Blogging Suspended

Just like when someone drops out of the Presidential Race but doesn't want to officially say that they've ended their campaign so they say they've "suspended it"; that's what's happened here.

There's no way you haven't noticed but just to make it semi-official (or for anyone who stumbles in) you should look over on the right sidebar (what is this 2010?) and check me out on twitter since that's where my thoughts go these days.

thanks!
henry

That Is A Big Tree

Seriously this thing is so huge that they had to stitch together 126 photos to get it all in one picture...



Click through to The Mind Unleashed to see the single photo.

I think that someday I'd like to do some hiking among these huge old trees and get to check them out in person.  The scale when you're actually there has to be awesome in the old school sense of the word.

Giving The Climate Change "Debate" The Proper Context

Take it away John Oliver...



You should probably share this with as many people and in as many places as possible.  It's a point that can't be made too often and one that John Oliver makes quite eloquently I would argue.

(via Digg)

Colbert To Captain The Late Show

I did not see that coming, which could have to do with the fact that I don't watch TV.  It will be interesting to see what Stephen Colbert (presumably the real person) is like as a late night talk show host.  I admire the heck out of the guy but I have no idea how it will go down when he takes the reigns from Letterman.

This dude at Wired thinks it won't go well and that it will be our (collectively as Americans) fault.

Digg dug up this video if you want a glimpse of Colbert in and out of character in real time...



There's also a 90 minute-ish you tube of Colbert (the real person) interviewing Neil deGrasse Tyson out there that is supposed to be pretty great as well.

I hope Stephen crushes it, for all our sakes.

Sing Me A Song

I might have a new favorite in the continuing saga of Jimmy Fallon winning TV and the internet...



I have no idea what Anne Hathaway is wearing though, and Jimmy isn't actually playing the piano right?

Who cares though, that was fun!

The Toughest, Longest Lasting, Most Durable Pickup Truck Anywhere Isn't Available In The US

Don't believe everything you see in those TV truck ads, most of them probably don't stand up to the Toyota Hilux.



According to PRI reporting the Hilux is an important force multiplier these days especially in irregular conflicts like those in Syria and Afghanistan.

There's also a pretty robust wikipedia page if you want to know more...

What's In A Name

Yeah, it's pretty much long past time for Dan Snyder to come to grips with reality and change the name of the football team here in our nation's capital.



That's a well done and powerful statement if you ask me, and frankly it doesn't even need to be a well done for the Skins to need to change their name.  It isn't likely to happen anytime soon though given the all-evil goon squad all-star lineup that Snyder has arranged to help keep his heels dug in.

If they ever decide to wise up the Skins could take some lessons from the Spokane "Indians".

(video via DS)

Reading Is Great

It's never too late to learn to read as this ad elegantly illustrates (warning it might get a little dusty in here while you watch this video, unless you're a robot or something)...



I have no idea what this has to do with a scotch that I've never heard of.  It's a great spot nonetheless.

(more on adult ed & literacy programs)

(via digg)

Timber Or Maybe Timbre

Who knows, since I've never heard the original but I totally dig this...



Apparently Postmodern Jukebox has a whole album and plenty more on youtube.

(via digg)

Drive More Slowly

Seriously people drive a bit slower and everyone will be safer and you'll probably still get where you're going just as fast...



In addition to the even more vastly increased safety for pedestrians (especially when using crosswalks) this is one of the reasons I'm a fan of speed cameras.

(via digg)

The More Things Change...

The more our celebrities look the same?  I could not have told you that these mashup / photo collage images would have worked so well, but they do.

George Chamoun has made a bunch of images like this one:

 

And Marc Ghali has taken the ball and run with it as well:

Check out the other images they've made in the links above, they're worth scrolling through.

(via BD)

 

Watch Hockey From The Ice

This is a pretty great 10 minute snippet from an AHL game earlier this fall with the Ref  wearing a helmet cam and microphone.  The perspective is really interesting and it's a good remind of just how good on skates the refs need to be...



I think my favorite parts are actually the conversations that he has with players on their way to the box.  I wasn't expecting the coaching / teaching aspect and role that the Ref takes and it's really nice to see that part of things.

(via digg)

Get Covered Y'all

So this is pretty great...



For real though, get yourself insured.

Bend Spandex Space Time To Your Will

Or at least set up a cool demo of general relativity...



I wish my high school science teachers had shown us that. The Earth - Moon system demo with the different sized marbles is particularly neat, especially when the teacher points out that some of his students discovered it while playing around with the setup...

(via kottke)

Pedal Power

I'd heard about the Copenhagen Wheel and it sounded cool; put a little battery and some regenerative breaking in a little case and give bikers some well deserved assistance when needed.  All while looking cool and staying out of the way.

The promo video for the wheel though, well now it's real...



Get on your bike and ride!

More on the project, and sales, at the Super Pedestrian website.

At The Museum

It was a good day to be a visitor at the Air & Space Museum today; the USAF Band made an appearance...



This has been making the rounds in the DC corner of the interwebs and it's just a really cool little thing...

Are Your pencils Sharp Enough?

This guy says you're doing it wrong...



David Rees, artisanal hand sharpener of Number 2 pencils, is at least partially serious about all of this.  The New Yorker had a good rundown on the project and Rees's book a while back...

But Rees isn’t messing about—or, at least, “messing about” is an inadequate phrase for the kind of immersive seriocomic undertaking he’s involved in here.

There's plenty more fun to be had on Rees's personal website (this isn't his only project) and his pencil sharpening site as well.

Happy sharpening!

(via LS)

Get Out Of Your Car & On The Bus

Or why mass transit makes so much sense...

 

Kind of speaks for itself doesn't it?

(via AC)

Metric vs Standard

Ostensibly this video is about why A4 is the perfect paper size (and system), but really it's a brilliant takedown of the inch...



I bet you didn't even know A4 was a system for sizing paper (I sure didn't know it was the metric system, or how cool it is).  This is another one of those examples where it really feels like we (the US) should join the party already and get on the metric system.  At the same time it's another great example of why we never will; can you imagine the headache of trying to convert all of the printers (well, most of them will run A4 I think) and filing systems (wait, maybe A4 will fit in standard files too)...

(via Digg)

The Buckeyes Can March

This video of the Ohio State Marching Band doing a Michael Jackson tribute has been bouncing around for at least a few days now.  I didn't watch it until Questlove said to on twitter.  He was right too, jump to 4:20 in the video to see why...