LEGOS!

Here's another Useloos gallery -- this time of HUGE Lego sculptures.

More "Get Noticed" business cards

When I was younger I used to collect business cards (and matchbooks). I had some that I remember as being pretty creative, but nothing compared to this business card gallery at Useloos.

Spanish Lesson

A Spanish teacher was explaining to the class that, in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. 'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.' 'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.' So, a student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?' Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether 'computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la Computadora'), because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ( 'el computador'), because:
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model

The women won.

[editor's note: It must have been a 'la profesor' :-) ]

Growing up...

I know it's not report card time yet, but...

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up. Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to Dad. With the worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter.

Dear Dad:

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you. I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice. But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercing, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion...Dad she's pregnant. Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and ecstasy. In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better. She deserves it. Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love,
Your Son Timmy

PS. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than a report card that's in my center desk drawer. Call me when its safe to come home.

Getting across the river

Every couple of weeks I glance back through the logs to find the reason that people visit my site. It's mostly just curiosity, but once in a while I get a surprise or an idea for something to write about. While looking last week, I noticed that that my post on the Japanese River Quiz was drawing quite a few hits. But they weren't looking for a game to play, they were looking for the answer! Apparently, there are companies using this as an employment test. Go figure!

Well, if you haven't been hired, yet, memorize this before your next interview.

1) cop & con
2) cop
3) cop & girl1
4) cop & con
5) mom & girl2
6) mom
7) mom & dad
8) dad
9) cop & con
10) mom
11) mom & dad
12) dad
13) dad & boy1
14) cop & con
15) cop & boy2
16) cop
17) cop & stripe

Or if you think that they're looking for "out-of-the-box thinkers," you might suggest that they all work together and build a bigger raft from the trees on the shore, or even just push the tree over the flowing water and walk across it! Good luck!

Interresting gadget site

Technogad is an interesting, and inspiring, gadget site. Some of the items shown are far from commercial, but if you need a little design inspiration, I'm sure that you can find something here. If you need a little geeky "wow" in your day, I'm pretty sure you can find something here as well.

"Remember, I want you..."

When my youngest son was learning to put himself to sleep, my wife and I used various methods to make that easier on him. At first, we would lay on the floor while he went to sleep. He'd know that we were there, but we kept our distance. Then we started limiting the time that we stayed with him and he'd finish his journey with the Sandman by himself. In the last stage of staying with him, I had moved to his doorway, half closed, and read my books. This made my walking away a little more subtle and quiet. During that transition away from his more direct sight, he would often times remind me that he wanted me to stay with him while he fell asleep, not to leave.

We've moved on from the need for so much comfort and security when it's bedtime, but every night, he still reminds me, "Dad, remember, I want you..." I say "I know..." and walk quietly out of his room and on to my other nighttime duties.

Though he's repeated this to me for many months now, for some reason I started thinking about it more thoughtfully last night. I know I'm reading more into it than he's intending, but taken more to heart, he wants me to do more than stay with him while he goes to sleep. He wants me to be there for him when he scrapes his knee. He wants me to play games with him. He wants me to go on a bike ride with him. He wants me to tickle him and laugh with him. He wants me to teach him to read. He wants me to watch him grow up. He wants me to teach him to drive and see him get married and play with HIS kids.

Maybe he's not thinking that far into the future. Does he know what's in store for him in the future. I doubt he has any clue.

Maybe it's because I'm re-reading Randy Pausch's book, and fearing my own mortality.

Whatever the reason, "I remember...And I want you too son..."

End of the universe?

Earlier this month, a billions of dollars (Euros, Francs, and a bunch of other monies) came to fruition as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) officially came on-line. The intention of those billions of dollars is to smash a few itsy-bitsy particles into each other and make a big bang. OK, I'm paraphrasing.

This project is not without its detractors, though. There are many that think that the billions of dollars, and millions of man-hours could be better spend on ending global warming, feeding the hungry, or even paying down the nations' debts. There are over 80 countries with their teeth sunk into this thing. In addition to concerns over the use of all that money and other resources, there are those that fear we're messing with the universe in ways that we don't understand. In the same was as those who were alive at the time of the dawn of atomic energy (and bombs) there are those that think that this "experiment" will run amok and out of control, consuming a lot more than just public scrutiny. Some have even gone so far as to predict the end of the world. Who knows, maybe their right. The scientists tell us not, but if their wrong, who's gonna be around for us to blame?

There are several sites on the Web that have posted real-time web-cams of the LHC. Most of the "official" (read: Government Sponsored) sites are still hard to get to because of all the traffic generated by the press, but I found a couple cams that are still on-line. The fastest one is available at http://lhc-live.com/. They've got a camera aimed at one of the collision points (they say you might even be able to see a tiny flash during the actual collisions). The other camera looks more like a security camera from a guard house of the parking lot or something.

I'm not sure what to think about the whole project. It might lead to some interesting science, but is it really worth Billions, with a B, at a time like this? Tell me your thoughts...

