tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-367500092011-09-19T09:37:14.348-05:00News or events that interest me <br><br> <br>Facts, news, and interesting stuff<br>All from a geek perspectiveJamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2721100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-76494780711453554312007-09-05T11:44:00.000-05:002007-09-06T13:59:20.128-05:00

For everyone who reads this blog, I'm posting this to let you all know that it's moving to a new domain. I finally set up my own domain to host my blog. For the moment this is the only one that is moving. But I'll probably move the others sometime in the near future.The new address is http://www.WhatJamieFound.comPlease update any feeds or links you have.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-44531637405839627832007-09-05T08:18:00.000-05:002007-09-05T08:27:56.892-05:00

The above swimming pool has tile mosaics on the bottom and sides of the pool to create a 3D effect. The artwork reminds me of the chalk art of Julian Beever. Imagine swimming in this pool. I would love to have something like this in a pool of my own. Of course, I would have to have a pool before I could put that kind of thing in it. Also, I expect it would be pretty expensive. Follow the link for

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-32970288678354105592007-09-05T07:22:00.000-05:002007-09-05T07:29:27.812-05:00

Archaeologists working in Israel have found evidence of a thriving beekeeping industry in the city of Rehov. The hives date from around 900 BC and are the oldest examples of beekeeping ever found. Beekeeping has been found before in ancient texts and artwork, but this is the first time that any examples of intact hives have been found.Via PhysOrg: Archaeologists Discover Ancient Beehives

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-45851061465208699492007-09-04T14:18:00.000-05:002007-09-04T14:25:34.633-05:00

Cymatics is the study of the effects of sound waves on physical items. Such as water or in the case of the video above, salt. The amazing thing is the patterns formed in the loose salt by nothing but the sound waves. The sounds in the video are actually pretty jarring. So you may want to keep the volume on your speakers on low.Via Neatorama: The Effect of Sounds Waves on Salt

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-7498078582528282952007-09-04T07:41:00.000-05:002007-09-04T07:46:46.733-05:00

Brian Dettmer creates art by sculpting and carving books. His work is amazing. He currently lives in Atlanta Georgia. But his art has been on display all over the world.Check out the rest of his art at Haydeé Rovirosa Gallery: Brian Dettmer

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-17531679898048793522007-09-04T07:38:00.000-05:002007-09-04T12:19:29.000-05:00

Yesterday was a holiday here in the US. So I spent the whole day building a deck on my house. It came out pretty good, but I wasn't able to spend any time posting on this blog. Sorry about that.For more pics of my new Deck follow the link: New Deck

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-10275543910787871502007-08-31T08:50:00.000-05:002007-08-31T07:59:30.420-05:00

Clements Library at the University of Michigan has posted a large number of scanned letters from the Sir Henry Clinton collection. The letters are all reports detailing troop movements and strategic information gathered by spies on both sides of the war. Really amazing stuff.Check it out: Spy Letters of the American RevolutionVia Presurfer

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-48555466791174600532007-08-31T08:31:00.000-05:002007-08-31T07:58:32.857-05:00

The dance moves that this girl runs through are amazing. Really cool to watch. And of course, I like Techno. :)

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-46629308461417487162007-08-31T07:21:00.000-05:002007-08-31T07:58:04.832-05:00

Using long exposures and light sources ranging from sparklers to Christmas lights, Eric Staller has created light drawings in photographs. The coolest thing is that these were all done using ordinary film back in the 70s. No computer enhancement or modifications required.Check out a whole gallery at Centripedal Notion: Eric Staller: Light Drawings

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-27644801745318862592007-08-30T08:17:00.000-05:002007-08-30T08:18:52.013-05:00

Did you ever wonder what was in those fancy coffees? Or for that matter, how to spell or pronounce them? Well, then the illustrated coffee chart is for you. Lokesh Dhakar has kindly made up the above chart for your comparison. Now you can easily tell what it is you are ordering at that Starbucks down the street.Coffee Drinks Illustrated

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-34049659343631217812007-08-29T08:20:00.000-05:002007-08-29T08:35:04.238-05:00

Shibam, Yemen is home to some of the oldest skyscrapers in the world. Some of them date back over 500 years. The houses of Shibam are all made out of mud bricks. There are about 500 surviving tower houses, rising 5 to 9 stories high. the city has been in existence for about 2,000 years. But most of the city's houses come mainly from the 16th century. The city was first settled as a result of

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-64445649404662223852007-08-28T14:06:00.000-05:002007-08-29T12:07:34.415-05:00

I just watched the most amazing video of a new product called Photosynth from Microsoft. This post may be a little more technical than most of my posts here, but I was so blown away by the possibilities of a system like this, that I had to post about it. In the video a Microsoft Live Labs Architect, Blaise Aguera y Arcas gives a demonstration of Photosynth.The Photosynth application uses

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-84972437164509638382007-08-28T08:41:00.000-05:002007-08-28T08:49:19.599-05:00

