Fun Stuff – Page 3

August 7, 2008

Tron Lives!

Greetings Programs!

Brian, over at Bricycles has an idea I really like. Well, he actually has 2 ideas I really like. Each of them are ways to combat both global warming and our dependence on oil for energy.

His first idea is simple: Don’t wait for the government or the corporations to come up with a solution. At this point, it looks like there’s no help coming from those two areas. The best ideas may be the ones we come up with ourselves.

His second idea is almost as simple on the surface: Build a one-person transport that can handle most everyday needs, which produces zero emissions, using materials readily available to almost anyone. Now, nobody is suggesting (at this point) that we drive these things across the country, but for around-town driving and short trips, they’re perfect.

There’s one more thing he’s doing that just gets the SciFi kid in me rocking, though. I don’t know if he planned this part, but to me, his design looks like one of the lightbikes from the movie, Tron.
I might be (carbon)dating myself, but Tron gets my vote every time.

I am Jon, and I just gotta tell you, I like these kinds of ideas.

July 29, 2008

Aptera – LA to NC for 30 Bucks!

Meet Jon Jetson!

I learned from the website ecotality.com about Google’s investment in Aptera. Aptera is making my next vehicle, hopefully rolling off the assembly line early next year.

I know, I know… they won’t sell it to me here in North Carolina. Only California gets the honor of an affordable electric vehicle. I guess that’s because they’ve installed all those 110-volt outlets at all the gas stations along PCH.

But I am thinking that someone with about 30 large bills will want to buy me one to demonstrate that an all-electric vehicle, limited to about 120 miles between charges, could cross the country in about the same time as an old-style, clunky gasoline-powered oil-burning pollution machine.

Driving the speed limit and spending only 8 hours a day on the road, I could do that. All I need is for someone to buy the thing, then send me out there to pick it up and drive it here to North Carolina… heh. I could even live-blog it…

Watch the 2 minute video below. You’ll see why I want one. Hell, I might move back there for this.

Numbers

The estimated cost per mile to drive the Aptera is about a penny. The way estimates are, that might be a bit low, so let’s double it. So now it costs about 2 cents a mile to drive it.

At 120 miles between charges, that means a full charge costs less than 2 and half dollars. Consider that an average economy car might get 450 miles on a tank, with a fill-up costing around 50 bucks. So multiply the cost of the Aptera times four to make it an equitable amount of miles.

The Aptera costs 10 bucks. The economy car at 35 mpg hits you up for 50 smackers. That’s a savings of 80% on your ‘transportation costs’.

Plus, absolutely Zero pollution out the back end. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

I am Jon. Send me 27,000 dollars.

July 23, 2008

Scribd iPaper – Free Publishing In The Cloud

Look Mommy, There’s An Airplane

By now, this is old news, but I like this little display tool so much that I want to show it to you. It’s iPaper from Scribd.com, and it’s a fantastic way to publish and share documents online. It’s free for anyone to use. All you have to do is fly on over to their site and get started.

Personally, I love it. It’s like a plane – one look and you know exactly what it is and how to use it. It does what’s expected, having all the needed controls and nothing more, no fluff. This is the simplicity of intentional, elegant design.

And the price tag can’t be beat. Go ahead, try it out below!

Capuano letter – Upload a Document to Scribd

Up In The Sky

Oh yeah, the subject of the iPaper… seems Congress finally realized that they needed to be serving video from somewhere other than their own servers, so it’s just a memo describing some things they want to keep in mind as they move video to the cloud. Just the usual stuff, like making sure it’s respectably presented. So I guess we can look forward to the Youtube Congress Channel, coming soon to a monitor in front of you!

Or not. Who watches Congressional video anyway?

I am Jon, and yeah, I confess… I watch’em.

July 22, 2008

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wallstrip

That Was Then

I read lots of blogs. One of my favorite bloggers is Howard Lindzon, hedge fund manager, investor and founder of a cool site called Wallstrip. From their “About” page:

Wallstrip is where pop culture meets stock culture. Each day we take a look at a company whose stock is trading at or near an all-time high, and try to find the real world trend that explains why the stock is doing so well.

That said, they recently did a show on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Julie, their world class reporter, presents an amusing but eerily sober assessment. She gives us a worst case scenario (which of course didn’t happen) to explain why the government would most likely step in and prop up the two companies. It’s a quick couple of minutes. Check it out…(blame CBS for the ironic choice of commercial)

Watch CBS Videos Online

This Is Now

As we know, the government did take steps to keep Freddie and Fannie afloat. In a scene played out in the weekend hours, reminiscent of a Bear Stearns bailout, the government implemented measures that would postpone the looming disaster.

