stromdotcom

mentalBlock for iPad

2010-06-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

mentalBlock is a physics puzzler with 6 types of blocks and 4 way gravity.
The object of each level is to rid the screen of red blocks without
disturbing the green blocks.

Included in the full version is the same level editor I used to create all
the levels for the game. The LITE version contains the first 15 levels,
most of which are tutorial levels.

Here is a video of the game:

You can see the level editor in action at 1:40 in that video.
on iTunes:

Lite: iTunes Link
Full: iTunes Link

I'm very proud of this game and have lots of updates planned. I have just
sent the first update to Apple which adds a new block type (a fixed
"spinner" block) and 10 new levels demonstrating the new block.

Hope you enjoy it!

The Incredible App Store Hype

2009-05-27T00:32:00.000-07:00

The hype surrounding the iPhone App Store continues to persist. It's been called a gold rush, and stories of one man teams making hundreds of thousands of dollars almost overnight abound. But what does that mean for you, if you want to get into the game? Let's look at the reality.

Follow me on Twitter: @stromdotcom

First, so you know where I stand among the 60,000 or 600,000 (I've heard both numbers) registered iPhone developers: I have nearly 20 apps in the app store as of this writing. Three of those apps are on the charts:

Zen Jar #34 Social Networking (paid)

Spirit Board #36 Board Games (free)

Spirit Board Pro #95 Board Games (paid)

With two apps on the paid charts, one would assume I'm rolling in dough. After all, this is a gold rush, right?

The reality is much more startling. In order to place #34 on the social networking charts, you need 30-35 downloads a day. At the standard app store pricing of .99, and after Apple takes its cut, that means your app needs to bring in a little over $20 a day to chart at that position. And social networking is a popular category.

Perhaps you'd expect the game charts to do better. Board games isn't a wildly popular category, but it still might surprise you that it takes about 6-8 downloads a day to chart. That means if you are making around $4 a day you'll be in the top 100.

So what does this all mean? Well keep in mind there are over 36,000 apps in the app store. If the apps on the category charts are doing those sorts of numbers, what do you think the rest of them are doing?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The aren't selling at all.

Now here's the problem I have with all this. Any normal business that doesn't involve software or the Internet is measured by its average performance. For example, if you want to open a coffee house in your town, part of your research would be looking at how other coffee houses have fared locally, and maybe looking at other, similar areas and seeing how coffee houses have fared there. You would determine an average performance measure and use that determine if it is worth the cost and time required to open your own coffee house.

As software entrepreneurs, we fail to do this time and time again. We measure the market by its huge successes. This would be the equivalent of opening a coffee house after looking at Starbucks' quarterly report, and assuming that Joe's Coffee and Cake is going to quickly rise to the level of a multinational corporation. Rational small business people, unless they have the resources to begin with, don't try to compete with huge, entrenched corporations. Nor do they assume that their success will be on the same level. Joe will look at Sue to get an idea about what his business might do.

After years of playing the web game, I still can't believe people think like this. How many start ups think about revenue after they've brought in the traffic? The huge successes of the Internet always seem to be the ones bleeding huge sums of money. Imagine if the real world worked like this -- what would you rather invest in, Joe's Coffee House, which profits a couple thousand a month, or MegaCoffee 5000, which is multinational but loses a couple million a day?

But getting back to the app store: I post these numbers so people can understand what is really involved here. The app store isn't a sane marketplace at all, any more than the lottery is. When you submit an app, you are buying a ticket. Maybe you will be one of the few who makes a couple hundred grand in a hurry, but most likely you will be just another shlub tossing your blood, sweat and tears into the void where it will be ignored.

And at least on the web, when we got charged up over how rich our shiny new web app was going to make us, we were using massive, hundreds of millions of dollars sales as our ridiculous reference. On the iPhone, the biggest successes are in the 500,000-600,000 range. Anyone want to try to calculate the expected value of that lottery ticket?

--

Like this? If you have an iPhone, buy one of my apps. God knows I need all the help I can get.