Yesterday the shore front of New South Wales Australia was transformed into a mass of bubbles. From Daily Mail: Foam swallowed an entire beach and half the nearby buildings, including the local lifeguards’ centre, in a freak display of nature at Yamba in New South Wales. One minute a group of teenage surfers were waiting to catch a wave, the next they were swallowed up in a giant bubble bath.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-17872563692199034312007-08-28T08:01:00.000-05:002007-08-28T08:11:21.507-05:00

Dark Roasted blend has an interesting article on dust storms. It has a ton of pictures, mostly from the Middle East and Northern Africa. The picture above is of a dust storm advancing in the Negev Desert of southern Israel. It's advancing at a speed of 40 miles per hour and is over 4,000 feet high. Check out the article for a lot more pictures. Dark Roasted Blend: Dust Storms!For some more

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-49830368737633980912007-08-27T14:40:00.000-05:002007-08-27T14:46:13.877-05:00

Xtreme pug skydiving is the title of this video. And it's pretty interesting. This guy thought he would take his dog skydiving with him. LOL I'm not sure what would posses you to do that. It just doesn't look fun to me. Though the dog looks like he is having a great time.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-26871618665809059062007-08-27T13:32:00.000-05:002007-08-27T13:47:16.809-05:00

Just read this fascinating article on PhysOrg about snakes. Snakes can survive up to two years in the wild without eating anything. They do this by lowering their metabolism and using stored fat. The amazing thing is that they can lower their metabolism up to 72%. And this is on an animal that already has an extremely low metabolism to start with. The scientists conducting the study, examined

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-6225668168284024162007-08-27T08:34:00.000-05:002007-08-27T08:38:11.502-05:00

Not really sure what is going on, but it seems that YouTube is having some type of outage this morning. So the posts on this blog that point to YouTube, are not working right now.Hopefully whatever is wrong will be resolved shortly.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-24433303775536306262007-08-27T08:19:00.000-05:002007-08-27T08:33:53.702-05:00

A group of guys in Alberta, Canada sent a balloon 22.27 miles up. Right to the edge of space. The balloon had a Nikon Coolpix P2 camera attached. The camera was set to take one picture a minute. Once the balloon reached the edge of the atmosphere, it burst. Coming down to a soft landing due to an attached parachute. The pictures they were able to take are amazing. Check out their site: Southern

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-88268796026900019742007-08-24T13:34:00.000-05:002007-08-24T13:42:48.107-05:00

It seems that building home made slip n' slides is the thing to do these days. First you had the 535 foot slide and now you have Ron's Slip n' Slide. It's only 60 feet long, but personally I think this slide is way more dangerous. In fact, I'm not sure I would want to get on it. That whole jump and the end of the slide just doesn't look that safe.Via Gizmodo: How to Mod your Parents' House into a

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-15397021849813066132007-08-24T09:59:00.000-05:002007-08-24T10:14:42.257-05:00

Mitch Fincher a Civil Engineering student at Texas Tech University has created a site devoted to penny stacking. On the site there are numerous pictures of elaborate structures made with pennies and other various coins. All of the structures are made by simply stacking the coins. No glue or other stabilizers are used. The weight of the pennies holds the entire structure up. Check out his site

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-49646567252821698632007-08-24T09:38:00.000-05:002007-08-24T09:47:31.301-05:00

Tara Donovan is an artist who makes massive sculptures from small items found in everyday life. The picture above is made from thousands of clear plastic drinking straws. Other art installations are made from Styrofoam cups, pencils, paper plates, and buttons. All of the art is really amazing.Check it out at Ace Gallery: Tara Donovan Via Neatorama: Tara Donovan’s Mega Sculptures Made From

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-36396250693521271032007-08-23T15:07:00.000-05:002007-08-23T15:23:40.115-05:00

This week I went back to a favorite from last year. Not exactly old, but not the latest release either. I really love the single, Fully Alive. In fact, I like pretty much the whole CD. It's a little darker than some CDs I have, but not so dark that it is depressing. Its almost the exact opposite of the Matisyahu CD I was listening to just a few weeks ago. This group is one of those very rare

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-31573053104642260692007-08-23T07:52:00.000-05:002007-08-23T13:54:46.364-05:00

Fewer than 2% of the worlds 6.5 billion people carry the gene for red hair. Because of this, scientists think that red hair may be extinct by 2060. Red hair is a result of a mutation in northern Europe thousands of years ago. The mutation is recessive. So red hair is rare unless both of the parents have the gene. Due to increased globalization, it is becoming less likely that a person carrying

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-2562962191425487192007-08-22T07:47:00.000-05:002007-08-22T08:04:15.501-05:00

Rocky Fiore is an artist who captures spider webs. He captures them and mounts them on glass for display. Some of the webs that he has captured are truly amazing. What caught my eye, was a video he did for Cool Hunting. in the video, he shows how he captures the webs, using only varnish, spray paint, and glass. Check out the video below.For pictures of Rocky's art check out his site: World Wide

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-6732046155668070402007-08-21T07:45:00.000-05:002007-08-21T08:04:04.607-05:00

Found this video of a deer jumping over a biker. It's amazing that no one got hurt. Thought this was interesting enough to post, even though lately I seem to be posting a lot of wildlife videos. There was the tiger leap, the lion buffalo brawl, and the hammock bear. Oh, and I almost forgot the sheep surfing goat.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-27109966690296672842007-08-21T07:36:00.000-05:002007-08-21T07:42:29.684-05:00

