from www.ussoccer.com

Today USA had a match with Algeria that would determine whether they stayed in the FIFA World Cup or not. I'm not usually a big sports person, but I played soccer for a good part of my childhood and it's probably my favorite team sport, shortly followed by curling (don't judge... either know curling is awesome, or else you've never watched a full match). The reason I'm blogging about this match is that it was one of the most immensely frustrating yet ultimately rewarding matches I've seen in a long time. I'll spare you the play by play, and cut to the meat of it.

Twenty minutes into the first half, USA player Clint Dempsey scored a goal that was nullified because the refs called him for being offside, however instant replay shows it was valid. Over the next 70 minutes, neither side scored a goal, although there were some close calls and the tension was incredible. After the 90 minutes of the match were up, play was extended for stoppage time (time lost during substitutions, injuries, etc). One minute into stoppage time, Landon Donovan took a shot, was blocked, and on the rebound slammed it into the net. The stadium went apeshit, and the game was over. After being robbed a goal, and for the rest of the match feeling like all hope was lost, that one point felt like breathing for the first time.

Go Team USA.

Garfield Minus Garfield consistently makes me do a literal LOL (as opposed to the false LOL where we are actually laughing inside or LI). Underneath the humor, however, is a mixture of sadder emotions. View at least several strips and you may notice it becomes an intensely surreal experience, like the act of removing Garfield peels back a bright and happy layer exposing the intensely lonely life of a desparate, bi-polar middle-aged bachelor.

Dan Walsh has revealed the deeper side of Jim Davis' art, a side that not even Davis himself realized knew was coming through his work. Walsh has shown us it's not always about a silly hedonistic cat making a straight man of his owner. It's about the human condition.

I am reminded of a powerfully insightful quote by the great Robert Anson Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land; one that makes me tear up almost every time I recall it:

I’ve found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much... because it’s the only thing that’ll make it stop hurting.

Garfield Minus Garfield makes us laugh because the loneliness and strangeness of Jon Arbuckle's life hurts us, and may even strike something personal in our own lives.

It's funny and it's brilliant, and you should go read some the next time you have a spare moment.

If you're like me... then you really need some help, dude. But kidding and warped sense of humor aside, if you're like me then you a) love internet memes, and b) cannot make it to ROFLCON 2008 *ARRGGG*!

Fear not, dear friends, for you needn't An Hero nor sit at home alone in the dark all weekend. Instead, you can sit at home alone on the internet, watching live footage and updates and picture from ROFLCON all weekend!!!1SHIFT How fun?

Sauces include live video from ustream, a flickr pool, twitters, and bright kite. So as not to whore out other's hard work, go to roflcon.org for the links to these delicious little media morsels.

I'll be on most of these services as euicho, on and off over the weekend. If you see me on there, say hi!

Subject: she has already gone to hospital...

Hello, [name deleted].

Listen to me carefully, i don't know what your name is, but i'll find you
and i'll cripple you, because this is you who tempted her!!!
She has already gone to hospital, you're next, this is evidence:
[URL deleted as it is some dangerous russian site]

On April 4, 2008 many web communities, originating with Fark.com, urged their readers to vote "Never Gonna Give You Up" for the 8th inning sing-along at Shea Stadium for the New York Mets season. The Mets posted a web poll to select a song, and left a blank field for write ins.

On April 7, 2008 the Mets organization announced "Never Gonna Give You Up" as the winner with more than 5 million votes. A run off between six songs will be played at Shea Stadium for the next six games starting with "Never Gonna Give You Up" on April 8, 2008.

On April 8, 2008 Mets and their fans were sucessfully Rick Roll'd during the Middle of the 8th inning. Though there were varying emotions about the song at Shea Stadium, the web communities behind Rick Rolling were shocked that it actually worked if one for that one time and coining this Rick Roll Epic even if it was for only one day.

The rick-roll, like a good 80% of all other hilarious memes on the internet, cometh from teh 4chan.

If you don't know what 4chan is, you're lucky. It is the asshole of the internet. Seriously, don't google it. Don't... I mean it. Okay, if you MUST, read this [NSFW]:.

