Monthly Archives: July 2008

Late Night Flushings

24. Why do Flushometer valves “run on” after water pressure is restored?
Flushometer valves require a residual pressure to keep them closed. Many valve supply stops include a back check valve to keep the valve pressurized at all times. When pressure in the valve drops, the valve remains open until the running line pressure is high [...]

links for 2008-07-30

Bank Of America Lets Identity Thief Withdraw $40,000 In A Single Day
Thank God I don’t bank there.
(tags: whaddafuck corporatism)

Cool Tool: Strap-A-Handle
“I’ve since discovered a bunch of ways to use it to help eliminate carrying awkward-shaped items or items in bulk, including a PC tower and beach chairs. I also plan on using it to carry [...]

One of the Worst Stories in the World

I can say nothing about what follows. You need to read it; the world needs to read it. But it will be one of the hardest reads of your life, and it will haunt you.
“It was around nine o’clock,” Sumiah began. “Lessons had just started. All of a sudden, I heard the pounding [...]

links for 2008-07-26

As Seen By The Color Blind
*Really* interesting. Includes some websites and famous art altered to reflect various kinds of colorblindness.
(tags: interesting cool food4thought)

Anything that makes me laugh so many times in the space of a few minutes … =)
(tags: comics funny movies cute)

links for 2008-07-25

karjack: Deconstructing Dr. Horrible.
(tags: insightful cool geekery)

How to Make a Headless New System out of Your Old Mac Laptop
(tags: useful reference apple geekery)

Test

Test blog entry.

2001 Onion Joke on Bush Admin Eerily Accurate

On January 17, 2001, the Onion made a joke, as they usually do often. A young Republican President named George W. Bush was taking the Presidency. Goofing on his inauguration, they wrote an article entitled: “Bush: ‘Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over’“.
This article is extremely eerie. Because [...]

links for 2008-07-24

Four ways Google could destroy Digg
I hadn’t realized how many various things Google had acquired and then ignored. It’s interesting food for thought.
(tags: google interesting reading geekery)

Planet Wally: Wide World of Pranks: Wal-Mart Intercom Pranks
“Tornado coming, all employees to the changing room!”
(tags: funny)

best of craigslist : An Open Letter to Match.com Girls
Have to agree [...]

Felicia Day’s “Guild” Project

Okay, after melting over her in Dr. Horrible, I thought I’d catch her Web project “The Guild”:

Hate the theme song (it’s just annoying), love Felicia Day, humor’s a little dependent on the same conceit. But Episode 10 brought it home.

Match.Com and Disk Caches

I occasionally find I’ve found an insight repeated nowhere else on the Internet. It’s rare, but it happens.
Here’s a new one.
If you are on Match.com and the profile photographs aren’t displaying, check to see if your disk cache is disabled or otherwise screwed up. It seems that Match.com’s display of profile photographs is [...]

links for 2008-07-23

A subway conductor who writes remarkably well speaks to the emotional impact of running over a suicidal man.
(tags: subway horrific tragic sad)

“Chevrolet created a 20-foot billboard advertisement for the Aveo entirely out of one-pence coins in London’s New Oxford Street … “
“… which was stripped clean by passers in 30 minutes flat.” (Seriously.)
(tags: hysterical [...]

Inappropriate Soundtracks

Via Jason Kottke, the “inappropriate soundtracks” department — your purpose is to ruin a scene by adding an entirely wrong soundtrack to it.
The two that had me let out utter barks of laughter (the highest compliment, as it’s a from-the-gut surprise laugh) were Contact and Terminator 2.
This, however, was an amazing juxtaposition, and was quite [...]

Fortune Cookies

I’ve occasionally been coming up with maxims. The world’s far too overstuffed with them, but I’d like to keep them handy and collected — maybe to pass them on to a son or daughter, someday. (Some of these obviously wouldn’t be passed along at age eight, and there’s one I don’t think I’d [...]

