Double Take on GoogleMaps

A GoogleMaps satellite zoom shot of an intersection in downtown Bellevue (102nd Ave NE & NE 13th St, Bellevue, WA 98004 ? Or is it?). WTF? Looks like Manhattan to me...

Comparing Old and New Employees

5 Levels of Lucky

This one's been kicking around for a while but it's still fun to watch:

You're Fired!

Oh YEAH! McCain Obama Election Dance Off!

Electing a US President in Plain English

Finally - US Elections for Dummies!

Claymation Chess - Cool!

Sarah Palin on SNL

It's interesting. John McCain finally appears on Letterman and the show has its highest ratings in years following a steady decline. Sarah Palin appears on SNL and they also benefit from a near-death spiral to record viewers for the first time in a decade. Here's the Sarah Palin clip from this past Saturday's show:

Healthcare Explained

Not really. But it's surprising how a cartoon can manage to get so close...

The Great Debate

Um, sadly I'm old enough to remember seeing this when it played for the first time in the 60's.

Get Your Palin & Biden Hallowe'en Masks

On HardCandy.com.

Windows Sound Mashup

All of the different sounds from Windows XP and 98 combined into a pretty cool composition.

Another Great Detention Slip

Economist Cover for the Times

Politics Explained in One Single Picture

Joe Biden Debate Training

As shown on 23/6 News with Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm standing in for Sarah Palin.

Inflation 101 from Duck Tales

As only Scrooge McDuck can explain it.

Picking Your Candidate on the Issues

ABC and USA Today teamed up to create this light-hearted way to see which candidate matches your values. You choose the ideas that are closest to yours without being able to you see who it came from. You won't see your choice until the last set of quotes - the results may surprise many of you...

Match-o-Matic is HERE.

Great Umbrella for Google Earth

Although this umbrella is being sold as a F*ck the Rain Umbrella, I'm sure it would work just as well for Google Earth pictures of neighborhoods. Available from Art Lebedev Studios for approx. $60 US.

Truth in Labels: Major Coronary

The Simplest View of the Sub Prime Mess

As only stick figures can explain it all...

And What Part of Legal Immigration Don't You Understand?

Thank you, thank you, REASON Magazine, for the best visual overview of the current immigration mess written by Mike Flynn and Shikha Dalmia, and as only artist, Terry Colon, could illustrate it. Having gone through this abominable process personally - with incredible stories to tell about how Jimmy Carter's disastrous Mariel Boat Lift screwed up my legal application - I can honestly concur 100% with this graphic's points.

Roller Coaster Pictures

Most roller coaster rides like Six Flags take pictures of their riders and then try to sell them to you as you get off the ride. Guess this guy won't be buying a print (but someone else sure did!).

Look into My Eyes...

A fly's eye(s) through an electron microscope at the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

How NOT to Use Powerpoint

Another Deep Question

You Want Toast with That?

The coolest collection of toasters HERE. It ain't just about burnt bread any more...

Stuff White People Like

A link to the original website StuffWhitePeopleLike, now also a paperback on the New York Times Bestseller List. What started out as a gag has turned into a popular website with its own following of 45 million+ visitors!

Some Cool Flash

Every once in a while, some one codes up a really cool, interactive Flash page. Play with Spider is not for those who are squeamish about spiders, Dude! But it's a lot more fun than messing around with the real thing. Drag it around the map by pulling its legs or just by moving your mouse around. Or try feeding it some insects by pressing on the spacebar.

How Much Could Your Carry in a Bank Robbery?

10 fun questions HERE.

Why Men are Attracted to Dodge Trucks

Fun Shopping at the Grocery Store

Nozzle Rage

Not always a good analogy but they do have a decent comedy clip. NozzleRage.

I Hate Telemarketers

I've been on the National Do Not Call List since its inception and legally, all telemarketers are supposed to consult and respect this list before calling a number. The Seattle Times and The Post-Intelligencer are among the worst telemarketers in this area.

Do you think these people even follow the list? And on numerous occasions, I've also told these people to make sure my numbers - ALL of them - are on their Do Not Call Lists. But the SOB's keep calling me at all hours of the day and night. Of course, when you call them back after hours to complain, there's never a manager to yell at. One of these days, when I have some extra time to kill, I plan on going after them for penalties and fines that they probably owe me and thousands of other people that they've been harassing for years.

Local Seattle geek, Chris Pirillo actually taped an 11-minute video on YouTube of his fun with one of the Seattle Times telemarketers.

