Farmers Market BBQ Sauce is the Sh!t

Do yourself a favor and order some at Burninlovesauces.com

Also, this week in "Those Wacky Japanese"

It's nice to see the beginning of what future humans will call "Master" being developed in none other than Japan! They have a catastrophic natural disaster which leads to a man made disaster, and they are just pumping out tech to deal with it. Flying space ball? I am sure that I have seen something like this shoot at humans in no less than 3 sci-fi films or tv shows (Star Trek:TNG, Dark Angel, Star Wars)

This is the Droid you are looking for!

I just read an article about the Stanford Prison Experiment. Fascinating piece, but did not leave a good taste in me mouth about Stanford research...then this! Freaking light saber robot, or as they called it the JediBot.

Also read this and see if you can guess the password to my email account. Seriously, don't try but do read this article on the science of password selection.

Want to meet a famous Hollywood actor?

Me too, but until then there is my buddy Malcolm Barrett from high school, who for all intents and purposes has been successful in "the biz". With guest spots on the Sopranos, Psych, and Law and Order to name a few, and with a few cancelled shows under his belt (can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs) I would say that acting and being generally an entertainer has worked out for him. Here is a link to his Reddit IAma interview with Jonathan Slavin his co-star (and friend) in his last venture "Better Off Ted" (he was the only black cast member, I think Jonathan Slavin was the only Flemish speaking actor, so they are obviously like two peas in a pod).

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/im2hp/malcolm_barrett_w_lem_phil_reunion_ama/

Also, if you are interested in his other ventures, please see his awesome music video "Revenge of the Nerds" off of his upcoming (or released by now) album, "Backpackers Guide to the Galaxy". You are a talented person my friend. And you will NEVER get that Mos Def album back from me, it's going to be a collectors item soon:

Auctioneer:

"We have here an original article stolen from one Malcolm Barrett, Mos Def's first album, promised to be returned by one Adeola Akinola, who, uh, never did."

Hilarious, Happy Belated 4th!

A New York Times Op-Ed art piece reminds us that if America was on Facebook it would be one of those friends that takes up your entire news feed cause they always have so much sh!t going on...

Link to the Original

I'm back! Again! For Now...

Every few years I stop blogging and then start again when I realize that there is still so much information to share. This is the transient nature of blogs after all. So I have started again. I will reload the last.fm plug-in so that you guys don't think I only listen to Mates of State. Also there seems to be a new layout editor for Blogger, might as well give that a try although the days of hacking up your code and putting in CSS went away with the popularity of myspace (thank goodness) maybe it's time for this old dog to get a face lift. The links at the side should still be working but may be outdated (many of friends, like me, have stopped blogging) so I will be editing that as well.

Now for the story that made me rethink giving this whole thing up, a story from non-other than my favorite hypocritical country...China!

It seems that some of their "professional" photographers need a better understanding of Photoshop, green screens and general photographic technique. I could have done a better job on the originals and the edits with just my iPhone. Pathetic.

Check out the original story along with some excellent "mash-ups" of the photo. I like the one with the dinosaurs.

I love computer equipment...

More on Tiered Pricing

Here is a pretty good article on TW's new pricing scheme.  The idea that it's the new DRM is a little bit of a stretch but the other stuff in it is pretty good.  Take a look.

How much does it cost for your very own exoskeleton?

The answer is a just a little over $4,000 ($4,200 to be exact). Cyberdyne Systems (isn't that where Miles Dyson worked in Terminator 2?) is releasing the production version of their Exoskeleton to the public. I have previously mentioned this suit on the blog here and here, but these guys are finally into production. Freakin' awesome...

Women&Men+Alcohol=Fights

Even for supposedly high minded astronauts.  Peeps the story from slashdot here.  Best excerpt:

A similar experiment in Moscow virtually collapsed when a multinational team of men and women were allowed to drink alcohol on the eve of the millennium, and simmering tensions between Russian and non-Russian volunteers exploded in a fight for the affections of a female Canadian scientist. Only men are involved this time, and no alcohol.

Hilarious.

Explanation of the Current Financial Crisis

Sort of at least.  This is only one part of it, but it is a larger part so should be understood.  Read here for the story on David X. Li and Gaussian Copula formula.

Delocated...

This show is so weird ,but hilarious. You can watch more at Adultswim.com

Lions and Tigers and Netbooks, Oh My!

