Almost Exciting!

monk sent this to me - The Wheel of Lunch, by Krazydad, is a Yahoo! Local “mashup“.

“Food” is a decent query, but we’ve been playing around to find out what other interesting ‘wheels’ we might be able to create. Any suggestions?

February has definitely been a slow month for Almost Exciting.

Personally, my inspiration and free time has been down, and my real life and business with work have been up. Here are some links to things I’ve been meaning to write about over the last few weeks… yes, some are probably old, but this whole thing is for those not in the know…

Atlas Rope Ascender! AH! Awesome gadget!!! One day they’ll make it tiny, and every teenager in America will pretend to be Batman.

Macrovision complains to Steve Jobs. Some interesting stuff if you recognize the following acronyms: DRM, MPAA, RIAA.

Impossible history photoshopping contest. Interesting eye-candy.

Medical study concludes that sword swallowing is dangerous. I found it on BoingBoing, but the real goods are in the links from there to multiple other articles.

Lee Harvey Oswald’s “window” up for auction. For real?

Gun-Lover’s Porn. Maybe. Almost. Probably.

In addition, here’s some even older stuff that never made the page: (it’s like B-sides day or something)

Someone submitted the Get Human site to Almost Exciting. Hopefully you already know about this - but if you don’t, here’s the deal…

“The gethuman project is a consumer movement to improve the quality of phone support in the US. This free website is run by volunteers and is powered by over one million consumers who demand high quality phone support from the companies that they use.”

Basically, they keep a database of companies that have Customer Service numbers, and the tactics, keys to press, or special phone numbers to call when you want to get a real live human being on the phone.

Ever have trouble with tangly earbud headphone cord wrapping? This video of some fast, easy headphone cord wrapping shows a pretty cool technique for getting it done.

Thanks for keeping in touch!

Somehow I feel like I’ve already experienced this, some time very early in my life.

The goal is to make it to the green orb.

Use only the arrow keys.

Try it, now.

My friend told me to look up some Youtube video, entirely different from this feature - but what should I see, when I landed on Youtube, but this video of a beatboxing flute player…?

He gets a bit red in the face and, from the sound of it, could practice his beatboxing a bit more - but the general idea and execution amazed me. There were several videos apparently, but I only watched the one I’m linking to here, as I’m still in the process of finding what I was sent here to see.

http://prototypejs.org/ - JS AJAX framework

http://mootools.net/ - JS special effects framework

http://moofx.mad4milk.net/ - JS special effects framwork, based on MooTools, compatible with Prototype, compact and scaled down for minimum footprint.

Temporary post for links.

Saw this on Engadget. Some commenters on Digg thought that the movie corp’s would just change the key now that it’s in the open. They won’t. I have to give them credit to be smarter than that - because now that someone knows where the key is, even if it changes, it would only take the smallest of programs to scan a disc and discover it.

No, they’ll definitely move it. And change it. And change the way it works.

But then… the cycle will begin again.

* NOTE: I can honestly say I’ve never copied (even legitimately) an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc, or even a regular ol’ DVD [yet]. I do not support Piracy, however I also do not support DRM - I do not believe a person should have to pay $29 for a movie that they have already purchased for $19, simply for the ability to watch it in a much smaller, lower quality format (and other examples along those lines).

Gizmodo spotted these Swiss Army like Sunglasses. Customizable, allowing you to choose the tools… yes, even the paint brush and back scratcher. Sweet!

Here at work I noticed a flier for a Chinese New Year Festival. Apparently one of the performers for the event has previously performed at a couple world class locations. Check out the bad cellphone camera picture to see where:

Another article today from InfoWorld about AMD, and their “reinvention” of the x86 processor.

I’m not a huge processor nerd, and I know a lot of the stats can probably be attributed to hype, and that benchmarks (in all industries) are often inflated, but a few snippets about this new processor caught my eye. One in particular:

“AMD claims that Barcelona’s per-core floating point performance is more than 80 percent faster than the present Opteron.”

This makes me wonder what Intel is planning. Man, new computers are going to be so cool.

From the Infoworld Article:

“The Ultra 5.9 is, as its name suggests, just 5.9 millimeters thick. That’s a millimeter thinner than the candybar form-factor phone it replaces in the Ultra range. It looks similar to the previous model, has a 3-megapixel camera and is compatible with the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) standard used in much of the world.”

Unfortunately there were no pictures to be seen, although I’m on the lookout.

UPDATE:
Wouldn’t you know it, Gizmodo has the pictures.

UPDATE:
Oh, Samsung! I’d rather have this than an iPhone! SGH-F520 multi-direction slider phone. That’s Almost Exciting! Thank you Gizmodo for the updates and pics!

Looks like Al Pacino will be in the Ocean’s 13 movie. Maybe having my volume way down caused me to miss something, but the trailer didn’t really put me on edge. Please, please, please don’t be a flop!

Makezine has a Stained Glass PC case that looks awesome.

And while you’re modding your case and throwing out old parts, don’t get rid of a burned out LCD monitor! Make it a corkboard instead! I would so totally put one of these on my office desk if I had one. Guess I’ll be watching the garbage around here a little closer.

Also, in case you’re a “one-day-I’ll-learn-to-build-my-own-electronic-something” like I am, here’s a Homebuilt Synth (more from Make today). I’m mostly linking there because I wanted to come back and check out those related links at the bottom of the article.

I came across this site recently - Top Secret Recipes.

Apparently they regularly post some of the recipes used by top brands like Lipton, Applebee’s, Arby’s, IHOP, Joe’s Crab Shack, and more - many for free, or free for a limited time.

