Can't Stop Geeking

One day when I was a kid, I was playing in my room with some building blocks, making towers for my baby brother to see and letting him knock them down.  Because I had carpet on my floor, and I was making the tower real tall, I placed some books on the floor to provide a flat surface on which to build.  My dad walked into the room to check in on us and asked what we were doing.  I explained my building enterprises to which my dad replied, “You know you did a smart thing laying the books down, because books are the foundation for your life and all that you achieve.” Without cracking a smile, I said, “I just used them cause they were flat.” He left.

I tell you this story because apparently someone took our conversation and made it into an art piece.  There is a book building in the Modern Art Center in Lisboa.  The books are not glued together or anything like that.  These books could be removed, read and replaced.  Don’t believe?  Take a look at the books.

Fox news took a page from Conan O’Brien (you don’t think they’re courting him too much, do you?). They took celebrity photos and mashed them with politicians, with some comic results. The one that got me the most was the James Bond image. While this one doesn’t use a politician, they took several actors who have played the title role and created the ultimae 007. Now, the fun part comes in figuring out who they used. There have been so many, I don’t think they were able to use a feature from every actor.

Suzanne Choney from MSNBC wrote this article last Friday detailing some research done as to whether the internet is helping or hurting human intelligence. Some say that the access to all the information the internet has is making us smarter in a slightly different way than in years past. Others say that we are using Google as a crutch to do the bare minimum in terms of research. So where do you stand?

Me personally, I think the information on the internet is fantastic. I’ve accessed things and studies topics I wouldn’t normally have been able to. On the other hand, with the proliferation of blogs and other sites put up with faulty information, reading info from one site only doesn’t alkways paint the fullest picture. If you plan to do research, it’s best to gather information from multiple, credible sites.

This is interesting. In an attempt to live greener lives and lower costs, people are turning to a new form of modular housing known as shipping container housing. Those shipping containers you see on the back of semi-trucks? There’s a company in Phoenix starting to make homes out of those containers. They’re stacking and merging containers to give people more space, but you’re still living in a shipping container. I don’t know about this. I don’t think I could get used to living in such a cookie-cutter house. One thing I love about houses is the exterior giving the home personality. I think we would lose that if we went to shipping container housing. Read more about this at inhabitat.com.

Toyota can’t buy a break these days.  First, the recall of over 2 million Toyotas for accelerator issues is a major blow to the Japanese auto-maker.  Then reports start coming out about the Prius’ brake issues.  Ouch.  Now, there’s a report that Toyota is looking into complaints about the power steering on their most popular model, the Corolla. Aye Carumba! What’s next?

As much as I try to avoid it sometimes, I find myself getting sucked in to certain TV programs.  I’ve had a love/hate relationship with TV since I graduated from college.  I hate the apparent lack of creativity in scripted broadcast shows and abhor the reality TV shows that are nothing more than a vehicle for people to appear on TV for a few seconds (I’m looking at you American Idol and Survivor).  What I love are the documentary reality shows from such channels as Discovery, Travel and the History Channel.  I discovered Man v. Food last year as a mistake and have followed it avidly since.  I watch any rerun if I have free time.  Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs and the Deadliest Catch are appointment TV for me.  The one show I’m getting into now is History Channel’s Pawn Stars.  I’m finding I like the guys who run the shop and the artifacts that people bring in plus the stories behind them are fascinating.  What’s your favorite TV show?

Apparently, there is a group of scientists who are contesting the United Nations claim that global warming is leading to rising temperatures.  We’ve heard this kind of thing before.  Awhile ago, eggs were considered healthy, then a report came out saying eggs were bad.  Then, a few years later, another report said that eggs were good again.  Now, the same thing seems to be happening with this whole global warming issue.  The problem, we can’t afford to wait 20 years to find out if pollution is causing global warming or not.  It makes sense to me to act like it’s the truth and enact pollution reduction measures just to be on the safe side.

This is for all the car fans and eco-friendly fans.  Porsche has just unveiled a hybrid vehicle.  So not only can you feel the wind whipping at your hair as you tear down the interstate, you’ll be doing a favor for the evironment as you do so.  I hope these things don’t cost an S&P company to get one.

Are you a fan of the new layout?  Do you have to spend 5-10 minutes just trying to figure out where to visit your profile?  Do you find getting to your apps and games easier?  I myself don’t think the changes are necessary.  I could go into FB, check to see if there were any major friend updates from my last visit, and get on with my life.  I have many friends who also hate the changes, so what’s your opinion?

“Now why didn’t I think of that?”

There’s a company in Florida that has come up with a new eliptical exercise machine. What makes this unique, though, is the fact that working out on this machine will actually generate electrical power. So, you burn some calories on the machine and simultaneously generate electricity to run the machine. Talk about turning your fat into fortune! This story comes from inhabitat.com.