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Part of a giveaway here. Via.
The Reds are hosting a contest that's impossible to win
The Cincinnati Reds are hosting a promotion this year that will award one lucky fan with a brand new truck if any particular Red happens to hit the truck with a home run. The truck is perched in center field, 500 feet away. It's a neat promotion. Except that it's physically impossible for anyone to hit the truck.
Link.
WSJ writer discovers his children prefer a five-year-old computer to a One Laptop Per Child laptop
That was the rub: Out of the box, the XO lags behind in its ability to browse today's Web in all its multimedia glory. Even after I upgraded the XO with Flash software, it didn't smoothly or quickly play animations or videos -- the screen tended to jump around, games stalled while loading, video clips stuttered so much they were unwatchable. That ruled out most online video and Web-based games -- no videos on YouTube, no "Flight of the Hamsters" game on Cartoon Network's site, which even our five-year-old desktop PC can handle.
Link.
Seems like it was just last week that Yves Behar won a design award for the device.
The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte
Publisher's Weekly:
The author of Jane Eyre plays sleuth in this enchanting historical from Rowland, acclaimed for her mystery series set in 17th-century Japan (The Snow Empress, etc.). After the instant success of Jane Eyre and the lesser success of her two sisters' novels, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, Charlotte Brontë receives a letter from her publisher, George Smith, accusing her of breach of contract: Smith believes the same author penned all three novels, as they each appeared under a pseudonym with the surname Bell. On the train from Haworth to London to meet Smith, Charlotte and sister Anne encounter Isabel White, a mysterious girl who, once in London, is murdered. Charlotte becomes ensnared in a case involving a revenge plot orchestrated by an arch villain shaded with old school orientalism. Brontë fans will delight in Rowland's portrait of Charlotte, who closely parallels Jane both in personality and station. The men playing opposite Charlotte often echo the character of Edward Rochester, lending an enticing will-they, won't-they tension to the proceedings.
The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte
Watchmen Vietnam War Army Patch
Found here. Apparently a bit of swag given to people who worked on the movie.
*Previously: Awesome U.S. Military Patches.
How do you illustrate silence?
In December 2001, Marvel experimented with the "'Nuff Said" event, in which comic books featured little to no dialogue. The results received some criticism, although I enjoyed Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's New X-Men #121, which revealed the origin of Professor X's sister. So, how did the cover artists try to get the silent concept across?
Well, some went the obvious route:
Some tried something a little more subtle:
Some illustrated the exact opposite:
And some pretended it wasn't happening:
But the cover of Peter Parker: Spiderman # 38 was definitely my favorite:
Covers found here, here, and here.
Well, some went the obvious route:
Some tried something a little more subtle:
Some illustrated the exact opposite:
And some pretended it wasn't happening:
But the cover of Peter Parker: Spiderman # 38 was definitely my favorite:
Covers found here, here, and here.
Inflatable street art by Joshua Allen Harris
Fast forward 35 seconds in this video of "Air Bear"
And this video shows "Street Zoo"
A lot more pleasant than the last street art I mentioned. Via.
And this video shows "Street Zoo"
A lot more pleasant than the last street art I mentioned. Via.
Foam cups crushed to the size of thimbles by ocean pressure
Last August, as a team at the North Pole prepared to plunge more than two miles to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, some of the dozens of specialists who staged the dive engaged in a time-honored ritual: drawing on foam cups, decorating more than 100 of them.
The cups were then gingerly sent into the deep. During the historic dive, led by Russian scientists, the pressure of the surrounding water crushed the cups to the size of thimbles, also squeezing their whimsies of writing and drawing.
Afterward, the tiny cups became instant mementoes of the polar dive, offering striking proof of the descent into an unfamiliar zone and silent testimony to the crushing power of plain old water.
Photos here.
Is the internet magical? Thoughts about zero sum games.
I've read on many occasions that competing for readers on the internet is not a zero sum game - - most recently in this post about the competition between gadget blogs Gizmodo and Engadget:
Unless the internet is magical, competing for readers is clearly a zero sum game. There's only so much time in the day to read blogs. If I'm using my time to read one, I won't have time to read the other. And if I feel one site is more or less covering the gadget news of the day, I'm not going to bother reading the other. Every moment I spend reading one blog is one moment I won't be spending reading another. Thus, zero sum game: a situation in which a participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participants.
