Category: Cool sights

When you lie about going to work, don’t post pics to facebook

I am not a Facebook user. The whole social web thing eludes me, although that may primarily be due to my moderately reclusive nature. But I know that Facebook and other social media sites are big with many, many people on the web. However, keep in mind that others are also aware of the draw of social media sites. These people may not use the sites for themselves, but there is a real possibility that they will check up on your use of the sites. For instance, if you tell your boss you can’t make it in to work for a family emergency one day, it might not be wise to post pictures to Facebook of yourself in your fairy costume at a party right after you miss work.

Kevin Colvin, an intern at Anglo Irish Bank’s North American arm, was busted when he told his manager, Paul Davis, that he’d miss work due to a “family emergency”. Davis turned up the photo above, freshly posted to Facebook from the Halloween party Colvin apparently missed work to attend, and attached it to his reply, copying the rest of the office as he did it. The email thread is now spreading around the net.

I agree with the boss – that is a cool wand. My kids would probably have fun if I had one of those.

[tags]Stupid, Humor, Facebook, Lies, Pics, Cool wand[/tags]

Paul Potts – Cell phone salesman, incredible opera singer

A cow-orker shared this with me a couple of weeks back, but I forgot to check on it until just recently. Those of you who watch American Idol may already be familiar with the British television show Britain’s Got Talent. It operates like our American Idol, Simon Cowell included (although I believe their show came first), except pretty much any category of performance can be seen.

Earlier this year, an unassuming looking fellow named Paul Potts was on the show. By profession, he is a cell phone salesman. He has a dream of performing opera. Watch him turn the disbelieving looks from the judges in to congratulations. Even Cowell is obviously impressed

After this performance, he continued on through the competitive steps of the show. Getting more recognition presumably set him up to dress more appropriately for the performance he gives. By this time, there is no doubt as to his talent, and here he is performing in the semi-finals for the show. Continue reading “Paul Potts – Cell phone salesman, incredible opera singer”

Portal

OK, I’ve finally join the masses of gamers who have finished Portal. Color me very impressed. I started playing it because I understood it to be a first-person puzzler. I stopped around level 14 to play other games, but after reading high praise from so many other sources I finally came back and finished it today. The last 3-4 levels are just brilliant, and the gameplay portion after the last real level was very, very impressive. As so many others have done, I’ll pass on giving away the ending completely for those that haven’t finished it. I do recommend you finish it if you have the Orange Box and haven’t completed Portal yet.

Once I finished, I started looking at what others had to say about the game. This lead to stumbling on some YouTube Portal videos that are just great. Below the break, I’ll pop out a couple I really like. They are speed runs of some of the tougher or more puzzlish parts near the end.

Continue reading “Portal”

Did you know drug handedness can affect potency?

I have no idea this was something that mattered, but recently drug companies have been releasing updated versions of drugs that are spatially altered to improve effectiveness and/or minimize side-effects. This means more better you-ness, with less worser unwanted-nessitude.

This is a bit heavy: Stereoisomers are molecules that have the same chemical formula and bonds, but a different arrangement of atoms. Enantiomers are a type of stereoisomer that are mirror images of each other — just like a right hand is the mirror image of a left hand. R-stereoisomers can be thought of as “right handed” and L-stereoisomers can be thought of as “left handed”.

This is clearly an instance where the DuPont slogan rip-off “Better living through chemistry” applies. And while you are there reading about this cool drug twist (no pun intended), be sure to vote for Shelley as your favorite science blog writer.

[tags]Drugs, Handedness, Better living through chemistry[/tags]

Thermaltake case

This one is just for the case geeks in the audience. My current favorite case is a Thermaltake, so I’m already a fan of the hardware. Here’s the next big thing to come from the company, and I have to say – if I had the dough, I’d probably buy one.

I’m a sucker for a pretty case, and that sure is a fine looking box.

[tags]Thermaltake, Computer case, Case geek[/tags]

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It’s good to get wood

I love wood. There’s something good about having some sturdy wood all day, you know. The look of good wood in your hands is really memorable. That’s why I’ve been thinking about getting wood for my wife.

miniotiphone

Of course, since we don’t have an iPhone, we can’t use this particular wood replacement cover, but I’m thinking about trying to find a wood case replacement like this one for her iPod.

iwood

That looks much better than these (admittedly cool but not as cool) wooden iPod cases, doesn’t it?

icase-wood

So, all kinds of choices, but I have a feeling that to give my wife some good hard wood, I’ll have to do all the work myself.

[tags]iWood, iPhone, iPod, Wood is good[/tags]

FallingWater – must-see computer generated movie

Take one of the most visually inventive and uniquely designed houses everwikipedia-FallingwaterWright_resize , get a fresh new method of presenting a modern view of it, and animate the whole thing. If you take the time to see it, you’ll find one of the neatest animations ever put online.

If you hit the movie, you’ll probably sit through 15-20 seconds of it and start to wonder “Why the hell did Randy suggest I watch this?” Trust me, you’re almost to the part that makes it worth seeing. You’ll go through another 10-15 seconds and think, after reading the above, “OK, now he’s just taunting me – there’s nothing to see here.”

At this point, you’ll start to see the animation, and it will all come together for you. Once you see:

Continue reading “FallingWater – must-see computer generated movie”

Tetris grand master

This is the most insanely awesome gamer clip I can ever recall seeing (and I’ve watched a lot of them).  Think you are good at Tetris?  You probably won’t after watching this guy.  If I could find a WordPress plugin to let me inline the video, I’d do that, but I haven’t found such a plugin yet, so I’ll just send you to the GameBrink.com page for it.

[tags]Tetris, Gaming, Tetris grand master, Insane gameplay[/tags]