And if you were paying attention to Julie, you should understand why they had to do it. Half of all our mortgages are backed by those two companies. More than 5 Trillion dollars of debt, spread around the world, attached in one way or another to mostly worthless CDOs. Even though Freddie and Fannie were both private companies, it was always expected they were somehow backed by the US government.

And when push came to shove, that perception became a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Our economy is dependent on foreign investments. Many of those countries are heavily invested in these worthless CDOs, and if our government allows a major player like Freddie or Fannie to go under, all hell will break loose.

And not just in the USA, either. The global economy right now is strung together like so many electric poles along the side of the road. Each individual piece is tied firmly to the others and if one falls, it will pull the others down with it.

I’m Jon, watching the lines sway with the wind.

July 18, 2008

The Monty Hall Problem

Monty HallImage by Getty Images via Daylife
Let’s Make A Deal

Carefully thinking your way through complex problems, one step at a time, reveals an easy method to increase your odds of success from the outset. Sometimes, the obvious answer is not quite right.

Take, for instance, the Monty Hall problem. Here, you’re offered the chance to pick a wonderful prize hidden behind one of three doors. After you make your choice, one of the other doors is opened, revealing one of the gag prizes, and you are given the chance to change your choice. What should you do, change or stay with your first choice?

The answer might surprise you…

Increase Your Chances Of Winning

I am Jon, and I’ll take what’s hidden behind door number 4.

July 14, 2008

The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder

Vincent Bugliosi

When Vincent Bugliosi says he wants to prosecute GW Bush for murder, you just gotta figure he’s pretty sure he’ll win.

The name sounds familiar, huh? He’s the guy who prosecuted the Charles Manson murders back in the 70s. All in all, he’s got a pretty impressive record, especially with murder trials. Out of 106 murder trials, he’s won 105 of them. He’s also the same guy that wrote the bestseller “Helter Skelter“, and several others. His latest book has a very intriguing title.

Check out what he says about it….

As an American, I just gotta love this guy. I’ll write more about this later. I just wanted you to be aware of it now.

I am Jon, and I’m finding more to laugh about…

July 7, 2008

Make It So… What?

Image via WikipediaPicard, You Dog!

When it comes to Star Trek, I’m a TNG kinda guy. Picard’s my favorite captain of the Enterprise, mainly because I just enjoy Patrick Stewart more than Bill Shatner. I liked him in Dune. I even liked him in X-Men, which I really didn’t expect.

Though he’s certainly produced lots of ‘serious’ work, his humor is what appeals to me most. From his Wikipedia entry:

The accolades he has received include “Sexiest Man on Television” (TV Guide, 1992), which he considered an unusual distinction considering his age and his baldness. (That same year, Cindy Crawford was voted the sexiest woman in the same poll.) In an interview with Michael Parkinson, he expressed gratitude for Gene Roddenberry’s riposte to a reporter who said, “Surely they would have cured baldness by the 24th century,” to which Roddenberry replied, “In the 24th Century, they wouldn’t care.”

Below is a video that portrays him in a way I’ve never seen. It’s funny and… disturbing, at the same time. Thanks to GeeksAreSexy for pointing me to it. I hope you enjoy…

Just another example of why I think Patrick Stewart is one of the finest actors ever to work. He’s so believable.

I am Jon. Check back later.

July 5, 2008

Where The Hell Is Matt?

Matt is a 31-year-old deadbeat from Connecticut…

I want to thank CK’s Blog for pointing me to this video. If you’re not familiar with her blog, I recommend you go check it out. Meanwhile, back at Wordout, we’ll be watching this really neat video by Matthew Harding and Stride gum. (I have no affiliation with either, have never chewed Stride gum and only heard of Matt this morning.)

Caution: This video may make you cry unexplainably. Maybe it’s the children dancing.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.
For Full Screen, click the symbol to the left of the word ‘Vimeo’.

I am Jon, and I warned ya’….

June 12, 2008

Who You Are

Who Are You?

A friend of mine went to vote in the recent NC primaries, but couldn’t. For the last election, she had registered as an Independent, and here in NC there is no Independent primary. So naturally, she couldn’t legally vote in a Democratic or Republican primary. She’ll still be able to vote in November, regardless.

But it made me wonder how many of us ‘have our papers in order’. This is 21st century America, and being able to prove who we are is becoming more important. The last 2 general elections have been questionable, to say the least. Partly as a result of all the allegations of fraud back then, tighter restrictions are being employed at the polling places this year. Do you know that you have the papers you need?