Anyway, 4chan is an image board where immature boys, racists, the occasional camwhore, and pervs all go to anonymously discuss all sorts of terrible things. If you've ever seen The Aristocrats or know what The Aristocrats is, its pretty much that in web form.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the fact that many unsavory characters roam this website, many memes originate from this pit of despair. The ORLY owl, for example (ORLY came from somethingaweful forums, but not the owl) and all the great 300 macros [NSFW] like "I FORGET WHERE WE ARE DINING TONIGHT" came from 4chan, to name two mild examples.

Now, the Rick-roll is actually the successor to a much less funny trap called the Duckroll, in which a link that seems to point to a post earlier in a thread instead takes you to a video of a duck on wheels (duck + roll = duckroll) with a trippy song. Cute, I know, but not that funny really.

Anon (you do know "Anon" aka "Anonymous" comes from 4chan, don't you? Yes THAT Anon) took this idea and ran with it, creating something far more infectious by using the amazing 80's gem "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. Much funnier than a duck on wheels. This became the Rick-roll, and now you know where the "roll" comes from! Now you may go off and rick-roll your friends, smug in the fact that you know the origins of the Rick-roll.

You can see all his videos on his user page.

Johnny AKA John Nells also has some great videos on youtube, including a bunch of amazing covers. One of the best Pumpkins covers on youtube is his one of Today, but all of them are really great. Go check them out on his user page. He also has a project called The Blue Field Entoptic Phenomenon. Check it out on myspace!

I hope I'm not too old for you all to remember Oregon Trail, because this shirt is awesome. Its sad to think that the game was about 14 years old when I started playing it in middle school computer class.

If you'll humor me, I'd like to give you a little glimps into the hectic and wild childhood I had. Back when Jalbey, Doody, Matty B. and I spent a ton of time hanging out at Jalb's house, I believe circa 1998-99, Jalbey and Doody brought up the idea of doing a weekly internet radio show to us. As Doody says, "It started when Jalb and I actually got the idea from a bored night when we just spoke into a mic on his old stereo and played music and recorded it onto a tape, and we loved doing it."

Also at the time we were very into Virtual Aviation, and listened to VANF (Virtual Airlines News Flash a VA talk radio show hosted by Gary Kulash) fairly regularly. When they brought the idea up to the rest of us I thought of how much I liked VANF and eagerly joined in.

Anyway, a couple of mic splitters and radio shack mic's later we were all sitting around Jalb's computer doing our first 2 hour show, deciding on the title "The Maniacs Weekly Show" because we were a pretty crazy bunch EDIT: and, being from Maine, we derived "Maniacs" from "Maine-iacs". Maniacs was a fitting name. At times the show was mayhem, especially when 4 of us were doing the show while the other 6 or so were setting off firecrackers and wrestling, we played a lot of unlicensed music and were poorly organized, which made for a hectic but really interesting show, but we didn't really care either way because TMWS has always been about us having fun and staying close more than it is about making a professional-grade radio show. We would record the show while steaming it live with real producer, and would put archives of the show on our friend Jason's now defunct website. You can still view the old xMBJx.com website here, and the OLD xMBJx.com/TMWS website here. Though the show links and images dont work, fear not, for we have *some* of the old shows --not all, but some-- and we will release them in part or whole in due time.

TMWS soon began to grow and evolve. We eventually created a studio out of Jalbey's spare bedroom with every spare blanket we could find nailed onto the walls to deaden echoes and had a couch for the hosts and a desk facing that with Jalbey at the control board doing head hosting dutys. Our other friends including but not limited to Jesse, Trevor, Zach, Jason, and Johnny soon became regulars to the show as well. It was a lot of work keeping us on track so we started rotating lead host duty every few shows. The format was pretty much how it is now, catching up, news, music, random segments, and discussion topics. We used to have a lot more random segments and skits, and I used to play off-the-wall song covers, like my famous and very Un-PC "Mongoloid" version of Wheatus' "Teenage Dirtbag". As they say on 4chan, it was made of Win and Awesome.

Eventually we all graduated from high school and went to college, and besides a few scant holiday reunion shows, there were never enough of us to do one. The show faded from memory and the internet. This was a sad and lonely period in TMWS history.

