But at the Market, isn't it Spelled "McIntosh"?

I now has a Macbook. w3rd!
To anyone who has tried them both:  I ask whether you prefer Word 2008 or iWork's Pages '08?  Same goes, to a lesser extent, for the other Office vs iWorks components.

Leopard rocks, so much so that it is a worthy point of procrastination to mention it at midnight when I still have a paper left to write....

Addendum:

After using Pages (iWork’s wordprocessor) some more, I have to say, it’s nice, but because it uses it’s own format, I find myself still saving in .DOC format a lot in order to port my files between systems, and saving to other formats sucks.

If you save as a Word .DOC…

1. It’s not just another possible format to select in the save dialog… oh no. You’re not saving the file, apparently, you’re exporting it. Different rules apply, and you can’t just hit option-S.


2. I don’t think it does autosaves to DOC format.


3. Even when you haven’t modified the file, it say that the file has changed, and ask you to save it again. Gets very annoying when you just saved it. This is another reason I think it doesn’t autosave.

So basically it treats DOC as an alien format, and different rules apply. Very similar to Photoshop’s “Save a Copy” option.

Survey: Silent Discos

Would you ever go to one?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/Rxr-FSRhEjc&]

Adultswim Videos

Wordpress won't let me embed the videos dammit:

Aqua Teen Hunger Force:
http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a25c392145e74420114604d869b0022
http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a25c39216e887be0116ea2f0139000a

Robot Chicken: Star Wars
http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a25c392132b05a201132b0f8750001c
http://www.adultswim.com/video/?episodeID=8a25c392132b05a201132b9e01d5006e

Adulterated Cookies

A friend was telling me yesterday that nowadays, in an effort to be more responsible, they've gone and bastardized the Sesame Street that we all grew up with. The worst case of this is that now Cookie Monster doesn't wolf down his favorite snack like he used to. Now he sings "Cookies are a Sometimes Food"

Sometimes is now!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4432415.stm

98+

I was watching an old Daily Show and came across this and thought it was worth repeating.

"We share 98.5 percent of our DNA with chimps.
The other 1.5% ? Well, that's why we kill each other."

However, I have to point out that the exact percentage of common DNA is debated, especially when you take introns and 'junk' DNA into account. Oh, and chimps can be pretty mean, cannibalistic little buggers, so there's that as well.

Web+Log = Annoying Neologism

I've been wondering this for a while now, going back to the very start of the blogging movement, when I had a close friend with a publicly accessible blog. I can understand personal blogs where access is restricted just to friends, and I can understand non-personal blogs (tech, politics, etc), but I'd like to know why the personal, publicly viewable blogs/journals are attractive to those who use them. Anyone care to elucidate the matter for me?

Interesting Satellite Imagery

Apparently in the 70's, and even before that, some people thought it would be smart to throw tires into the ocean to build reefs. This happened at Fort Lauderdale. Now, they did this without any research or test runs to back up the claim that coral and other animals would be able to colonize the tire reef. I'm sure they said something along the lines of "This is such a brilliant idea, how could anything ever go wrong?"






"The steel clips used on the straps holding the bundles of tires together have melted away, and loose tires are scouring the sea bottom of any life. Tires are washing up on beaches and blocking the growth of a real coral reef further down the shore."

The tires kill just about everything on the ocean floor, and are costing a mint to clean up. See the pics and satellite images at www.Sprol.com

Valentine's Day Picts

My last chance to post something contemporaneous for V-day (no, not the WWII one). The first shows 1,000 candles in front of Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse (Yokohama, Japan) as part of a promo event. Neat. I wish I had a high res picture of that, without all the annoying people in the way as well.



The second one is sweet: a touching reminder of the universality of love and the affirmation that although there may seem to be a fundamental rift between Western and Muslim culture, there are still commonalities. And that's totally a man under that burka.

Widescreen Goodies

It's really hard to find high resolution (1280 and above) wallpaper, let alone in widescreen. Those of you with 1920x1200 displays feel my pain. I've gotten some compliments on my choices of backdrops, so I thought I would share a few of my sources. Check them out, if, like me, you are blessed with 24 inches.