Now certainly I link to lots of other sites and hopefully sites will link to me - - but that just means I have teammates in the zero sum game. That doesn't change the fact that every second you're spending here is a second you won't be able to spend somewhere else.
Despite the heated competition, neither site appears to be damaging the other's popularity. Most business battles revolve around a scarce resource — audience or customers or money. But in this case, the battle for readers is not a zero-sum game. "Nothing stops people from going to both," says Jeff Jarvis, media blogger and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York's Graduate School of Journalism. "This is a natural state of media. It's good for everyone."
Unless the internet is magical, competing for readers is clearly a zero sum game. There's only so much time in the day to read blogs. If I'm using my time to read one, I won't have time to read the other. And if I feel one site is more or less covering the gadget news of the day, I'm not going to bother reading the other. Every moment I spend reading one blog is one moment I won't be spending reading another. Thus, zero sum game: a situation in which a participant's gain or loss is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the other participants.
Now certainly I link to lots of other sites and hopefully sites will link to me - - but that just means I have teammates in the zero sum game. That doesn't change the fact that every second you're spending here is a second you won't be able to spend somewhere else.
Robot Bride and Groom Wedding Cake Topper
From the Builder's Studio. It's currently on sale in this Etsy store. I previously interviewed its creator.
Slave Leia Amigurumi
Just one of many Star Wars amigurumi figures by Geek Central Station:
Click here to see more in the Flickr gallery or go here for the Etsy shop, which currently has Han and Chewie on sale and also features Lord of the Rings figures.
*Update: There's an interview with the artist here.
Interactive retrospective of Al Jaffee's fold-ins for Mad magazine
Here's the very cool interactive retrospective.
Here's a NY Times article about Jaffee, who is 87 and still creating fold-ins.
Relatedly, there's some cool fold-in effects starting approximately 30 seconds into Beck's video for "Girl"
Via.
Here's a NY Times article about Jaffee, who is 87 and still creating fold-ins.
Relatedly, there's some cool fold-in effects starting approximately 30 seconds into Beck's video for "Girl"
Via.
Make a Cylon contest
These entries are bound to be cool:
Read the rest. Via.
"MAKE A CYLON" CONTEST
The Cylons were created by the people of the Twelve Colonies. Intelligent robots, they were used as slaves and soldiers to fight humanity's wars. But the Cylons became sentient and they rebelled. Man and machine fought to a bloody stalemate, then the Cylons withdrew to a remote region of space. A truce between the Twelve Colonies and the Cylons lasted for 40 tense and silent years. Then, on the 40th anniversary, a stunning blonde — a Cylon in human form — met the human envoy… moments before the Cylons vaporized the station and launched a genocidal attack on the Twelve Colonies.
Now DVICE, SCIFI.COM and MAKE are giving you the opportunity to create (or recreate) the Cylons for fun, a chance to win prizes, and the possibility of seeing your creation on the SCI FI Channel.
HOW TO ENTER
"Make" a Cylon: Use whatever you like: blinking lights for eyes, metal armor as a costume, toasters… anything to show the world that you're a Cylon maker. The only caveat is that it has to be something physical (no Photoshop/art entries). Your Cylon can be of the humanoid or robotic variety, real or abstract, or anything else you can think of. We'll also accept entries for creations in the general Battlestar universe (ships, devices, etc.), although our preference is for Cylons.
Read the rest. Via.
(Very Doable) Dr. Manhattan Papercraft
Download the template toward the bottom of this page.
*Elsewhere: Dr. Manhattan Marvel Legends style action figure, Dr. Manhattan custom Lego minifig.
Homemade Scrump Plush (Lilo & Stitch)
As I've mentioned before, Lilo & Stitch is easily my favorite Disney cartoon. Lilo carries around a deformed little stuffed animal she made herself called Scrump. Raúl Villanueva teamed up with his wife to make one for their daughter.
*See also: Burn-E paper toy.
*Buy Scrump toys at eBay.
*See also: Burn-E paper toy.
*Buy Scrump toys at eBay.
Sidewalk Psychiatry
Some jerk is messing with people's heads in New York by spraying ominous looking comments on city streets:
I wonder how many people were having perfectly nice days until they read the comments. More here. Via.
