WaffleBox

Kind of odd… I just (3:04pm CST) went to Google’s homepage and found their usual logo replaced with the one below.

Here is the un-stretched version I found when I went to http://www.google.com/intl/en_ALL/images/logo.gif:

At first glance I thought it must have been Google Checkout day or something, but once I got all my screenshots, etc., and did a refresh, Google’s usual logo was back.

Here is a full screenshot:

Hmm… Not painfully interesting since it didn’t reveal anything of interest. It was just strange and rather surprising is all.

This is probably the most amazing shadow puppet artists I have ever seen!

pbase.com has a photo gallery of some really amazing sand castles and all sorts of creatures and characters built with sand.

The geek factor is about a 9/10, some really amazing sculptures of wizards, dragons and even a wizard riding dragon.

View the gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/tineke/sand_sculpture

Wow… This is jaw-dropping, but it has to be a joke. MarryOurDaughter.com is a website where parents get to auction off their daughters hand in marriage.

I honestly do not know what else to say.

I am stunned.

Is it common practice to force your 14 year old daughter into marriage?

The best part of the site has to be the testimonials section, with lovely quotes like this one from Mrs. James P.:

“Our 15 year old daughter Mary wasn’t very popular and did nothing but mope around the house bringing everybody down, so we decided to marry her off through your site. Now our house is a lot cheerier and we love our new swimming pool and Jaccuzi! We’ve told our youngest that when she turns 15 we’re going to marry her off too!” - Mrs. James P.

You mean I can trade my daughter in for a swimming pool AND a jacuzzi? Fantastic!

I just feel bad for the girls marked at bargain basement prices… How humiliating.

The Sims is probably one of the greatest computer games of all time, letting you create simulated beings for you to either torture or heal. Well bradleysalmanac.com decided to try theThe Sims Torture Test which involves:

creating a random couple. I build them a little room, seen below, with a door. One they’ve both walked in to check their “home” out, I get rid of the door. As you can see, the room contains the following:

* A ghetto chair
* A fireplace
* A clown painting

Read how this lovely couple somehow ends up… (I wont spoil it for your)
http://www.bradleysalmanac.com/simstorture.htm

Ulrika Erdes, a Swedish “artist in the making”, has a little bit of fun while on the bus or train. She makes cross stitching graffiti on the seats of buses and trains, Public Embroidery (how about Stiffiti, Stitchitti or Stitchffiti?).

This is such and interesting and fun idea, what a way to pass the time as you’re taking the train. It is a really interesting twist on graffiti, a rather intimate way of tagging the world. It must be great to happen upon her work, wonder who made it and under what circumstances. Very interesting.

View more of Erdes’ “Public Embroidery” at:
http://www.ulrikaerdes.se/public_embroidery.html

Erdes also has some Cross-Stitch Patterns you can print out to then go out and make your own.

You can also learn more about Ulrika Erdes on her biography page at:
http://www.ulrikaerdes.se/Biography.html

I remember first hearing how you could cook an egg on the hood of your car, summer days in Chicago. But what about cooking an egg with the heat coming off your cell phone. Is it possible? Well, two Russian Journalists did it.

[Vladimir Lagovski and Andrei Moiseynko from Komsomolskaya Pravda Newspaper in Moscow] created a simple microwave structure as shown in the picture. They called from one cell phone to the other and left both phones on talking mode. They placed a tape recorder next to phones to imitate sounds of speaking so the phones would stay on.

You can read more about the experiment, the cooking times, at the source.

Source:
http://cybour.50webs.com/Resources_fun_mobile.html

Russian Source:
http://www.kp.ru/daily/23694.4/52233/print

Artist(?) Karolina Sobecka’s WildLife Project, an installation piece, uses a projector to shine images of a running tiger out the window of a moving car on to the walls of passing buildings. What makes the piece most interesting is that with a little sensor she places on the cars wheel, the tiger actually appears to run along side the car, mirroring its movement.

Using a sensor on the car, the tiger’s speed corresponds to the speed of the car. As the car moves, the tiger runs along it speeding up and slowing down with the car; as the car stops, the tiger stops also. A proximity sensor also adds other animated animals when the car is approached.

It’s an hypnotic video to watch, reminds me very much of the artists who projected slide photos of war-torn cities against modern buildings. Different idea, but similar in their approach. Unfortunately I do not remember the artists name.

Sobecka’s piece plays on the ideas of man vs. animal, urban jungles and natures place within it. And how in-sync we can be or dependent we may be on each other, man and animal. I watched the video at least six times over and over (link to video below), it is quite mesmerizing. I just wish there was sound to it, the noises from the traffic, revving engines and break pads screeching.

You can view the video at:
http://www.flightphase.com/wildlife_2.mov

For more photos:
http://www.flightphase.com/about.html

A History of Windows Icons, a list of, you guessed it, Windows icons throughout its existence, is painfully boring. Well… The article is not boring, the icons history is boring.

Windows-Icons.com has laid out the most common Windows icons in a time line, quickly you grasp that there has been little to no change through the years. Take the Notepad icon below (taken from Windows-Icons.com):

Credit: http://www.windows-icons.com/history.htm

Forget the poor quality, the visible dots, and just judge the icons on their lack of creativity. Sure, in 1990 it was cool, but nearly the exact same icon for 10 years!

Yeah… Icons are meaningless, or are they. Apple is winning people because of their interest in aesthetics, and have somehow tied the idea of “Good vs. Evil” into the mix.

To be fair, some icons have completely changed, maybe it is just looking back 7 years to see how shockingly different icons have changed in such a short period, but remained static for so long.

One of the hardest things about achieving your fitness goals, losing weight, building muscle, etc., is staying on track. People usually deviate from their fitness regime because since changes happen slowly it is hard to judge your progress.

Gyminee is a new website, a kind of MySpace/Facebook for fitness buffs currently in private beta, that has set out to make fitness and health tracking pain free. From their website:

No more guessing, it’s time to take your fitness seriously. Gyminee allows you to track and visualize your fitness progress and goals.

Keeping a detailed health and fitness log is one of the best ways to stay motivated towards living a healthier lifestyle. Gyminee allows you to effortlessly track your weight, waist size, calories, protein intake, and much more. You can view detailed graphs that show how you are doing on specific exercises. Fitness tracking has never been so simple!

By jotting down your achievements, Gyminee can then give you a guide as to what you have achieved as well as where you need to improve. You can also join fitness groups, get the support you need from your friends or others on the site. Maybe even help motivate others like yourself.

It looks like a very interesting site, I’ve thrown my hat in to the beta ring, some really helpful tools.

I wonder, is this the largest Microsoft Windows error ever? MacFormat.co.uk has a photo of the computer that runs the Coke-A-Cola ad in Piccadilly Circus in London crashing.

Pretty funny…

View more photos at Huge Windows error.

On Wednesday of last week during an outdoor performance of Julius Caesar in Aspen Colorado, the actor playing Brutus set forth to stab Caesar, but instead stabbed himself, literally.

Actor/director Kent Hudson Reed tried to carry on, “but my boot was filling up with blood and I was flubbing my lines, wondering if I was going to pass out, wondering if the audience could see the blood.”

Read more about the incident at:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/84-08302007-1400220.html