to do my annual google-search to find out why.  So far, no answer, but here are some interesting tidbits:

 - Newton-hacks from For The Love Of Fig Newtons: "Dry newtons are the bane of any fig newton lover."
 - The videos from http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=mameres&view=playlists

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Meetomatic vs Doodle vs WhenIsGood - multilingual meeting scheduler

I was looking to find a good common mtg time for some friends and stumbled on Doodle - a multilingual meeting scheduler. Meetomatic has a similar function that I found via: Fortnightly Mailing 

I also just found WhenIsGood

Can you recommend others?  Which do you prefer?

LOLCATS