Zen Jar for iPhone

2009-04-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a neat little diversion on your iPhone or iPod Touch, I highly recommend getting the excellent (and free) Zen Jar app:

Link to iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=309543928&mt=8

Loyal Readers...

2009-03-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

I'm focusing on the planning of my trip around the world. Please read stromaroundtheworld.blogspot.com where I'll be doing all of my posting for the next little bit.

A new guido fo ya

2008-09-24T13:43:00.001-07:00

Women should lift weights

2008-09-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Best student article ever

2008-05-10T13:15:00.001-07:00

Click for big.

Hard to argue, eh?

Most Amazing Nature Shot Ever

2008-05-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

Seriously, this is the most amazing nature shot I've ever seen. Click for big (its worth it):

(In case you don't see why it's awesome right away -- although I don't see how you could miss it -- just stare longer)

Mindfucks

2008-05-07T17:55:00.001-07:00

It's Go Time

2008-05-07T10:57:00.001-07:00

The guy has a point...

2008-04-18T19:12:00.001-07:00

... on the top of his head.

Click for full size:

Toys Disected

2008-04-18T13:16:00.001-07:00

Oil Will be Limitless!

2008-04-18T08:30:00.001-07:00

The Evidence was Everywhere

2008-04-18T08:28:00.001-07:00

How to Use an Indian Toilet

2008-04-18T08:23:00.001-07:00

Spelling Test

2008-04-17T15:40:00.001-07:00

Bizarre Creature Discovered in Russia

2008-04-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

What is it? Your guess is as good as mine.

Rednecks Solve Power Problem

2008-04-15T16:24:00.000-07:00

Disturbing Auction Photos

2008-04-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Note to all future auctioneers: get dressed before you photograph the items you're selling.

(these are all fairly NSFW, so I've posted ultra-small thumbnails here. CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK!)

First GTA4 Print Review

2008-04-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Enjoy

Facebook Horrors

2008-04-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

This is completely unrelated to anything I usually post here, I realize, but...

Facebook recently updated, and as a result, a whole hell of a lot of Facebook apps are broken. As of this posting, they've been broken for four days now. I'm submitting this to Digg in the hopes that seeing this on Digg's front page will convince Facebook to, you know, actually do something about it.

What could they do? ROLL BACK TO THE PREVIOUS VERSION!

Here is but one thread full of disgruntled developers:

http://forum.developers.facebook.com/viewtopic.php?id=13431

What is Dick Cheney looking at?

2008-04-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

(Note: click images to view full size!)

This photo popped up on the official White House website:

Look closer. What is Dick Cheney looking at?

Guesses? Whatever it is, it's making him really happy.

Bill O'Reilly Goatse'd

2008-04-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

The screengrab speaks for itself. Bill O' Reilly was goatse'd.

Click for full size.

What ever became of the Homecoming Queen?

2008-02-18T10:19:00.001-08:00

Here's what:

Former homecoming queen Donna Sturkie-Anthony was convicted of two DUI convictions in 1991. During one arrest, police said she was so drunk she smeared her feces in the back of a police car.

Anthony married and moved away from her hometown in the late 1990s. When she returned, she was arrested six more times by local police, most recently last month.

From NBC news:

Police said Anthony's sister came to visit her at her Route 30 trailer, and the two started arguing about her alcohol abuse. Then, police said Anthony pulled off her sister's prosthetic leg and beat her with it.

A month later, police said, Anthony stole her neighbor's telephone and then threatened to burn down their trailer if they testified against her.

In another incident, police said Anthony threw ground meat at her neighbor before she threatened to kick his pregnant daughter in the stomach.

And of course, this story isn't complete without a photo:

Modern Day Government Posters

2008-02-10T10:13:00.001-08:00

Perverted Nature

2007-10-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

I Loved You In...

2007-10-28T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun little site that just launched: ILovedYouIn.com

The name is pretty snarky. People submit actors (and upload photos of actors), and then everyone votes on the most embarassing role they've ever participated in.

Example: Jack Black in The Neverending Story 3.

Check it out.

Don't Drink the Water?

