Thursday, December 25, 2008

Viral Video Chart - Cleveland State Upsets Syracuse � ESPNEWS

Viral Video Chart - Cleveland State Upsets Syracuse � ESPNEWS

Check out this shining moment for my alma mater. Great shot!

Shuttered bakery reopens, rehires workers - CNN.com

Shuttered bakery reopens, rehires workers - CNN.com

This is one of the all time cool Christmas stories, I think. I was so impressed I went to the company's web page and sent them this Email:

"I just read the story on CNN.COM about what Lance did for the closed Archway bakery and workers in Ashland, Ohio. I wanted to say "thank you" for doing the right thing as a company, and tell you that I will always look for Lance products and give them preference anytime I shop. I have no connection to the town or the plant or any of the people there, but it is great to see a company step up the way yours has. Thanks again for being a role model for corporate responsibility. And Merry Christmas. - Dan Zane"

- Z

Blog 'miracle' saves Christmas for hard-luck family - CNN.com

Blog 'miracle' saves Christmas for hard-luck family - CNN.com

The internet to the rescue. A perfect Christmas morning story.

- Z

Friday, December 19, 2008

Laurent Sicard - QTVR

Laurent Sicard - QTVR

Stunning 3D photo environment, really cool. I can't place where it is, but I'm going to find out. It's amazing.

-Z

Trinity Miracle: End Zone Shot - CollegeHumor video

Trinity Miracle: End Zone Shot - CollegeHumor video

Well, I've seen the occasional interesting football play, but this one is pretty amazing. Talk about staying alive by the hair of your chinny-chin-chin. Anyway, some kids must have been pretty happy that night.

-Z

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Viral Video Chart - Star Trek vs. Star Wars

Viral Video Chart - Star Trek vs. Star Wars

I can't believe I forgot to blog this earlier. These videos are very cool. There are actually a couple different versions.


http://www.viralvideochart.com/youtube/star_wars_vs_star_trek__dmp_edition_hq?id=v4ijDlbvAxw


http://www.viralvideochart.com/youtube/star_trek_vs_star_wars?id=hNxhrPaaCA4

Bad Day At Work


And you thought YOU had a bad day at the office....

(it's fake, but cool)

-Z

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

10 More Tips for Stunning Portrait Photography

Some pretty good pointers on making better pictures. I've seen these alot of places but never so well represented in one list.

-Z

My King of Crap - gracielou - Open Salon

My King of Crap - gracielou - Open Salon

I like this story, it's the spirit of Christmas. You need to hang to the end...


- Z

Just what we need in cold dreary wintery Ohio...

http://multimedia.cyberpresse.ca/photosbulles/08tulipes/08tulipes.html

Ok, check this out and see if it makes you feel like spring is right around the corner.

- Z

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Woman returns $97,000 found in restroom - Wonderful World- msnbc.com

Woman returns $97,000 found in restroom - Wonderful World- msnbc.com

I love this kind of thing. All the better that it happened during the Christmas season. If I were Bill Gates I'd find this woman and give her $100K.

-Z

4. Hamster on a Piano (Eating Popcorn) - The Top 10 Everything of 2008 - TIME

4. Hamster on a Piano (Eating Popcorn) - The Top 10 Everything of 2008 - TIME

It bothers me when people say that the internet is a vast cultural wasteland......no wait, that's television.

Clearly, with things like a hamster on a piano eating popcorn, no one could question the cultural and intellectual depth of the internet....

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Viral Video Chart - Cat Drives Roomba

Viral Video Chart - Cat Drives Roomba

It's a good thing its a pretty small cat. It seems to be confusing the roomba as to where the walls are :-)

Friday, November 28, 2008

Dan Zane (djzane) : photos : SmugShots- powered by SmugMug

Dan Zane (djzane) : photos : SmugShots- powered by SmugMug

Have a cool new IPhone application that automatically uploads my iPhone photos as I take them to my photo gallery site. Check back once in awhile for new candid photos of admittedly poor quality, but interesting all the same.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Photos that Changed the World

Photos that Changed the World

Some of the photo's are a little hard to take, some are iconic, some are more about the event than the photo, but all are interesting in their own way.

- Z

Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis | FlowingData

Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis | FlowingData

Here is a pretty interesting roadmap of the major issues leading to the current financial meltdown in the US Economy. I guess I already knew all this stuff, but seeing it represented graphically does seem to help put things in context. Nice job on this.

- Until Next Time

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases - Telegraph

Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases - Telegraph:

So Oxford put some of its hard earned tuition and research money into figuring out which phrases are the most annoying and irritating, either because of grammatical incorrectness or overuse. (how do I get that kind of job?). So here are the winners:

"The top ten most irritating phrases:
1 - At the end of the day
2 - Fairly unique
3 - I personally
4 - At this moment in time
5 - With all due respect
6 - Absolutely
7 - It's a nightmare
8 - Shouldn't of
9 - 24/7
10 - It's not rocket science"

To which I would like to add (free of charge):

11. To be honest with you... (like you usually aren't?)
12. "reach out to" in place of "call", as in "I'll reach out to Dave" - Yech.


- Until next time

Viral Video Chart - "Star Wars" - an a capella tribute to John Williams

Viral Video Chart - "Star Wars" - an a capella tribute to John Williams

Ok, so check out the video at the link. I'd try to describe it, but perhaps its just best if you watch it :-)

This is one of the top videos on Youtube over the past couple of weeks.