How to Buy a New (or Used) Car

Probably one of the most unpleasant tasks you have to do at least once in your lifetime: Buying a car from a car dealer. I've generally used a lot of different tricks myself when buying - er, negotiating to buy - a new or used car. Most of them are common sense, meant to even the odds against the typical car dealer's bag of dirty tricks:

• Buy your car in the last quarter of the year (the new models come out then and everything depreciates a year more);
• When you go up to the receptionist, try to find out which salesperson is in second place for the month (he or she will be a lot more eager to close a deal than No. 1);
• Show up late on the last weekend of the month (particularly good if it's a drizzly and miserable day outside with no customers around and Superbowl Sunday is especially good);
• Go outside from time to time to make a phone call to consult with a nonexistent spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend, especially after each time your salesperson has to go back to "talk to his manager";
• Be prepared to walk out of the showroom without looking back if things reach an impasse.

Anyway, this is all a prelude to a 6-minute YouTube video by Rob Grule at the 2007 Ignite Conference in Seattle on the same subject. A lot of these ideas are basically Negotiation 101.

Hallelujah! The Farting Preacher

Grandma's Remote Control

From The New Yorker's enduring cartoonist, Roz Chast:

Whiteboard Music Video

Going for Gold in Beijing

With the record-breaking numbers of viewers as the Beijing Olympics has been drawing, it's hard to keep track of who's been winning what. Yahoo Sports has a real-time page with the current medal scorecard updated regularly. This clip's from Monday evening, August 11th, showing the USA leading with a total of 20 medals with China in second place with 16 but leading the States in gold 10-6. Russia's way back in 6th place right now, with no gold yet. Perhaps their best athletes are busy invading Georgia right now?

Redneck Flat Screen

Speaks for itself.

Art Meets Science

Simply beautiful. Sachiko Kodama bills herself as a ferrofluid artist and has recently been "discovered" and represented by an American gallery. Her unique pieces are like eye candy: you can't take your eyes off of them.

Proof Again that Americans Have Way Too Much Crap!

Just when you think you've seen it all... here's the $20 Goatee Saver. Trim that goatee to perfection and bring out the inner babe magnet, guys! Click HERE to see it (and order it, you decadent bastard!)

Soda or Pop?

When my kids and I first moved out to Seattle over 11 years ago, among the first subtle differences we noticed between the East Coast and the West Coast was the old Soda vs. Pop debate. We mostly called it soda back in Florida but it seems that most of my kids' friends called it 'pop' out here in Seattle.

Of course, someone's created a website devoted to the study of Pop vs. Soda HERE. It's definitely a regional thing.

Tire Gauge or Not?

Way too much press on tire gauges and not enough on the real issues. But does keeping your tires properly inflated really make a difference? Inquiring minds want to know. So I checked on Edmunds.com, the car site, and here's what they came up with on fuel economy myths and facts. I was surprised by a couple of them.

Stopping Rain at the Beijing Olympics

No other country has gone as far in trying to control virtually every aspect of the presentation of the Olympic Games, from minor details like uniforms all the way to the weather. China has placed an incredible amount of its prestige and standing in the global community and the Olympics in Beijing are the grand finale to China's entry as a world leader.

My brother, Albert, was among the first Western photojournalists allowed in certain parts of China in the 80's and he's been getting requests for many of his shots taken in Beijing in 1985. Albert's Beijing shots are being used as part of many Before & After photographic essays documenting the dramatic changes the city has undergone over the past two decades.
Portfolio Magazine has posted an interactive graphic detailing how a special Chinese Olympics group in charge of the weather plans to ensure that it doesn't rain on their parade.

What Crack Does to You...

The Worst Face Painting. EVER!

Dilbert: The Early Years

Judge PWNs Dumbass Second-Year Law Student

Hey, I don't spend a lot of time watching any of those stupid Court reality shows (especially Judge Judy!). But this one was actually rather gratifying. Judge Milian on Peoples Court loses it with this young wannabe attorney and completely rips him a new one. Can't say I'm sorry for him...

Interactive Bridge Map

MSNBC has posted an Interactive Bridge Map for those of you still rich enough to handle a road trip for your summer vacation. The map even includes filters so you can pick and choose what to include in your search (kind of like GoogleMaps mashups).

I loaded up the Seattle to Portland route and was surprised to see the condition (and the number) of bridges along the way.

How Much is Your Soul Worth?

If you've ever wondered, find out at: HowMuchisYourSoulWorth.com.

$153,080 Soul Dollars

At Last! Online Dating for Zombies!

ZombieHarmony.com. Says it all!

BMI Calculator

The New York Times has an online interactive BMI (Body Mass Index) calculator HERE. (Yep - mine's 21.8 so I'm not too worried about it right now.)

There's also a decent article on ways you can reduce your weight and bring your BMI back to a normal range.