2007-09-20T23:28:00.001-07:00

Dinosaurs were Dragons

2007-09-12T08:43:00.000-07:00

According to chick tracts, makers of those annoying religious pamphlets people shove in your face while you try to go about your business.

At least that mystery is solved!

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Crane!

2007-09-03T22:40:00.001-07:00

The first one was red. It just didn't cut it.

Better bring in the bigger one, the green one. Now we need to pull out the car, and the red crane!

DOH! Never give up!

Lessons in Advertising

2007-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

There is a right way to do "urban" advertising, and a very, very wrong way.

Here are three examples of the wrong way:

Schapelle Corby -- What About Now?

2007-08-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

I usually post goofy pictures and funny videos here but today I was thinking about something serious. We always come across these very interesting stories on the Internet, and we obsess about them for a good couple weeks or so, and then... suddenly, they are gone from the public consciousness. Just gone, and there's a good chance you will never even remember that story that everyone was buzzing about.

For some reason I woke up today thinking about the Schapelle Corby case. In case you don't remember, she was accused of smuggling 4.1 kg (9 lb) of cannabis into Bali, Indonesia. At the time, there was grumbling that such a charge might carry a death sentence, or life imprisonment in Indonesia. Her defense was that she was an unwitting carrier, and the drugs were planted on her. Her story was challenged by a lot of circumstance, like drug offenses in her family's past, drug charges in Australia -- at the same time she was facing her own -- leveled against her travel companions, and more.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard stated, in response to pleas by Schapelle's family, "I feel for her. I understand why there's a lot of public sympathy for her; I would simply say that I hope justice is done and it's a fair and true verdict...I would ask the rhetorical question: My fellow Australians, if a foreigner were to come to Australia and a foreign government were to start telling us how we should handle (it), we would react very angrily to that."

And he was right. The reason I was thinking about this is that I know someone who is getting ready to travel to a place where... well let's just say the risk outweighs the rewards, in my opinion. But the truth is, you are going to have a hard time drumming up sympathy if you venture forth anyways. Especially if you plan to break their laws -- which, to be honest, it's hard to decide whether she did or didn't.

So I wanted to know what was happening with her now. She is currently serving a 20 year sentence in Indonesia. I suppose she's done somewhere between a year and two years of it at this point.

I don't think this case is the pinnacle of interest, I just thought it was interesting to bring up an old, hot story, and remind ourselves how quickly these things fade from our attention.

The Pride of South Carolina

2007-08-26T14:50:00.001-07:00

Worst Logo Ever

2007-08-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

How do you not catch this? The company's name is Locum. Some genius had the clever idea of making the o a heart. You know, to soften the company's image and make it more cute and cuddly.

Woops.

Batman, Turkey

2007-08-22T00:22:00.001-07:00

Here's a fun bit of trivia that people won't believe: there is a city in Turkey named BATMAN.

Let's meet at...

2007-08-19T23:10:00.001-07:00

Spotted off the 101 near San Francisco.

Think this guy might be drunk?

2007-08-16T11:13:00.001-07:00

Atari 2600 Games You Missed

2007-08-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

View 200 more at Glowfoto

UFO over Haiti

2007-08-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

I'd love to play along with this, because hyping these things up is real good fun, but the fact is, this video is fake. A little googling will quickly turn up the proof (hint: look at the trees), but it is a hell of a good fake anyways.

Flash Flood

2007-08-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Video of a flash flood in Australia, Kellick Creek at Ringwood Road Crossing 10 miles south west of Merriwa, Upper Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.

Seenstr - a new blog you really ought to read

2007-08-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, I never plug blogs, but I'm going to make an exception here because I actually know this guy, and he knows some crazy stuff. And he's going to share it on this blog of his, so you won't want to miss this.

Seenstr - Hacking Human Nature

Seenstr is a kind of social engineer, and he spends most of his time figuring out how people work. Ah, I won't babble on too much about him. Just check out his blog, bookmark it, and prepare to get a brain-full of insights into human nature.

How to make a kid afraid of horses

2007-08-06T23:35:00.001-07:00

Russians Launch Pig Into Orbit

2007-07-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

Click for full size.

White Tiger with Down Syndrome?

