J-Walk Blog: November 04, 2003 Archives

4 November, 2003

Concert For George

A new DVD will be available in a few weeks: Concert For George.

Exceptionally moving but not the least bit sentimental, Concert for George is a splendid tribute to the late George Harrison, whose contributions to the Beatles were so often hidden in the long shadows of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

A year to the day after Harrison's November 29, 2001 death, Eric Clapton assembled some musicians--people who had played with Harrison and known him intimately, including McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Tom Petty--to perform his music at London's Royal Albert Hall.

And the concert will even feature ukuleles.

(Thanks Eric Dixon)

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Underwater Digital Camera

From a company called Ffreefire: the EC300 waterproof digital camera.

The Ffreefire EC300WF, under water digital camera, all weather, waterproof up to a depth of 5 meters, entry-level digital camera. With dimensions of 70 mm x 101 mm x35.2mm, it is easy to carry around with you ready to take photographs while you are skiing, hiking, surfing, sailing etc., all kind of adventure activities. And the suggested retail price only US $200.

(via Gizmodo)

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Experimenting With Banana Peels

From The Sneeze: O Banana, How Slippery Art Thou?

Banana peels are ridiculously famous for causing people to slip and fall. We've been exposed to this notion our entire lives, but I have never actually slipped on one. I have yet to even come close to slipping on one. I don't even know anybody who has slipped on one.

I started wondering just how slippery are banana peels? Do they even warrant this notorious reputation?

I decided to do a little experiment to measure the relative slipperiness of banana peels in comparison to other fruit peels and items.

Read the article for the surprising conclusions.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Sign Graveyard

Now this might be worth a drive to Las Vegas: The Las Vegas sign graveyard. You'll find lots of photos of dead and retired Las Vegas signage.

A quick search at Google tells me that this place is quite well known. You can find even more photos at the Vegas Neon Graveyard site. Here's another site that provides some additional information: Las Vegas Neon Signs.

The invention of neon coincided with the legalization of gambling in Las Vegas in 1932. The Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) came to town (from Utah) and began designing casino signs. Their masterpieces included El Rancho, The Mint, The Sands, The Villa Theatre and others. They are still active creators of Vegas' signs today.

Many of the old signs were saved and piled up at YESCO's backlot (the "Boneyard"). Recent efforts by preservationists have ensured the future of these signs. The Fremont Street Experience, created in 1995, helped revitalize the downtown area that had become a second class citizen to The Strip's big casinos. It is a five-block area converted into an open-air, covered pedestrian mall with a collection of old signs from the Hacienda, the Flame, etc. The Neon Museum opened in 1996 and with many other restored signs. Neonopolis is the latest neon attraction (although the majority of their pieces are not from Las Vegas).

(via Scrubbles)

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Henry Ford Collections

Collections from The Henry Ford.

The collections of The Henry Ford document America's traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation. When Henry Ford founded The Henry Ford in 1929, he wanted to "give us a sense of unity...through the generations, and to convey the inspiration of American genius to our youth."

Ford believed that contact with the everyday objects of life, as well as innovations and inspirational creations by American inventors were essential to accomplish that aim. He amassed an unparalleled collection, including tens of thousands of ordinary objects, items associated with illustrious Americans, and inventions documenting technological advances. Today this collection is considered the "finest assembled documenting the American experience."

This site has tons of stuff. For example, here is a World War II concentration camp uniform (probably made in Poland). It's part of the uniforms collection, which is in the clothing and personal effects category.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Just Soup

Winter is soup season. Here's a blog devoted to soup: The Joy of Soup. Actually, it's not a blog. It's a plog:

soup + blog = plog

I guess I'm not very good at math. To me, soup + blog = slog. But what do I know?

Update: Rodney pointed out that, my math is wrong:

web + log = blog

and

soup + log = plog

Nice try, Rodney, but the original equation is still wrong. Assuming that the terms on the left side of the equation are correct, the site is actually a pblog. Here's a VB function that you can use:

Function BlogMath(txt1, txt2)
BlogMath = Right(txt1, 1) & txt2
End Function

Try it with:

BlogMath("web", "log")

and

BlogMath("soup", "blog")

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Ken, The Doll

The Barbie doll gets a lot of attention, but most people overlook Ken. Until now. Keeping Ken is a site devoted to Barbie's faithful mate. This is a very extensive site, and the webmaster, Jef Beck, clearly knows his stuff.

It started off innocently, became an obsession then a crusade! I always wondered if starting a hobby in my free time was a good idea and searched awhile for something I wouldn't lose interest in. Then I remembered Ken.