If you are like me, you are always pulling staples out of documents and reports. The things are pretty annoying to take out. So that is what interests me about this item. this is a stapler that doesn't use any staples. Instead it cuts a little flap in your document and folds it in on itself. Doing what a staple would do, but without the staple. Pretty cool.Check it out at ThinkGeek: Staple Free

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-77128115017990406002007-08-20T08:35:00.000-05:002007-08-20T08:39:18.901-05:00

Michael Tavarez has created this incredible animation of Picasso's girl with a violin. The animation is really amazing.For more animation by Michael Tavarez, check out his site: The Work of Michael Tavarez

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-68467884644580142422007-08-20T08:27:00.000-05:002007-08-20T08:34:34.572-05:00

The History channel website has a great page that will tell you what significant events happened on this date in the past. It automatically shows you today's date, but it also allows you to enter any date you want. For a big history fan like me, I was a history minor in college, this site is great! Did you know that on this date in 1911, the first around the world telegram was sent? Or that on

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-74390616969423081222007-08-17T12:40:00.000-05:002007-08-17T13:01:03.260-05:00

SomethingAwful forum member Bruiser, has gone and created a 535 foot Slip 'n Slide on some property he owns. The thing looks awesome! I wish I had the resources and the land to put up something like this. Check out the pics of the slid in action at the SomethingAwful forums: I built a 535 ft. Slip 'n Slide

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-84764328002115916662007-08-17T08:11:00.000-05:002007-08-17T08:23:51.770-05:00

This post is a little more on the gross and gruesome side. Justin Schwartz was bitten by a rattlesnake while on a hiking trip in Yosemite National Park, California. He was bitten very badly on the palm of his hand. The venom of the snake bite ate away and killed the flesh of his palm and lower arm. It took over 13 surgeries to restore his hand an lower arm back to usefulness after the bite. At

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-45796801311896152252007-08-16T09:50:00.000-05:002007-08-16T09:57:16.427-05:00

A blogger has gone through the trouble of tracking down the first 100 .Com domain names registered. So if you were wondering which companies were the first to jump on the Internet bandwagon your in luck. The list is pretty interesting, both because of who is on it, as well as who isn't.Check it out: The 100 oldest domains on the internet.Via WebbAlert: Webb Alert

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-79104760861990594402007-08-16T07:33:00.000-05:002007-08-16T07:46:59.093-05:00

The virtual cave has an amazing gallery of ice cave pictures from the mountains of Nepal and Alaska. Some of them are absolutely breathtaking. Check them out at The Virtual Cave: Glacier CavesIf you want more Ice photos, check out Dry Valleys of Antarctica or the Harbin Ice Festival

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-50674924564707930522007-08-15T14:12:00.000-05:002007-08-21T07:56:54.122-05:00

Found this video on Nothing To Do With Arbroath. This little goat kid seems to think that the best place to hang out is on the back of a sheep. LOL

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-53954147897115853972007-08-15T07:41:00.000-05:002007-08-15T08:21:12.630-05:00

Roz Savage, a 39 year old management consultant, is attempting to row across the Pacific in a souped up rowboat. Last year she rowed across the Atlantic. This year she is attempting to cross the Pacific in a series of three steps. The first step is taking place now. Starting in California, she is going to row 2,300 miles to Hawaii. After a break to rest, she will continue the trip by rowing from

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-60842724433366204832007-08-14T15:45:00.000-05:002007-08-14T16:08:24.907-05:00

In the above picture both the A and the B squares are actually the same color. But because of the way they are drawn, they appear to be different colors. Don't believe they are the same color? Click this link to see a "proof" image. The illusion is based on a study by Edward H. Adelson, a Professor of Vision Science at MIT. The study is of light perception and the human visual system. Our eyes

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-89759003771045337072007-08-14T08:29:00.000-05:002007-08-14T08:41:27.208-05:00

Michel Fournier, a retired French army colonel is attempting to break all previous skydiving records. He will be trying to sky dive from 25 miles up into the sky. Which puts him right on the edge of space. His goal is to both set the record for the highest parachute drop ever, and to be the first person to break the sound barrier in free-fall. He will be attempting the jump over the Saskatchewan

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-51366345428513684212007-08-13T09:52:00.000-05:002007-08-13T10:03:46.238-05:00

I'm a huge fan of Linkin Park's music, and lately I've been playing their new CD a lot. I've got a 30 minute commute to work in the morning, so I get a lot of time with nothing much to do. Listening to music is about the only thing there is to do on that long boring commute. So I go through a lot of music, and am always listening to something different. Right now it just happens to be Linkin

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-28834871573634795152007-08-13T08:46:00.000-05:002007-08-13T09:06:12.999-05:00

It seems that a group of hackers from Turkey defaced the official UN website Sunday morning. They posted some random text attacking the US and Israel. The interesting thing about the hack is that it was accomplished using a known and widely disseminated exploit. One that has been around for years. The hack is known as an SQL injection exploit and is accomplished by getting the database to execute