2007-07-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

I didn't know this was possible, but this white tiger appears to have Down Syndrome.

(click for full-size to get the full effect)

Apparently these tigers are so inbred in order to keep them white, that this sometimes happens. It may be related to the mutation that causes them to be white in the first place.

Diversity of Life

2007-07-25T14:31:00.000-07:00

Regular contributor Hematochezia has a gallery of 81 unique, bizarre and highly interesting animal species on his Glowfoto gallery.

Definitely check this one out.

Shark with webbed feet

2007-07-25T14:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome Diggers!

A worker of the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM) in Batu Maung, Penang, made this unusual find when she was given the 1.7kg fish by a fisherman at the jetty recently.

When contacted, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Muka Head marine research station head Prof Dr Zulfigar Yasin said this is the first time he had heard of fish with legs found in the Malaysian waters.

“There is a possibility that the fish could have swum from other waters into Malaysian waters.

“As far as I am concerned, fish species with legs or bony fins can only be discovered in the waters of North Sulawesi in Indonesia or South Africa,” he said.

The Foot Mouse

2007-07-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

I'll give you one guess who this should be marketed to:

Unless you're ambidextrous, you might need to keep your good hand free for, uh, other business while you surf the net. If so, the foot mouse might be for you.

Mindblowing Optical Illusion

2007-07-17T03:32:00.000-07:00

At first glance, the silhouette is spinning clockwise. but you can reverse the spinning.

I honestly thought this was a hoax of some kind and I was being made a fool by staring at this thing trying to make it change direction, and then sure enough, I did it.

Here's what worked for me: Look at the shadow. Notice the shadow of the spinning foot. Try to tell yourself that you are looking at the shadow going the other direction. Once you've convinced yourself of that, look back up (if it helps, cover the girl and only look at the shadow until you can get it to change direction).

Coolest RV Ever

2007-07-17T02:00:00.001-07:00

News of the Odd - Web 2.0 Style

2007-07-17T01:19:00.000-07:00

If you were a fan of the X-Files, or if you are into oddball, paranormal stuff, or if you dig Digg, or even better if you are all three, you might want to check out fallingskies.com, a new social news and bookmarking site dedicated to paranormal news.

Its a new site, but the concept is definitely cool.

Latte Art

2007-07-17T00:27:00.000-07:00

Funny Grafiti

2007-07-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

Click to view full size

The tallest man meets the shortest man

2007-07-13T14:52:00.001-07:00

And both are from the same part of Inner Mongolia.

Apartment or death-trap?

2007-07-12T10:32:00.002-07:00

How do you sleep well in a building like this?

World's Cutest Dog

2007-07-12T10:32:00.001-07:00

Just look at that spotting pattern. Are you kidding me?

What happens to your skin...

2007-07-09T23:29:00.000-07:00

...when you lose 400 pounds really fast?

Check out this guy:

Amnesty International Ad Campaign

2007-07-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Getting geotagged Photos in your website or blog

2007-07-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

Glowfoto now lets you embed your photo map into your website. It's a little rough around the edges, but it works, and it's pretty neat. Here's user yelena's map:

Use your mouse's scroll wheel to zoom in and out (or the + and - buttons) and click on an orange marker to view the photo positioned there.

Why is this cool? Well, instead of uploading your travel photos, for example, and then posting them to your blog, you can geotag them, stick them on your map, and then embed your map in your blog.

To use this:

1. Go to www.glowfoto.com and sign up for a free account.
2. Upload some photos and geotag them. Watch the video below to see how geotagging works at Glowfoto. It's brain-dead simple.
3. View your map. Under your map you'll see the code you need to copy and paste into your website to get your map on your page.

It uses iframes, so if you can't use iframes I guess you're SOL. But it works here at blogger, which is good enough for me.

Here's the how-to video on using glowfoto's geotagger:

Real or Fake?

2007-07-06T23:05:00.000-07:00

Here's the game: decide which of these photos is real, and which is fake.

Click any photo to view it full-size.

All of these photos were nicked from this Something Awful thread.

