The New Turing Test

[spam project] This was the subject line from one of the three emails that made it over the first hurdle only to be shunted into the [bulk] folder.

Have a soul? Reply

A little too existential for this early in the morning if you ask me.

Michael Rubin's "Droidmaker" book now available for free download!

Michael Rubin's "Droidmaker" book a free download!

A comprehensive 518-page history of Lucasfilm, the creation of Pixar, and much more!

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Forgive my brevity, this was sent via Newton 2.0 (iPod Touch v1.x)

O Lucky Man

Today... I consider Stephan Fry (one of) the luckiest men on the face of the Earth.



Be sure to read all of his accounts in Germany, you'll be green for days but he is so nice you'll recover quickly.

Week-end Mail Update

1. Please point your browser
   
2. Stimulating The G-Spot - Make Her Screaam With lPeasure www. pill33. com. Aussie crooks steal 16 tonnses of ham; leave Merry Christtmas message
3. Friend you're approved

I guess if you don't check your mail for two and a half days you are bound to get a few good ones. Wonder what the ones that didn't even make it to the junk folder looked like.

Penny Wise Smart Phones

Now that each of the big US Carriers have you covered if you "need" a new Smart Phone, Wired gadget Lab provides a handy Smart Guide to the top 4 smart-phones, iPhone, G1, Pre and Storm.

Just what to the Sprint with its Pre, T-Mobile with its G1, Verizon with its Storm and the AT&T iPhone weigh, how well do they listen to your voice commands, and most importantly - what are they going to cost you, at a minimum, for the life of the contract?

The cheapest, the Palm Pre, tops out at US$2500 for a 2-year lock-in which is another way to say, I will be saying Hello Moto (RAZR) for a few more years.

Cheer Up

Porn From the iTunes App Store

One overlooked by some feature to the iPhone 3.0 update was creating age-restricted applications. One company has taken advantage of this by releasing Hottest Girls. It costs $2 and includes "2200+ images of topless, sexy babes and nude models". Wired Magazine's Gadget lab has the review (not good) but let's just get this clear: Apple has finally allowed pornography into the iTunes App Store.

Discuss amongst yourself what you think this means.

always be leading

Having the right product or right idea is only part of the battle these days, what with all the many ways for people to get their information – if you have seen the latest ads for the search engine 'bing,' then you know how quickly we can get overloaded with so much information it almost turns into pure noise.

So how do you go about finding a customer for what you are offering? Via the skills of a people who are experts in Lead Generation Marketing. At Endless Resources they stay current with the ever-occurring advances in today’s market so they can provide you with the intelligent and accurate data they have become known for. Save your time, money and energy by letting them use their unique skills to provide the counts and orders you desire to keep ahead of the competition and above water. Additionally, their staff of customer service centers with account managers are ready to assist with any questions.

Endless Resources offers multi-sourced comprehensive files using both traditional and non-traditional proven methodologies. If you aren't using them, aren't you worried your competition is?

This has been a sponsored post.

Ten Best Picture Nominees for Oscars

Next year there will be ten nominated films up for the Best Picture Oscar instead of the five of year's past. I guess there were so many good ones last year they wanted to honor more.

Trying to think if I even _saw_ ten movies in the theatre last year....

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Forgive my brevity, this was sent via Newton 2.0 (iPod Touch v1.x)

[p] Beam Me Up - Transporter Cat

[p] Beam Me Up - Transporter Cat
Originally uploaded by idogcow

Last night's drawing while others in the household were working on a scrapbook from last year's Ireland / Wales trip.

Wasn't sure if this was post-worthy but got the nod as 'that's very clever and cute,' so I decided to share.

As a side note: thanks to KA for the coloured pencils....

Say Kids... What Time Is It?

paper taco truck 05
Originally uploaded by goopymart

If you said, "Taco Time!" then do I have a treat for you! The artistic genius that is Gooymart has made a set of seven different trucks in larger ready-to-assemble sizes. So go get to folding!