Has anyone ever heard of Psion? They are a maker of rugged computing solutions are currently locked in a trademark battle with Intel over the use of the term "Netbook". I am not sure how to feel about this. I mean I want to respect the law here which says that after registration of a trademark and barring that you don't get out of the business of discontinue the product that you trademarked it can still be protected.  On the other hand Psion hasn't created a new netbook in many years and discontinued the last one they sold a few years back.  I guess read on and leave comments, it should be an interesting case to watch.

Here is news that facebook attempted to take over twitter, the micro-blogging service. Thank goodness, why would you need a text message alerting you to your friend changing their profile pick? I guess, maybe if you were an 11 year old girl...

Want to find a way to waste a good chunk of your life?  Ask this guy, I am sure he has some good ideas.

-Ade out

Back at Work

And again I thank the heavens for my job at VSEA.  I forget how much I actually enjoy my job when I take leave from it, I mean if I did not have to work I would not but coming in to work this morning after two weeks off was easier than I expected.  On to new news...

A new condition called Playstation Palmar Hidrandenitis is affecting some people in the Europe.  This condition causes

"...red, sore lumps on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet"

What a bunch of panty waists...Just to put it out there I have played games for hours on end and never suffered something like this.  Maybe these people should thinking about having a gaming towel to wipe their hands and feets off with...yes, a new product is born...It can also be used to stop the red ring of doom.

News from Sony that they have found yet another useless format to sink their teeth into, awesome. Blu-Spec CD's promise to be yet another sink hole for the company's diminishing revenue. Oh yeah it also turns out that they have made developing for the PS3 purposefully difficult for game designers...awesome.

No real news here, but it's nice to see the RIAA go after some one other than Ma Pickins in Tenessee for alledgely sharing "Hola Back Girl" on Limewire...

Lies and the lying liars that allegedly tell them with regards to the iPhone, come on Wired...what exactly is your editorial staff doing?

YES!!!

Now Streaming - All Episodes of Twin Peaks...

Shutdown '09 Part 1 Day 8

Hello Everyone! Such good news today...


First, one of my all time favorite shows, Futurama, MAY be coming back to Fox for a 6th season. What a good voting system DVD sales have turned out to be...

Here a good period piece on the internet, way back when chat rooms were still dope (Oreo anyone?) , web pages could be made by scripts on AOL-which was one of only a few ISP's (AOL, Compuserve and Excite I think were the big ones of the time). It's the internet of 1996, peep it for an idea of how far we have come in just 13 years. This is why we will never be like our parents when it comes to technology, it has literally become entrenched in our lives and there is no way to go back.

Don't call it a Skycar if it is not this Skycar...

Big up to Linux as finally being a blip on Microsoft's radar worth paying attention to. Also, WTF is up with Microsoft banning Lesbians on Xbox Live?! Listen, there are few things gamers consider hotter than any girl that is not repulsed by them, one of those things are lesbians that are not repulsed by them. No offense to lesbians as I know this sounds a bit demeaning, but it isn't. If you did not think two chicks hooking up was hot you wouldn't be a lesbian, don't be surprised when other people feel the same way you do. Get with the program Microsoft...

Shutdown '09 Part 1 Day 7

Hello All,
Back in bean town, the trip to NYC was pretty fun and the bus ride back was easy breezy. Here is some new information from the interwebs

Some not so surprising news about the apps that are flying out of the iPhone app store. Apparently these apps are not inspiring use past the first day after they have been downloaded. If you know anyone with an iPhone you have already seen this phenomenon. Take a gander at the screens and you'll probably see 4 to 5 pages of apps. Ask the individual how often they use them and I guarantee some of those apps have not ever been used once after downloading. This is not a problem however because if you think of the iPhone as a truly mini computer, or computing light there is bound to be software that you might need a few times but don't want to have to download over and over again. A good example would be the rocket cab app, this app uses your location and shows local cab companies. You may not need this every day or even every weekend, but when you do need it's gonna suck to have to download it at that time. If you're interested here are some more analytics from the app store.

News from Netflix reports that the company sees its future in streaming. They already have a streaming only service for Starz content and are considering adding content from other distributors like HBO or Showtime...

More news from the Pirate Bay Trial...A few days ago marked Day 5 in the trial and the prosecutors are not looking very good. Apparently neither is the defense.