Awesome Dolphin Boat

2007-07-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

No, it doesn't just look like a dolphin, it can jump out of the water like a dolphin.

Innespace Productions is a company dedicated to creating and demonstrating high performance submersible watercraft.

This boat is intended for underwater and surface navigation, but its main strength is that it can jump out of water with the same accuracy as it is done by dolphins.

World's worst music video?

2007-07-03T14:37:00.000-07:00

This is... awful.

How-to Geotag Photos

2007-07-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

Glowfoto has a neat feature that allows you to Geotag your photos so they appear on your map.

Here's a short little video demonstrating how to do that:

Engrish!

2007-06-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Crazy Haircuts

2007-06-21T09:30:00.001-07:00

Next time you are in need of a cut:

Magic Eye

2007-06-21T09:04:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, the image below is one of those "magic eye" images. If you manage to see it, you'll get a funny little joke inside.

Click to enlarge, if necessary.

In case you have no idea what a magic eye image is: stare at the image as if you are looking through it. Try to bring the distinct images each of your eyes is picking up together to form a single image.

GIANT Discovery

2007-06-20T21:48:00.000-07:00

In the northern region of India, in a region called the Empty Quarter, a National Geographic Team (India Division), with the support of the Indian Army, uncovered the skeletal remains of a giant human.

Click the photo below to see it full size, and note the size of the two men standing in the picture.

More photos here.

The exploration team also found tablets with inscriptions describing a Godlike race of people of phenomenal size created to bring order among us since we were always fighting with each other.

One other note: this image was an entry in a Photoshop contest at Worth1000.com. It was created by altering an actual photo of a Cornell University excavation of a mastodon skeleton.

But it would be great if it were true, wouldn't it? Here is the link to the entry at worth1000.

Don't Sit Here

2007-06-05T13:04:00.001-07:00

Did you know there is a war on sitting? Neither did I. Who could possibly care about this?

Well, if this site is any indication, a lot of people. There are literally hundreds of examples of sitter-unfriendly structures there. If you don't want to wait hours for your page to load, some highlights are below. Click to view full size:

Danica McKellar - Cute AND Smart

2007-06-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Remember Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years? Turns out that as us nerds grew up, so did she... into a nerd. But a hot nerd.

And even better, she has a B.S. in Mathematics from UCLA. I have a B.S. in Mathematics from UCSB -- wonder if I have an in? Ha. Probably not. As a kid growing up watching the show, I don't have to tell you I had a boy crush on Winnie Cooper.

Here she is now:

I actually brushed by her a few years ago outside a restaurant in Santa Monica. I can confirm she was quite stunning.

And she writes, too:

Ok, so she's kind of playing up the girlie thing, but who cares. She's cute, she's smart... she's my woman of the day today.

HOT Fashion Show

2007-06-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

And I mean that literally. How did they get these models to go along with this?

Be Careful Who You Anger

2007-06-04T20:42:00.000-07:00

Wee wunt 2 gradjuat

2007-06-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

In Fort Worth, 613 seniors did not pass the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) exam. Consequently, they won't be graduating. About a dozen students decided to protest the fact that non-graduating seniors will not be allowed to walk in the graduation ceremony. I don't know what to say to this except what...

Ok, so the story itself isn't that interesting, but there are two things here that you will get a kick out of. First, this quote from the story:

Crystal Martinez complained that while she finished at the top of her class with a 3.5 grade point average, she is now blocked from graduation by failing the TAKS test.

3.5 is the "top of her class"? And how do you get a 3.5 GPA and fail a basic skills test?

And here is the capper. A photo from the protest. Read carefully what is written on the sign.

The Stuff of Nightmares

2007-06-01T00:24:00.001-07:00

Prepare to be horrified. These are the ghastliest things I have ever seen.

I don't know what these are or where they came from -- if someone knows, please leave a comment.

Sweet dreams!

Allison Stokke

2007-05-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

So most of you know this cute 18 year old pole vaulter's photos hit the Internet and she has become a meme of sorts. Her parents are outraged (according to one report), although... I still don't really get why. No one much cared about pole vaulting before this, and all the attention can only be good for her career. If pole vaulters even have careers. Who the hell knows, it's pole vaulting for heaven's sake.