Then go get a Taco, I know you'll be hungry.

Wall•E & the Art of the Title Sequence

The Art of the Title Sequence turns the artistic end credits for Wall-E and interviews those responsible:

Jim Capobianco's end credits to Andrew Stanton's "WALL-E" are essential; (...) the actual ending of the film, a perfect and fantastically optimistic conclusion to a grand, if imperfect idea. Humanity's past and future evolution viewed through unspooling schools of art.[...] from the Stone Age to the Impressionists to the wonderful 8-bit pixel sprites....

The Future is Uncertain

Get back in line with the rest of the cabin, suckers – those who bought their way into the "Clear" super-frequent-flier lanes at airports, were obviously not enough:

Clear Lanes Are No Longer Available.

At 11:00 p.m. PST on June 22, 2009, Clear will cease operations. Clear's parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc. has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its senior creditor to continue operations.

Having been to the San Jose airport several times in the last few months I can tell you I NEVER saw anyone use the lane and at least two or more staffers manning the booth at all times. Hardly a way to run a business....

Punk Rock Jacket Generator

I bet you have a rebellious message that you'd like to share with the world? Let this punk rocker from central casting spread it for you.

If you have ever used the Church Sign Generator created by Ryland Sanders, you know the drill. For the rest of you, simply type in your message and click Anarchy! Then watch as a new window pops up with your customized image.

Then get back to work, leather jackets aren't free you hippie!

Moon Watch Tuesday

This in from Wired Science: You can watch a flyby of the moon from a live-streaming NASA spacecraft at 5:20 am PDT tomorrow.

To be on the safe side, don't start packing your bags just yet for that Lunar vacation but at least contemplate putting some money away for the grand-kids to make the trip (and thank you for it when they get to go).

T-Mobile Announces Second Android Phone

Wired magazine reports this morning that T-Mobile has taken the wraps off of what they are calling the 'MyTouch', their second Googlephone. The editors summed up their furst look as "on paper it is smaller, lighter and just plain better."

Probably not the oft-mentioned iPhone killer, a term at this point bandied about as oft as 'the next Beatles,' but smart phone competition is always a good thing. After all, somebody has to teach AT&T that $70/mo is just too much to be paying for service even if it's only the shareholders' money.

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Forgive my brevity, this was sent via iPod Touch and Google Reader mobile.

The Vicious Cycle of History

Haven't seen the YouTube videos from this week-end of the young woman shot on a Tehran street after – blood pouring from her mouth and across her face is not my cup of tea — but I hear it is making the Twitter & Facebook rounds. Time magazine has an interesting piece on the 3, 7 and 40 day mourning period and what it will means over the next couple of days and weeks, and how deaths durning those mourning periods will start the cycle all over again if hiostory is any guide.

The first clashes in January 1978 produced two deaths that were then commemorated on the 40th day in mass gatherings, which in turn produced new confrontations with security forces — and new deaths. Those deaths then generated another 40-day period of mourning, new clashes, and further deaths. The cycle continued throughout most of the year until the shah's ouster in January 1979.

 

it so easy to be living green

Trash day tomorrow at our house so that means dragging the bins from the side of the house out to the street. I swear if it wouldn't get too ripe sitting for an extra week I think we really could go with an every-other week pick-up (not that that is an option for us). What amazes me is that the number of houses I walk by in the morning that have trash (and occasionally the recycling) tubs just OVERFLOWING with stuff. How many people live in these houses and what are they doing to generate that much waste?

Saw these houses while surfing and wondered if living in an 'earthship' won't be the way the next generation or two will have to live in. Some of these houses may be little extreme for some tastes, but there are things we should all learn from them.

So? Would you ever live in a earthship?

coupon time, fragrence edition

Looking to save 15% on perfume and fragrences? Fragrancenet.com is doing a 5 day, 15% off sale with the coupon code " BLGFT ".

Here's the link for: 15% off perfume, thank me later.

don't need the caffeine?

