CSI criminal guide, best companies, no more buzz lightyear, wow map

• Are crime shows, like "CSI", making smarter and bolder criminals?
  
• The top 100 best companies to work for. The page also has an interesting article 'Uncover the Best Companies'.
• Toy Story 3 will not be made. I agree, move on to more great original work, instead of sequel-itis.
• My gosh, you can use Google Maps for even fictional locations now, like World of Warcraft map.
  

Challenger, end game, chat cartoons

• As we reach the 20th anniversary of the Challenger tragedy, here are seven myths about how people remember it.
  
• Game Revolution has a gallery of game endings sure to be nostalgic to people in my age group. I spent days to see some of these as a kid!
• I haven't had a chance to try this yet, but here's a tool to convert any IM thread or text file into an online cartoon.

Power change, color change cars, iTunes U and GoogleTunes

• Hamas wins majority in Palestinian elections - wait, if a militant group is now in charge, that's not a good thing!
• Here's and excessively scientific article about car paints that change color based on temperature. Bah, KITT was still cooler.
• Apple launching iTunes U, where universities can offer lectures through the application. What a great idea! Let's put class lectures right next to the not-at-all-distracting music and tv downloads.
• And speaking of iTunes, is Google close to developing an iTunes competitor?
  

Room number, just die already!, choco-jolt, robo-pets, all thumbs

Hello! Still busy with work stuff, so sorry for the sporadic, irregular blog posting. But, let's say the inconsistency adds an element of anticipation and excitement to reading my blog, right? "When and what is he going to post?" "Let's check back often to find out!" (Did they buy it?)
Some links:

• Attention dumb criminal: When you rob the motel you're staying at, don't leave a note that lists your room number.
• What's this? A company that buys your life insurance may not have your best interests at the top of mind? This company is trying to cancel woman's contract because she did not die quickly.
• Just what you need: a recipe to make caffeinated chocolate.
• We've heard that pets are good for their owner's health, this article says robot pets are also good for your health. (But not as good for your electric bill.)
• Huh, that's an interesting, simple idea... the Thumbthing helps you hold books open one handed.
• Big Brother, errr... Wal-Mart, Costco, and Target are considering biometric payment systems where you can pay by scanning your fingerprint.
  

Iran, mouse-phone, ye olde historic tale

• Iran is moving assets out of Europe and then their president meets with and pledges support to anti-Israel militant groups. Well, I'm sure this is all just misunderstandings, right? What is Iran doing and why is the world worried?
• It's a mouse; it's a phone; it's both! Umm, why?
• Here is the Historic Tale Construction Kit, which I'm sure you'll have plenty of uses for.
  

Speed of light, misadventure, cartoon wall art, robo-signer

• Is e=mc2 wrong? This theory suggests that speed of light is not a constant (the "c").
• Iraqi Invasion: A Text Misadventure - a text adventure style parody (some rated R language).
• Want a giant Trix rabbit on your wall? Here's a how-to.
• Why learn sign language when you can just get a robot translator? (Wouldn't it be easier to have this translated into text on a display instead of robotic hand gestures?)
  

House ethics, top satire, top conspiracy theories, roof top ads

House Republicans Unveil New Ethics Plan. Am I the only one that initially misread this as "House Republicans Evil New Ethics Plan"? I think it's a good start that they're (Republicans and Democrats) making in looking at ethics, but it seems like it is more about political appearance and avoiding legal issues instead of... well, being ethical. Doing the right things for the sake of not getting in trouble is not the same as doing the right things because you believe they are the right things.
Other stuff:

• I have not read them all yet, but plan on looking through Humorfeed's top satire stories of 2005.
• Got lots of roubles laying around? Why not spend them on elaborate practical jokes?
• The top 10 wackiest conspiracy theories... or are they?
• It was only a matter of time. People are advertising on roofs so their logo shows up on Google Maps' satellite maps.
  

Doomsday, sweetness, digital postcard, aroma clock

Happy MLK Jr. Day to you! Here's a few totally unrelated links:

• Is Iran's president actually a crazy, doomsdayist?
• New tablets can make sour taste sweet. So now I can eat my Chicken McNuggets in Sweet & Sweet sauce?
• A new digital postcard for when you're willing to spend $25 on a "wish you were here".
• Now, instead of sounds, you can wake up to scents with the Aromatherapy Alarm Clock. (Or at least different scents than you normally wake up to.)
• Purdue U. designers win Microsoft competition with this cool bookshelf based PC design.
• A rollable, fabric keyboard looks like a great portable keyboard option.
  