Here is the girl in question for the curious (click for full size):

But is she good? Apparently. In high school, she won a 2004 California state pole vaulting title, broke five national records and earned a scholarship to the University of California.

A quote from the washington post article about Stokke:

Three weeks later, Stokke has decided that control is essentially beyond her grasp. Instead, she said, she has learned a distressing lesson in the unruly momentum of the Internet.

Control WHAT exactly? Your photo flying around the Internet? Since when does that demand control? How exactly does that make the Internet unruly?

I wish her luck. But someone ought to advise her that this kind of publicity is good publicity. She should be thankful that it doesn't involve a stolen home video or some racy photos taken after a night of partying.

Now, get on with the endorsement deals, Stokke.

News Screwups

2007-05-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the greatest news screwups of all time. Some of them you need to look closely to see what is going on -- those ones are usually the funniest.

Not so much a screwup as accidental honesty.

Well, that solves that pesky space travel problem.

Hah, they wish.

Look closely. Ok, you might not believe your eyes. You might think this is a photoshop. Nope. Watch this.

If you laughed at that, you might be a racist.

Me too.

If you laughed at this one, you are definitely a racist.

That was nice of them.

I'm oddly curious...

Experts agree that stromdotcom is either a blogger or not a blogger.

Pimpin' ain't easy.

That hurts just thinking about it.

Fellow Americans, please don't let me down. Get this one please.

They wish.

We wish.

Someone in the newsroom is definitely not from California.

Math: not their strong suit.

AAAAAGGGGGG

The original is on the left, later replaced with the right. It's juvenile, of course, and that's why it's so funny.

Nothing funny about this one. This was just tragic.

WOOPS!

Can anyone confirm this one?

Yeah, I know it's played out. But still...

Geography, folks.

Finally, a few videos:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1Y_u8eDH8V8&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5lkwRMa39NE
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PHlVmF-CU-M
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EHTXh3R66hE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e77oXjFkIs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z0sowJXmwCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riaMdfbIecc&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oCG55CL2tI

And the all time classic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzqp3Ly5Reg

Extreme Ironing?

2007-05-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ever heard of Extreme Ironing? Me either. The website is in German, but according to natives.co.uk, it is "sport which combines the danger and the spirit of an extreme sport with boring housework you have to do. By Extreme Ironing the sportsman gets a great fitness and he is always looking smart."

Huh.

Well, here are some action shots. Click on any of them to view them full size:

Slideshows for Bloggers

2007-05-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a new way to get photos into your blog entries. I've used a couple cool photos from NASA's Image of the Day gallery.

You can create your own at http://www.glowfoto.com/slideshowgen.php

Separated At Birth

2007-05-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

(click for big)

Fireworks!

2007-05-05T00:19:00.000-07:00

Mike Gravel - Pure Awesome

2007-05-03T02:22:00.000-07:00

Well, Mike Gravel has captured my heart, so I thought I'd post some groovy stuff about the guy.

First, he wasn't always a crabby old man:

According to Wikipedia, he wrote a book during his first Senate term entitled Citizen Power, in which he advocated:

* a guaranteed annual income (dubbed the "Citizen's Wage"),
* public financing of elections,
* progressive tax with no deductions or exemptions,
* steps against the military-industrial complex (which he calls the "Warfare State"),
* a national law to do away with voter registration and other barriers to voting,
* abolition of the death penalty,
* universal health care, school vouchers,
* a drastic reduction in government secrecy

Note that his first term was in 1969. He was advocating this stuff in '69, baby.

The book also contained the complete text of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the complete platform adopted by the Populist Party during the 1892 presidential election.

He also pushed for Federal ballot measures (similar to state ballot measures, or propositions in California), which would have given the people a direct vote in matters of federal law.

And as anyone who watched the recent debate saw, the guy is not afraid to speak his mind about anything, including the war.

I don't know, folks. I think he'd make a fabulous president.

Roger Ebert at his best

2007-04-29T14:17:00.000-07:00

God I love the guy. I can't wait for him to get well and come back to us.

