Peekaru (1) Apr 22, 2009
This makes me quite happy. 
[Image: peekaru.jpg]
Mostly because it looks like an alien clawing its way out of the mother's torso. #products
Green Onion Apr 21, 2009
I like The Onion's advice for making your house a little greener: 
Hot water heater:  Go off the grid by making your own clean-burning natural gas.  Simply collect organic material, superheat it, and compress it over several million years.
If The Onion had a customer complaints department, I would work there. #science
Swimming bat Apr 21, 2009
Wendy and I went for a little hike on Saturday in Palisades Interstate Park, a thin strip of rocky land between the busy Palisades Parkway and the Hudson River in northeast New Jersey.  Contrary to popular belief, the Hudson River does in fact support animal life, and the fish don't have three eyes.  We even saw an animal swim by that was either an otter or a beaver, and though it was hard to tell which animal is actually was, it certainly wasn't a seal as some of the local cityfolk claimed. 

As we were walking along a path a few feet from the water, I noticed something swimming toward us.  It was about the size of a leaf, but because of its motion, I could tell it was alive.  It looked like a butterfly, which seemed a little odd, since butterflies typically stick to flying.  I alerted Wendy to the presence of this strange animal, and we both watched it reach the rocky shore, tumble around a few times in the gentle waves, then finally cling to a rock and climb up to safety. 



That's when we figured out what it was:  A bat!  This was a strange sight for at least two reasons:  (1) It was the middle of the day and bats tend to be night animals, and (2) it was friggin swimming!  And for a non-swimming animal, it was a pretty good swimmer.  Apparently bats have been known to swim, though it's obviously not one of their core competencies.  Also, bats and other nocturnal animals have been known to come out during the day, whether in search of food or because their nest was disturbed, so it doesn't necessarily mean our swimming bat friend had rabies.  However, the Center for Disease Control says, "...any bat that is active by day, is found in a place where bats are not usually seen ... or is unable to fly, is far more likely than others to be rabid."  So in hindsight, we should've ran away.  But we didn't. 



The thing is, bats are mammals, so they're kind of cute.  They're covered with fur and have ears and little faces.  This particular bat shook water off his head, just like a dog or cat would.  And it was cool watching his little wing claws grab onto the rock and hold on for dear life.  After I took a few pictures, I backed away, and sure enough, the bat just took off peacefully into the air, as if he hadn't just traversed the Hudson River on a warm Saturday afternoon.  More than likely, he flew back over to Gotham City and resumed his slumber in the basement of Wayne Enterprises. #nature
27 Apr 18, 2009
The 27 Club is a group of musicians who died when they were 27, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain.  Not included in the list but still dead at 27 include actor Jonathan Brandis, the elephant man Joseph Merrick, and NFL player/soldier Pat Tillman. #lifestyle
PowerPoint pagination Apr 16, 2009
Attention universe:  When viewing a PowerPoint presentation, use the left arrow key, the up arrow key, or the page up key to go to the previous slide instead of right clicking and selecting "Previous".  I can't believe how many people don't know this and how much time is wasted waiting for Mr. I Communicate Solely Through PowerPoint Yet Have No Idea How To Perform Simple Tasks to click the stupid mouse. #technology
DeepLeep Apr 15, 2009
DeepLeep is a word game sort of like Scrabble, but with a timer and without any competitors.  You have to make words from the letters that pop up, and you can only keep the letters you don't use for a certain amount of time before you're penalized.  It makes you think fast and immediately look for patterns, which is something I tend to do by default because I'm a dork. #entertainment
Somali pirates (1) Apr 15, 2009
There's been a bunch of news lately about these Somali pirates who hijack ships and hold them for ransom, often making some good money when the shipping companies would rather pay up than be late. 
[Image: somalipirates.jpg]
Maybe I'm naive, but why aren't we literally blowing these guys out of the water?  They show up in the middle of the ocean with their rifles in their little boats, meanwhile we have navy SEALS, fighter jets, and friggin hovercraft.  Yes, hovercraft.  Since there's nowhere to hide in the open ocean and there's nothing nearby that could become collateral damage, why aren't we dropping bombs on these little jerks from 60,000 feet? #travel
Speech impediments on the radio (1) Apr 15, 2009
It strikes me as odd that several people on the Chicago Public Radio show This American Life have speech impediments, including host Ira Glass, whose form of rhotacism (I think) make him subtly substitute "w" for "l", and Starlee Kine, whose lisp sounds like her tongue is simply too big for her mouth.  Also of note are the fact that Ira Glass has a very unusual cadence to his speech, almost as if he was once an alien who later learned to use inflection and accents, and the fact that many guests have a ridiculous mumbling problem.  As a radio show, there's no visual, just vocal, so I would expect it to sound better than a bunch of kids talking into a tape recorder.  Either way, what a cool show.  Currently my favorite podcast. #entertainment
Human driving directions (5) Apr 13, 2009
I don't like getting driving directions from humans because they usually consist of unnecessary steps that usually include the words "keep going."  Something as simple as
  1. Turn right on First Street.
  2. Go five miles.
  3. Turn left on Second Street.
becomes
  1. At the intersection of First Street, there's a gas station and a supermarket and a little store that sells garden gnomes.
  2. Make a right.
  3. You'll pass three roads on your right and two on your left.  Keep going.
  4. You'll see a purple house on your left.  Keep going.
  5. Right after the railroad tracks, there's a nuclear reactor with King Kong climbing up the cooling tower.  Keep going.
  6. Go around the bend near the bank.
  7. Keep going straight.
  8. The road will end.  There will be a stop sign.  There will also be a coffee place and an ocean on your right.
  9. Make a left.
#travel
Staircase slide (1) Apr 13, 2009
An architect in London built a house that included a slide next to the staircase, leading to this awesomely inviting image: 
[Image: staircaseslide.jpg]
I don't think there's a person alive today who hasn't slid down the stairs on their butt.  This would make it like a billion times better.  (via Neatorama) #products