For instance, I’ve moved twice in the last 4 years. Normally that would mean that this year I vote in a different place, but somehow I ended up back in the same neighborhood that I lived in 4 years ago. But if I hadn’t, I would need to update my voter registration information with my new address and find out where to go to cast my singularly important vote.

If you want to check on your information, a good place to start might be VoteSmart.org. You’ll find resources listed by your state of residence.

Meet The New Boss

Back in the 70s there was this great song by The Who called “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. There’s a couple of quotes from that song that I want to put in front of your face, and then we’ll both be on to something else. I’ll just put them here back-to-back. Take them with you when you click-out of Wordout.

I’ll move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left half alive
I’ll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotized never lie

and

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

I am Jon. Let’s try to avoid that prophecy, shall we?

For those avid Who fans, I’ve decided to embed this video of The Who performing “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. It’s a nice synchro of 2 Who concerts, from 1978 and 2005. Yeah, that’s the legendary Keith Moon on the left. Enjoy…

June 9, 2008

Election 2008 – Diebold Spoils The Surprise

The Glass Onion

Every so often I find myself watching some of The Onion’s many video spoofs. I thought you might like this one. Remember, this is a parody, a spoof, and totally (I hope) unreal.

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I am Jon, and I want to remind you: this is a parody. Don’t believe it until November.

June 5, 2008

Great Web Freebies – NASA TV

Image via WikipediaCool Factor

I’m a huge sci-fi fanatic. Books, movies, comics, I don’t care. I’m addicted to the concept of us in space. That’s why I think NASA TV is simply one of the coolest sites on the web. They’ve got the real stuff, as well as some artistic animations that rival Lucasfilm. (Interesting site there at Lucasfilm Ltd…)

You can check out the fantastic stuff coming out of the Phoenix Mars mission. That’s Phoenix taking off over there to the right.

Or maybe you want to check out some other past missions.

I guess you might even be interested in what NASA plans to do in the future.

Find images, interactive features, audio and video podcasts, blogs and an encyclopedia of NASA-specific information in their Multimedia area.

If you want to always stay up-to-date on anything NASA, try subscribing to their RSS Feeds.

I am Jon, and I still look at the sky at night and wonder…

May 15, 2008

High Impact, Real Fun on the Web

The Coolness Factor

Always on the lookout for new and interesting stuff on the web, I found this last month courtesy of ReadWriteWeb. In an article about what was then the new release of the GoogleApps they used a really cool new tool called Play The News, created by the guys over at ImpactGames. Let me tell you: on my coolness gauge, this thing registers off the scale.

The best way to tell you what it’s about is to quote their site. So read along from their FAQ:

What is “Play the News”?

An engaging, community driven experience – imagine fantasy sports meets the evening news. Play the News is a web-based platform that brings interactive gaming elements to the online ‘news media’ industry changing the paradigm of news consumption from passive reading to active engagement. The experience is made up of the “game” component, or news games, and the community of participation around them such as commenting, rankings, and many features to come. The profile allows you to build a snapshot of your socio-political profile over time on a range of issues.

What is a news game?

A news game is a short interaction aimed at accomplishing three things. The first is to give you background and context around the headline or event being presented, and to highlight a core issue to be examined. The second is to allow you to role-play and put yourself in the shoes of the different perspectives to voice your opinion on the subject. The last is to give you the chance to test yourself or show how smart you are by predicting what will happen in the real world.

How do you score my predictions?

Your prediction vote is scored against reality. When one or more of the actions presented in the game happens in the real world, the game will be closed. Your prediction will be scored as either Correct or Wrong. In some cases, events in the real world will unfold in ways the creator of the game couldn’t anticipate. In this case your score will not be affected for that particular role or game.

The prediction chart lists the Best Predictors in the community. It is calculated around the principle of Standard Deviation. The fundamental idea is to treat predictions as a dice roll. Anyone that moves beyond pure chance (for example, beyond having 1 out of 4, or 25% correct, if there are 4 potential actions) gets a higher value. The more “dice rolls” you have (ie predictions you made) the more difficult it becomes to have correct predictions. Having 1 out of 1 is much easier than having 10 out of 10, and is rewarded accordingly.

Okay enough of the words, lets get some action here! I am pleased to present to you one of the games currently in play, concerning the Olympics, China, Tibet, and all that’s been going on lately in that news story. (For those of you with 1024 screen width, I apologize for the game not fitting properly. The current version of the game doesn’t allow me to resize it.) Enjoy!

I am Jon, and I think I might like playing reality.

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May 13, 2008

WTF is RSS?

Expletive Abbreviated

Just what is RSS? It’s what gets me what I want, when what I want is more information. And face it, that’s every waking moment, isn’t it? I’ve been meaning to write a short bit about this for awhile now, and frankly, have been so busy that I just neglected it. I apologize. This is something you really need, if you don’t have it already.