Green ham, Whitehouse/Delay, new nickel, pod hacks, mobile site converter

Oh, man, I've neglected this site a bit because I've been at work almost non-stop this week. Big production issues have kept us on round the clock shifts; maybe some of you other IT workers out there can relate. Thankfully, I can rest up a little this weekend, and after the essentials (like sleep) I'm getting back to a new post here. Here's some links for you:

• Finally! One step closer to green eggs and ham, with the transgenic green pig.
• Whitehouse distancing themselves from Tom Delay. Well, duh. Interesting article in the Bush and Delay relationship.
• New nickel breaks coin tradition by having a forward facing Jefferson. I must admit, I am a fan of these commemorative coin redesigns, though I haven't seen hardly any of the Westward Journey nickels.
• Big collection of iPod hacks on Wikipedia if you are so inclined to add functionality to (and possibly void warranty of) your iPod.
• Need a better view of a site on your mobile device? Google provides this URL to strip down and make a website mobile friendly.
  

Concept cars, long concert, something new in keyboards

Missed several days of posts due to nightmare days (and nights) at work, and then sheer laziness as I recover my lost sleep. Anyway, here are a few links for today:

• Check out these sweet concept cars. The Dodge Challenger concept is especially cool in a retro way.
• Second chord sounds in world's longest concert. First chord started in 2001; entire concert to last 639 years. I would go, but I hate to go to a concert late.
• I hope I can afford the Optimus Keyboard, because it looks awesome.
  

CES and gadgets, religious trends, alien sensations, old body - new tricks

• Lots of cool info popping up from this year's Consumer Electronics Show (caution: loud, annoying music on site); Gizmodo and Engadget are a couple good places to find some interesting coverage.
• Like Sony's new e-book reader. I really like the thought of e-book readers in theory, but I think I'd need some time getting used to it. I know past attempts at them have failed, and maybe it's because people, like myself, like the feel of a "real" book.
• Check out the Entertaible, an electronic, LCD based board game. Now this, I think is a really cool idea. You can load various different board games onto it, but still play it like an old fashioned board game.
• Trying to decide if you should go HD-DVD or Blu-ray for your next DVD player? Gizmodo links to a couple sites that tell which movies are being released in each format.
• Bush giving $6000 of Abramoff raised campaign money to charity in the same manner of other politicians trying to distance themselves from the lobbyist. Wait, if it was campaign money, shouldn't it have been spent on the campaign?
• For the religious minded, Newsweek's five most important religious trends of 2005 offers some insightful thoughts.
• Are you an alien abductee? offers a pretty worthless checklist ("Has someone seen you being abducted by aliens?" to paraphrase one of them).
• MSN Men's Health 18 tricks to teach your body gives some tricks for fighting ice cream headache, minor burns, stuffed nose, and more.
  

Furby hacking, guilty lobbyist, picnic on the go, Google googles the PC

• Hacking your Furby. And I thought these things looked creepy with the fur on!
  
• Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleads guilty, agrees to cooperate. Congressmen everywhere put hands in pockets, whistle a tune, and try to look innocent.
• Want to enjoy a picnic, but don't have the time to stay still? Try this motorized picnic table.
• Google may be releasing the Google Cube low cost PC at Wal-Mart. Article includes surprising quote of "In fact, Google could over time become more of a hardware company than anything else."
• More Google road to domination: Lexar USB flash drives to include Google software. Google software soon to be installed in televisions, media players, pace makers, and newborn babies.
  

Your celebrity face

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Here's an interesting site I found on another blog today: my Heritage's face recognition demo. You can upload a picture of your face and run face recognition software against pictures of celebrities to see who you most resemble. I did this, and here are the top ten. The amazing thing they all have in common is that they don't look like each other.
Brian apparently looks like:

• Carlos Castaneda 63% match (yeah, I hadn't heard of him either)
• Angelina Jolie 59%
• Steven Soderbergh 58%
• Jeff Goldblum 55%
• Margaret Atwood 51%
• Margaret Thatcher 50%
• Eddie Murphy 50%
• John Hume 47%
• Goran Persson 47%
• Tom Hanks 47%

Yes, you read that right - I am a 50% match on both Margaret Thatcher and Eddie Murphy. I've always thought they were separated at birth.

Intel logo, speakers, race car, things we know, Jeep spending, Bush quotes

• Intel launches new logo. New slogan as well, but Intel is still inside.
  
• Of course, please compliment your iPod with these $4000 speakers. That seems sensible.
• New Nissan concept that also functions as a video game machine. Having your actual car function as a racing game console. Now that is a safety minded idea.
• An interesting list: 100 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year.
• The Marines buy Jeeps at $100K a piece. If only I could get them to come to my garage sale...
• "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job." is 2005's top Bush quote.
  

