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...