Michael Palin's travel books online for free

Formerly of Monty Python's Flying Circus, Michael Palin has traveled around the world filming travel documentaries for the BBC. I've seen a few, and they're all quite excellent.
Now, you can read many of his travel books for free!

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Is that color the color you think you are seeing?

Some really cool color optical illusions. Number 3 is amazing!

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Someone buy this man a Plasma TV!

Hello? Most powerful man in the world?
That's the kind of TV you put in your 4-year-old's bedroom!

Incidentally, he's watching the Discovery Space Shuttle launch. I would think that that would be something you'd want to watch on a bigger screen...

Steven Johnson Takes Hillary to School Over GTA

Steven Johnson wrote the book "Everything Bad is Good For You: How Today's Popular Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter." In an open letter in the LA Times, he addresses Sen. Hilary Clinton on her convenient and timely stand against the "explicit" sex in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. A good read.

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The Teastick

This is a great little gizmo for making a singal cup of tea using loose tea leaves. There's a scoop inside that comes out. You scoop an amound of tea leaves, pull the scoop back into the cylinder with holes, and stick the whole thing in a glass of hot water.

I may have to get one despite the expense ($25 + $5 S/H).

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Rocket-Powered Car (Engadget)

Some stuck a couple of jet engines in the back of a Toyota MR2. I guess it can go very fast...

The best comment in the Engadget posting is the first one: "Is it street legal?"

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Talk (in) to the Hand!

I knew that it would only be a matter of time until we could talk into our hands. Check out the bluetooth hand(?)-set.

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In Response: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked

In response to the GTA:SA controversy:
An MIT professor tries to separate fact from fiction by doing an unbiased study on the affects of video games. Definitely worth the read, and he seems very credible.

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Rockstar Ceases Manufacturing Of GTA: San Andreas

Take-Two Interactive has announced that is ceasing manufacturing of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, following the decision by the ESRB to change the game's rating from Mature 17+ to Adults Only 18+.
Most... ridiculous... thing... EVER!

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Tongue in Cheek movie about the Hot Coffee GTA mod

A Neistat Brothers movie poking fun at the Hot Coffee controversy for GTA San Andreas. Very funny.

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Video: A Few Good G-Men

A remake of the courtroom scene at the end of "A Few Good Men", made with the Half-Life 2 game engine. Very impressive.


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Hands-free kits cause accidents too!?

An Australian study shows that using a hands-free cellphone kit while driving is no safer than holding phone up to your ear.

Ha! I knew it!

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NicoShot: Beer with Nicotine

A German brewer has created a frosty lager for smoking cessation. Each can contains 6.3 percent alcohol by volume and drinking three cans of the stuff, called NicoShot, is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes. Doncha love science?

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Large Numbers, Visualized with Pennies

This is a cool site that gives a visual representation of large numbers, using the common penny to illustrate.

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Super Mario Physics

A very funny and cool flash movie. It's a physics lesson in the Super Mario Brothers universe. The part where Mario breaks the sound barrier is great! Definitely worth seeing.

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Boing Boing: Man inflates forehead for "art"

Dunno about the artistic value of this, but I guess it goes along with body piercing and mutiliation.

I'm worried about what happens if he inflates too much..

By the way, that's saline solution, not air. If it were helium, would the guy become lighter?
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/11/man_inflates_forehea.html

Janitors Striking

A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by elbaso.

The janitors where i work are protesting, which means i have to bring my own toilet paper. Stupid unions!

Joystiq: PS3 53% of market share predicted

While I think it's premature (and hilarious) for such a specific market share amount, especially this early in the game when prices haven't been set for any of the next-generation consoles, it's interesting that they're predicting a much lower market share for the PS3 than the PS2 has over current consoles.
Still, I gotta say that I'll probably be getting both the XBox 360 and the PS3! Better start saving...

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000777050094/

forksplit

forksplit is one of my favorite personal blogs. It's from a lady living in Brooklyn, with an interesting (and psychotic) family and worldview. I frequently laugh out loud at these posts, and look forward to new ones.
The post about her experience taking a broken iPod in to the Genius Bar at an Apple store is priceless!

Dave Chappelle spoofs GTA

A hilarious video spoof of GTA by Dave Chappelle. I really hope all the problems surrounding season 3 get resolved. The man's a genius!

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Frogger--Hilarious Video!

Hilarious frogger video captured on [Adult Swim].

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NES DVD Player

Some enterprising person hacked their trusty old NES and stuck a working DVD player in there. The NES power button works, and the lid pops open when the tray is ejected. Muy cool!

Back on the air

It's been more than a year since my last post, but a lot's been happening. Besides, not much traffic on this site, eh?
Well, I'm back on the air. I'm gonna use this space to highlight some interesting stories and/or info I find on the web, and perhaps commentate a bit. Since I tend to lean in the tech direction, most stories will be of that nature.
Many of the stories will be from digg.com, a great communal news site that I recommend, though it also leans tech. They have a nice blogging feature which'll make updates easy.
Thanks for tuning in!