Jockey goof, cats and pods, Microsoft surprises, pac-movie, water clock

• Jockey celebrates early and ends up losing the lead. 80 meters left.
• Want to combine your love of cats with love of iPods? Try the iKitty.
• The ten biggest Microsoft surprises of 2005. Security issues? How is that a surprise?
• Pac-Man to be a movie. Yes, the yellow dot guy. Also, Tekken and Castlevania movies, because hey, videogame movies are always really good, right?
• A water powered clock. Shh, don't let Big Oil find out!
  

Net usage, toast portraits, role models, dash, tech talk

Hope everyone has been having Happy Holidays! I'm back from Christmas in Iowa and here are a few leftover Christmas goodies for you:

• 68% of United Statesians use the Internet (from this set of Internet stats), and you might be one of them! (I'm pretty confident in the "you're using the Internet" part, not so much the "you're a United States citizen".)
• Are you bummed that portraits don't mysteriously appear in your toast? Here's a way to laser engrave your own toast.
• British teen girls came up with this insightful list of the ten most inspiring celebrities. Let's let them decide the Nobel Prize winners.
• The new Mercedes S-Class has a digital dashboard. Included is picture-in-picture that constantly plays "Cannonball Run".
• 2005's tech exec foot-in-mouth awards. Who would have thought a tech executive would speak inelegantly?
  

Our new robot leader, that crazy Congress, wiretap rules?

• New robot that can recognize itself in a mirror. Huge market for robot makeup and hair products just around the corner.
  
• Senate blocks defense spending bill that includes Alaskan refuge oil drilling. Alaskan refuge oil drilling in a defense bill. Also in this defense bill: hurricane relief money and help for low income families to pay heating bills. Why can't Congress logically group things in their bills? Oh, and there should have been a Congressional pay raise tacked on.
• Oh, that's why! they're paid to pass laws in exchange for campaign donations.
  
• Quote from April 2004 Bush speech: "Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution." Hmmm... and Bush began authorizing warrantless wiretaps in 2001?
  

Corrupt Congress, edible lawns, table defense, mac IE, super MIT bros

• Sen. Reid calls Congress "most corrupt in history" Not sure if he is complaining or bragging.
• How to eat your own lawn. I should clarify, this is for humans. If you are a sheep, you probably already had it figured out.
• Finally! A bedside table that will help defend against those invading Visigoths and Vandals.
• Mac users: Internet Explorer for Mac being phased out. This must be heartbreaking considering how much you love Microsoft products.
• Someone(s) with a lot of time turned a MIT hall into a Super Mario level. Yes, fine college education at work.
  

Blog this blog! Spying, soap, portable tv, chalk wear, toys

A friend of mine was commenting that he hardly knows what a blog is, since he felt people use (and mis-use) the word for all kinds of things. I guess I don't hear it incorrectly used that often, but he went to the interesting point of "'blog' is going to become the next 'smurf'." (as in "Holy smurf, here comes Gargamel!"). Well... yeah, I guess that could happen.

I don't usually get overtly political in my blog blogs, but was bothered by the story President Blog authorizes spying on citizens without warrants. It's one blog to protect America, but by violating (or potentially violating) liberties and freedoms to do so kind of defeats the purpose. There is that great quote by Benjamin Franklin that goes "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." Also, we have a government of checks and blogs, so for the Executive Blog to start spying on citizens without involvement of the other branches (typically the courts), is allowing too much power to the blog.

Other blog:

• Want to blog your own soap? TeachSoap is filled with info on the topic. Surprisingly interesting.
• Oh, the wonderful blog of the Japanese! HDTV on the go for when blogging HDTV in the home is not enough.
• The Blackboard T-Shirt with chalk. Finally a shirt that never goes out of blog. Know what you could blog on it? Blog.
• Popular toys of the last 100 years. Lots of classics, but I was surprised to see blog missing from the list.
  

No read good, terror release, e-ink clock, more

• 1 in 20 American adults is illiterate. If you're one of them... well, I guess you can't read this.
  
• Al-Zarqawi caught then released. I'm not a military strategist, but that doesn't seem like the surest road to victory.
• If you've been looking for a 52 inch wide, flexible wall clock, the Citizen e-ink clock is for you.
• Google might buy Opera? A web juggernaut buying a browser?
  
• Bush and McCain agree on torture ban. Why exactly did this take so long?
• Korean human cloning was faked. This is a sad day in my quest for the All Brian Army.