No Name, No Slogan

What's wrong with non-fermented soy?

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:31:17 GMT

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/03/27/why-this-type-of-soy-is-better.aspx

Treat-release dog toys

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:15:43 GMT

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/treat-release-dog-toys.aspx

How well does your dog behave when you leave him or her to go to work or play -- or to go on vacation?

Does your dog turn into a wreck... become hyperactive, or growl or howl? Or does s/he destroy your home in an effort to keep occupied while you are gone?

Now when you leave your companion at home, absence might not make your heart grow fonder.

The key is to understand that bored dogs are often destructive dogs.

Trans-fats can be DEADLY.

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:12:53 GMT

Now that the health dangers of trans fats have been clearly exposed, the food industry would do you a great favor by returning to the use of natural saturated fats. But that would mean reversing their entirely unscientific, 50-year campaign to vilify saturated fats, and would bring an end to the enormously powerful edible oil industry.

Instead, the food industry has been widely replacing trans fats with intersterified fat, another unnatural fat that you’d be wise to avoid.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/24/Trans-Fats-Can-Be-Deadly.aspx

7 FOODS TO AVOID

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:57:45 GMT

SEVEN DEADLY FOODS...

Moron Ohio mom wastes valuable time of police by calling them to bust her 6-year-old

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 04:30:02 GMT

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jDR-sSN4h7XmMvJ-jw6cEMpXAgHQD9CP7REO1

Nendoroid

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:54:46 GMT

Apparently I am the last to find out about the nendoroid craze.

http://www.goodsmile.info/year/gsc/eng/product/category/nendoroid/all/all/all/0.html

Most Anticipated Console Games of 2010

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:15:28 GMT

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/28/ten-for-2010-the-10.html#more

Iran Unrest

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:56:11 GMT

Religious extremists against health care reform... praying...

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:49:40 GMT

Since I'm sure a rational argument will fail here, I'll use the biblical argument against this kind of public display of prayer.

Matthew 6:5 - 7

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen [do]: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Matthew 14:23

23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

Matthew 26:36

36. Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.

Mark 1:35

35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

Mark 6:46

46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

Luke 5:16

16 And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.

Luke 9:18

18. And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?

Luke 22:45

45 And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,

Voices for voice synthesis engine

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:10:59 GMT

http://voxwise.com/voice_demo.html

Cool stuff

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:01:19 GMT

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/12/16/car-i-transform-thee-chair/

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/12/15/scuba-dive-without-the-wetsuit/

A. N. T. transforming vehicle design for the U. N.

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:55:36 GMT

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/12/21/united-nations-goes-ant/

What does a washing machine on the Deathstar look like?

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:52:42 GMT

http://www.yankodesign.com/2007/11/16/what-a-purdy-washing-machine/

Fonts

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:31:44 GMT

It's funny seeing fonts I created being used on commercial products and in commercial advertising without being licensed from me.

Part of this is because some of the web sites that are redistributing my fonts are doing so without including the license that accompanies the font, and without putting in a credit to me as the creator of the font. Some of these sites even rename the font, and then other sites copy it from that site instead of going to the source like the should.

Unfortunately it's not something I can do much about, but once I start making more new fonts, they're all going to be paid license only, no free trial fonts.

Quatrain VIII 78

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:41:58 GMT

Un Bragamas avec la langue torte
Viendra des dieux le sanctuaire,
Aux heretiques il ouvrira la porte
En suscitant l'eglise militaire.

Previous English translation:

"A soldier of fortune with twisted tongue
will come to the sanctuary of the gods.
He will open the door to heretics
and raise up the Church militant."

My initial piece-by-piece translation:

"A Bragamas with the tongue twisted,
will come the gods the sanctuary,
with heretics it will open the door,
in causing the military church."

Line-by-line babelfish translation:

"Bragamas with the language twisted,
from the gods the sanctuary will come,
to the heretics it will open the door
by causing the military church."

"Bragamas" literally means broadsword, but is taken to mean a mercenary, but it is written capitalized like a proper name, and it sounds very much like Barack Obama.

Will Obama give sanctuary to muslim terrorists and spawn more islamic militants?

Is this part of the unfortunate circumstances that lead to the last world war?

Just thinking out loud here...

What if you had to cast a US version of the BBC series Coupling using only actors from Joss Whedon?

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:05:40 GMT

UK Character name	Original UK actor	US version actor	Joss Whedon's actor
Steve Taylor	Jack Davenport	Jay Harrington	David Boreanaz
Jane Christie	Gina Bellman	Lindsay Price	Amy Acker
Susan Walker	Sarah Alexander	Rena Sofer	Sarah Michelle Gellar?
Sally Harper	Kate Isitt	Sonya Walger	Olivia Williams
Patrick Maitland	Ben Miles	Colin Ferguson	Alexis Denisof
Jeff Murdock	Richard Coyle	Christopher Moynihan	Alan Tudyk
Howard	William Scott-Masson	Paul Satterfield	Tahmoh Penikett
Jill	Elizabeth Marmur	Roxann Dawson	Miracle Laurie
"Shadayim"	Anat Dychtwald	Noa Tishby	Eliza Dushku
Alice	Ruth Lass	Iris Bahr	Iris Bahr
Julia Davis	Lou Gish		Alyson Hannigan
Wilma Lettings	Emilia Fox		Morena Baccarin

I think the Joss Whedon cast version would be fantastic. The actual US version, although featuring some good actors, was horribly mis-cast and had terrible pacing and bad performances. The UK version is just brilliant, of course.