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-36282292344769900392007-08-13T07:34:00.000-05:002007-08-13T07:46:16.114-05:00

Found a site with some amazing pictures of columnar basalt. Columnar Basalt is formed from cooling lava flows. The cooling process of the original lava flow causes cracks to form in the rock. Subsequent immersion in water causes the cracks to cool at a faster rate than the rest of the rock. So the cracks spread downward, forming the columns seen in the formations. The most famous formation of

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-81899000727645838802007-08-11T06:39:00.000-05:002007-08-11T06:55:25.572-05:00

Did you ever wonder about the words used by military officials in movies to spell out words? They use words like "Bravo" and "Charley" to ensure the correct understanding when spelling words or codes. Well, I was curious as to what words were used and how they were chosen. So I did a little searching and found a whole wikipedia article on it. It seems that it was originally an adaptation of the

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-30318037389038439102007-08-10T09:22:00.000-05:002007-08-10T09:32:15.864-05:00

Gaisma lets you see the sunrise and sunset times for your city, anywhere in the world. It will also give you the current time and relative position of the sun to your city. If you are like me, and don't usually get up for the sunrise, this can be pretty useful. It can also be useful in planning for outdoor evening events. Check out the current sunset/sunrise times for my home town, Pensacola

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-71335496361438078242007-08-10T07:55:00.000-05:002007-08-21T07:56:27.247-05:00

Here is a cool video of a bear in New Jersey who climbs into a hammock. He seems to be enjoying it quite a bit. Towards the end, he tries to rock it a little too hard and ends up falling out.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-57218620691744528572007-08-09T07:38:00.000-05:002007-08-09T07:45:44.427-05:00

How products are made is a website devoted to telling you how the things we use in our modern world are made. It explains the history and modern manufacturing details of all kinds of products. Everything from paint to refrigerators. Chewing gum, to blue jeans. The site is pretty amazing. So if you ever wondered how something is made, you just might be able to find it on How products are made.Via

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-20483944865559204842007-08-08T20:46:00.000-05:002007-08-08T20:59:23.485-05:00

The Stelvio Pass is a pass through the Alps built by the Austrian Empire before WWII. It has 60 hairpin turns and is one of the highest passes through the Alps. The road is amazing, and the view incredible. The pass is only open from June through September. During that time it is a favorite with bicyclists and sightseers. Check out the location on Google Maps.For a lot more pictures, check out

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-91570956525535842152007-08-08T08:13:00.000-05:002007-08-08T08:25:14.642-05:00

The picture above is of the RMF Radio Station in Poland. This is seriously one of the coolest building complexes I've ever seen. I found this on Make, but I also found a site with a lot of pictures of the construction. Unfortunately the site is in polish, and I can't find an online translator to translate it for me. Via Make: The coolest (looking) radio station - RMF FM :: Radio Muzyka Fakty and

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-1315397609151329842007-08-07T13:37:00.000-05:002007-08-07T13:46:47.750-05:00

Found a site with a list of 23 defense ministry logos from all over the world. The one pictured above is my favorite. It's the logo for the Irish defense ministry. Pretty cool looking. My other favorite was the one from the Netherlands, pictured below. Most of the logos have the standard scary looking bird or mythical beast holding some type of weapon. But a few like the one from Ireland are

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-50601489410756137582007-08-07T08:35:00.000-05:002007-08-07T09:06:28.074-05:00

The same team of scientists that announced a theory that might one day lead to invisibility, has come up with a system that could lead to levitation. Physicists Ulf Leonhardt and Dr Thomas Philbin of the University of St Andrews in Scotland have come up with a way to reverse the casimir force on nanoscale objects. Casimir force was discovered in 1948 and is the reason why very small objects "

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-4990068961243795212007-08-06T11:42:00.000-05:002007-08-06T11:50:32.601-05:00

It seems that Thailand has decided to punish it's police officers who break rules, by making them wear a Hello Kitty armband. The idea seems to be that shaming and embarrassing the cops will do more for discipline than a standard type of punishment.Pongpat, the chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok said,"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-35554985509847732372007-08-06T07:58:00.000-05:002007-08-06T08:13:30.799-05:00

Would you believe that the picture above is nothing more than a hand shaped and polished ball of mud? DoroDango, which translates roughly as mud dumpling, is a traditional art form in Japan. The balls are made literally out of mud that is hand dried and polished in a laborious process. It seems that nearly any type of dirt is acceptable for making DoroDangos. All that is needed is dirt, water,

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-27415110687961656382007-08-04T10:37:00.000-05:002007-08-04T11:01:05.293-05:00

California farmers are increasingly having to deal with people stealing copper wiring out of irrigation systems. The thefts, which gain the thief a few hundred dollars can cost the farmers thousands of dollars to replace. And if the theft is not noticed soon enough, the entire crop can be lost.Police say that they believe that most of the thefts are committed by methamphetamine addicts. But if

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-39206476458096509162007-08-04T10:22:00.000-05:002007-08-04T10:30:20.383-05:00

Found this very strange looking picture of a building that is being torn down in London. It seems that due to the unique way in which the building was built, the most efficient way to tear it down is to start at the bottom. Meanwhile, the building is pretty amazing looking.Via GizModo: Building Demolished from the Ground Up Looks Better than New