Plasmadesign.co.uk

My favorite. He has some free ones, but the main stuff you have to pay for with a nominal fee ($10), that gets you lifetime access to the site. New picts are periodically added.

deviantART

What else can I say? Possibly the best repository on the web. Link to widescreen section Warning: I can't seem to find any that go beyond 1400x900. Might be a limitation imposed by the site.

HDR Walls

They have a nice collection of High Dynamic Range photos, at high resolutions.  It involves shooting multiple times, with different exposures, and layering them to create dramatic lighting effects and saturation.  Not all of them are high-def.  But some go up to 1920x1200.

Babes & Wallpapers

Some good images and wallpaper (not all of which are widescreen) ripped from various parts of the Interwebs. Oh, and there are some pretty women to look at too.

Addendum: Although not widescreen (or highres, they max out at 1600x1200) this site has excellent wallpaper: http://www.salvatorescandurra.com/wallpapers/

Tanuki

There's a famous children's song in Japan,

Tan-tan-tanuki no kintama wa
kaze mo nai no ni:
"bu-ra" "bu-ra"

It roughly translates to "Look at the tanuki's balls. There's no wind, but they're still swinging" (bu-ra is the sound it makes). This is really the only kids song I know in Japanese, but it's all I need!

Tanuki (Nyctereutes procyonoides), commonly translated as "racoon dog", is a canid with a build that resembles a Welsh corgie, and markings that resemble a badger or racoon. Their role in Japanese folklore is pretty similar to that of kitsune ("foxes") in that they are shape shifting tricksters.

For an excellent (though animated) look at them, I recommend Heisei Tanuki Gassen Pon Poko (or just "Pom Poko"), by Studio Ghibli.

There are tanuki statues everywhere in Japan. They're often outside of businesses/restaurants, as they are for luck I believe. Here are some of the ones I've captured.

Visual Design Inspired Videos

Found a bunch of awesome videos today. Here are a couple of them. I particularly love the Hours music video.

The Hours, "Ali in the Jungle". Video by Jonas Odell

Via MotionGraphics

The War

via WeMakeItGood.com

MagnetoSphere by Trentemoller

via flight404

Tragedy of the Commons - Smurfenomics

The tragedy of the commons explains what happens when natural resources are exploited by one party to the detriment of all others. The free market dictates that something that is owned by no one, will have it's price set by the market. However this is pretty flawed. The reason for it is explained here... with Smurfs. Smurf this link.

"The fact that Smurfs don’t belong to anybody means they belong to everybody"

Colbert Report's Better Know a Lobbyist Interview

from 02-06-08

Colbert: What is the HRC?
Joe Solmonese: The Human Rights Campaign
Colbert: I thought it was the Homosexual Rights campaign
Solmonese: No, "Human Rights Campaign"
Colbert: I thought you worked for homosexual rights.
Solmonese: We do, but HRC is the "Human Rights Campaign."
Colbert: Are you saying that only homosexuals are humans and that straight people aren't humans? That's what you're implying with that name.
Solmonese: No, we're implying that gay rights are human rights.
Colbert: Well, aren't some people more human than others?
Solmonese: No.
Colbert: I'm straight, I can make other humans. Doesn't that give me a leg up?
Solmonese: No. I'm gay, I can make other humans too.
Colbert: But you choose not to -- so you've chosen not to be human.
Solmonese: No, I've chosen not to make other humans.
Colbert: So, if I use birth control, you're saying that makes me gay?
Solmonese: <thinks for a moment> ... Good question.

Vote Whichever Way Your Heart Desires. Just Vote.

If you don't vote, Stalin, Kim Jong-Il, and Hitler will break into your house and eat your kittens. It's true!

Nifty Technology Demos

A new concept in interactive lighting from Philips


By far the coolest Wii hack/VR demo I've seen. Simple, practical, and powerful.

Foray into the blogosphere

I told myself I would never do this but you know what they say about rules, and the predestined violation of said rules.