Have you heard that Starbucks has stopped brewing decaf coffee in the afternoons? fear not, as they will French-press you a cup. The catch? You have to ask for it specifically. Spread the word and don't rely on just what is on the menu!

man, the deadliest catch

Back in the 1980s, at the dawn of the 8 bit video game era, when the Atari 2600 was king of the schoolyard, you had two choices when it came to video game opponents: your best friend / younger sibling or the built in computer 'intelligence.' Neither of these choices was optimal, even with the 'difficulty' switch set to compensate for mismatched skill levels.

Flash forward to the 21st century and now your nearest opponent can be half a continent away as easily as in the next cubicle over. To make the most of your game time with multiplayer games,8c1.net.http://www.8c1.net is the place to go. Enjoy the game play with all your many friends, or make new ones. This super fast site is all free and I am going to bet that many of the people you play with already are already there!

Save money on subscription fees and over-priced downloads and use that money on pizza. Tell a friend about 8ci.net today and make it a gaming weekend! This has been a sponsored post.

What to drink when you are only having 5 or 6

Rob Marshbank / Design & Illustration / Walter Whip

Source: ow.ly

Rob Marshbank / Scott Marshbank / Graphic Design / Illustration

rolex saving time

Some watches cost more than other and if you shop carefully you can pay less than others as well. One of the best known names in designer high end timepieces is Rolex and for good reason – their quality and reputation are almost unmatched. As a brand name, Rolex the single largest luxury brand, producing about 2,000 watches per day. Even still, these watches don't come cheaply, unless you shop smart.

One way to have a designer watch at less than a designer price is to shop through an independent dealer of new and pre-owned Rolex watches.

BEST OF TIME, WWW.BESTOFTIME.COM, AKA Alex Jewelry is a BBB member with an excellent rating, in fact they are rated as A+ which is as high as you get. They are able to avoid manufacturer's pricing controls and pass on greater discounts to their customers. See their incredible prices for the world’s best luxury Rolex watches at www.bestoftime.com.

They receive their Rolex watches in specific quantities and have a very low markup so the savings is passed directly to you. Why not get a Father's Day gift that can be passed on down through history this year? This has been a sponsored post.

Cutomer Loyalty Program

When does a loyalty program become a disincentive to shop at Safeway? When the closest Safeway gas station is 30+ miles away.

I will be honest and tell you that the new requirement to use a 'PowerPump' award at a Safeway branded station is not making me want to shop more at Safeway, in fact, every time I look at the bottom of the receipt I am reminded at how short-sighted this 'reward' really is and feel perhaps I should do more shopping at the many other stores (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods) in my area.

I know this is not money I have spent but to be told I am 'earning' a reward that is of little to no use is only serving to make me at best ambivalent about my value as a shopper and wondering of the logic behind this move.

Glad I am not a stockholder in this company....

Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind

Still can't choose just one....

15 Silliest Facebook Vanity URLs

Source: mashable.com

The initial stage of the Facebook username land grab has finished, and we've already seen some very, very weird and funny FacebookFacebook vanity URLs.

property watcher

If you own a second home and are having trouble selling it there is an alternative to letting it just sit there or selling it off at too low a price - make your investment property a rental. Now, if you are like me you probably don't have the time, energy or temperament to be an effective landlord but you don't have to have any of these when you enlist the help of the professional Real Property Management team of Real Property Management. RPM has just received the "Franchise of the Year Honorable Mention" award and has been featured in the Bizjournal of Cincinnati and Columbus.

RPM manages over 20,000 units nationwide, so you know they have the skills and connections it takes to make both you and your dreams succeed. In fact, Freddie Mac has Signed an exclusive agreement with Real Property Management to manage the new REO Rental Initiative. Let the people at RPM Midwest take the worry out of turning your property into a ongoing source of income. Questions? Ask the National Association of Residential Property Managers - RPM is a member and as such works to ensure the highest standards in property management services.