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-5828211570324036712007-08-03T09:42:00.000-05:002007-08-03T10:07:59.478-05:00

Teachers are demanding that sites like RateMyTeacher and YouTube be shutdown. The Professional Association of Teachers claims that they only want to ban the sites in an effort to stop Cyberbullying of teachers. But as many people have pointed out, banning specific sites would not stop cyberbullying. Sites like RateMyTeacher have been under attack by teachers unions from the beginning. The idea

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-21725233022251524472007-08-03T08:56:00.000-05:002007-08-03T09:01:47.271-05:00

LogMoto is a site that mixes one companies logo with another companies slogan. The idea is funny. Some of the slogan/logo combination are hilarious.Check it out: LogMoto via PreSurfer

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-27368490672263714492007-08-03T07:40:00.000-05:002007-08-03T07:52:18.177-05:00

This amazing little girl roller skates under 40 parked cars. The girl is from India, and I don't know any of the details beyond what the video shows, but it looks like a competition of some kind. Pretty amazing.Via JapanProbe: 5-Year-Old Girl Skates Under 40 Cars

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-43313522841945997292007-08-02T10:29:00.000-05:002007-08-02T17:05:05.443-05:00

The Webb alert is a new video blog attempting to give a short summary of the latest Blog headlines and topics. There are quite a few video blogs out there to choose from, but this one is pretty interesting. Morgan Webb, the reporter in the video, does a show on the G4 channel and has some experience as a web developer. She brings that experience from the reporting and the tech world to her

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-9844144538889199972007-08-02T08:23:00.000-05:002007-08-02T08:34:29.980-05:00

The inflation calculator allows you to take any dollar amount and two years between 1800 and 2006. It then gives you an estimate of how much that money would be worth based on inflation. It calculates it both directions. So $100 in 1800 would be equivalent to $1143.21 in 2006. And $100 in 2006 would be equivalent to $8.75.The data for the calculations comes from two US government documents,

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-67726755173948315092007-08-01T15:20:00.000-05:002007-08-01T15:32:41.324-05:00

Haier has announced a washing machine that doesn't need soap. It separates water into its OH- and H+ ions to perform the cleaning. The OH- binds to dirt and stain molecules, and the H+ sterilizes the clothes. So there is no need for detergent. Just water and electricity. This could be really nice for people like me who are always forgetting to buy detergent. And when I do remember to buy it, I'm

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-71931378805154477072007-08-01T14:12:00.000-05:002007-08-01T14:13:51.762-05:00

Louis Michaud an engineer with 24 years of experience in the energy field, wants to build a power plant the harnesses man made tornadoes to generate electricity. he has several patents on his designs and many scientists claim it is at least feasible in concept. He calls his concept an Atmospheric Vortex Engine. You can look up the Wikipedia article on it here. Currently Michaud is trying to raise

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-54597935778821805162007-08-01T08:02:00.000-05:002007-08-01T14:22:03.563-05:00

Wired has an interesting article by Rob Beschizza titled, "Ten Reasons To Throw Away Your Cellphone." The article lists all of the reasons why cell phones can make your life harder and more complicated. One of the reasons, and the one I identify with most, is listed below.It makes you perpetually availableIf it's on, they can get you. If it's off, they wonder why they can't get you. It's a

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-88845334052011919202007-07-31T13:44:00.000-05:002007-07-31T14:03:59.581-05:00

Found this amazing photo essay of marine life living under the Antarctic Ice flows. The photographer, Norbert Wu, worked in Antarctica from 1982 to 1996. He took these off of the coast of Antarctica in partnership with the U.S. National Science Foundation. The photos in the slide show and more are available in his book, Under Antarctic Ice. Check out the slide show at Time magazine: Life Beneath

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-88164380232794270662007-07-31T07:42:00.001-05:002007-07-31T08:04:41.274-05:00

I'm sure you have heard of people using the back light on their cell phone as a temporary flashlight. I've even done it myself. That back light can be pretty bright.This apparently happened to a group of surgeons in Argentina. It seems that they were in the middle of an appendix operation when the lights went out. For some reason the backup generators didn't kick in immediately like they were

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-28531745625447890252007-07-30T10:01:00.000-05:002007-07-30T10:26:10.079-05:00

Lately, I've been listening to Matisyahu quite a bit. His music is a little different, and he doesn't fit any particular genre. Most of the music world can't quite decide what to classify him as. Because of that, you probably won't hear his music on any terrestrial radio stations. I would classify his music as reggae, with a little rap thrown in. Despite not being played on the radio much, he is

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-5937267580737979902007-07-30T08:18:00.000-05:002007-07-30T08:29:06.129-05:00

Do you have a strange or weird smile? If you do, then this is probably the product you need. From the land that brought you square watermelons and personal mech suits, comes the smile trainer. Just put this little strip of rubber in your mouth, and it will help train your facial muscles to have the perfect smile. This is one of those products, that could only come from Japan. I just can't see any

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-52241418145947727582007-07-27T11:05:00.000-05:002007-07-27T11:17:55.511-05:00