-Until next time

The Dog Files

The Dog Files

Check out this great site devoted to all things Dog. There is an excellent, pro-quality video podcast, blog, twitter account, and so on. I just watched the episode on how to take more effective photos of your dog, and I thought it was really well done. Give it a shot. Heard about this one on Net@Night with Amber MacArthur.

The Dog Files

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Woolworths: a store of memories | Business | guardian.co.uk

Woolworths: a store of memories | Business | guardian.co.uk

I had no idea Woolworth's was still around. When I was a kid and before Parmatown was a covered Mall, it was a strip store center, and it had a Woolworth's store (or maybe it was a Kresgee store?) Anyway, it was a "dime store" and I remember going in there and all the inexpensive things to be had, like candy. Then Woolworth's disappeared, and I think, disappeared from America. But it turns out it became an institution in England and there were at one time thousands of Woolworth's there. Now it's about to close for good, but might get a government bailout from the UK. See the link for an interesting photo history of Woolworth's, and there is another link for the story.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Woolworths-Talks-Go-On-To-Save-Troubled-Retailer-With-Revised-Deal-For-The-Business-Reports-Say/Article/200811415159658?lid=ARTICLE_15159658_Woolworths:TalksGoOnToSaveTroubledRetailerWithRevisedDealForTheBusiness,ReportsSay&lpos=searchresults

Island 'nation' owned by Segway inventor could be a model for energy efficiency -- Newsday.com

Island 'nation' owned by Segway inventor could be a model for energy efficiency -- Newsday.com

So the inventor of the Segway human transporter has declared himself to be Lord Dumpling of North Dumpling island, and built an energy independent kingdom off the coast of Connecticut. I didn't even know Connecticut had a coast, but there you go.

- till next time

Thursday, November 13, 2008

You're only as old as you feel...

This image from the net I think captures perfectly this feeling I have a lot, that my mind has no idea how old my body is. Even though I'm not in the best of shape, and at times I feel every one of my 51 years, most of the time my self image is of myself in my 30's, still limber and energetic, and waiting for what life has to offer. I hope I never lose that and start to feel my age all the time. I feel like the future holds so much promise, that there are so many things to do and see and be - sometimes that feeling is hard to reconcile with what I see when I look in the mirror. I hope to make some improvement in fitness over the next year, to bring those two realities, the internal and external one, at least a little closer together. And I also like this photo because it shows a couple, not just a person alone, and I think the energy in life is all about the relationships you have.

-till next time

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Today's Funny


Here is an interesting transcript of a radio showdown between the US Navy and an inanimate object.

(Found at http://pics.nase-bohren.de/lighthouse.jpg)

Scenes from Antarctica - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Scenes from Antarctica - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Ever since I was a kid, I always had these fantasies about going to Antarctica. Usually I was in some kind of sealed vehicle, maybe like the one they drove around in on the TV show "Lost in Space" (if you're old enough to remember that one). Anyway, I would tool along over the arctic ice and it was a terrific feeling of being in control of your environment with a hostile, beautiful world outside. Check out the photos at the link above, it was like seeing my fantasy made real in a lot of ways. I really like number 27 for some reason.

- till next time

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Cool Obama Photos

Here is a set of pretty interesting photos from the Obama campaign trail. Just keep clicking "more images" at the bottom of the screen.

http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html

Hey, Oprah is right!

Ok, I admit it, I usually like Oprah. Not that I have seen her show more than about twice, but every now and then I hear her talk and what she says always sounds sensible and real-world to me. Now I came across this article on CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/11/11/o.are.you.rude.test/index.html

from Oprah.com and I have to say I couldn't agree more. It's about the demise of civility and politeness in our society, and how so many people these days are almost unimaginably rude. Many of the examples they give in the article of driving rudeness or cell phone rudeness; or treating wait staff or store clerks like slaves are also points of my own major frustration. So way to go Oprah! See also my essays on Road Rage and my Credo essay on being kind at
http://danzane.com/Writings.htm

- until next time....

Monday, November 10, 2008

Guilty Pleasures

I'm not much of a TV watcher. Every once in a while, I get hooked on a show. M.A.S.H. Hill Street Blues. Star Trek. The West Wing. Those were all renowned shows in their own way. I wasn't hanging out there by my lonesome on those.

But now I seem to be obsessed with Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I'm not sure I can even tell you why. The reviews are so-so. The audience was never large and has supposedly been declining.

But the first season (last year) hooked me. There is some complexity, subtlety, mystery to the writing and to the plot line that is compelling. And though it is ostensibly a shoot-em-up show, I think there is rich and interesting development of the characters. I'm particularly fascinated by Summer Glau's interpretation of a Terminator android, which I think is fantastic.

It seems like this second season, in a fairly panicked attempt to add viewers (probably 17 year old boys), there is more shooting and car wrecks and dramatic violence, which was something that wasn't overdone last year. All the same, I am invested in the characters and will continue to watch. I hope they don't turn it into a cartoon about "bad robots". So far, it is about this interesting relationship between mother and son, with a little mayhem thrown in :-)

Anyway, I like it. Hope they manage to keep it on the air.

http://www.fox.com/terminator/

- till next time...