Squaremelon, money folding, justice spat, secret wars, phone phollies

Hope you are having a great Memorial Day weekend! Here's a few things to keep you busy:

• What makes those summer holidays better? Why, square watermelon, of course.
• Got so much money you don't know what to do with it? Try some money origami.
• Dept of Justice and FBI officials threatening to resign if they don't get their way in the Jefferson raid. Ministry of Love unavailable to comment.
• I ran across this video for the Secret Wars Re-Enactment Society, a spoof of war re-enacters acting out Marvel Comic's Secret Wars series. I thought it was funny, but posting it here just reinforces that I like some geeky stuff.
• A few inappropriate cell phone ringing stories. I think people should use a little more common sense with their phones; I hate it when one goes off during a movie or event. Toward the end of this article, a professor comments on the pointless conversations he hears immediately before and after classes. I couldn't agree more. I don't understand the inane calls, or why people feel they need to be in constant communication and be always connected.
  

Hicks idol, red hot album, enron conviction, da Vinci thoughts

Just a hodgepodge of thoughts and links today:

• Taylor Hicks wins 'American Idol'. I really stopped watching this show after the initial mass auditions, but remember Hicks and was glad someone less traditionally 'pop-ish' won. I'm mainly mentioning this story because I read in another article that the 63 million votes cast was "more than any president has received", which is actually pretty sad when you think about it. (However, later I realized that this is not the same as "more than total votes cast in a presidential election".)
• On the drive to Green Bay last weekend, I had a chance to really listen to the Red Hot Chili Pepper's new "Stadium Arcadium". Very good album, maybe not as good as "By the Way", but similar in its more mellow and mature Chili Pepper style.
  

• Enron's Lay and Skilling convicted finally. You know, I wonder how much this whole trial cost, and what it compares to the actual cost of the Enron collapse.
• I am currently reading "The Da Vinci Code" (I know, I know, way behind everyone else). I've been pretty aware of the controversial concepts brought forth in it, but have been pretty much blowing off the controversy because it is fiction. However, now reading it, I think I understand some of the concern. I had assumed that the controversial info (which I will not mention for the one or two people who have not read this yet) was discovered by the characters as they progressed through their quest; which should be fairly obvious as fiction to the reader. Instead, these things are stated flat out as facts by the "educated", "professorly" characters as being without a doubt, obvious, accepted fact, etc. and reinforced with a statement in the front of the book claiming this info is fact. They don't even say "some theories say...", or "some speculate..", so I can see how people might get confused what is history and what is fabrication. A ton of what is presented is extremely far from proven fact. (Didn't the guy who "discovered" the Priory of Scion evidence, Dossier Secret, later admit he created it all? Other claims about the Council of Nicaea and such are also pretty much proved otherwise. Etc.) I got to say too that I really don't think Dan Brown is a good writer. His text is flat and straightforward and not very creative writing, but the plot is pretty exciting. I think the scavenger hunt/puzzle solving aspect of it is really what saves it and makes it a kind of fun read. But, it also follows the same formula as "Angels & Demons" of find puzzle, solve it quickly, rush to next stop (or run away from someone), find puzzle, solve it quickly, rush to next stop, etc.

The runner mentality

I'm back from a visit to Green Bay, where I went to cheer my sister on in her first marathon. It was awfully chilly, but there were a ton of people there, and she did a really good job. When she finished, she asked me if it had inspired me to run a marathon. My answer: "no". I don't really get the runner mentality. Even if I was in the shape that I could run a marathon, I'm not sure why I would want to. I have a car. I don't need to run from any large predators. I don't need to urgently deliver a message to the next village. I still think it is a very impressive feat and am amazed by those that accomplish it, but it just isn't for me.

3D specs, nuclear gift, phone spying, that rabbitty thing, fan transformer

Since someone asked about where to get 3D glasses after my last post (you know who you are, Kahn), I spent minimal time doing research and found this place (Rainbow Symphony) which will send you "free" glasses for a dollar.
But in other news:

• Europe talks about giving Iran a nuclear reactor. If they accept before the end of the month, they'll get a free side of nuclear bombs.
• Verizon sued for giving phone info to the government in the NSA phone snooping program.
• and the government is also spying on the phone calls from/to the media to root out confidential sources. (Also, confirmed by the FBI.) Big Brother is watching.
• After years of waiting, looks like there will be a new Sam & Max game. Finally, gaming gets more of the sadistic, dangerous lagomorph.
• Very cool CGI screen test of a Transformer (Optimus?). Fan created, but hopefully the actual movie will be even better.
  

Fun with three dimensions

Self portrait (with 3D glasses) in 3D
Originally uploaded by Brian Whitmarsh.

I've been doing some playing around with 3D - creating anaglyphic pictures with my camera and some free software I found. It is actually pretty easy, but I haven't come up with anything that is really "Wow!" yet. If you want to see what I've got so far, they are publicly available on my Flickr account. (By the way, you'll need red/blue 3D glasses or they'll just look like boring photos.)

Souvenirs, pig personality, wii duck hunt

Holy cow! Heck of an episode of "Lost" tonight. I'm going to quickly throw some links at you, then get back to "Lost Experience" web game (new clue tonight in the Hanso Foundation commercial):

• Why do we buy dumb souvenirs? Probably because that's all we can afford with these gas prices.
• Draw a Pig personality test. I'm assuming this is highly scientific.
• All these years of progress, so what is coming to the Nintendo Wii? Duck Hunt.
  

Spears of destiny, ironic ionic, falcon tv, longer life, colorblind

More links for you!:

• Britney Spears and her husband will soon bring another child to be endangered into this world.
• Ironic ionic: ionic air purifiers may create smog. But, very clean smog.
• Here's some better reality tv: the Minnesota Power Falcon Cam.
• 15 ways to live longer. Transplanting your brain into another body surprisingly not on the list.
• How do things look to colorblind people? (Example less interesting if you truly are colorblind.)
  

La estrella spangled bandera, super reality tv, i meant not guilty, shadows and illusions

Hey, read these:

• There's been some debate about whether a Spanish version of "The Star Stangled Banner" is appropriate, but apparently the government already approved a version of this in 1919.
• Sci-Fi channel to have reality show to pick a new superhero. Wait, "reality" tv?
• Moussaoui asks to withdraw his guilty plea... now. After he is found guilty.
  
• Check out these cool oil lamp shadow projectors.
• and the neat cylinder mirror optical illusions.
  

Mobile eye strain, retaliation planning, cold shoulder for Colbert, health across the pond

Here's a bunch of stories:

• Mobile devices destroying our eyesight. Please take this into consideration when buying your...
• 4 or 8GB iPod nano that plays video. Video on a nano. Great, because I'd love a tv the size of a stamp.
• Iran says if they are attacked by the US, Israel will be their first target for retaliation, and they will attack it with their peaceful, nuclear energy program.
• Several interesting viewpoints on Stephen Colbert's somewhat scathing roast at the White House Correspondents' dinner, and the media's reaction of ignoring it.
• Americans sicker than the English even though they spend much more on health care. It's probably related to stress from viewing tiny pictures and fonts on their mobile devices.