First-ever game of international border volleyball

Joshua Bearman wrote a story for LA Weekly about a game of “border volleyball,” in which players on either side of a two-story fence separating the US and Mexico hit a ball back and forth.

All this activity finally brings down the hammer of the border patrol, and a jeep shows up to separate us. The officer is friendly but firm. He’s just come on shift and has no idea we’ve been playing volleyball over the fence for the past hour.
“Really?”

He tells us that a daredevil launched himself across the border in a cannon a while back, but that ours was, in fact, the first-ever game of international border volleyball.

“And it worked over that tall fence?”

“Yup,” we say. “We’re up for one more round if you want to play.”

“No, man,” the officer says. “I’m on duty.”

PPP Contest

Okay so PayPerPost.com, the blog advertising website I endorse is having some big announcement next week calling it “payperpostbignews”, This image here is a puzzle peice that could win me $1000! You know, if you blog and haven’t jumped on this yet you should do it. I love getting the emails that say “You’ve Just Been paid”!

Bennett Robot Works

These robot sculptures, created by Gordon Bennett are made from a mixture of found objects which are both old and new. these parts are found in various places including garbage dumps, basements, construction sites, and garage sales. They are inspired by Norman Bel Geddes and Raymond Loewy whose visions of the “Modern Age” helped shape industrial design of the 40’s and 50’s.

The materials are wood, metal, bakelite, glass, plastic, rubber and paint. Each robot is a unique, one-of-a-kind sculpture and recieves its own numbered metal tag as proof it’s an authentic Bennett Robot Works robot. Each robot takes about a month to build. They range in height from 14″ to 25″. There are no moving or battery operated parts. They are not meant to be a toy. Do not taunt happy fun ball.

Take 15 minutes and watch these!

Inside a Wind Tunnel

Paris-based photographer Laurent Thion, recently photographed ONERA’s S1Ch Wind Tunnel, which was the biggest in France until the end of WWII. Iit was here that planes such as the Caravelle and Concorde were tested, as well as the first ‘delta wing’ airplane cars and the Volkswagen. French skiing champion Jen-Claude Killy also used the wind tunnel.

Although this tunnel is no longer in use, it was recently saved from destruction and is now classified as an historic building. This wind tunnel was built between 1932 and 1934 and it made possible the testing of a real plane of 12m, with ignited engine and pilot on board. The wind tunnel is 120m in length and 25m high.

click here to open Project access page

Theo Jansen – Kinetic Sculptor

Theo Jansen is an artist and kinetic sculptor living and working in Holland. He builds large works which resemble skeletons of animals which are able to walk using the wind on the beaches of the Netherlands. His animated works are a fusion of art and engineering. In the current BMW commercial Jansen says “The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds”.

From his website:

Since about ten years Theo Jansen is occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic matierial of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Eventualy he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.

Wash That Booty Ms. Peachez!

Fry that Chicken Ms. Peachez!

Remember Ring Gives You a Burning Reminder

The Remember Ring has a special nagging feature, using its “Hot Spot” technology that warms up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 seconds, every hour, on the hour, beginning 24 hours before that “special day,” apparently honoring the anniversary of your voluntary servitude. That’s supposed to be warm enough to be uncomfortable but not hot enough to burn you. The Remember Ring converts the heat from your hand into electricity using a micro-thermo pile, keeping that battery charged and its heat-bomb clock ticking away, ready to burn you again next year.

Tell the diabolical proprietors when your anniversary date is when you order the ring, and they’ll program it for you. Available in seven styles ranging from gold to silver, it has a lifetime warranty. We would like the company to add a special voice nagging option, kicking into an hourly whine about taking out the garbage once a week. Maybe I’d remember then.

Why Top Employees Quit

“It’s like clockwork. Every year a portion of our top talent decides it’s time to move on. Once those bonus or holiday checks are cashed, the flood gates open and the resignation letters start flowing in.”

Great article

Remember These?

Boy, when i was growing up, my neighbors had this, and I wanted one soooo bad.

Yeah Elton, Those iPods Sure Are Silly!

On Tuesday’s Tonight Show, Elton John told Jay Leno that he thinks iPods are “silly” and that he would prefer to buy a CD so he can listen to an entire album at a time:

“I don’t have a silly iPod. I like to go buy the whole artist’s work. If I’m going to watch My Name is Earl [in reference to the fact that the show's star, Jason Lee, was sitting next to him], I’m not going to just go and watch one program, I’m going to watch the DVD of the first series, and I’m going to watch the whole thing together.”

