debgpi
A Rational Girl in Irrational Times
Vending Machine Blues
May 10th
Ever wanted to see if you could challenge yourself to eat everything in your office snack machine? Me neither, but Matt Baldwin of Defective Yeti decided that he’s going to try every single item in his office vending machine — and blog about it. Discover the good, the bad, and the barely edible at Vending Spree – Talkin’ Snack. Matt’s pretty excited about it:
KitKat Crisp? Famous Amos Cookies? Beef Jerky?! HAVE I DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN OR AT LEAST PURGATORY WHICH AS I UNDERSTAND IT IS ESSENTIALLY HEAVEN’S RECEPTION AREA AND WOULD THEREFORE BE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE SUN CHIPS FOR SALE?!
What color is red?
May 6th
XKCD has published his Color Survey Results, where he asked people to name thousands of colors to see which names were most popular for which hues. Among other things, he found:
- If you ask people to name colors long enough, they go totally crazy.
- Indigo was totally just added to the rainbow so it would have 7 colors and make that “ROY G. BIV” acronym work.
- Nobody can spell “fuchsia”.
He also found that men and women generally agreed on color names, but some names like “Dusky Rose” are more popular with women, while names like “WTF” are more popular among men.
Other good color names:
- Velociraptor cloaca
- we are a collaborative icecream cone!!!!!
- i considered rickrolling you, because I have a strong feeling no ones ever rickrolled someone with their own scientific data
- gosh, that’s blue
It’s too late to add any new data to the experiment, but you can still play around with the original survey if you want.
May the 4th
May 4th
It’s Star Wars day! Ever want to be in a Star Wars movie? Thanks to JibJab, you – or anyone you have a photo of -can now star in Empire Strikes Back, or at least a version of it. Below the fold is my take, starring kids and cats.
After the volcano
May 3rd
A nice visualization of what happened when European airspace rebooted last month.
Did the world really need Hello Kitty wine?
May 1st
The reviewer says the wine is kind of creepy. I’m not sure if the wine is all that creepy by itself, but the wine’s website sure is. The world might have needed the wine, but it didn’t really need an animated slightly tipsy Hello Kitty. Nope.
4/1
Apr 1st
Google is Topeka (and vice versa), Etsy is Esty, but my favorite jokes this year are UnixKCD (complete with working command line) and League of Extraordinary Gentleman: 1988:
Now, disgraced scientist Emmet Brown has to put together a new team to combat the growing threat of the Lost Boys and their leader, a newly resurrected vampire kingpin Tony Montana: Transportation specialist Jack Burton, ex-commando B.A. Baracus, tech wizard Angus MacGyver and the mysteriously powerful femme fatale known only as “Lisa.” But will Brown be able to stop the Lost Boys before time runs out?
They should totally make that comic.
TechCrunch has a nice round up and AprilFoolsDayOnTheWeb has many more.
Playing with Google Reader
Mar 29th
Google Reader now has a “Play” app which loads a bunch of random blog entries in an iPod-like interface. Here’s what Google Play thought I might like today:
Signs in NY and SF just got a bit more interesting. Chicago just has boring signs.
Still need some Polaroid film? You’re in luck.
This explains where all of my time went.
Planning on seeing the cherry blossoms in DC? Better go now.
The iPad is the Future of Comics and Will Save (most) of You.
A new twist on gaming in academia: “How’d you do in that class?” “I got a B.” “I got an A-.” “I got Level 20.”
What is today?
Mar 24th
Today is March 24, 2010. According to various stories in my Google Reader, is also “Back Up Your Birth Control” day, Ada Lovelace Day, and World TB Day. Busy day.
Slowing down
Mar 22nd
If blogging slows down even more than it has lately (thanks, Dragon Age), blame traffic. Someday, maybe I’ll live in a city that has more than the two seasons of “winter” and “construction.” (Link from GCG)
All manuals should come with the The Ancestral Territorial Imperatives of the Trumpeter Swan chapter
Mar 15th
You’ve got to love any article that makes you nostalgic for old-time computer manuals. I don’t see too many manuals these days that randomly name their chapters, include “Terrine Maison” in their glossaries, or actively promote breaking copy protection. These old Franklin manuals are pretty amusing.
The Ace 100 manual goes on to describe three categories of crooks in the computer world. The first category is “Them,” the computer salespeople who overhype their products with advertising gimmicks. The second category is “You.” Franklin isn’t actually calling you a crook, but they say that software manufacturers will treat you like one.
Things haven’t changed much. Be sure to read the comments, too, featuring some interesting memories by people who worked at Franklin.
