Towels for Everyone

"It’s amazing how popular in the butt is."

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:06:00 -0400

“It’s amazing how popular in the butt is.” - Ted Danson from The Amateurs

Voicemail is Dead

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:04:42 -0400

Voicemail is Dead

WELL EQUIPPED: Summer Night MixWell, it’s submitted. I...

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:56:00 -0400

WELL EQUIPPED: Summer Night Mix

Well, it’s submitted. I pulled together a pile of some my favorite tunes and submitted the mix to yewknee.com’s Summer Mix Series. Hopefully he’ll see fit to put it up there. I’ll post back when it’s featured, but ‘til then, you can access it here. Enjoy!

Happy 4th.

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:49:49 -0400

“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” - Bertrand Russell

Where Photography Meets Illustration

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:37:00 -0400

Where Photography Meets Illustration: Via…

For those of you who don’t read Nedroid’s Beartato, you really...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:14:23 -0400

For those of you who don’t read Nedroid’s Beartato, you really should. He’s a bear, who is also a potato, and he has adventures. Wonderful adventures. Lately, he also has advice for you.

My Wacom tablet sure seems chintzy.Don’t get me wrong, I...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:21:36 -0400

My Wacom tablet sure seems chintzy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my tablet. It’s a great Intuos 6x11 tablet that does a great job throughout the day. It’s not the functionality of the tablet that’s got me down. It’s the structureness of the tablet.

One of the first things I enjoyed about the tablet when my office first picked it up for me three years ago was how the mouse glided across the surface of the tablet. I attributed a lot of this glide to the felt bottom that graced the underside of the mouse. (Probably not unlike the soft fur on the underside of a real live mouse. Perhaps that is where this idea came from.)

But, after only several months of use, the felt had begun to attract that gunk that my mouse balls and mouse pads have attracted in the past. Only problem? What’s easy to scrape off of a mouse ball or a mouse pad in just a couple passes, is near impossible to remove from felt!

A quick call to Wacom to see what they suggested doing; and I was shocked. Support suggested I purchase those little felt feet you put on your furniture and appliances to keep them from scratching your expensive counter surfaces or hard wood floors. And putting those feet on the underside of my mouse.

Are they kidding? No, I don’t think so. Wacom support basically told me the fix for the bad design of felt on the underside of the mouse was to put $.05 felt circles underneath my $70 mouse. Yep.

So I’ve done that. I no longer get odd scooting. Everything’s smooth. So long as I replace the felt feet every few weeks. I swear I don’t have dirty hands.

Now I’m on the hunt for some contact cement or super glue, however. The slick pad that the mouse glides along over or the pen presses on is now coming loose. Yep. I can’t really believe it.

This $300ish device is basically falling apart, and not from misuse.

I still love the pad. And I’ll fix it and keep it going. But I’m shocked by the lack of structural integrity of this device.

Anyone else have these issues?

Biola, a school in LA I’ve never heard of has probably the best...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:11:40 -0400

Biola, a school in LA I’ve never heard of has probably the best website I’ve ever seen a college have.

Ditto that.

Starbucks is bleeding coffee.Scored myself one of these iced...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:58:00 -0400

Starbucks is bleeding coffee.

Scored myself one of these iced coffees this morning. Presented my free coffee card to the Starbucks representative behind the register and was greeted with a free iced coffee. Sure it came after a little uninspiring banter about how they only have one type of iced coffee rather than the bold or mild versions of regular hot coffee. (Can’t they just ice anything?)

Okay. I just read online and heard on the radio this morning that Starbucks is closing 600 stores due to underperformance. Maybe the folks at their registers should try to upsell the people cashing in on the free brewed coffee.

I didn’t get offered a slice of lemon cake. Or a cookie. Or a CD. Or some wireless internet. Just a slight grimace when I asked what kind of coffee came iced since I’d asked for bold, and was told there was only one kind iced.

What I find shocking, is that I don’t feel immensely inspired to go back to Starbucks to get even my free coffee. Hey Starbucks. I don’t want free coffee. What’s wrong with that?

What I Hate About Becoming a Designer

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:38:51 -0400

What I Hate About Becoming a Designer: It’s been a year since I started to get more into the design...

why I am a designer...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:07:00 -0400

why I am a designer...: Why I am a designer. I think we could add way more here. No?(thank you...

Save money by learning to love your water

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:07:00 -0400

Save money by learning to love your water: Everybody knows it – there are numerous benefits to...

"It’s a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours."

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:20:10 -0400

“It’s a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose...

Summer Mix Series 2008

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:54:00 -0400

Summer Mix Series 2008: The 2008 Summer Mix Series has officially begun. While there...

ABC News: White House Blocks Search for Bin Laden

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:48:38 -0400

ABC News: White House Blocks Search for Bin Laden: … secret plan that would send U.S. special...

America's 59 Best Meals

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:15:49 -0400

America's 59 Best Meals: Did your favorite local food make the cut? From Chicago hot dogs to New...

Fact: Half of gun deaths are suicides

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:15:49 -0400

Fact: Half of gun deaths are suicides: The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on gun ownership...

Don't Want To Be A US Citizen? Be Prepared to Owe Big Bucks!

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:15:49 -0400

Don't Want To Be A US Citizen? Be Prepared to Owe Big Bucks!: Congress just passed a new law that...

Taste of Talking - Salt & Pepper Shaker

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:25:00 -0400

Taste of Talking - Salt & Pepper Shaker: Henk Stallinga’s ‘Taste of Talking’ salt...

bell:chapnickman:dihard:The other night the World News...

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:19:39 -0400

bell:

chapnickman:
dihard:
The other night the World News cited a Moody’s Economy.com study that showed where the surge in the price of a barrel of oil actually comes from. Moody’s projects that if prices were based solely on supply and demand, a barrel of oil would cost only $75.
$30 is tacked on due to speculators, that is oil futures traders. They’re long oil, buying futures contracts with speculations that prices will continue to rise.
An additional $20 is caused by the weak dollar. Since crude oil is priced in dollars, as the dollar depreciates, higher prices are necessary to maintain a supply and demand balance. Since the dollar has depreciated about 10% in the last year, it buys about 10% less oil than it did a year ago.
The final $10 is attributed to what is called a risk premium — that is the apprehension in the marketplace that deliveries of oil supplies may be disrupted. This happens for a number of geopolitical reasons such as strikes in Nigeria or deterioration in Iraq. Sellers, therefore, demand a premium on current deliveries or hoard oil for future sales.
And there you have $135 barrels of oil. I thought it was interesting, though rather speculative itself.