Goodbye, Hedley Lamarr. Here’s a brief primer.

Date posted: May 29, 2008 | Filed under humor, shortlinks | Comments Off on Harvey Korman, RIP

Coffee Terrorism. Anyone who thinks that wearing a kaffiyeh promotes terrorism really just needs to die. Personally, I find Rachael Ray’s carnivorous Joker grin more frightening than a scarf.

Date posted: May 29, 2008 | Filed under politics, shortlinks | Comments Off on Coffee Terrorism

This has been around since 2004, but I’ll post it here. The Branding of Polaroid is a neat, if choppily written website by the man who was charged with rebranding a stale product line in the face of the Kodak juggernaut. It’s fascinating on many levels, and clear parallels can be drawn to modern-day Apple/Microsoft packaging.

Date posted: May 23, 2008 | Filed under design, shortlinks | Comments Off on The Branding of Polaroid

I just found a very interesting podcast through iTunes called Beginning Guitar 101 (podcast link) which has four-minute video tutorials for the beginning student. From what I’ve looked at so far, the tutorials start out with some basic fingerings, go over basic chords, chord fills, and then chord transitions. I’ve not been keeping up with my practice, sadly, but this is something I’m going to put on my iPhone for downtime minutes.

Date posted: May 22, 2008 | Filed under music, shortlinks | Comments Off on Learning Guitar by Podcast

The Most Curious Thing – Errol Morris wonders how the girl in the Abu Ghraib picture could be smiling, and why. This is an outstanding article.

Date posted: May 21, 2008 | Filed under life, shortlinks | Comments Off on Errol Morris and Abu Ghraib

From the New York Times: Doctors Say ‘I’m Sorry’ Before ‘See You in Court’. Apparently admitting a mistake actually decreases the chance a malpractice suit will be filed. Go figure.

Date posted: May 19, 2008 | Filed under humor, shortlinks | Comments Off on Apologizing cuts malpractice costs

Laptop travel security Apparently, some brainless judge decided it was OK to allow broad, warrantless searches of laptops upon entering and exiting the U.S. Here are some tips for safer, private travel.

Date posted: May 15, 2008 | Filed under shortlinks, travel | Comments Off on Laptop searches

XBMC Turns Your Mac into the Ultimate Media Center. Hm, this looks really interesting…

Date posted: May 12, 2008 | Filed under projects, shortlinks | Comments Off on XBMC Media Center

Because we’re expecting soon, I’m looking at inexpensive camcorders—not for the delivery room, but for the wonderful days afterwards. The Panasonic PV-GS320 is MiniDV-based, has 3CCDs, a Leica F/1.8 lens with 10x optical zoom, 1/25-1/8000 shutter speeds, and optical image stabilization. All that for under $400.

Date posted: May 10, 2008 | Filed under flickr, shortlinks | Comments Off on Panasonic PV-GS320

Nixie tube clocks. Me want, bad.

Date posted: May 7, 2008 | Filed under design, shortlinks | Comments Off on Nixie tube clocks