After a few years of life happening, as it does best, some of us got to talking about how much we missed the show and wanted to start it back up. We all discussed it, and decided to find a voice chat client and go for it. We got ourselves a show outline page and refined the show format, really just making it less of a suggestion. Season 3 came to being as a podcast, because thats all the rage, and more importantly it's an amazing way to both distribute shows and build a fan base. We started strong with a few good shows but soon faltered, missing some shows. Jalbey and Doody had got very busy with work, and B and I got overwhelmed with school, so we took a slight break to regroup.

Knowing we love the show too much to let it go, we've pledged our commitment and hit the ground running with Season 4 of The Maniacs Weekly Show. We have a great time doing the show, and have been told its very entertaining. We hope you think so as well. If you must define TMWS, it is a Tech/Humor podcast. We provide you The tech news with a twist of humor and fun. Not dry like those other tech podcasts, we give you a laugh and a good time. Its not all tech, however, as we often discuss political/moral/sociological issues that we feel you need to know about.

So with that said, we'd love for you to listen to the show and tell us what you think! Episode 403 is up at tmws.euicho.com, and soon you'll be able to listen to a sampler to give you a taste of what TMWS is all about. Please give us a shot, and let us know how to improve if you hate it, or let us now what you like if you enjoy it!

You can check out The Maniacs Weekly Show at tmws.euicho.com, and can subscribe to our podcast there in itunes, odeo, or any other program/service you want, or just download the mp3 file. At any user's request we will also provide the podcast in any format you wish, just drop us a line at tmwshow@gmail.com. You can also leave us a voicemail to play on the show at (518) 631-4668.

Its a Bike Messenger race in NYC, and there are some insane squeezes and close calls. Notice the "skitching" (grabbing onto a moving car so they can pull you along) at about 3:10. And here I used to think motorcyclists had a death wish!

Have you ever had something trigger a memory or connection in your hind-brain, but it wouldn't come to the surface? Tonight Amme was watching VH1 and that insufferable show "I Love New York" came on. If you're fortunate enough to have never seen this show, its about this mentally unstable girl (nicknamed 'New York') and her quest for a "man", with different men fighting over her. Think "Jerry Springer" meets "The Bachelorette" and you pretty much have the idea. Anyway, whenever I saw 'New York' on television, something would start nagging me. What was it? I couldn't figure it out. I vaguely thought it was something to do with her resemblance to someone, possibly about her massive, titanic, eyebrows and eyelashes. Yet unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, it would pass as soon as I changed the channel.

Then tonight, out of the clear blue, it hit me. My high school teacher Mr. Willey would call it a "Wow Moment". That instant when something finally clicks into place, like the key piece in a huge puzzle that lets you step back and comprehend the whole picture. Tonight I had my wow moment, and finally realized who "New York looked like:

Thats right, Janice, from "Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem" the Muppet Band. The resemblance goes beyond uncanny to almost eerie, while still maintaining its hilarity. Talk about a person looking like a caricature.
I do hope you fall to the floor in hysterics when you see this shouting "OMG! Thats so true!" Because even as I made these pictures, I was.

I was on twitter and read the following on the public timeline (a list of all public updates):

"the song 'so much' by spill canvas is amazing"

I thought to myself, "I wonder what that song sounds like."

Now, when I was younger I'd have to go to the record store and buy it to find out if I even liked the band. Today, instead, I went here, which brought me here, which gave me the song.

Three hops to sample the full song. And if I like it, I can buy the album on iTunes.

Don't ever take this wonderful thing for granted, because it could be destroyed as fast as it came into being.

PS: Its a very good song. You can tell when a person feels real love. I know, because I feel it too.

The URI string could get very large very fast, however, so the converter limits you to 51200 bytes. It also takes a little finagling once the converter spits it out, as you have to take out the single-quotes, tabs, plus signs, and carriage returns. This is done pretty easily with a RegExp search-and-replace for: '*' (replacing it with nothing). once you do that, you have to strip off some bits from the beginning and end, so it looks like this: Me.

Fun stuff!

This is a little old, but I found it quite interesting:
An amusing exercise

It is a discussion thread over at Typophile about what chat shorthand (lol, wtf, rofl) might look like as symbols, much as 'at' has '@', or 'and' has '&'. Though most chat shorthands are acronyms instead of single words, it is still a very neat topic with some great ideas. I prefer the one pictured to the right of this post for LOL, submitted by gmckenzi.