Thought I would give a shout out to some more Web 2.0 sh!t, Ubiquity is trying to change the way we see and manipulate the web content we use everyday.

Some new isht from Darpa, actually is not new but now making cyborg insects is closer to being a reality than ever before.



I'm still sifting through emails so I might have more to report later...

Shutdown '09 Part 1 day 4

Yo Yo Yo,
Today i find myself doing some remote blogging from NYC (my hometown). I must say that it is awesome to be back here. There really is no place like it, and while Boston is a pretty ok substitute nothing beats being back home. I have caught up on some emails and have a few things to log after the jump.


First a look at the real G2, HTC's new mobile handset the Dream was announced at the Mobile handset conference. Pretty snazzy but will is snatch the hearts and minds of the tech elite? I hope so, even though I own an iPhone those lazy fockers at apple won't do anything with any expediency unless they have some good competition. HTC is going to be that competition (I say they already are, just not in the states).

More news on smart phones as a new one, branded the Bar Of Soap promises to not only switch screen views (from portrait to landscape) with the help of accelerometers but also switch phone modes. Hold the phone like a camera and the camera function pops up, hold it to your face like a phone and a keypad pops up. Considering how sketchy this switch can be on an iPhone, I don't know that I like my phone functions to be tied into orientation but more power to them.

Now on to Wisconsin where they have just suspended a girl for texting during a math class. Now good etiquette says that when in a setting such as a a class room or boardroom texting should be kept to a minimum (unless you're the boss). it's rude and distracting to be sure, but a suspension? Apparently the girl lied about having a phone and tried to hide it in her ass area, so she knew she was guilty and some punishment should be dolled out but the police report I think is a bit much.

More news from the trial against my favorite source of new media, The Pirate Bay. Apparently not only have 50% of the charges been dropped, but the defense lawyers have requested that all other charges be dismissed based on the inability of the prosecution to prove their case. Also because they are so lovable, the 4 owners of the site have gotten an unsolicited following of hackers who are tarnishing the sites of those that are prosecuting the co-owners, the first one in the cross hairs being the IFPI. Serves 'em right, but it is not helping the case of those on trial and incidentally one of the owners, Peter Sunde, has asked that the hackers stop, claiming

"Our case is going quite well as most of you have noticed. In the light of that it feels very bad that people are hacking websites which actually puts us in a worse light than we need to be in"

Sorry Peter...

And for fans of Yelp, the popular user driven food review site, it seems that the admins and reps of the site are getting a little mafioso on that ass. Restaurants owners are claiming that the reps are calling the restaurants soliciting ad purchase agreements and letting the owners know that if they DO buy an add, maybe they (the reps of the site) could take care of some of those negative reviews that the restaurant has received. If this is true is pretty terrible and proves that anything that humans touch that involved money turns to shit. Even the noblest of causes.

Stuck on Repeat

Welcome Little Boots to the neu wave of pop that is happening (sounds a lot like the old wave of Pop...but her song is sick).

Shutdown '09, Part 1, Day 1

So I am at the beginning of two weeks off from work. My company has unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) shut its doors for the next two weeks to save some dollars. Apparently shutting our doors for a week saves a significant amount of jobs, I would rather not go to work then have me or someone I know (or even don't know) get laid off so this is pretty cool. Besides the fact that it is eating away at my built up vacation like no other (don't ask me to do anything in 2010, I will not have any vacation time), it does make me feel like I am back in college for a x-mas break or something. All the same, I have a few things to share today, starting with those crazy folks who work for the state governement of Utah.

Apparently the entire government was taken by a 419 type scam, the likes of which have been around for several years. A popular internet meme in the short time that we have had to build and recognize such memes, any self respecting connected American should never fall for this. Tragic, but what do you expect from the home state of the Mormons... (sorry Mormons, that was obligatory. I really don't have a problem with your religion, at least the mainstream parts. Read aloud, all religion origin stories sound ridiculous).

And yesterday was the start of what's sure to be a closely watched trial between the runners of the site "The Pirate Bay" and the IFPI. Reportedly if the case goes the way everyone thinks it's going to go, many of the interweb's torrents will die or become increasingly unreliable. Here's hoping that people don't vote the way they have been conditioned to vote.

Lastly, I saw this when reading about a competition/showcase to design future cityscapes. Pretty cool...