Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Wed Pic: My Poor Peony

I planted this peony two years ago and two weeks later, we had the "not a tornado (yeah, right)" storm. My peony was chopped off about an inch from the ground and I was sure it was dead. Last year, much to my surprise, it grew back but it never got around to blooming. I was so excited when it bloomed last weekend, but then yesterday came.

The largest bloom, Sunday...
Peony


...and after yesterday's storm:
DSC_0136

Oh, well, I guess we'll see what it does next year, and you know the instant it blooms, I'll be out there with my camera. The top picture is the only good one I got with my cell phone. *sigh*

Friday, May 28, 2010

Friday Fun: But nobody expects the...oh, nevermind

Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam
see more Lol Celebs

Yes, it's not much, and at the last minute, but most of my Friday Fun was In Real Life today. It was the first day in months I got to take a day off because I wanted to and not just because life happened. LilGirl and I went to the library, took a walk by a lake, went to the bookstore, then met hubby for lunch and had a super lazy afternoon. It was a goood day :)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

In case you're having #Lost withdrawals

Jimmy Kimmel's got you covered!

Don't Panic - It's Towel Day! #towelday



I've got my towel today, and so does Quinn Dogga. Do you know where your towel is? You should. 
After all, anyone "who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
If you're wondering, the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal is "a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you." So, you wrap your towel around your head, and you're safe!


And if you're still thoroughly confused, you should read, listen to, or watch The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and check out the sentiment behind Towel Day. Douglas Adams is sorely missed.



Monday, May 24, 2010

This is not your daughter's technology


On the flip side of "rewinding" a DVD, this strip reminds me of my daughter's recent experience with the VCR. I hadn't realized just how long it had been since we'd had one hooked up (probably since before we moved into our house 4+ years ago, and maybe before the apartment before that, so she probably hasn't seen a VCR since she was 4). We were cleaning out boxes one day and she found the videotapes. She wanted to watch some of them, so I hooked up the VCR and left her to it.

After a few minutes, she called me back in.

"It just keeps playing the credits. How do I bring up the menu?"

"There isn't a menu. You need to rewind it."

She looked at me like I'd just told her to walk to the moon. "Re...wind?"

I showed her how to rewind it and told her she'd have to wait a couple minutes for it to get back to the beginning.

Soon, she called me back again. "It won't stop playing the previews. You're sure there isn't a menu?"

"Yes. You just need to fast-forward through the previews."

She raised an eyebrow at this, but turned back to the screen to give it a go.

A few minutes later, she called me back again. "How do I turn on the subtitles?" (We're very big on subtitles in our house, but that's a post for another day.)

"There aren't any subtitles, honey."

She sighed. "Maybe I'll just watch a DVD."

I can just see how it will go when she encounters the Edison Player at her grandparents' house....


(Do you read Unshelved? If you like libraries AT ALL, you should!)

Friday, May 21, 2010

Congratulations to the lucky man...or Wookie

May 21, 1980 was a Big Day: Not only was Pac-Man unleashed on the world, as Google commemorated today with a logo you can actually play...




...it was also the day The Empire Strikes Back came to theaters. Here's an interesting interview with Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford (unfortunately, it's in two parts to remove the clip in the middle). I find it interesting that Mark Hamill hints about the prequels and there is wink-wink-nudge-nudge talk of who Leia will end up with.





(Via LA Times)

Friday Fun: Laundry, I can't quit you!

SIX MONTHS OF DETERGENT! Wait, what?

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Stop flashing me!

 

These are all true (I encourage you to click through to read the others). I especially agree with #7. It's gotten to the point that my eyes are like a heat-seeking missile looking for "Skip Intro."

8 websites you need to stop building

Maybe it's just the combination of "flash" and the guy's stance, but it seems like he should be wearing a long coat and nothing else, don't you think?

Monday, April 26, 2010

I do not "Like!" (with 70% less tin foil hats)

Privacy
Last week Facebook rolled out its new Open Graph (seen as the new Facebook "Like" button across the web). I'm the Queen of Oversharing on the web (maybe in frequency rather than depth) but I don't feel comfortable with Open Graph.

Last night, I wrote a fairly snarky "Put on your tin foil hats!" kind of post, but this morning I found a post by Valeria Maltoni which says basically what I wanted to but in a much more level-headed way, and she links to most of the sites I was going to. So, here it is: Five Reactions Around the Web on Facebook Announcements

Once you've read through all that, if you want to know how to opt out, Mashable has a step-by-step tutorial. For now, I've opted out. We'll see what the future brings.

Unfortunately, there isn't another social media site quite like Facebook out there. It's allowed me to reconnect with friends and family I haven't seen in years, and that's hard to walk away from. So, I won't be going as far as deleting my account, but I will be keeping a weather eye on Facebook's horizon.

Update: This doesn't mean I won't "like" stuff you post directly on Facebook - that's a horse of a different color. I just won't be using the button on sites outside of Facebook.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/pong/ / CC BY 2.0

Friday, April 23, 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Crescent Earth

Crescent-shaped Earth and Moon

This is why I lurve Flickr. This picture was taken by Voyager 1 in 1977, but I don't think I'd ever seen it until NASA Goddard Space Flight Center uploaded it to their Flickr account this week. Just gorgeous!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I knew there was magic smoke, but had no idea about the holy water

I just caught myself idly trying to work out what that resistor mass would actually be, and realized I had self-nerd-sniped.

I've also left a few solder blobs in my time...okay more than a few...okay it was probably the only thing I ever actually did to a circuit. "A blob here, a blob there...hey, it works now!...sort of."

You really have to sit and absorb this one. Every time I glance at it, I notice something I didn't see before. Enjoy!

via xkcd.com