I also have been pondering a discussion I had with someone at work about how we do not *usually* laugh literally "out loud" when we type lol, or actually fall out of our chairs when we type rofl (how would we type it if we were?), although there have been times when it has happened. Instead, maybe we should use an alternative, and leave LOL for more hilarious outbursts. You could just take the acronym of out, producing LIL (Laughing In Loud) but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, plus it looks like an abbreviation of little.

Perhaps LI or LIW, for Laughing InWardly, would work. Or we could spark a whole new term like TVF (Thats Very Funny) as in "That's very funny, a fly marrying a bumble bee... I TOLD YOU I'D SHOOT! BUT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE ME! WHYYYYYYYY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME?!?!". God I love that show.

In lieu of LOL, I tend to use "heh" when I find something funny, and "heheheheh" when it is funnier still. Note that I mean this as "heh heh heh", as in a chuckle, as opposed to "he he he", a feminine giggle...

So what do you all think? Do you like LIL, LIW, TVF? Create your own and post them here. I would love to hear your input on this!

PS: *bonus points for a symbolic for "OMG WTF BBQ" that is not just letters run together.

Okay... This is too hilarious to not post:

Season Shot, the environmentally friendly bird shot that kills with flavor.

Here's the gist: It's a rifle round that has a tightly-packed mass of seasonings taking the place of lead shot. When you cook the bird, the seasonings melt into it, and if you miss, its biodegradable, so its better for the environment. The things people think up are just wild sometimes.

It hasn't come out yet, but it has a fledgling site, albeit one that skews slightly to the left in firefox *tisk tisk*, and the concept is really great, if your a hunter that is. I used to hunt birds many years ago, now I just go fishing with Amme. At least if you do hunt with this and are a bad shot, you're helping the environment.

I've always been a truly firm believer that everyone has an evil (or nice) twin, or maybe just a doppleganger. Whatever their disposition, this photography project by francois brunelle definately confirms my suspicions. The cool thing is that these are only some US/UK look-alikes. Imagine how many there are in the whole world!

Go to his website (www.francoisbrunelle.com) to see these freaky black and white photos. You can also read up on some of the details behind these coincidences... if you can call them that *cough*boysfrombrazil*cough*.

I don't recall how I came across Moo -- It must have been either Nyrath or del.icio.us/popular -- but in any case, come across it I did.

Do you like business cards? Meh, boring right? Do you love Flickr and your photos? Sure, we all do. Why doesn't someone combine the two? Moo did. They're a wonderful little printing company that currently offers a product called MiniCards.

MiniCards aren't strictly business cards, they're much smaller and more creative. They're more like little calling cards or "hey want a cool little fun snippet of one of my favorite photos?" cards. I plan on using them to promote my photo sales or just to give away to friends that ask for my email/hompage address.

Moo uses Flickr to get your photos. You click a link and it brings you to the Flickr security page that asks whether you trust Moo. Its ok, you can trust Moo. Once thats done you'll jump back to the MiniCards page where it asks you which photos you want to turn into cards. I got in on the 10 free cards to Flickr Pro members promotion (sorry, they ended the promotion after 10,000 packs) but you normally buy a 100 pack for $20. Once you've selected your photos you just crop them a little and tell them what to put on the backs (colors, fonts, name, contact details, whatever you want).

These little cards are as beautiful as they are functional. I can't wait to show them off! Check out my 10 pack and the little holder they came in on my flickr (also check the Moo pool), and go check out Moo's MiniCards too. If you don't have a flickr account, you really should get one anyway, but thats for another post.

PS: keep in mind that more Mpx will get you closer to an analog quality, but it is nowhere near close at present.

I remember waking up early to catch all of my favorite shows, but didn't actually remember the titles of many of them. At least not until I stumbled onto this little gem:
Saturday Morning TV Schedules of the 90s.

This site has a lineup of Saturday Moring Shows for NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX, grouped by year (Spring/Fall), and it's sure to bring back memories. I think I started watching TV around 1988, so if you're older than I am, be sure to check out 80s Saturdays and 70s Saturdays.