Elton appeared to be criticizing the act of downloading a single song instead of a full album, perhaps unaware of the fact that many iPod users do in fact download full albums through the iTunes Store and listen to them in their entirety on their iPods.

Despite his apparent distaste for the iPod, Elton qualified his remarks by saying that “I’m not opposed to it, it’s just not my thing,” and this is evidenced by the fact that he has made most or all of his catalog available through the iTunes Store.

What a tool

Don’t Mess With Texas………Hold Em

Okay so I forgot to write about the big Apple event last week, but one of the cool things they released is games that you can now get for your iPod. These are actually pretty cool, look great and play well with a click wheel. One of the games that hey have is Texas hold Em poker. Now, if you are really into Hold Em, this game is not going to quell yer need for either the real thing or an online site like Party Poker (which is rumored to be coming out on Mac!). The iPod game though is great for when you’re in a car or shopping for pumps with yer wife (you know what I’m getting at).

Also, if you are into Hold Em, and yer on a Mac, there is a cool site called PokerOnAMac.com that has tons of great links, articles and reviews of MAC texas Hold Em news.

They’ve even got a list of all the online rooms that support Macs, so you can lose all yer cash to an 18 year old economics major from Des Moines Community College.

I’ll take Vegas – at least i can get a lap dance afterwards………….oh Hi Honey…………..I meant a smoothie……………….

Damn, on the couch again.

Willie Nelson cited for grass and shrooms

Willie Nelson and four of his bandmates were busted for possession of marijuana and “narcotic” mushrooms this morning. The five were issued misdemeanor citations after Louisiana cops found 1.5 pounds of marijuana and .2 pounds of shrooms on their bus. From the Associated Press:
The citations were issued after a commercial vehicle inspection of the country music star’s tour bus, state police said in a news release.

“When the door was opened and the trooper began to speak to the driver, he smelled the strong odor of marijuana,” the news release said.

Read entire article

Cookie Monster Sings Cannibal Corpse

Whats with these home improvement shows.

AAAAAGGGGGH!

My wife has these shows all TIVO’d to where can’t even watch the news:

Extreme Home Makover
Sell This House
Flip This House
Design To Sell
Debbie Travis’ Painted House

Did I miss any? Oh Yeah,

Curb Appeal
Design on a Dime
Fix It Up!
House Hunters
House Hunters International
House Hunters Antartica

Okay so I made the last one up, but you get the point. Funny thing is, everyones watching these shows, but no-one is doing any home repairs. I mean, C’Mon, you’re watching 2 guys paint interior walls – isn’t there an old joke about watching paint dry or something. There has been many a time when I’m actually doing something like putting in replacement windows while the wife is watching it being done on TV.

Now I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of installing replacement windows, but it’s definately a job that could use a little help. I think when I’m done, I’ll sit in my chair and watch Rachel Ray and yell for my wife to make me a sammich.

Oh and if yer reading this baby – It’s all just a joke!

I think I’m on the couch again tonight.

To Steal Or Not To Steal

In an article published today it say that 33% of all iPod owners are STEALING their music.

So Fucking What?

Do I steal music? I don’t think so. I but occasionally from iTunes but still find it a bit overpriced at $0.99/song. I still use AllOfMp3.com, the russian site that allows you to pay per MB versus song. I can get an entire album for $1.50. Does the artist still get paid. Yup, maybe not as much as in the states, but thats the record companies fault. Most artists get paid jack for their music anyways, and the ones that do get a decent royalty, don’t need it – ya hear me Britney? Everytime I hear about her wasting $300,000 on a fucking diamond necklace for her DOG, while unsigned hard working underground bands are working and touring their asses off just to try and sell a few records, It makes me just want to steal her music more (okay, so I don’t actually listen to Britney Spears – but you get the point).

In fact, I buy MORE music because I CAN get it for cheap. Example, I heard a song on the radio I liked. If I had went to iTunes music store, I would have just bought the one song, but instead I bought the whole album for $1.15 through AllOfMp3.com. Guess what? I liked it so much I went back and bout 2 more of their albums. And guess what? I bought 2 tickets to go see them in concert next month when they are in town. And guess what? ‘ll probably by a concert shirt. – You get where I’m going with this?

The band would probably have mad MAYBE $0.15 through iTunes Music Store. But instead, they may have only made $0.15 on the whole album through the russian site, BUT I bought 2 more and am going to spend more at the concert. AND THAT IS WHERE THE REAL MONEY IS FOR BANDS!

The bands that understand realize that they work for tips!

The record industry has raped the artist for years, and now that we’ve figured out a way to get around their scams – they are freaking out. GOOD!