Reverse Magazines

Showing what a popular magazine might look like in a parallel universe. Reverse Magazines.

When Pigs Can Fly...

From Russia with love - during the early pre-Sputnik era. Incredible pictures.

The Ronald McDonald Chronicles

So who knew? Ronald McDonald was actually a real person with a real life. Check out his life story at the Ronald McDonald Chronicles.

I Want One! Full-Size T-Rex $100,000

You can buy your very own full-size T-Rex replica, cast from one of the most complete fossilized skeletons ever found! From the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota. Each one is custom-made to order and a mere $100,000. But does that include assembly?

The Billy Letters

RADAR Magazine just published a 10-page article detailing a series of "pen pal" letters that Bill Geerhart sent to several famous and infamous people, including serial killers Charlie Manson and Richard Ramirez. Of course, Geerhart posed as a 10-year old so most of the responses are all that much more interesting. Check out the story HERE.

And yes, Charlie Manson SHOULD be locked up! (read his letters to Billie!)

P.S. - And the comments are just as fun to read.

How Glasses Can Change a Person

Yowch!

Mr. Lee's Cat Cam

Check out a day's worth of the images from the Cat Cam (can also be used as a spouse cam!) at Mr. Lee Projects for Cats and Pets (no relation).

So Much for Blowing Up a Building the Old Way

I still remember when they imploded the old Kingdome Stadium in March 2000. We had front row seats downtown at The Harbor Club and witnessed the perfectly-timed demolition of Seattle's old Mariners' Stadium to make room for the new Safeco Stadium. Although it went down perfectly, it still left a lot of dust and debris all over the downtown area for months.



I was just reading about a new approach to demolition in Japan: They take it out one floor at a time... starting from the bottom up!

Incredible to watch and you can read more about it HERE on Freshome.com.

Joker vs Joker (Jack Nicholson vs Heath Ledger)

Paul Allen's Brain Map Project

When you live in the Seattle area, you can't help but pick up on the general love-hate relationship people have with Bill Gates and Paul Allen. From the success-envious wealth redistribution fanatics to the most passionate lifelong Microsoft geeks, most everyone has something to say about two of the richest men in the world. Of the two men, Paul Allen remains the more enigmatic and that's what probably leads to some of the undeserved ill-will so often directed at him.

Few people outside of the tech community will remember that Paul Allen dropped out of Microsoft at an early point when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease in 1983, enduring radiation therapy and a bone marrow transplant to finally recover from his near-fatal illness. But he never returned to Microsoft full-time, opting instead to follow his own pursuits backed by the wealth generated from his massive Microsoft stock holdings.

Seattle has benefited from a lot of Paul Allen's good fortune including The Experience Music Project and The Science Fiction Museum. But I think among his most enduring contributions will come from his generous support of numerous research projects. His most recent project was just announced to great fanfare: The Allen Institute for Brain Science has been mapping out the mouse brain and spinal cord in unprecedented detail and is finally up online for free public access. This remarkable research is his first step in the ongoing study of the human brain (they're working on that now).

Even after all these years, I still remain in awe at the growing base of knowledge and how it continues to be easier to find online. And yes, I like Paul Allen.

Latest Jib-Jab Political Cartoon

Like 'em or hate 'em, JibJab has been producing some of the best animated political parodies for a few years now. They always manage to poke fun at everyone without being too nasty. Hmm - bipartisan comedy. What an original concept!

Best Mug Shot T-shirts

I'm sure most of you have already seen the story about the idiot who got busted setting up a hookup with what he hoped was a 14-year old girl. If you're going to do stupid stuff like that, at least think about what you're going to wear when you get there! (Kinda like your Mom telling you to wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident and have to go to the hospital.) His mug shot became one of the most popular news images a few days ago.

So The Smoking Gun posted up a collection of other t-shirt mug shots that might top that one.

The Evil Version of Highlights Magazine

How many of you are old enough to remember Highlights for Children Magazine from school? Or your dentist's office? Those pre-Sesame Street "educational publications" were full of connect-the-dots drawings and vanilla stories guaranteed not to offend Mom. The folks over at Holy Taco took some time to re-make a nasty version for those us who endured pages and pages of that old classic. Check it out HERE.

How NOT to Make a Withdrawal at the Drivethru

Best Headstone

Says it all...

New York Street Art

From New York Magazine: A different take on inflatable animals using garbage and shopping bags on the streets of New York. And unintended side story: This is also a real statement on the viral nature of the Internet.

Road Sign Romance

Stumbled across this road sign legend. OK - NOW I get it!

Dumbass of the Month Award

How Not To Fake A Heart Attack: