We visited a Japanese grocery store recently, and my daughter loved the maneki neko figurines and posters. She does an excellent imitation of the famous Japanese lucky cat, and I just had to share. We wish everyone a lucky and prosperous 2009!
Happy New Year, everybody! I’m still digging through boxes. Has anyone seen the one labeled “lamp shades?”
In other news, here’s a link I found a while back (October, 2008), but never got around to sharing. It’s a Dream Captcha, by Jeffrey Augustine Songco, and I think it’s brilliant!
Not only does it look awesome, but the artist put some real thought into the design and materials he used. For example, if you look closely, you’ll see the feathery dangles are made from web-ish grid-like tulle. Web, Internet, get it? The artist explains the meaning of the Dream Captcha like this:
The original idea of a dreamcatcher is an object to protect sleeping children from nightmares. And you can argue that one use of Captcha is to protect a website’s identity. Therefore, a main expression of the work is obviously protection.
Jeff did make a limited run of 23 Dream Captcha pieces, but I’ll bet they were all purchased pretty quickly. [Edited a couple hours later: I just got an e-mail from Jeff and he still has some Captchas left for $100 each! Yaay!] If you’re interested in his work, check out his portfolio. Cheers!
Well, I’m here! I’m still alive, and we’ve moved from Indiana to Colorado. I’m buried in boxes and work, but we did manage to put up our Christmas tree last night. My 9 year old offered to add some of his own, handmade ornaments. See if you can figure out which ones he added. Click the photo for a larger view. Cheers!
Yesterday I noticed my Google search came up with these little arrows and Xs next to the results. Clicking the up arrow is a vote to “Promote” the search result, and clicking the “X” is a vote to “Remove” it.
I’m not sure how I feel about this social option being added to my old, familiar Google search. Somehow, I’ve become comfortable with the ever-changing, mysterious, mighty mathematical algorithm. I like to think that it produces pretty fair results, although there are certainly plenty of people with gripes over Google’s ranking system.
I hope this Promote/Remove system doesn’t turn Google search into something like Digg or StumbleUpon. I’m not an expert on these systems, but I think they can be a bit cliquish, or even fraudulent at times, with voting exchanges and paid Diggs/Stumbles. I still enjoy stumbling, but I wouldn’t depend on it for my search results. Sometimes I want people’s opinions, and sometimes I want a robot’s unemotional, calculated result.
I guess it’s too early to tell what effect this new SearchWiki will have on the Google gamers. We’ll have to wait and see. What do you think? Is this a good thing?
These tech-chic pendants are called “Silicon Gallies,” and they’re the brilliant creation of Capitola Girl. She takes used computer keys and turns them into clever jewelry, featuring initials or special key combinations.
I love this CTRL-Z (undo) pendant. The only thing that would make it better would be “Apple-Z.”
Check these out if you’re looking for a cool gift for a geek-chica! You can choose your letter, in silver or black. Handmade, recycled, and pretty!
Oh my goodness! This is a lip-sync video of a recording by a very talented a cappella group called moosebutter. They’ve taken several movie themes by composer John Williams (including E.T., Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Jaws), and added lyrics outlining the Star Wars story.
It’s Brilliant!
And don’t just dismiss this because you think all a cappella music probably sounds like Andy Bernard’s “Here Comes Treble” group on The Office. This video is seriously entertaining! I don’t post video often, because I think it slows down the loading of the page. But this one is worth it. Watch and enjoy!
Here’s a quick list I put together while I was thinking about my own family’s techie-tech lifestyle. In no particular order, and subject to revision… Hope this gives you a grin.
You refer to your baby’s due date as “Labor-CON.”
You catch yourself humming a song and realize it’s from a video game, not the radio.
You speak in Simlish (the language of The Sims), even a little bit.
Your kids incorporate game lingo and “special moves” into their non-electronic backyard playtime. (LARP much?)
Any of your gadgets have been named (our portable GPS is “Wanda”).
Have something to add to the list? Go for it! Cheers!
photo of my GameGirl on a GameBoy, taken by me on camera phone
I sat down at my “secondary” computer recently, which is also used by my children. They’re not allowed to play with my MacBook, but they have their own limited-access account on the desktop iMac, and they like to watch DVDs, play games, and type on it. Yes, you might say they’re mini-geeks. They love computers.
While I was starting up my browser, I noticed a noise coming from the optical drive, where the CDs and DVDs go. It sounded like it was trying to eject a disc, and it kept happening every 10 seconds or so. I tried the conventional methods of ejecting, but the computer didn’t even seem to acknowledge the presence of a disc.
Unlike tray-loading drives, the iMac has a vertical slot without a tray. You just load the disc in part-way, and it takes it the rest of the way. It’s magical. Unfortunately, there’s no way to pry it open. There’s no door. There’s not even an emergency eject button to push with a straightened paper clip.
After trying everything I could think of, plus the tips recommended by Apple help, I shut down the machine and gave up. I asked the boys (ages 9 and 7) whether they knew what had happened to the computer. “I don’t know.” “It wasn’t me.”
I asked my daughter (age 3-1/2). “Do you know what happened to the computer? In here? Did you put something in here?” I pointed to the disc slot.
She smiled, flashed her big blue eyes, and said, “Um, yeah.”
“What did you put in here?”
“Two discus-es.”
Great. I don’t know how she did it, because when there’s one disc loaded, you can’t just slide in another one. She must have really applied all of her little fairy princess might to get that second “discus” wedged in there.
Well, it could have been worse. At least it’s not cheese and crackers… And now I get to pay a visit to the Apple Store.
I’ve never had my name on a comic strip before! This was drawn by Robin MacRorie, a talented artist I met on Twitter. My story with her ink. Click to view full size. Enjoy!
If you aren’t a fan of Rob Pattinson, you might not appreciate this, but I’ve thought Rob was cute since I saw him as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(get it from Amazon).
So when I heard Rob will be playing my favorite vampire, Edward Cullen, in the upcoming Twilight movie, I was excited! He’s not baby-face cute, but more chiseled and handsome. Still, when he smiles, he has a bit of youthful mischief in his eyes, which makes him even more appealing.
I’m looking forward to seeing how he portrays Edward in Twilight, since he will have to be gentle, powerful, old, young, dangerous, and beautiful, all at the same time. If you haven’t read the books yet, you might enjoy a nice vampire romance…
Oh yeah, and thanks to Squidoo for awarding Lens of the Day to my Rob Pattinson page! Yippee!
And for your listening pleasure while reading the Twilight books, I’ve put together a bunch of songs that I associate with some of the scenes, characters, and emotions involved in the stories. Enjoy!
Geek Mom Mashup
Yesterday I noticed my Google search came up with these little arrows and Xs next to the results. Clicking the up arrow is a vote to “Promote” the search result, and clicking the “X” is a vote to “Remove” it.
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