My Reaction to “Doctor Horrible”

Okay. I’m going to put this behind a “more” tag to minimize possible spoilerhood.

links for 2008-07-17

Weather Bell
They used one of my photos. Neat.
(tags: chicago cool neat)

Grawlix

@#$%&?!!!!
Hoefler & Frere-Jones:
“‘What does one call the use of random non-alphabet characters to indicate cursing? It’s a universally understood device, and is applied in both graphic and textual settings. It is such a commonly accepted staple that I assumed it must already be defined and described — but apparently it’s not.’
“But it is! The term [...]

Quick Link Collection

Pledged not bound. The site’s throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but Obama’s definitely pissed me off with his FISA vote:

Jason Kottke, drawing parallels between a ‘95 Simpsons “Treehouse of Terror” episode and real life:
The “just don’t look” strategy works for more than advertising…it’s effective in any situation where someone or something runs [...]

links for 2008-07-16

Party laser blinds Russian ravers
Aw, man, that sucks. 80%+ eyesight loss for a lot of them.
(tags: tragic sad)

Al Dente: My Five Favorite Fictional Foods
I’m with him on dehydration/rehydration technology.
(tags: scifi interesting funny)

I Am So Starving vs. I Am So Starving | The Onion
Not funny. But I don’t think it really was supposed to. [...]

links for 2008-07-15

Gmail Superstars
“If you want to find the messages that have a certain kind of star, use one of the following queries … “
(tags: reference useful gmail google)

links for 2008-07-14

How to extract and convert the audio from a DVD using OS X
(tags: reference apple useful cool)

5 New Firefox Features That You Probably Didn’t Know About
Bwa ha ha ha …
(tags: funny firefox cute)

Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture
(tags: insightful)

Interesting …

Religious interpretations of the Big Bang theory.

TSA Forbids Plane Pilot from Keeping His Airline-Issued Dinner Knife

Perhaps one of the most “TSA acts by senseless routine” stories I’ve read thus far, from Salon’s “Ask the Pilot” columnist:
“But sir, how can it not be allowed when it’s the same knife they give you on the plane!”
“Those are the rules.”
“That’s impossible. Can I please speak to a supervisor?”
“I am the supervisor.”
There are those [...]

Firefly “Best Day Ever” YTMNDs

Just because the meme is funny to me and I’m listening to “Firefly” and I occasionally look for these links: Jayne’s Best Day Ever and Not Mal’s Best Day Ever.

Dubya: “Woo-Hoo! We’re Number 1! We’re Number 1!”

Okay. Even for George W. Bush, this is really major what. the. bloody. fuck?! territory:
The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”
He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of [...]

links for 2008-07-11

Google Images in Real Life: Cute Idea.
Making a Google Images page with the thumbnails cut out a viewfinder in front of your real life.
(tags: images funny google cute)

Love it! Cowboy hard hats.
(tags: bwahahaha funny cool weird)

links for 2008-07-10

Teaching Your Kids the REAL Truths of Life
(tags: funny food4thought cute images)

links for 2008-07-09

How it turned out
*sniffle* waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah …
(tags: sad powerful amazing cute nostalgia)

links for 2008-07-08

Over is Right, Under is Wrong
(tags: funny insightful)

Ron Mueck: Hyper-Realist Sculptor
Absolutely amazing sculptures. Creepy as fuck, but absolutely amazing.
(tags: amazing cool pictures art)

What Happens To Your Body If You Drink A Coke Right Now?
(tags: reference health fascinating)

5 Weird And Hilarious Google Search Results
No. 5 is hilarious.
(tags: funny cute)

San Francisco to vote on George W [...]

links for 2008-07-04

OmniFocus URI Handler
(tags: reference apple)

Creeeeepy. Funnnnny.

Jesus Crud, I could …
OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets
… feed 21 cannibals.

links for 2008-07-01

macosxhints.com - 10.5: Disable shadow in screen window captures
“defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true”
(tags: reference useful apple)

Ironic Sans: Idea: Electric Outlet 2.0
Good idea.
(tags: reference interesting food4thought)

Boing Boing has dipped into its archives and deleted every post about Violet Blue it ever wrote.
Interesting, and more than a little troublesome. There’s anecdotal linkage from blog coverage [...]