College Students Get Windows 7 for $30

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:28:25 GMT

http://gizmodo.com/5361767/college-students-get-windows-7-for-30

LG cell phone/projector

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:17:22 GMT

http://www.lgexpo.com/

Can This Natural Hormone Actually Heal Brain Injuries & Strokes?

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:51:31 GMT

Can This Natural Hormone Actually Heal Brain Injuries & Strokes?

Posted by: Dr. Mercola
December 26 2009 | 54,056 views

Why do some females recover from brain injury much faster and more completely than males?

The answer may have far-reaching implications for the treatment of traumatic brain injury, stroke, and other neurological disorders.

Neuroscientist Dr. Donald G. Stein and his colleagues have been investigating this question and have discovered something remarkable -- that the hormone progesterone confers profound neuroprotective effects that improve outcomes and reduce mortality following brain injuries.

Progesterone provides powerful neuroprotection to the fetus, particularly in late pregnancy, when it helps suppress neuronal excitation that can damage delicate new brain tissue. Dr. Stein and his colleagues have found that in addition to protecting the fetal brain, progesterone also protects and heals injured brain tissue.

Adywan

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 03:12:33 GMT

http://motionpicturescomics.com/2009/02/09/han-shoots-first-josh-is-astounded-by-adywans-fan-edit-of-star-wars-a-new-hope/

Slade - Merry Christmas, Everybody

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 21:38:32 GMT

Ulysses

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:29:48 GMT

I have never read Ulysses, by James Joyce, but I have read Robert Anton Wilson's comments on it, and how it's an important work of modernist literature with many connections made, to the point that there are experts who have analyzed it to an extreme degree.

I have yet to read Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and have also read praise for it.

I have only read a smattering of works by H. P. Lovecraft, Philip K. Dick, and even William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe, all of whom I admire for what I have read from them.

I guess what I'm working toward is a new year's resolution, and I'm focusing on the fact that I need to read a lot more. I think I've read only about ten to twenty books within the last year, and I've had a pile of books waiting for me, some for twenty years now!

I want to make more time to read, and more time to draw. Internet addiction can get in the way of that. It's not that I don't read. I just read the internet, which is essentially... I mean, let's be honest here... it's a wasteland below the quality of most commercial magazines on the whole. Yes, you can hunt down great works, sacred texts, etc., but I waste a lot of time shopping, reading news, and studying health, science, and technology.

It is useful. I've been learing to write correct XHTML and CSS. That was seriously long overdue, and with my friend Paul's help I've got a much better handle on it. Like any other hurdle of learning, there's a point at which understanding snaps from one perspective to another, a cognitive shift from one mental paradigm to another.

I remember the big shift that happened when in the late 1990s I finally shattered the illusion that 3D graphics were somehow an emulation of solid objects instead of a total facade, a parade of puppets made of painted empty eggshells. That shift was so important. Just realizing that it's all triangles with paint slapped on them is he most essential thing to a 3D artist, but a traditional artist with years of hands-on experience with clay and sculpey and carved soap and wood will have a hard time getting it initially. You can see it and understand it intellectually, but there is a point in working with it when you finally really grok what it is. It's that complete understanding that is the quest of any true student of any subject.

Pancakes

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:26:31 GMT

As some of you already know, every day I make breakfast for my lovely wife, Amanda, who is currently pregnant.

One of her favorite dishes is chocolate chip pancakes. I feel that I have come across a few little touches that make them a little nicer and give them more of a Christmasy flavor. This morning I added cinnamon, sugar, allspice, and vanilla extract to the batter, and I used mini chocolate chips I kept in the freezer, although that didn't keep them from getting melty. I think they came out even better than usual, so I thought I'd share it with others so they can try it at home.

Serve with whipped topping. Yum.

Tomorrow I'm planning to make a holiday batch of delicious sugared nuts. If anyone is interested, I'll share the recipe for those, too.

Alpha Dog

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:14:51 GMT

I just watched a movie called Alpha Dog. It's supposedly based on true events. It's pretty disturbing. It features a number of very good, well known actors, and it's pretty realistic. Although they used pseudonyms in the movie, the wikipedia article exposes the real people's names.

If this is a true story, these are the worst kind of people. This is the reason the death penalty exists, for criminals like this. It makes me sick to my stomach. People who commit these kinds of crimes make me want to puke.

Current best deals on 1080p LCD TVs (PriceGrabber)

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:19:28 GMT

ViewSonic VT2430 24" HD LCD TV
$249 from Tiger Direct

Toshiba 32RV525R 32" HD LCD TV
$399 from NewEgg

Vizio VL370M 37" HD LCD TV
$429 from Tiger Direct

Toshiba 40RV525R 40" HD LCD TV
$599 from Tiger Direct

Toshiba 42ZV650U Regza 42" HD LCD TV with ClearScan 240 - 1080p, 1920x1080, 100000:1 Dynamic, 14Bit, 4 HDMI
$749 from tiger Direct

Toshiba 47ZV650U Regza 47" LCD HDTV with ClearScan 240 - 1080p, 1920x1080, 240Hz (120Hz+Scanning Backlight), 14Bit, 4x HDMI
$949 from Tiger Direct

That's a fast enough refresh rate for 3D. :)