Awesome Ski Masks

2007-04-29T00:39:00.000-07:00

It's never too early to start your winter shopping, and here are two ski masks you absolutely need to own:

The El Lobo Loco. Stay warm and fight evil luchadors in style.

The Little Miss Burn Victim. Hey there, little girl, where did you get that ski mOH GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE!!!!

Unintentionally Funny Comics

2007-04-27T01:42:00.000-07:00

These are all real, and all unintentionally hilarious. They were culled from a few sources, which you can find at the end. I've pulled out the funniest ones here, but you can visit the links for more.

Want more?

Original Top 15 list
superdickery.com
A forum full of them
SA Forums thread

More on the danger of God

2007-04-26T11:18:00.001-07:00

No funny photos today, sorry, just something I was thinking about this morning.

I have avoided reading pretty much anything about baby Emilio because the debate is reignites just bores me to tears. But I read something in today's CNN story that really bothered me:

The hospital contends that keeping Emilio alive on a ventilator is painful for the toddler and useless against his illness -- Leigh's disease, a rare degenerative disorder that has no cure.

...

Emilio's mother, Catarina Gonzales, on the other hand, is fighting to keep her son on the ventilator, allowing him to die "naturally, the way God intended."

When I first read that last sentence, before I got to the end, I thought, "oh, this isn't a religious matter, this is about a woman who can't let go of her son". If that were it, it would be sad, but terribly irresponsible. One person's dedication to another does not justify the prolonging of pain.

However, when I got to the end, it bothered me even more.

When guys like Dawkins go out into the world and try to explain why religion is dangerous, they have a hard time explaining the reasons why to a group of people who truly think that without religion the world would devolve into a chaotic mess of mass killings, rapes and other assorted heinous crimes. The reason, according to them, is that without religion, there is no morality.

That belief is hilarious, of course, to atheists, the vast majority of which know that killing, raping, et al, is wrong. It's doubly funny to me, since I love when people bite themselves in the ass unwittingly. For a religious man to claim that religion is the only source of morality is to state plainly that without religion, he would be without morals. To apply that to the entire population is comedy, to realize that the man telling you this is, deep down inside, a vicious murderer-rapist who is only restrained by a fear of a God who would punish him for acting out his vile desires is downright frightening.

For what it means is that if religion is revealed to be false, in a most convincing and inarguable way, these men will rape you, kill you, and steal everything you own. And why not? Their moral foundation will have been toppled. Only the atheists who didn't commit acts of atrocity, for the simple fact that they are morally wrong, will be safe to associate with.

Back to baby Emilio: what we have is a woman who is allowing her child to suffer because of an irrational belief in something for which she has no proof. Let's consider the definition of delusion: an erroneous belief that is held in the face of evidence to the contrary. Here, a belief that God has an intended way for her son to die, and moreover, she somehow knows what this intended way is.

By what evidence does she conclude that God's intended way for her son to die is not by pulling the plug? The baby is on life support, indeed if any argument could be made about God's intent, it would be for the doctors to cease intervention, and let "nature" take its course. Instead, this woman evokes the invisible man in the sky to justify the prolonged suffering of a baby with a disease for which there is no cure.

That is why religion is dangerous.

The origin of the firefox logo

2007-04-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what that FireFox logo is all about?

(click to view full size. you know you want to)

Croc bites off vet's arm

2007-04-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

Gooooood God!

In Kaohsiung, Taiwan, a zoo vet had to have surgery to reattach his arm after a crocodile bit it off. The man, Chang Po-Yu, was trying to administer medicine to the crocodile at the time of the accident but was unaware that the crocodile hadn't been completely anaesthetised.

As Chang was rushed to Kaohsiung hospital, a zoo worker shot the croc twice in the neck so that the severed limb could be retrieved from its mouth.

Mermaid Photos

2007-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I understand there is a 99% chance that these are totally, completely fake. But they captured my attention anyways. I have no idea what or where these are from, but...

Oh what the hell, here they are. Decide for yourself:

Signs of computer addiction

2007-04-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sadly, one of these I've done (hint: computer in the bed).