Just because this is my blog, here are my top 5 favorite Saturday morning shows:

1. Jim Henson's Muppet Babies
2. Scooby Doo
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
4. Garfield and Friends
5. Reboot (first completely computer animated TV series, and well done at that!)

I personally believe things started going south around 1995, for Saturday Morning shows anyway, and I not gett all my cartoonage on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. What were you're favorites?

It was a really straight-forward process, and only took about 10 minutes. You should definately try it out, because its just plain rad to chat with everyone via Google Talk!

BTW: Even if you don't do this, you should consider using Google Talk anyway, especially if you want free long-distance calls via computer (think Skype, but easier and googley).

Whilst looking through some old un-labeled cds, I came across a little gem I filmed with my friends winter of 2003 and edited into a trailer winter of 2004. Now here, winter of 2005, it seems apropriate I share it with the world.

You can view it in an embedded windows media player viewer here: Embedded WMV Player, but I warn you, It has given some people some trouble (as it may not be a standards compliant activeX control.

Instead, you can direct download the trailer in these formats:

• Divx (9.69MB @ 512x384)
• RM *double shiver* (2.86MB @ 640x480). I suggest Real Alternative player for Windows (Linux and Mac users likely already have a good player).
• WMV (6.72MB @ 400x300). I suggest Media Player Classic for Windows systems (again, Linux and Mac users probably have a player yet).

Loiter is a mockumentary about an underground movement of loiterers that tries to understand what it is all about and why they do it. There are a couple minor tweaks I would like to make to the end of this, as the music just fades out at the end, but I no longer have the source footage so there's that. I hope you enjoy.

Even the ocassional imbiber should have heard of Absinthe. Sometimes called the "green fairy", it is a 140-proof green liqueur made from fennel, anise, and wormwood leaves. Absinthe dates back to 1792, but has been banned in the US and many other countries for almost 100 years.

Known for its alleged ability to induce a unique state of mind, appart from a regular alcoholic intoxication, absinthe has been consumed by such writers and artists as Baudelaire, Picasso Rimbaud, Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, and Van Gogh.

The main reason for banning absinthe was the fact that it contains an ingredient called thujon, which is poisionous. The irony of this is, drumroll please... all alcohol is a poison!!! However, that is not the point. The point is that it has never been proven that there is enough thujon in absinthe to hurt you at all, despite the terrible accusations that have plagued it for so long...

Enter Ted Breaux, water sample tester by day, absinthe aficionado by night. Breaux used the gas chromatography-mass spectrometers in the lab of his company, Environmental Analytical Solutions Inc., to not only discern whether the drink was poisionout, but also to unlock what exactly goes into good absinthe, and how to make it.

Ted Breaux has contributed a great deal to the modern revivival of *true* absinthe, and I think everyone should read this great article about it and him, at wired.com.

Breaux is the creator of Lucid brand absinthe, which in 2006 became the first genuine absinthe to gain approval for legal distribution in the U.S. since 1912.

I personally have not consumed alcohol in at least 6 years, because I enjoy being sXe (to learn more about sXe, or straght-edge, go here and search for "Subject: 1. About straight-edge") and frankly, I could be dangerous on alcohol (ask Amme or any of my friends about that!), but that doesn't mean I demonize alcohol, or those who drink it. Much the opposite, I am very interested in the history of some alcohols, especially one as unique and infamous as absinthe. So go there and learn a little something. Remember, "If you haven't learned anything new today, the day is lost..."

Updated:
See also:
www.wormwoodsociety.org
Absinthe Party - WOMBAT 3 on Flickr by Hiku
There's now a Wikipedia article on Lucid.

When it comes to managing my life and all the random thoughts and tasks I have that fill it, I have many ways I have tried and new ones I am currently trying.

For example, in the past I have...

• written reminders on the back of my hand (for most of my life)
• written notes on slips of paper and put them in different pockets
• put post-it notes around my work area and in my wallet

All of these have their faults. I never look at the back of my hand (I rarely wear a watch, which would facilitate this), I never remember to check my pockets to look for slips of paper (maybe I should write "check pockets" on the back of my hand!), and I either don't bring post-it notes with me, or never check my wallet for them.