I wonder how many people were having perfectly nice days until they read the comments. More here. Via.
German chancellor to boycott Olympic opening ceremonies
Poland's prime minister and the Czech Republic's president also. The politics are always more interesting than the games.
Video: Crazy ninja running around town
(I'd like to try it, but I'm wondering if I'll find playing the game awkward since I have the og jumbo ds.)
10 dumbest action figures
Well, 10 needless figures in toy lines. These are actually all pretty old. I'm sure someone could come up with a more recent list. Build-A-Figure Blob comes to mind. Was anyone buying a figure just for the chance to build him? Notice: no bids.
Maybe I'll try putting together a list of more recent useless action figures this weekend. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Grocery stores have it exactly backward
They should provide a special lane and extra service to carts overflowing with items. Good idea found here.
One year blogversary
This week marks the one year anniversary of Super Punch. Thank you everyone for the support, tips, and comments.
My most surprisingly popular post, which gets hits every day? Amare Stoudemire's tattoos are comedically stupid.
Post with the best comments? NBA player Stephon Marbury's nanny is a former South African soap opera star named Chichi Letswalo.
My most surprisingly popular post, which gets hits every day? Amare Stoudemire's tattoos are comedically stupid.
Post with the best comments? NBA player Stephon Marbury's nanny is a former South African soap opera star named Chichi Letswalo.
CBS reporters were with Clinton during the non-dangerous Bosnia landing
So why'd it take months for someone to challenge Clinton's claim to have landed under sniper fire? Link.
Relatedly, a terrific Freudian slip by one of Clinton's advisers.
*Previously: Video proves Clinton WAS in grave danger during the Bosnia trip.
Relatedly, a terrific Freudian slip by one of Clinton's advisers.
*Previously: Video proves Clinton WAS in grave danger during the Bosnia trip.
It's just possible biodiesel is not the answer to the world's energy needs
"One groundbreaking new study in Science concluded that when this deforestation effect is taken into account, corn ethanol and soy biodiesel produce about twice the emissions of gasoline." Link. Via.
Funny: How to read between the lines in a newspaper article
The Post:
Microsoft has been so cagey about the candidates it plans to nominate to Yahoo!'s board that speculation is mounting that the software giant actually doesn't have anyone lined up.
The invisible footnote: Our once-cooperative sources at Microsoft don't see any reason to keep us updated on negotiations. Here's a reason: Talk or we'll make up things and call it "speculation." We won't make up nice things.
Keep reading.
The top WNBA players are playing for some shady rich Russian
and making big money and being treated like princesses. But it's not all fun:
Link.
(I loved the Bundy's trip to England.)
Taurasi joined her on the Dynamo roster two winters ago, reuniting the two friends from their UConn days. Still, because of difficulties with the coaches and a brutally cold winter, that 2005-06 season was so unpleasant it wore down even relentlessly upbeat Taurasi. She compares it to the episode of "Married With Children" when the Bundys travel to Lower Uncton, an English town living under a constant dark cloud. Lower Uncton became her code for anything that went wrong during the season.
"My goal was to make one Russian smile a day -- one Russian," she said. "That lasted a couple days and I gave up."
Link.
(I loved the Bundy's trip to England.)
Cinemashups
Reader Jeff Yorkes mashes up famous movie scenes with inappropriate songs. For example, a highly condensed version of Alien set to Queen's Keep Yourself Alive.
Book Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, or how I wasted a few hours of my valuable free time
I recently finished Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones for my book club and boy was I disappointed. It was well-reviewed and a big seller. And it's terrible. I'd say stop reading now to avoid spoilers, but I'm not spoiling anything. I'm saving you the trouble of reading it.
First, the good news. Her chapters and paragraphs and sentences are all of an unobjectionable length. And I never found her word choice irritating.
Okay, that's out the way. The cover for the book is boring and I don't care for the font.
The characters and plot are cookie cutter:
-dad and mom loved each other, got kind of tired of each other, particularly because the wife is dissatisfied with sacrificing her professional life to take care of kids, and the two grow apart after tragedy
-the serial killer had a rough childhood (he kills the narrator right at the start of the book)
The plot mostly meanders aimlessly.
Something really stupid happens 30 pages before the end and the book degenerates into a bad romance novel.
After the really stupid thing happens, the book improbably wraps every loose end into a happy ending.