I haven’t thoroughly perused the site or tested any of the recipes but if you cook, I’m sure it’s worth checking out.

Of all the cuteness and goofy emails I’ve seen forwarded around (especially in a corporate environment) I have to say that this website beats them all - not in it’s cuteness factor, but simply due to it’s sheer multitude of cat pictures contained in one single-dose web page. It beats them all with a baseball bat. I hate these things.

I guess I should also mention the Cute Overload blog. If you’re into this stuff, they are like Cute-Crack.

I can’t believe I just posted this.

aamof it was just a matter of time b4 it would become a problem. aisi , it is amazing that it was not a bigger problem until now. wdyt that kids are not going to find the easy way out. Then again, I guess inmp.  

Check out the article.

 *I am not an IM genius.  

Well as most of our “Almost Exciting” readers have noticed, it has been a while since I last blogged. To keep everyone posted, I have been in Africa hunting the great three-eyed white elephant. I must say they are amazing if you ever get to see one. A word of caution though, it is better to observe them from a  distance. My doctor said I should fully recover in a few weeks. Thanks for your prayers and I can not wait to head off on another adventure. I will keep you posted.

*Disclaimer: Some or all of the above story may or may not be true.

Since 1997 the Internet Anagram Server has been a play-toy for many internet users. It’s recently gotten a little attention again, so I thought I’d link it up. Try it out, it’s fun!

Speaking of anagrams, Pea Gel Mix… I mean… MegaPixels… have recently taken some heat for being a waste of your money as the deciding factor for when buying a camera. Don MacAskill clears it up a bit on the SmugBlog saying:

“A limited amount of light gets through the lens and hits the sensor in your camera. It’s really quite small. At some point, if you cram more pixels into the same tiny space, those pixels aren’t picking up enough light to be useful. Instead, they’re making your photo noisier and reducing the quality.”

… and giving a link suggestion for finding the right camera.

Eight Reasons to Think Before Buying an iPhone 

“…with its hefty price tag, restriction to a single carrier and departure from many traditional smart-phone features, buying the iPhone requires careful forethought.”
 

Since it is so hard to provide coverage all over India and electricity is even hard to get, Mobile Network companies are looking at powering cell towers with biodiesel made primarily from Jatropha trees.

“While still in the testing stages, GSMA partners Idea Cellular and Ericsson hope to have functioning bio-powered stations by mid-2007. “

I think Adam says it quite well in his note about Google “Warning” ISPs About Online Video, when he says:

“Aw, shucks, how sweet of you to try to weasel your way into the service provider industry under the guise of a warning.”

However, I just (highly) doubt that Google is only trying to get “into the… industry”. I use Google a lot, but when one sits and thinks about the possibilities it can get a little creepy some times.

Someone found a finger in his chocolate “bar”. Mmm!

From the article:

“Some Malaysian colleges may soon offer courses on how to keep public restrooms clean”

I don’t know a lot about Malaysia, and I thought this was kind of weird when I first read this - however I’m even more interested in this small tidbit in the story:

“Lau said his ministry plans to soon introduce a system for the public to lodge complaints about filthy toilets via cell phone text messages.”

I think that’s awesome! Great way to use an existing technology that is abused by so many teenagers for something worth-while. Almost, anyway. So now I’m sitting here pondering other great, non-commercial uses for text messaging. Any ideas?

So, apparently Keith Urban is suing Keith Urban. Can you imagine why? Yes, Keith, but his name is also Keith Urban. I think the most that should be done in a case like this is that Keith Urban should have to put a link on his site stating that “if you’re looking for the website of the other Keith Urban, it’s at…”

You decide which Keith should have the link.

I thought I was alone in my discomfort during the half-time show - it appears that other’s also noticed. Y’know, that Prince guy just creeps me out some times.

And this post gets categorized under “Recommended Reading” because of this link, even though it’s a YouTube Video that I want you see. If you’ve ever read an article about the history or future of the internet, and were at least somewhat interested… well, forget that - If you use the internet, this 4 minute 30 second video is worth watching.

Is this for real? A “Pimped Out John”? I think I’m signing up!

Disturbing information about a drug in Australia called Stilnox.

It’s called Ambien, here in the United States.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned PCNames.com domain name search. It’s “web 2.0″! Ooh! But really, I’ve tried a few of them, and I kinda like this one the best.

More Words is pretty cool. You can type in all kinds of patterns for word searches, look for all words ending with “gry”, with letters in certain places, and more. Could come in great handy during a game of Scrabble (especially the Hook Words), a cross-word puzzle, etc.

98% done moving (two big things left in storage), and finally have my internet hooked up at home.

As I’ve been out of the loop, I don’t know about all the weird stuff happening lately. The whole Boston “Aquateen Hunger Bombs” (look it up yourself, if you don’t already know) thing is already old, and I just found out about it tonight.

I think the press release about 1970’s hair was funny, and I especially think the way the press reacted was sort of … well, they were angry, and I don’t live in Boston - I guess I might have been mad, too. But really, they said multiple times that they were not going to talk about the case. It was their time at the mic. I just wish the president would do something that crazy at a press release.

I read that Maytag recalled 2.3 million dishwashers. Wow.

“Affected dishwashers were sold at department and appliances stores between July 1997 and June 2001 and sold at prices between $370 and $800.”

And…

“Maytag will provide free in-home repair or a $75 cash back reimbursement on the purchase of a new Maytag, Jenn-Air, Whirlpool or KitchenAid dishwasher.”

At first I thought the $75 cash back was ridiculous, but then I read the dates again. Between 1997 and 2001? I suppose it’s about time to buy a new one, if you just can’t schedule the repair man.

Wait… what kind of washer came in this apartment?