BTW, I usually pay full price for local and independant music releases through indy labels and distributors.

Okay, the soapbox is official vacant now.

Geocaching and my Gecko!

I just received my very 1st GPS tracker last week from Edmunds Scientific and have to admit I was a little confused on what I was going to do with this, until a friend of mine turned me on to geocaching. OH SNAP! I have been geocaching non-stop since. I’m hooked. And what’s nice, is so is my entire family! We have found something that we can all do together and it actually involves the outdoors and hiking, which we already enjoyed. I have been ordering from Edmunds Scientific since I was a kid, and always loved the feeling of excitement when a package arrived from them. Now that I have kids, I see the same excitement in them. The nice thing is that they are also learning about science while having fun. Heck, my son sat for over an hour with the catalog pointing and announcing on every page, I’m gonna ask Santa for this!”, and, I’m gonna ask Santa for this!”. belive me, getting him to sit still for an hour for ANYTHING is an accomplishment and worth the price of the GPS! I opened the box of my Garmin gecko 201 GPS tracker and immediately noticed how small it was. In fact it was smaller than my cell phone. It came with a quick start guide that was easy to follow, and while BBQing some steaks I was up and running within 10 minutes. After spending the evening reading the manual and playing with it, I realized that although it was compact, it had all the features that the larger, more expensive models had, with the exception of a larger screen, which is still easy to read and even backlit. I would far rather have a small unit I can slip in my shirt pocket. It’s even waterproof for when I most likely dump it in the lake while bass fishing – It’s gonna happen! So this weekend the family and I went out and started hunting these geocaches, which if you’re not familiar with is basically, using billion-dollar technology to find Tupperware hidden in the woods. Although the kids think its “Treasure Hunting”, I was able to explain the whole concept of satellite triangulation, longitude and latitude, and waypoints. I think they might have actually understood some of it. Either way, they loved taking turns holding the GPS and tracking down the caches. It was simple enough for a 7 year old. The gecko 201 one of 3 in Garmins line of small waterproof basic handhelds, and is rugged with rubber side protectors and also has a PC connector available to store and upload waypoints from your computer – MAC Too! It claims to have an accuracy of up to 10ft., although I was not able to get any lower than 18ft. Battery life is great too. I’ve used it all weekend and have still to see the battery life meter dip below full. They claim 12 hours of use. Unit also has interactive games to teach you how to use the unit but I was able to learn with real life experiences, so I haven’t tried them yet. I can’t wait to use this with my Cub Scout den. I am their den leader and I plan on using this device to teach them about tracking while looking for “treasures”!

The 3 letters

When I was hired to run the IT department of a major company my predecessor left three letters in the desk that was now mine. Each letter was clearly labeled; System Failure #1, System Failure #2, System Failure #3. A post-it note was attached to the bundle of letters.

In case of a substantial system failure open the letters in order, once per failure, and they will help you through the problem.

I put the letters back in the desk and forgot about them.

About one year later we had a cascading server failure that left our corporate intranet and several important production servers off-line. While repairing the problem I remembered the letters. Curious, I opened the first letter.

“Blame me, your predecessor”

The day after we got the servers back up I was called in to my boss’s office to explain what happened and why were down for so long. Taking my cue from the letter I blamed my predecessor. My boss was satisfied with my answer and let me go.

About six months down the road we had another big failure. This time our primary database server went down and the secondary was having trouble dealing with the load. I had to put a lot of extra hours into getting them back up and we lost a few transactions due to the backup server not being able to function under the load.

Once again, I reached into that desk drawer and opened letter #2.

“Blame the equipment”

This time I lamented to the boss about how it wasn’t my fault. It was that backup server! If we had some good equipment to run on these things just would not happen. He was satisfied with my answer and I went back to work.

Things ran smoothly for the next 18 months. Then we got hit with a virus that somehow got past our firewall and wreacked havoc on our systems.

I opened the third letter.

“Write three letters”

- Author unknown.

Fun With Guns day at UM called off

Events allegedly planned to recruit students to the Republican Party at the University of Michigan have both Republicans and Democrats across the nation stunned. Morgan Wilkins, an independent contractor hired by the College Republican National Committee to recruit students to the party, was described as planning events such as “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day” and “Fun with Guns Day,” in an article written Tuesday by The Michigan Daily.

“Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day” would involve volunteers posing as illegal immigrants and hiding on campus while students try to find them for prizes. For the “Fun with Guns” activity, students would shoot cardboard cutouts of Democratic leaders with BB or paintball guns.

Read more here