RSS is generally considered to mean “Really Simple Syndication”. It gives you a way to automatically search your favorite news sites and blogs for whatever is new, saving you the time of looking all over the web for what you know is there. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now, and I couldn’t get by without it. There are over 200 individual RSS feeds that I keep up with, representing such diverse areas as poetry, science news, world news, web and tech news, and blogs from around the world. There is simply no way I can keep up with all that by visiting the sites individually. RSS keeps it all available, showing at a glance when something new or pertinent has been published on the web.

Daniela Barbosa, who authors one of the blogs I follow, recently posted the following video on RSS.(Thanks for reminding me, Daniela!) I have to take a moment here to compliment the guys who created the video. Those guys at CommonCraft are video masters. This is perhaps the best explanation of RSS I have seen. Enjoy…

I am Jon. Click “FeedMe!”, down below, to start getting my RSS feed, or choose the EMail option. Either way works great.

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April 2, 2008

Icon Story

Workity Workity Workity

Just a short post to let you guys know I’m still here. I’ve been extremely busy designing a different website, which should go live sometime Thursday. Though it’s a simple, straightforward design, it was still very taxing on me, as I had no direction at the outset. I did, however, have an intimate knowledge of the subject matter, and the client has been a friend and customer of mine for years.

Is This What Your Desktop Is Doing While You’re Away?

All of that will be written in another piece appearing later here @ Wordout. What I wanted to show you this afternoon was a neat little movie I found, called “Icon Story“. In it, intelligent icons, living on a desktop, wage war with each other for pretty much the same reasons as their human users.

Which is to say, for pretty much no reason at all. The movie lasts about a minute fifteen, so if you have a minute, check it out. It’s… cute.

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I am Jon, and words are left for me to say.
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March 22, 2008

Watch Free StarTrek Online

GeekSugar

I can’t remember how I found them. Maybe I was over at Technorati surfing blogs, I don’t know. But after finding them, I don’t know how I ever missed them before. You should check out their entire site, it looks interesting. The part that I was looking at, of course, was GeekSugar. And that’s where I found the story about the free Star Trek episodes available online.

That’s right, CBS.com is making the 1st three seasons, 76 full length episodes in all, available for online viewing. I don’t have the bandwidth to embed one here, so instead here are a couple of shorts. The 1st one runs under 90 seconds, and the second one is about 7 minutes.

The fight scene between Spock and Kirk on Vulcan.
Includes the timeless “fight music” from every great fight scene on Star Trek.

Star Trek vs Star Wars. It can’t all be serious!

CBS has some other shows available as well. Look for MacGyver, Hawaii Five-O and The Twilight Zone while you’re over there. There are even some current shows, like Jericho. Just hover over the VIDEO text at the top of the page and a list of over 30 shows will drop down for you to browse.

I am Jon, and right about now I just might be watching some Trek.

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March 20, 2008

Awareness Test

Moonwalking Bears?

I’ve seen several studies lately on attention and focus, usually articles aimed at improving your web design or manipulating your readers by location-targeted ad placements. Prime screen attention areas can be determined by equipment that monitors eye movements across a page. The focus can be extrapolated from the amount of time the eye remains fixed on an area.

While there’s alot to be said for this type of data, there’s an underlying flaw in relying on it. The studies all assume that just because an eye is pointed at, and even focused on, a particular area, that the owner of that eye is actually seeing what is being shown. This is not always true.

As an example of what I’m talking about, I point you to this video, which I first found over at Seth’s Blog, and then later in several other places. Once you see it, you will see why it is becoming so virally popular.

In the video, you will be asked to count something. It’s a really very simple exercise in attention, and is even a bit fun. Go ahead and try, it only takes a minute. I tried it, and I missed it.

Awareness Test from DoTheTest.co.uk

I am Jon, and I missed it.

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March 15, 2008

Awesome Shutdown Hack Video

Amaze Your Friends!

Are you the somebody that everybody in your family goes to for computer help? Have you tried to get Uncle Joe to stop using Internet Explorer but he just won’t stop? Or maybe Aunt Ethel just gets on your last nerve, or maybe it’s little cousin Ellie and her MySpace IM’s.

Whatever it is, whoever it is, sometimes you just need a good laugh. Here’s a funny little hack for you, or a prank you can play on some of your friends.

The video below, courtesy of Metacafe, shows you how to create a replacement icon for IE that, if used, will simply shut down the pc. You can’t damage the computer by doing this, and if you ever want to un-do it, just delete the icon you’ve created. Remember, you can use ANY icon, it doesn’t have to be Internet Explorer.