My son, the Terminator

My son is much more in touch with his feelings that most kids his age. Some might call him a bit emotional at times, but that sensitivity comes with a lot of empathy for other people's feelings as well. He also knows what's right from wrong -- though sometimes he forgets when playing with is siblings, but we're working on that :-)

Anyway, his class had a substitute teacher the other day. Apparently, this teacher had decided that a classmate of my son's deserved a bit of harassing that day. The teacher continued to berate the other student and embarrass him. The belittling and verbal jabs were so bad that this 4th grader started crying. My son and a few others knew that this was not right and, when the opportunity presented itself, they located the school principal and informed her about the situation.

The principal investigated the claims, speaking to other children as well as the substitute. She collected enough information that, after reprimanding the teacher, informed my son and his classmates that the teacher would not return to his school as a substitute ever again.

This school is really great at protecting the kids and the learning environment. They seem to know exactly what to do to make sure that the kids all have a safe and comfortable learning environment. They know that if you lose the kids now, it's a lot harder, if not impossible, to re-light that spark of interest and desire to learn.

I'm very proud of my son for recognizing something as wrong and taking a stand to correct it. The meek will truly inherit this world if they continue to stand up for each other.

Good job son!

Advertising collection

LinkInn (not to be confused with social business site LinkedIn) is a place for people to create photo collections. Some are pretty amazing. One that caught my eye the other day was a collection of outdoor advertising. Those creative minds keep raising the bar as we become more and more numb to the injection of advertising in our lives. They need to find something that will draw our attention -- something unique, quirky, insightful... I think that you'll find all those and more in this collection. Enjoy.

Thank you

I caught a short clip on TV the other night, Batman Begins I think. All I remember about the scene was the following quote:

"I never said 'Thank you'."

Batman replied, "And you'll never have to."

How truly magnanimous of him. He's going to do what he does because it's the right thing to do, not because he's expecting something in return. He's doing what he can do to help because he can, and because it needs to be done, not because he gets some kick out of publicity and fame.

If I recall correctly, he's got a little bit of money himself already, so he's not in it for the money either.

When you see something that needs to be done, are you looking around to make sure that someone sees you perform your good deed so that they can pat you on the back, sing your praises to the world and hold you in high esteem? Or do you see that piece or paper on the floor and instinctively pick it up and put it in the trash? Do you hold the door for someone without a second thought? Do you let someone with a couple of items cut in line in front of your basket load at the supermarket?

I know that not every act of selflessness will be paid back in kind, but that's not the point. There are people that will take advantage of your kindness... but it's the right thing to do.

While typing this entry, I'm listening to Pandora, and Jewell's "Hands" song is playing. There's a phrase in there, "Only kindness matters in the end." That just happened to play while I was typing... Kinda eerie...

We're being invaded!

It used to be the Asian beetles that look like their much more docile Ladybug cousins, now it's house flies!

Each fall for the past several years we've dealt with literally swarms of the Asian Beetles all over our house. This year, for some reason it's been the (way too) common housefly. The other night I killed 12 on the downstairs window and then another 8 upstairs while watching TV.

I can't find the source! There is nothing that is acting as a breeding ground that I can find. While there may a loose screen or something somewhere in the house that would provide a doorway for them, I'm not sure why they seem to be swarming right now. No drastic weather change. No rotting corpse that I can find (or smell).

I just don't get it!

Creepy Crawlers

Most people are afraid of spiders. I admit that they're not one of my favorite creatures, but I can handle them. If you're in the majority of people what would rather see them squashed than enjoy their beautiful webs, this sight might let you enjoy a little fun at their expense (or creep you out even more).

The folks at One Motion have a realistic spider model that moves about your screen. You can interact with it and even feed it. Kinda cool!

Now Google really DOES know what you're searching for before you ask for it

Well, kinda. Apparently they've kicked another project out of the labs and into the wild. Google Suggest will automatically suggest search terms for you as you type them in to Google. It will also give you a relative indication as to the popularity of the search term. They say it helps reduce spelling errors and speeds typing in the search terms of the users. It doesn't seem to work on iGoogle yet, though.

Another write up on the Google Suggest roll out can be found on arstechnica site.

Political observations

Two things keep coming up in the very few conversation I have had about politics recently.

First, regardless of who wins the US presidential elections shortly, history will be made. We will either have 1) the oldest elected President and a female Vice President, or 2) the first Black President.

Second, the people that we vote to put into office do not run the country (by themselves). As a friend of mine so eloquently stated today, I paraphrase, "One good apple does not turn a bushel of bad apples good."

American politics, like most other politics I suspect, is going to take a long time to right itself in the eyes of the People.

The Voice has died...

Don LaFontaine is one of those famous people that you've never heard of. Well, that's probably not true. Let me try that again. Don LaFontaine is one of those people you've heard a lot of that you never knew the name of. Movie trailers will never be the same...