The Smithsonian magazine has a great article about the history of house cats. Cats have been around humans almost as long as dogs. The ancient Egyptians revered them as sacred, mummified them when they died and buried them in special cemeteries. Today there are about 90 million house cats in the US. The best quote in the entire article was by Carlos Driscoll, one of the researchers studying the

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-90382047612091701102007-07-27T08:28:00.000-05:002007-07-27T08:37:44.951-05:00

50 redheads in New York got together and rode the subway to a Wendy's to protest its racist mascot. Videos and pictures of the entire event are posted at Improv Everywhere. The entire event was staged the Improve everywhere group as a joke. Of course, no one but the "protesters" knew it was a joke. Some bystanders even got in on the action without knowing it was all staged. Pretty funny.Via The

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-25016974091767997882007-07-27T08:07:00.000-05:002007-07-27T08:21:07.084-05:00

Harptallica is a Metallica cover band with a bit of a twist. All of their music is done with harps. The video above is their rendition of "The Unforgiven," one of the classic Metallica songs from the self titled black album. The music actually is pretty good. Who would have thought that Metallica songs would sound so good as harp music.Check out their official site for more songs you can listen

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-85849367203552173622007-07-26T07:47:00.000-05:002007-07-26T08:03:29.667-05:00

A company in the UK called Touch Bionics, has developed the first artificial hand with individually powered digits. The hand is controlled entirely by the nerves that remain in the patients arm. So a person who has this hand installed can receive almost the full use from the prosthetic that they had from their own original hand. Pretty cool.Via Engadget: Touch Bionics i-LIMB bionic hand

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-81061683149120905752007-07-25T14:56:00.000-05:002007-07-25T18:14:09.634-05:00

This is seriously one of the funniest videos I've seen. Kayvan Novak, a comedian in the UK has created a hilarious video to go with a prank call he makes to an electronics store. In the call, he pretends to be a foreigner, who thinks he must pronounce the many acronyms used by the electronics industry just as they are spelled. So DVD comes out Doovde. He so frustrates the store clerk, who had the

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-39591478393437051742007-07-25T13:10:00.000-05:002007-07-25T18:14:44.260-05:00

JapanProbe has a story about a Japanese supercar made entirely out of wood. Apparently it is a promotional vehicle made by a furniture company in Japan. The car has a max speed of 80km/h. It's pretty cool looking. The video below is in Japanese, but it does show the car in action.Via JapanProbe: Japanese Wooden Supercar

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-32952117296450813072007-07-25T09:41:00.000-05:002007-07-25T09:51:28.572-05:00

CNN has a very interesting map showing the increase in Obesity rates across the nation. it's an interactive map. So to see other years besides the one from my screen capture above, you will need to click the link to the CNN website. It's amazing how fast our nation has put on the weight. Maybe it's time for the old US to go on a diet.CNN: Obesity in the US

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-32597773716860356212007-07-25T09:19:00.000-05:002007-07-25T09:31:26.490-05:00

I'm not really into diving, but seeing these pictures makes me want to get into it. The Blue Hole in the lighthouse reef system off of Belize is an almost perfectly circular sinkhole directly in the reef. The hole goes down over 400 feet, and is the entrance to an underwater cave system. It just looks absolutely amazing with the dark blue water surrounded by the lighter blue of the reef. You can

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-41091549364062299032007-07-25T07:47:00.000-05:002007-07-25T08:08:42.941-05:00

Yesterday afternoon a major power outage in San Francisco took many popular websites down. Sites affected included CraigsList, TypePad, and LiveJournal. The most surprising thing in all of the outages, was not that the power went down, but rather that the backup systems for many of these sites failed completely. Companies spend fortunes to provide backup power systems and redundancy for their

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-85857468592794313282007-07-24T13:20:00.000-05:002007-07-24T14:07:59.776-05:00

A few people have asked me where to find free images and graphics they can use for their blogs. So I thought I would list a few of the ones I've found and use.MorgueFile: Tons of free images and pictures you can use for both personal and business purposes. All of the images are tagged for easy searching. And searches return easy to see thumbnails. This is where I usually go to find images. It's

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-49118000986178970702007-07-24T09:19:00.000-05:002007-07-24T09:27:42.236-05:00

Saturday the 21st was the official release date for the 7th book of the Harry Potter series. The above video is of the local Barnes and Noble bookstore in Pensacola Florida late Friday night as people waited for the book to go on sale. The three girls at the 5:40 mark are my little sisters. They made my Dad take them to the release and wait with them until midnight to buy the book.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-5723888722708411732007-07-24T08:30:00.000-05:002007-07-24T08:45:34.296-05:00

It seems that many European nations can now claim the title of having the tallest people in the world. At one time the US held the title of tallest people in the world by a big lead. Look at the chart above. In recent times, that lead has decreased and at this point the US has fallen behind. Scientists claim that a persons height is a complex combination of both nutrition and genetics. one of the

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-48996959562085072007-07-23T09:03:00.000-05:002007-07-23T09:18:35.884-05:00