On at least two occasions, the narrator lies to the reader to falsely create the expectation that something bad is about to happen.
For example, at the start of chapter seventeen, the narrator says:
That's the narrator warning us something bad's going to happen, probably a car accident. But actually, nothing bad happens. Something really wonderful happens. Someone needs to explain to Sebold what "but" means.
She falsely foreshadows drama again a bit later. In chapter twenty, the narrator reveals that the incompetent detective who had an affair with the mom plans on visiting the father. The narrator says:
Wow, bad stuff happens when toxic fluids leak out right? Sure sounds like something bad will happen when the two men meet. Wrong. They have a productive meeting and the detective goes on his way.
In sum, the book sucked.
*I genuinely prefer sci-fi or fantasy novels by China Mieville, Neal Stephenson, George R.R. Martin or Dan Simmons. But I did enjoy Memoirs of a Geisha and Bel Canto.
First, the good news. Her chapters and paragraphs and sentences are all of an unobjectionable length. And I never found her word choice irritating.
Okay, that's out the way. The cover for the book is boring and I don't care for the font.
The characters and plot are cookie cutter:
-dad and mom loved each other, got kind of tired of each other, particularly because the wife is dissatisfied with sacrificing her professional life to take care of kids, and the two grow apart after tragedy
-the serial killer had a rough childhood (he kills the narrator right at the start of the book)
The plot mostly meanders aimlessly.
Something really stupid happens 30 pages before the end and the book degenerates into a bad romance novel.
After the really stupid thing happens, the book improbably wraps every loose end into a happy ending.
On at least two occasions, the narrator lies to the reader to falsely create the expectation that something bad is about to happen.
For example, at the start of chapter seventeen, the narrator says:
My father was soft in his trust with Samuel -- years had gone by when the boy had done nothing but right by his surviving daughter.
But on the ride back from Philadelphia down Route 30, it began to rain. Lightly at first, small pinpricks flashing into my sister and Samuel at fifty miles per hour.
That's the narrator warning us something bad's going to happen, probably a car accident. But actually, nothing bad happens. Something really wonderful happens. Someone needs to explain to Sebold what "but" means.
She falsely foreshadows drama again a bit later. In chapter twenty, the narrator reveals that the incompetent detective who had an affair with the mom plans on visiting the father. The narrator says:
I couldn't help but think, as I watched him, of the barrels of toxic fluids that had accrued behind Hal's bike shop where the scrub lining the railroad tracks had offered local companies enough cover to dump a stray container or two. Everything had been sealed up, but things were beginning to leak out.
Wow, bad stuff happens when toxic fluids leak out right? Sure sounds like something bad will happen when the two men meet. Wrong. They have a productive meeting and the detective goes on his way.
In sum, the book sucked.
*I genuinely prefer sci-fi or fantasy novels by China Mieville, Neal Stephenson, George R.R. Martin or Dan Simmons. But I did enjoy Memoirs of a Geisha and Bel Canto.
Obama falsely claims he was conceived during the Selma marches
The lies are so pathetic. He says his parents were so moved by the freedom marches that they conceived him. Alas, he was already three years old at the time. Link.
(Yes, yes, McCain and Clinton lie also.)
(Yes, yes, McCain and Clinton lie also.)
A US company is selling shoddy ammunition to the Afghanistan government
Shoddy might be generous:
The company is run by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur. Link.
Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.
In purchasing munitions, the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking.
Moreover, tens of millions of the rifle and machine-gun cartridges were manufactured in China, making their procurement a possible violation of American law. The company’s president, Efraim E. Diveroli, was also secretly recorded in a conversation that suggested corruption in his company’s purchase of more than 100 million aging rounds in Albania, according to audio files of the conversation.
The company is run by a 22-year-old man whose vice president was a licensed masseur. Link.
The San Francisco Giants have excised all mention of Barry Bonds from their stadium
During the run-up to the home-run record last season, there were multiple banners hanging around the ballpark celebrating the chase. There was also a mural featuring Bonds running the length of the left field wall. All that is gone. There is not a single visible reference, not even a small plaque, commemorating the accomplishment.
Link.
Trap-Jaw Illustration by Ben Templesmith
Flickr link. Templesmith's blog. Via. From what I can tell, it's included as an art card with this DVD.
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