Have fun!

Perfect PC Shutdown Prank – Free videos are just a click away
Awesome PC Shutdown Prank

I am Jon, and of course, I would never do this to anyone.

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March 13, 2008

CeBit User Interfaces

Coming Soon To A PC Near You

Have you been wondering what the next generation of user interfaces will be like? The iPhone has already shown us some of it. If you’ve been following Wordout or Google’s Android, you’ve seen some more of it. But what if you applied that same thing to larger screens?

What if you plastered it across an entire wall? Below you’ll see such an exhibition, displayed at the annual Cebit in Europe. The demo here lasts less than a minute.

CeBit Wall Sized User Interface Demo

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If you liked that, you might this one too, but I warn you… it’s about 10 minutes long. Still, it’s worth checking out, even for a couple of minutes, before you go on to something else.

Jeff Han of New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences

I am Jon, and I’m ready for some “hands-on” access.

(edit) There’s a story on practically the same subject over at ReadWriteWeb. I particularly liked the “Bump Top” video over there… so here it is.

Bump Top – Your 3D Real Life Desktop

It looks like this is a popular subject. -jon

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March 12, 2008

Homemade Telescope for About 5 Bucks

The View From The Cheap Seats

So there you are, at the ~~game~~ ~~beach~~ ~~parking lot of a super secret facility~~ just out enjoying the night sky doing absolutely nothing wrong and you think to yourself, Wouldn’t it be great to have a telescope right now! I can remember when I was young, my brothers and I would make “play telescopes” out of toilet paper cardboard… remember that? I don’t remember them working very well, though. Real telescopes were just a fancy fancy.

Thanks to the folks over at Metacafe for pointing us to the following video. All you need to make the telescope are 2 empty 2-liter bottles, two easily found magnifying glasses and some tape. For tools you’ll need some scissors and a screwdriver. I suppose in a pinch a single knife would do the job of both.

The video is 90 seconds. Enjoy!

Make A Telescope In 90 Seconds

Home Made Telescope – The funniest bloopers are right here

I am Jon, but I remember feeling like Galileo.

March 5, 2008

Monster Cables v Coat Hangers

I Can’t Hear It Either

I found this in my daily searching of the web’o’things, and I wanted to tell you about it. After thinking a few minutes, I decided it would be best to let you read this in the writer’s original words. So, from the forum at Audioholics.com

“One last thing regarding your comment on replication and judging the ability of
componants to bring you nearest the original sound (my words, not yours). I’m so sorry, but I do not buy into 90% of the hype brought to us audiophiles by the commercial sector of our hobby and the home entertainment industry at large. My brother, an audio engineering whiz kid has proven to me what is real and what is not. Let me rehearse with you an example of how he does this.

We gathered up a 5 of our audio buddies. We took my “old” Martin Logan SL-3 (not a bad speaker for accurate noise making) and hooked them up with Monster 1000 speaker cables (decent cables according to the audio press). We also rigged up 14 gauge, oxygen free Belden stranded copper wire with a simple PVC jacket. Both were 2 meters long. They were connected to an ABX switch box allowing blind fold testing. Volume levels were set at 75 Db at 1000K Hz. A high quality recording of smooth, trio, easy listening jazz was played (Piano, drums, bass). None of us had heard this group or CD before, therefore eliminating biases. The music was played. Of the 5 blind folded, only 2 guessed correctly which was the monster cable. (I was not one of them). This was done 7 times in a row! Keeping us blind folded, my brother switched out the Belden wire (are you ready for this) with simple coat hanger wire! Unknown to me and our 12 audiophile buddies, prior to the ABX blind test, he took apart four coat hangers, reconnectd them and twisted them into a pair of speaker cables. Connections were soldered. He stashed them in a closet within the testing room so we were not privy to what he was up to. This made for a pair of 2 meter cables, the exact length of the other wires. The test was conducted. After 5 tests, none could determine which was the Monster 1000 cable or the coat hanger wire. Further, when music was played through the coat hanger wire, we were asked if what we heard sounded good to us. All agreed that what was heard sounded excellent, however, when A-B tests occured, it was impossible to determine which sounded best the majority of the time and which wire was in use. Needless to say, after the blind folds came off and we saw what my brother did, we learned he was right…most of what manufactures have to say about their products is pure hype. It seems the more they charge, the more hyped it is.”

I wonder if this guy is for real? First he says there’s “5… audio buddies”, and later he says there were 12. I don’t know if he’s pulling our chain or not, but, in the end, it doesn’t matter much to me…

I am Jon, who played rock and roll drums for 14 years and can’t hear the difference anyway…

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