It seems that the two Nasa explorer robots are stuck in sand storms that are hampering their ability to collect power from the sun. According to the Nasa report, 99 percent of the sun is being blocked out. If you saw my previous post about a sand storm in Iraq, you will have some idea of how hard it could be to get a clear patch of sunlight. The rovers were initially sent to Mars back in 2004.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-7319363007527903462007-07-20T08:21:00.000-05:002007-07-20T08:35:19.197-05:00

Farmers in the town of Inakadate grow rice that has different colored leaves to make intricate pictures and paintings in their rice paddies. Some of the pictures are absolutely amazing. Inakadate is a small town in Japan that draws thousands of tourists each year with its intricate rice art. For more pics go here

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-42365264302401992282007-07-19T09:00:00.000-05:002007-07-19T11:02:47.302-05:00

Erik J. Heels, a patent and trademark attorney, drew this simple drawing to explain copyright law to the daughter of a friend of his. It's the most simple and straightforward representation of copyright law I've ever seen. So I thought I would re-post it here, and direct you to check out his site where he explains the entire drawing.Drawing That Explains Copyright Law

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-20794799903169083132007-07-19T08:13:00.000-05:002007-08-21T07:58:11.056-05:00

The amazing video above shows a tiger leaping 12 feet into the air to attack a forest ranger who was sitting on top of an elephant. It seems that a rogue tiger had been reported in the area, and a team was sent out to deal with it. Tigers being a protected species, they were not planning to kill it. The tiger was tracked to the field in the video, where an attempt to take it down with a

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-1660012671132398862007-07-18T15:58:00.000-05:002007-07-18T16:30:02.384-05:00

This is a post for those of you who read this site but never comment. I know you read this blog, because I see the hits, but I rarely get any comments or feedback. Comment! Tell me what you think. I really want to know. If you think a post is good, bad, cool, stupid, interesting, or funny, let me know. Comments and feedback would give me a much better idea of what people think of this blog. So if

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-32729922679365052522007-07-18T14:18:00.000-05:002007-07-18T14:25:49.876-05:00

If you are into role playing games, the flowchart above should bring you some chuckles. Of course, if you have never played role playing games, you probably wont get it. Suffice it say, that if you rip out all of the extraneous eye candy and pompous mood setting words of any role playing game, you would be left with the above list of actions.Via The Great Geek Manual: The Ultimate D&D Gaming

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-9151101129013302922007-07-18T09:15:00.000-05:002007-07-18T09:24:35.775-05:00

xkcd is one of my favorite web comics. One of the best strips in my opinion is the above one about roller coasters. We've all posed for the cameras when we are on a roller coaster. So this comic really hits home.Now a group of people have followed the directions from the comic and have posted their own pictures imitating the strip. Pretty cool. Check out the rest of the pics here: Roller Coaster

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-51853143233898932682007-07-18T08:19:00.000-05:002007-07-18T08:31:27.237-05:00

Found this fascinating article about Abigail and Brittany Hensel. The girls were born in 1990, and are conjoined twins. At the time they were born, they were not expected to live beyond a few days. Amazingly, they survived and grew. They are now 16 and lead a relatively normal healthy teenage life. They even managed to get a drivers license. Each of the twins manages one side of their conjoined

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-34014687195558097952007-07-17T15:22:00.000-05:002007-07-17T15:52:34.549-05:00

FogScreen is a company that makes screens for use with an ordinary projector. The only weird thing, is that the screens are made up entirely of fog. No special chemicals or ingredients are necessary. Simple water is good enough. Pretty cool. You can even walk through the projection without getting wet. No word on how much it costs, though I doubt it is cheap. I would love to get one of these for

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-27692631625614771892007-07-17T07:54:00.000-05:002007-08-28T08:10:46.402-05:00

Found a group of pictures showing a sand storm in Iraq. Imagine seeing that coming for you. Seriously scary looking.Sand storms are relatively common in desert and arid areas. Usually they don't cause any real damage, but occasionally they can be severe. Check out the rest of the pictures here: Sand Storm in Iraq: April 26, 2005

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-3517970005965774232007-07-16T08:31:00.000-05:002007-07-16T08:39:43.485-05:00

The New York Times has an infographic that lists the wealthiest American in history on a scale that is adjusted for inflation. By far, the richest was John D. Rockefeller. Bill Gates comes in as the 5th richest American. Each of the people listed has a brief history of how they gained their wealth and what they did with it. It's a pretty cool list. Check it out.Via New York Times: The Wealthiest

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-43329354125263475102007-07-16T07:48:00.000-05:002007-07-16T08:00:30.397-05:00

It seems that the square watermelons I posted about before, are not the only shapes you can get watermelons in. The above watermelon sells for about $650. How it is made is considered a trade secret.It seems that you can get cucumbers in different shapes as well. Below is a picture of star and heart shaped cucumbers that you can buy to decorate your salad. Via PingMag: Funny Shaped Japanese

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-83745650263003361712007-07-13T08:10:00.000-05:002007-07-13T08:27:50.070-05:00

It was 25 years ago that the first computer virus was created. Ironically, it was designed to attack the Apple II. Kind of strange since one of the biggest selling points for Apple today is the relative lack of viruses and malware out there to attack your computer.The first virus was called Elk Cloner. It was written by Rich Skrenta mainly to bug his friends. And it really didn't do much beyond