When they succeed, so do you and best of all, someone gets a place to live.

we don't have their weather

A very off summer here in California - feels like rain in the morning followed by a wind that makes you think that it is the early beginnings of Fall. Students are appearing around campus in their caps and gowns so you KNOW it has to be June then I find out it is in the 80s in Arizona.

At least we can hold our civic heads high knowing that thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the Department of Justice’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention program has awarded the City of San Jose $863,930 from this program to develop and maintain effective programs to protect children and to intercept and prosecute people who victimize children.

All things being equal I still am bookmarking the Arizona relocation services URL, just as a precaution. After all Phoenix, Arizona was recently named as the number one city for investment in the US. As such, you can bet that the Agents at Scottsdale Fine Properties will be keeping their eyes on the new foreclosures to hit the market in the Phoenix Metro Valley area should you need a guide through the process of foreclosure property purchases / sales.

Interesting Thoughts From 'The City of Books.'

The E-Book Challenge: Amazon Versus Google : NPR

Source: www.npr.org

The book industry as we know it is changing, and Google, the latest contender eyeing the electronic book market, has the clout to give the Amazon Kindle a run for its money.

That Could Be Misconstrued

Sometimes a statement can have, well not two meanings but rather two
interpretations. Take in point my thought today of, "I need new pants."

Taken as an imperative, it rather implies something rather drastic has
happened. Taken as a statement of fact, it merely implies a wardrobe
update is desired.

FYI: I was having the second version of the thought this morning.

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Forgive my brevity, this was sent via Newton 2.0 (iPod Touch v1.x)

Buy Buy Love?

Was thinking this morning that just within the last two months, two
very large multi-national companies are spending huge sums to let us
know they exist and, if obliquely, that they are better than the
established leader in that field.

I speak of McDonalds and Microsoft, and their McCafè and Bing
initiatives, respectively. Can't give you the exact numbers in terms
of dollars being spent but I do know they are considerable. At first
thought, I would ask the question, "would not people find you if you
offered the superior products?" Or is the (American) consumer so media
trained to go with the most recent pitch they have heard.

With search engines being free, it seems like a case of survival of
the fastest and relevant. With coffee, you have the cost versus
hipness to factor in. For advertising junkies like me this will a
couple of interesting battles to watch. Now we just have to figure out
a way to leverage this fight to our advantage.

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Forgive my brevity, this was sent via Newton 2.0 (iPod Touch v1.x)

block that hack

At some point you and everyone with a web page or internet site is going to be hacked. Between the information we are freely giving out to others via the various and ever expanding social networking sites combined with the ever growing number of companies that are keeping tabs on our spending, our saving and our interests, at some point some not so nice person is going to assemble all of this data and do something in our name we will no doubt be unhappy about.

Personally, in our household "we" have bought DJ and high end audio equipment and computers in a country we have never visited. Friends have had apartments paid for in cities they have never lived in and clothing bought locally while they were on vacation, and I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg.

So, admit it, you have dreamed of how cool it would be to be a real life hacker. What if I told you it could be that cool and it would be OK as you would be helping companies tighten their IT security by being an Certified Ethical Hacker – using your considerable skills to earn money in an ever rising job market and pay grade (read up here http://iclass.eccouncil.org/).

Get involved from the inside with IT Security and get the skills and contacts you would need to master the arts of:
-Security Fundamentals
-Ethical Hacking
-Penetration Testing
-Computer Forensics

-Disaster Recovery
and
-Secure Programming

The Black Hats are out there and growing in number, why do you think the White House just appointed a Security Czar to oversee the United State's cyber security? Get your start now with the EC-Council and let them certify you in the e-business and security skills so needed today. The account you save my be your own.

The Art of Tim Burton

Sent to you via SuperPunch & Google Reader

The Art of Tim Burton

Beginning in November 2009, MoMA in New York will host a "major career retrospective on Tim Burton." You can preorder the $14 catalog from the show at Amazon. And Burton's official site lists a much larger book called The Art of Tim Burton, but doesn't provide any details as to price...

