Criminal juicing

It never ceases to amaze me how many people will call 911 about bad service or various other minor issues in essence calling 911 on themselves. Yesterday, a man at a McDonalds in Oregon called 911 because he didn't get his orange juice. Was this orange juice squeezed from gold or made with expensive liquor? What was the value here? What was going through this person's mind?

I guess there will always be a full supply of dumb criminals.

Study ball

Wow! Some families do crazy things. But chaining your child to do homework? That's overkill (or worse). Why do I get a sneaky suspicion this idea was hatched in a secret underground lair?

Another see through toiltet

Well this isn't the first time I've covered bathrooms or toilets or see through toilets for that matter, but this is the first time the transparency is turned off and on by electricity. Luckily power makes it see through so it's not like a power outage would be the end of the world.

Boy, 6, drives car, gets police commendation

When passenger six-year-old Tustin Mains saw his driving dad had passed out, he leapt to action, jumping to the front seat and taking the wheel. He was able to keep the idling car from crashing until police could step along side and throw it in park, leading to the promise of a citation for "quick, professional action".

With so many drinking and driving, it's nice to know there are six-year-olds who are out there keeping us safe.

Tranforming computer not a computer

Well, the new Transformers movie is coming out in less than a month and so are the gimmicks (and gadgets). It seems this toy, Blaster, the cassette-playing autobot neither plays cassettes nor runs as a computer into which it transforms. It does become a USB hub, though, so it's useful if not confusing.

At least it won't kill you... hopefully.

The essence of bad taste

Ever wonder what bad taste looks like? See through restroom? No, that's what it doesn't look like ;)

Eating off a toilet? Surprisingly no. Apparently the place gets rave reviews.

How about having Mary Kay Latourneau host a "Hot for Teacher Night" at a local bar?

On the bright side, maybe the people will be too plowed to realize what a distasteful place they are in.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

If you pass any information over the phone, I'm sure you're familiar with NATO's Phonetic Alphabet where Alpha = A, Bravo = B, etc. (Why "whiskey" anyway?) However, if you are like me, you probably don't know all the references. Well, here they are for your reference. Enjoy.

ipod touch robot

It seems everyone is meshing with the iPhone and iPod Touch whether it is creating iPhone apps or this mod with a robot touch. Now all we need is a remote-controlled car.

See through restroom

There is a high probability many of you have seen this toilet before. However, what most of you are not aware of is that this is a foreign john, as most of the forwarded e-mails concerning it place the toilet somewhere in the US. According to an article on Snopes this particular restroom is in Switzerland (Look at the street signs outside).

I just wanted to set the record straight. :)

Subtle, high-brow humor on 30 rock

One of the jokes that stuck out most to me on last night's 30 Rock was the 26-year throwback to what is still the most watched TV telecast ever: "A guy crying about a chicken and a baby? I thought this was a comedy show."

This line was delivered at 6:07 by Alan Alda, who played a character who suffered just such an affliction in the final episode on the TV series M*A*S*H.

Sometimes it's the subtle that really highlights a good joke. (Someone please tell Clint Black.)

100 Posts!

This isn't the first time I've celebrated 100 posts, but this will be the 100th post from this blog. Last time it was 100 posts total from all my blogs, which have now reached over 200 posts total.

Highlights include the explanation of a buffer urinal (and other urinal related posts), dumb criminals, posts about the Blizzard gaming company, geek humor and more. Hopefully you have enjoyed it. I have.

Art from music

Here is an interesting collection of artwork. The artist used something worthless: cassette tapes. He (she?) then used the tape inside to make the art, such as this one for Jim Morrison. A good use of old music.

Justin timberlake on saturday night live

Justin Timberlake seems like the quintessential example of someone who is doing what he loves to do. It always seems when I see him (mostly on Saturday Night Live) that he just enjoys what he does and has fun.

But it doesn't hurt to poke fun a little too, and when someone can laugh at themselves and have a ball doing it, my hat's off to them. He did just such a thing that Saturday. Check it out.

Michael caine on perspective

It's hard to argue with a guy who has a good perspective. Michael Caine seems to be one of those guys. I read this in an article and thought it was too good to pass up.

Sir Michael, 75, used to be famous for always working, whether the script was good or wanting. Along with such films as "Hannah and Her Sisters" -- which won him one of his two Oscars -- "Sleuth" and "Educating Rita," there was "The Island," "Blame It on Rio" and "Jaws: The Revenge."

Not that he minded. Regarding "Jaws: The Revenge," he once wrote, "I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific."

Star trek appetizers

For those planning to get their Sci-Fi on and see the Trek this weekend like I plan to, here are some visual hor d'oeuvres to whet your appetite.

Full-blown nerds

Many don't know the difference between geeks and nerds. Geeks like to play World of Warcraft. Nerds prefer a polyhedral die. Geeks don't mind giving you the time. Nerds will tell you the number of milliseconds. Geeks look forward to sci-fi movies. Nerds look forward to Square Root Day.

In short it's about degree, and San Francisco's Ron Gordon cranked it up to about 200 degrees yesterday, 5/7/9, because it was one of only six dates in this century to have 3 consecutive odd numbers in it.

Of course he didn't name his son after a World of Warcraft character. I guess we all have to nerd up sometimes.

Star trek!

Geek? Check. Star Trek fan? Sure, why not. Trekkie. Hell no!

But this movie looks kick ass (for those who are offended, pretend I said "butt"). Sci-Fi is always fun, and action movies done right are a blast.

I'm going, I'm excited, and it's going to peg the meter!

A new take on card tricks

This is a pretty cool "magic trick". Yes, there is some magic in here, but also "augmented reality". Overall it's fun, imaginative, and inventive. I can't wait to see what else he has up his sleeve.

Cellphones on planes - why not?

On a recent flight I had to ask myself: why don't airlines allow us to use cell phones? We know it doesn't affect the plane's instrumentation. Why? If it did, we wouldn't be allowed to carry them any more than we can now carry box cutters, not to mention we could expect to see shady characters jumping on a plane, cell phones locked and loaded.

But that is not the case. Europe has figured it out and is allowing cell phones on planes, and many planes are already offering WiFi, so why not a few phone calls?

New psp to be revealed at e3?

It wasn't long ago a new PSP firmware was announced. Now the rumor is that the much-hoped-for PSP 2 will be revealed at E3.

As I've said before, our company was started by creating the Locura media server to allow media streaming to the PSP. It's exciting to see if this new model comes to pass.

I do have to say I liked the full-screen approach from the original rumors. Of course neither those renderings or the one above are accurate. How do I know? Can you imagine trying to use those left and right buttons up top? After stretching so far to reach them, you would end up closing the case on your fingers.

Hopefully E3 will bring us more info. It's no blizzconn, but a new PSP isn't too shabby either.

Toilet finder for iPhone

Got to go but don't where? Try this new iPhone app. This Charmin-sponsored program called "Sit or Squat" will show you where the nearest toilet is and even provide reviews. The app also allows anyone using the program to add a restroom and upload it to the database with pictures. It surprisingly seems like a fairly useful iPhone App. No word on whether it includes a buffer count.