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-79486192705341380752007-07-13T07:55:00.000-05:002007-07-13T08:09:34.094-05:00

In a blow for privacy advocates in England, the helmet cameras that were previously only being used in only in limited trials are now going nationwide. So all of the Police officers will now be sporting a camera attached to their heads. Again, why is the UK so obsessed with putting cameras on everything and everywhere? I can sort of see the usefulness of this, but it would seem to me that

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-81624396479101250002007-07-12T08:04:00.000-05:002007-07-12T08:13:14.511-05:00

Change TV Channels Without A Remote! - The best bloopers are hereThis is a really cool video showing the use of a maglight and an old floppy disk to change channels. I don't know enough about how TV remotes work to understand why this method works, but it is cool anyway. I think I might just go out and buy a flashlight tonight to try this out.Via Geeks Are Sexy: Change channels with a flashlight

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-36964142275879715212007-07-11T15:21:00.000-05:002007-07-11T15:39:42.866-05:00

Researchers Yun Seong Song and Metin Sitti at Carnegie Mellon University have created a new prototype robot that walks on water. It does this by mimicking the design of the water strider insect(pictured above). Water striders can effectively skim across the top of water using surface tension force to stay afloat. The new robot is the first of it's kind to do the same. The researchers hope in the

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-12962667152558249032007-07-11T07:52:00.000-05:002007-07-11T08:12:38.821-05:00

Do you remember that fantasy you used to have of tying a bunch of balloons together and flying? Well maybe you never had that fantasy, but I did. Kent Couch, a gas station owner from Oregon, had that same fantasy. So he tied 105 helium balloons to a lawn chair and took off. He traveled over 193 miles to Idaho. With a GPS device in his pocket and a few other gadgets to measure altitude he was able

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-48064543649053422982007-07-10T10:49:00.000-05:002007-07-10T10:53:44.200-05:00

Found this very strange and absolutely hilarious site by Elena Marus an art student in Moscow. Check out this quote from the site."Russia is the biggest country in the world... Everybody knows there are two cities in Russia - Moscow and St. Petersburg... The rest of the country is called Siberia...So what else do we have in Russia? We have bears, of course. Lots of different bears... We do have

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-16904439187097286982007-07-10T08:41:00.000-05:002007-07-10T09:00:04.899-05:00

Scientists at the University of Southampton, UK have created a tiny generator that can harvest electricity off of minuscule vibrations from its environment. It doesn't generate a lot of power, but it does generate enough to power sensors installed on heavy machinery and equipment. Eliminating the need to hook those devices up to a battery. The scientists hope to be able to miniaturize it further.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-9451505518203938192007-07-09T08:01:00.000-05:002007-07-09T08:34:18.191-05:00

Well, I'm back from vacation and very tired this morning. At the moment I have a huge cup of coffee on my desk that I am sipping to try to wake me up.In honor of my caffeine addiction, I thought it fitting that I post a link to a website that has a list of caffeine content in many popular drinks and sodas. Did you know that a 12 ounce can of coke has 34 milligrams of caffeine? Compare that to an

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-6470465769396302182007-06-29T16:18:00.000-05:002007-06-29T16:24:13.737-05:00

I'll be on vacation next week. So posts may be a little less regular. In fact, I may not have much in the way of Internet access. But I'll be back on the 9th. So TTYL

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-13169067793234778162007-06-29T08:06:00.000-05:002007-06-29T08:22:45.662-05:00

Some of you may have already found the instructables website, but for those who haven't, I thought I would point it out. Instructables is a website devoted to documenting detailed instructions on how to "do it yourself." it's a community oriented website, where all of the instructions are written by the users. The idea is that we all have things we know how to do, so why not share our expertise.

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-36702578046284451692007-06-28T08:25:00.000-05:002007-06-28T10:22:48.586-05:00

The guy in the video above is named Theo Jansen and he works in Holland. Uses the crank shaft model to translate pedal movement into the circular motion of a wheel, thus maintaining his "animals" level with the ground on impact. All of his "animals" are powered by wind and nothing more. Even though he is an artist rather than an engineer, he and others have recognized the potential applications

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-11608550820279920762007-06-28T08:08:00.000-05:002007-06-28T08:20:48.951-05:00

The above map shows the spread of religious Memes throughout the world. It also highlights the major wars that were directly a result of clashes between religions. I'm not sure about some of the dates for the foundings, but otherwise it's pretty good.For more maps, go to www.MapsOfWar.comVia VirusHead: Major Religious Memes in 90 seconds

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36750009.post-20512062377549498022007-06-27T08:11:00.000-05:002007-06-27T08:30:59.806-05:00

An island off the coast of Hiroshima is being eaten away by crustaceans. The photo on the left is what the island looked like back in 1955. As you can see, the island had two peaks. One with a few trees growing on it. The photo on the right, shows the island as it is now.It seems that the crustaceans burrow into the rock that makes up the island to lay their eggs. The small holes that they burrow

Jamie Barrowsnoreply@blogger.com0