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Forgive my brevity, this was sent via Newton 2.0 (iPod Touch v1.x)

vine time

Starting smalls kids out on the path to liking vegetables, understanding where their food come from (ie: NOT from 'the store.') and having some fun outdoors are all very good reasons to start a vegetable garden in your own backyard or at your local school. The whole movement was given a huge boost this past March when Michelle Obama with a hand from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and a group of fifth graders from the Bancroft Elementary School did some planting in the new garden bed in the South Lawn of the White House.

It is a simple fact of life that if you are going to plant a garden you are going to get the inevitable garden pest that would like to share in the harvest, or more often, before you get to harvest much or any at all. Growing up, we often gave more of the veggies to the birds, bugs and rabbits than we got to enjoy ourselves. There was the thought of using chemicals on our tomato plants, but if you are going to grow your own food, wouldn't it make sense to go all organic? Which is why the next time I try I'll being going with the Safer brand Tomato & Vegetable Gardening Kit. With Stake it Easy and its design to make it easy to adequately support the plants as they grow combined with the Tomato & Vegetable Insect killer – it's OMRI listed organic plus will help you control caterpillar and the other common tomato pests waiting to snack on your plants all without contaminating your crops with harmful chemicals.

Get an organic tomato growing kit and have all the fun of a home garden with the pests or the pesticides! Your summer backyard cookouts and BBQs will be better with your own fresh vegetables to share and you and your kids will thank you.

Remember Archie's Records on Honeycomb Cereal Boxes?

Welcome to a peek inside (a) collection of flexi discs, phonosheets, cardboard discs, and oddity records, acquired (from) over 37 years of music collecting and 14 years of hosting WFMU’s The Antique Phonograph Music Program.

via Print (Magazine):

10 Commandments in txt

3. no omg's

Now go read all 10 at McSweeny's....

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This was better than all the cats in Wales standing on the wall in a row.

▓▒░ Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail ░▒▓

talking to and listening to the end user

If you are like me, when it comes to internet productivity, you are probably always on the look out for a place where you can find the best of smart website software. Software that includes applications and social networking tools like blogs and forums that keep people reading, boost attendance and both Empower andEngage Members.

As even the biggest retailers and manufactures (and to a limited extent, the United States Government, including the US Army), blogs are one great way to keep readers and members up to date in a casual, fun and easy environment, an environment that today's crowd looks for and finds "real." By allowing members to join in on the conversations and share opinions about the latest activities and ideas, websites have found that this has saved them a great deal of time by sharing important news as it happens without the middle man or a PR agent or the mainstream media. Plus, get instant and free feedback on new products and recent product changes.

Don't believe me? Look how much internet chatter was raised over the change of a recent orange juice company's labeling. Ask yourself how much that new label cost and how much it is going to change to change it back. Then ask if that money could have been better spent elsewhere. (You know the shareholders are going to!)

Free iPod touch 16GB w/ Ferrari purchase

If you were planing to get a new car anyway, this deal's for you.

BTW: can I get a ride to work?

The following HOT DEAL was just posted on http://dealmac.com/?ref=alert_1

Buy a Ferrari, get a free iPod touch 16GB
-----------------------------------------

Want a free iPod but don't qualify for Apple's Back toSchool promotion? CNET reports that Ferrari is providing a free custom Apple iPod touch 16GB with the purchase of a Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M. No pricing information is available at the moment, but one would expect it to cost a bit more than a MacBook.

The eMail Subject That I Thought Was Junk-Mail

Is Amazon destruction at your feet?

Turns out it's from Greenpeace and they are concerned that your Nike, Reebok or Adidas shoes are helping destroy what is left of the rain forest.

Old Media

Overheard conversation from the other day:

"I pretty much get all my news online these days but I wish there was some way I could read all the comics I like, you know, like you see them in the newspaper."

All I could think of of was, have you thought of getting a newspaper?