Yummy Wakame

BUNNY-EAR PLUG-IN
Did you know that the majority of must-see TV is broadcast in hi-def for free, and to receive the signal all you need is an ATSC antenna?

To watch it on your computer you can get the Artec ATSC Digital TV Receiver 2.0 dongle (T14A) which comes with bundled software and a standing antenna for better reception; or get the T14AR that comes with the all that and a remote control. WOW!

T14A: $60. T14AR: $100.
www.artectv.com | Product Tour | Review
Check Hi-Def TV reception in your area

Another gem found by the gorgeous Nathan.

Wired news:

The case currently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is a litmus test that may well determine the future of the telecom industry. If Verizon’s patent claims against Vonage hold up in the appeals court, the fate of many smaller VOIP companies, such as SunRocket and Packet8, could immediately be put in jeopardy, as the same patents could also prevent them from connecting their internet phone services to the public phone network.

The short-term effect could give Verizon a de facto VOIP monopoly. Long-term, the case could affect more purely internet-based communication services, such as those offered by peer-to-peer telephony leader Skype.

Thanks Nathan.

A pretty good documentary on an Iraqi metal band.. its the first time watching anything about Iraq that I actually got an idea of what it is like there and what it once was like.. its pretty cool.

~ Shawn

VBS.TV

I’m so glad I saw this. In an weird and inexplainable way I feel like a slightly different person for it.

You read right. You think you know someone who knows someone famous? That’s nothing. I’ve been friends for years with the the guy who has the second best blog. As if that isn’t rad enough to make you click and see, check this -

The single most extreme ironing stunt ever done to date:

Somewhere in Gauteng, South Africa

As defined by Uncyclopedia:

A girlfriend is something that you will never have, unless you are a girl yourself, in which case you can be your own girlfriend, or you can be a lesbian. If you are a girl, and want a hetero-partner, then a Boyfriend is for you (it should be noted that these are far easier to find than girlfriends).

Girlfriends are semi-mythical breasts beasts, and they are reputed to bring great joy to their captors. They are highly addictive, and like all drugs are extremely expensive. They are quite unusual in that they can bleed for a week and not die. Much like Superman. Scientists estimate that as much as 55% of girlfriends are women, the remaining 25% being composed of felons, mothers, hands, and Klingons. However, when handling girlfriends, one must follow a few simple rules (such as not trusting her with a wallet full of money). But unfortunately people like YOU rarely come across them whereas people like me swim in them…

The Delicious Dish with Pete Schweddy:

I love the Christmas sweaters and polite housewife chit-chat.

Thanks Ken!

I’m so stoked! I just discovered a little “watch now” tab in my Netflix account which lets me watch full-length movies in my browser, and it’s all included in my normal membership. No extra fees! Right now I’m installing the Netflix Movie Viewer (in Internet Explorer) so I can give it a test drive…

Weeeeeeeeeee!

——–
UPDATE:

WOW this is SUPERB!!!!! The full-screen mode is true edge-to-edge (a slick IE feature I’d forgotten all about), with controls a whole lot sleeker than my DVD player. The quality of the video is outstanding. I’m blown away. All I need now is to get that cable to hook my laptop up to the widescreen TV, and figure out a way to get my wiimote to point and click at the controls from the couch.

…

Nice one Graham!

No, seriously…

Live at Massey Hall, 1971

Some sites, like this one, prevent images being displayed at all if you hotlink directly to them for your own site. If you’re going to nick an image off someone else’s site, its considered good manners to at least host the image yourself so that the original site doesn’t get bombarded with additional image requests using up their precious bandwidth.

ImgRed.com allows you to do just this, without the hassle of hosting the image yourself somewhere else and the whole faff of uploading etc.

All you do is this:

Just grab the URL of the image and append it to http://imgred.com/http://example.com/pic.jpg

Peasy! ImgRred.com copies the image to their server the first time it’s requested, then serves it up permanently.

Thanks LifeHacker.

Wired:
NYPD Intelligence Op Targets Dot-Matrix Graffiti Bike

During his 24 hours in lockup, his bike was inspected and praised by bomb-squad technicians, while detectives traded Polaroids of his creation and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force questioned whether he knew violent protesters. Kinberg’s charges were later dropped, on the condition he not get arrested again for six months.

The famous mens club from the Sopranos is actually a real go-go bar in New Jersey, and it’s attracting more and more female clientèle than ever…

Reuters Oddly Enough news:
A British man has met and married a 22-year-old woman after, by his own account, dreaming of her phone number and then sending her a text message. more…

In my earliest years I grew up in a house where the weather was the most important thing the TV had to say, while the news only got to burble in the background as we dressed the cats up in bibs and bonnets and stuffed them into the doll bed. It was the only time my dad would ever tell us to “SHHHHH!!!!” and for 5 minutes the whole family’s attention would be on one single thing - the weatherman’s pointy stick. I guess if you spend every day, all day strangled by a suit and tie, knowing exactly which layers and fabrics to wear can make a huge difference in comfort.

Over the years weather reports have evolved from hokey little drawings with stuck on clouds to 3D generated plains that swoop and globes that spin and mesmerise, but nothing beats an accurate 5-day weather report.

I discovered AccuWeather.com through a nifty plugin for Firefox: Forecastfox shows you the temperature for now, today and tomorrow in your toolbar or statusbar. If you travel a lot you can switch between custom-made profiles with a right-click. And what I love the most about AccuWeather’s reports is the RealFeel® temperature, which takes into account chilly winds, humidity and levels of sunshine. I use it every day and so far its been 100% accurate. Maybe you’ll like it too.

Thanks Nathan!

The Official Home of Line Rider

My colleague Ryan pointed me to Fundable.org - a really easy way to raise funds amongst friends and peers for that group trip overseas, an expensive family gift, fundraise for a family member in hospital, kick start your business before making the product… and the best part is how simple they’ve kept things:

1. One person creates a Fundable page to collect $1000 from a group of people.
2. Each person in the group enters credit card or PayPal information as a pledge (but does NOT pay money).
3. Once all pledges add up to $1000, Fundable turns them into real payments.
   If the collection expires before reaching $1000, Fundable deletes all pledges.
4. Fundable sends $1000 to the group leader, who makes sure that everyone receives what was paid for.

Check it out!

A few months ago I read this page after a tipoff from my good friend Beverley. While I don’t agree 100% with everything he wrote or how he wrote it, he is definitely onto something big and I do agree with most of the things he has to say. I’ve been carrying around these ideas for some time now and in many ways I’ve noticed profound transformations happening in my life from taking on board his suggestions. I spotted the link in my favourites today and thought it might also help a few people who come here…

An excerpt from
Are Resentments Justified

You hear people say this all the time: “I have a right to be upset because of the way I’ve been treated. I have a right to be angry, hurt, depressed, sad, and resentful.” Learning to avoid this kind of thinking is one of my top ten secrets for living a life of inner peace, success, and happiness. Anytime you’re filled with resentment, you’re turning the controls of your emotional life over to others to manipulate.

I became aware of how powerful this lesson was many years ago while sitting in on a meeting of 12 people who were in a recovery group for alcoholism and drug addiction. All 12 of those people were accustomed to blaming others for their weaknesses, using almost any excuse as a rationale for returning to their self-defeating ways. On a poster hanging in the room were these words: “In this group, there are no justified resentments.”

Regardless of what anyone would say to another group member, no matter how confrontational or ugly the accusations, each person was reminded that there are no justified resentments. You may need to consider whom you resent before you can make your own choice about whether this is useful for you. Resentments give you an excuse to return to your old ways. This is what got you there in the first place!

You can read the rest of the article here…