(click for full size)

Made from typewriters

2007-03-31T09:07:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Mayer’s makes art from ancient typewriters. Apparently these are done without any additional materials (glue, solder, etc) and are done soley by reconstructing the typewriter with his hands.

Big Stuff

2007-03-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know why humans (particularly American humans) love taking mundane things and building huge replicas of them. I got to thinking about this after driving by the huge pair of binoculars in Venice, CA (seen below) for the thousandth time and wondering why I always turn to look at them.

So I rounded up a bunch of photos of huge things. Some of these are of questionable quality, due to the fact that they look like vintage vacation photos, but they are all pretty interesting nonetheless. There are literally thousands of these out there -- I skipped a bunch of them, and show here only the ones I thought were the most interesting.

As always, click any photo to see larger size.

Update: Never Give Up!

2007-03-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Remember the person who refused to sell her house so they just dug around her?

Here's an update. First of all, it was a woman, and it was in China.

This new shot answers a few questions that people had -- particularly, how she got in and out, and how she had water/electricity/etc. You can see a road was left in, and I'd assume the water pipes and such are under that road.

more on this story

Beautiful Earth

2007-03-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

Toys that should not exist

2007-03-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

From this SA forums thread
(click on any of these for larger version)

Alright! Megatron removed! Sheesh ya damn fanboys!

A note about that last one: that's a Harry Potter VIBRATING broom. Perfect for ages... uh, over 18. Good lord.

Prague Windows Vista Prank

2007-03-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

A little truth in advertising, courtesy of Prague

Hi-speed Photography

2007-03-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

Things breaking, caught on hi-speed:

(click any of these to view larger size)

1961 Geek Prank - CalTech at the Rose Bowl

2007-03-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a little nerd history that you might not know about.

On January 2, 1961 at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, the Minnesota Golden Gophers played the Washington Huskies in the Rose Bowl. The half-time show consisted of a flip card routine -- a large group of people flipping over colored cards to spell out inane phrases ("Go Team!", etc). This was performed by Washington.

The cheerleaders would signal the group, and they'd all flip over the card for the next picture they were supposed to present.

On the 12th phase, it all went horribly wrong. The 12th picture was supposed to be a husky, Washington's mascot. Instead, the group flipped over a beaver.

Round 13 was supposed to be the word "HUSKIES". Instead, it was reversed, "SEIKSUH".

Round 14... was this:

(click for large)

Credit goes to the "Fiendish Fourteen", who devised the plan as retribution for CalTech's underrepresentation at the Rose Bowl.

Geeky License Plates

2007-03-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

Ancient Computer Ads

2007-03-16T00:00:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling kind of nostalgic tonight for some reason, so I dug up some old computer ads from the dark ages -- back when computers were for fat stinky neckbearded nerds in coffee-stained white shirts.

Enjoy!

Apple II

ISC -- 128x128 resolution in 8 colors! OMG the POWER!

Radio Shack TRS-80 -- if you remember this, you really are old school.

Monkey and Dog - Inseparable Friends

2007-03-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

I just got this photo sent to me, of a dog and a monkey who became friends after a flood ravaged the village the dog lived in, and he ran off into the woods. After a while, he emerged with a new best friend.

UPDATE: confirmed! There is a video! watch it here

Pedal-powered Roller Coaster

2007-03-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

It is the Skycycle at Washuzan Highland Park in Okayama, Japan. Completely pedal-powered.

The hottest peppers in the world

2007-03-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Pepper "hotness" is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). For a comparison, pepper spray (the stuff you spray on an attacker, not in him) is measured at 2,000,000 - 5,300,000 SHU. A plain old bell pepper is measured at 0 SHU. Tabasco Sauce is 2500-5000 SHU. Hopefully that gives you a sense of scale.

Here are the hottest peppers in the world:

Naga Jolokia (naga morich, bhut jolokia) 1,040,000 SHU

Dorset Naga (Capsicum chinense) 970,000 SHU

Red Savina (Capsicum chinense Jacquin) 577,000 SHU