While GTD is a bit too involved for my taste (most of my tasks are very quick ones), I am trying alternate methods to help me remember things to do.

My current experiments include:

• A TiddlyWiki To Do list
• My good ole' PDA for school related To Do and Assignment stuff
• The Hipster PDA (which is currently working out wonderfully)

And my latest fancy, Remember The Milk.

Remember The Milk is a free, online to-do list managing aplication. It allows multiple lists, is user friendly (set a date as "next Tuesday" or "in two weeks" or "friday 5pm"), has note storage, and will msg you on AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, MSN, or mobile phone when your tasks are due!

Accessability:

I like the fact that RTM is accessable. It can reach you many ways (listed above), and you can either add tasks on the website or just email a new one to your list.

As far as viewing your lists, you can print them (to add to a weekly planner, or just as a reminder), access them with iCal or any app that supports the iCal format, or you can subscribe to Atom feeds of your lists.

A Brief Overview:

RTM has an attractive UI that is easy to use. Once logged in, an overview section is shown. There you can see tasks due Today, Tomorrow, and ones that are Overdue. To manage your tasks, click the "Continue to Tasks" button.

Here, your lists are shown on the left hand side of the screen. Default lists (Inbox, Personal, Study, Work, Sent) are made, but you can add, rename, or delete lists at you see fit.
To add a task just click "Add Task" and type in a description/name of the task. To set things like the due date, whether to repeat, time estimate, or add notes, just click the appropriate icon in the box on the right-hand side of the screen.

When you've finished a task, click on that task and hit the "Complete" button. If you need just one more day, hit the "Postpone" button to procrastinate one more day before being reminded to finish it.

I'm no expert, as I've just started using it, but it looks like a really cool way to track todo lists. I'll use it for a while and update on it in a few weeks.

Rioting broke out in France's suburbs 11 days ago, and is still going strong, spreading to at least 300 towns. Gangs of people are throwing Molotov cocktails into shops and commercial buildings, setting dumpsters on fire, as well as cars: 250, then 315, 500, and now, tonight, it has reached new heights with a total of 1400 cars set ablaze, and the injury of 30 policemen.

Why? Why are these people destroying their towns? Some blame it on "civil unrest". Some on blame it on a generation of immigrant's children feeling a lack of identity. I have a better name for it:
Zombies.

Who hasn't seen Dawn of the dead, or any other George Romero movie? Public officials always try to rationalize it as "rioting". "Eating human flesh? No no, they were merely attacking people by using their teeth and hands."

Don't be fooled, though. What else could cause a "riot" to spread to 300 towns and suburbs? Would a rioter run miles between towns to find some people and say "Hey man, we're rioting across the country, come join in!" or is it more likely that someone has infected his neighbour who in turn infected his neighbour who in turn infected his neighbour, ad infinitum?

Its spreading, don't be caught off guard.

Back in April Kuro5hin ran a great article entitled How to Survive a Zombie Attack .
I suggest you all read it, now!

Initial preparations incliude:

First, get to know the guy in town who bought a pallet of Spam to survive Y2K. He probably still has a ton of that stuff around, and knows all the good hiding places.

Next, scout out all the big box retailers that carry ammo and food. Not too many eh? Tough luck, blue-stater. Someplace like WalMart is ideal, especially with the Garden Center for seed and stuff for longterm survival. A big bonus would be a nearby Home Depot or some such place so you can get plenty of lumber and quick-mix concrete for fortification.

While you're preparing, always keep in mind locations where people congregate - you're likely to find lots of zombies there when things turn ugly. Highways, malls, and schools are especially bad. You also might want to mention to your friends and family in passing how well your hiding place could be defended, etc. That way, when the zombies come, they'll remember you said that and come help you. I don't recommend telling them you're preparing for a zombie invasion.

Also of interest is this well-researched Straight Dope answer to "When the zombies take over, how long till the electricity fails? "

Even if this isn't the begining of the dead walking the earth, you can never be too prepared for that eventuality. Get to it, boy scout!

146 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health

Since I've started drinking water instead of sodas and soft drinks this past month, I can read this whenever I have an urge to satisfy a craving for Dr. Pepper.