Shown here is the African America version of Sunsational Malibu Ken (obviously, a role model for my homey, Glenn). This is from 1981, and it's the "rooted version" that has actual fake curly black hair. There's also another version of Malibu Ken that has the hair painted on the head.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Coming Soon: A New Windows Experience

The new Windows, code-named Longhorn, will be available in about three years or so. But Microsoft isn't wasting any time. Here's an article for developers that discusses the User Experience Guidelines (it's called "Aero").

The WinFX managed classes make it easy to build your applications with the Aero user experience. In addition, applications that apply the Aero user experience guidelines have opportunities to integrate more deeply with the Windows shell and thereby get more exposure to more potential customers. Aero's advances in usability and aesthetics will help excite and empower your customers.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Nixon Bowling Poster

For only $10, you can get a full color poster of Richard Nixon bowling.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Fun Cities

So what's the most fun city in the U.S.? Believe it or not, it's Minneapolis-St. Paul. You'll find the rest of the top 50 list her: Study Ranks American's Most Fun Cities.

The criteria for the rankings included: number of sports teams, restaurants and dance performances, toy stores and city budget spent on recreation.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Republican Guide

If you'd like to be a good Republican, study: The Official Guide to Being a Good Republican - The Talking Points.

For example...

Co-Opt God into absolutely everything you say and do. If people believe that God is on your side, then more likely they will support you. Also stress that Democrats do not believe in God, and if elected, they will try to ban God all together. Always remember to use God's name often. Example of how to deliver bad news to your constituents: "This legislation that cut millions of dollars from [insert social program here] was God's will!!"

(via Love and the Happy Cynic)

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Burning Uke

An 11-foot ukulele, on fire in California. Find out why.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Be An Actuary

Yesterday, I received an email from an actuary. He was surprised because his job was listed in the Archaic Occupations link that I posted.

I was equally surprised. As a spreadsheet guy, I've been in touch with lots of actuaries. Surprisingly, this profession is very highly rated by the Jobs Rated Almanac. In fact, the only better job is a web site manager.

You can learn all about actuaries at the Be An Actuary site.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Sandlot Science

The Sandlot Science site can keep you occupied for hours. You'll find more illusions than you can shake a stick at -- all nicely organized and explained.

(via Metafilter)

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Pope Countdown

A site about the Pope: Pope Countdown.

PopeCountdown.com is the ultimate resource for information on the upcoming change of guard in the Vatican. On PopeCountdown.com, visitors can join a competition and try to guess when Pope John Paul II will pass away, how long the conclave afterwards will take and who will be Pope John Paul II's successor. The winner of our competition will travel to Rome to see the new Pontiff.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Nigerian Scam Artist

News item: Man in court over Nigerian scam.

AN Australian pensioner managed to defraud $5 million from unsuspecting victims, including a Saudi Arabian sheik, in a global internet scam, a NSW court was told today.

The alleged Australian head of the so-called Nigerian or West African scam, Sydney resident Nick Marinellis, made a brief appearance in the Dubbo Local Court today. The 39-year-old father of two was arrested yesterday during a raid on his Nyngan "holiday home".

All in all, he conned several people out of about $5 million. I find it amazing that people can actually fall for this. Maybe these scams should be renamed: A tax on the stupid.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

More Fire Photos

Last week, I linked to an amazing photo of the fires in the San Diego area. Here are some more shots, taken by the same photographer.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Celebrity Driveways

For those who are curious about such things, here's a collection of photos of celebrity driveways.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Painted Instruments

Painted musical instruments, by Robert Armstrong.

Shown here is the Django guitar, with images of Django Reinhardt.

Check out the enlarged version of the image. Djanjo looks just like Saddam Hussein.

Posted on 4 November, 2003

Spammers and Viruses

From New Scientist: Latest email virus blamed on spammers.

The latest variant of a six-month old virus called Mimail appears to be being used as a double-pronged spammer's tool, says a victim of the attack, the anti-spam company Spamhaus. The virus is both forcing infected computers to attack anti-spam websites and harvesting email addresses.

Dave Linford, who runs Spamhaus, believes W32.Mimail.D embodies a worrying new trend, with spammers increasingly using computer viruses to increase the stealth and efficiency of their work.

"The spammers think computer viruses are the best thing since sliced bread," he told New Scientist. Previously, most virus writers were teenagers whose only aim was to create online havoc. Now computer viruses have moved into the hands of spammers with commercial aims, Linford says.

Normally, I'd direct you to the Spamhaus Project site for more information. But that site is currently under attack.

Posted on 4 November, 2003