Strong Bad invents a new word

Closimonies - (n) the closing ceremonies in the 2007 Strongbadiathon competition.

Homestar Runner games now on the WII

http://digg.com/gaming_news/Homestar_Runner_Games_Now_Available_on_the_Wii

Plus, yet another reason for me to buy Guitar Heroes II.

The Fundamentals Of Retailing - Forbes.com

 

The Fundamentals Of Retailing
Edited by Brett Nelson 01.09.07, 6:00 PM ET

Of all businesses, a retail shop might be the most basic. You buy inventory, mark it up and sell it at a profit. Simple.

Source: The Fundamentals Of Retailing - Forbes.com

Is it the wetsuit?

Over the last year I have read two books on extreme achievements that stick out in my mind, and both revolve around the Amazon. Paddle to the Amazon, by Don Starkell & Amazon Extreme, by Colin Angus & Ian Mulgrew tell true stories about unbelievable travels and achieving the unimaginable.

Paddle to the Amazon documents extreme adventure pioneer Don and his sons as they travel from Winnipeg to Brazil in a canoe in 1980.  Yes, that is Winnipeg, Canada.  Yes, that's over 12,000 miles and two years worth of canoeing.  "With minimal supplies, depending on their wits and the good will of strangers", Don has no sponsor and risks his life (and his son's) to achieve his dream.  Afterwards, Don canoed the Arctic, among other places.

Amazon Extreme is no less an amazing book, as three guys substitute two years worth of canoeing with five months of white-water rafting from the beginning to the end of the Amazon.  In typical To-The-Extreme MTV Generation fashion, without sponsors, with limited planning, an underfunded, undersupplied and unprepared journey was successful.  Even though they almost died hiking to get to the river before they even started.  Guys, especially extreme guys, don't ask for directions.

Now what if any of these guys decided to ditch their boat and just swim?

That would be insane.

Meet Martin Strel.

According to Martin, "As a young boy, I was beaten a lot by my parents and schoolmasters. This no doubt contributed greatly to my ability to ignore pain and endure..."  Evidently this included numerous blows to the head.  He has decided to swim the Amazon, from the start near a mountain in Peru to the finish on the coast of Brazil.

Not that this impossible.  If a piranah can do it, why not Martin?  He has millions in funding.  He swam the Danube river twice, the Mississippi river, the Parana river from Iguazzu Falls to the Rio de la Plata, and recently the toxic, multicoloured Yangtze river in China.  After swimming the biohazard that is Yangtze, he probably has superpowers and webbed feet. 

Swimmer Martin Strel has dedicated this swim to the preservation of the rainforest, to raising awareness for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, and to promoting telemedicine as a valuable tool in bringing modern medicine to remote areas

It is for some great causes, he has tons of sponsorship, lots of world records and Jacques Cousteau's old boat tagging along.  He's gotta do it.

His swim starts February 1st, 2007.  Find out more on his web site.  

Let Us Now Praise Crazy Mofos.

Is it the shoes?

DEAN KARNAZES WAS SLOBBERING DRUNK. IT WAS HIS 30TH BIRTHDAY, and he'd started with beer and moved on to tequila shots at a bar near his home in San Francisco. Now, after midnight, an attractive young woman – not his wife – was hitting on him. This was not the life he'd imagined for himself. He was a corporate hack desperately running the rat race. The company had just bought him a new Lexus. He wanted to vomit. Karnazes resisted the urge and, instead, slipped out the bar's back door and walked the few blocks to his house. On the back porch, he found an old pair of sneakers. He stripped down to his T-shirt and underwear, laced up the shoes, and started running. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

more...

 

I don't think this was the old pair of sneakers he found, but these are what he's wearing now.

 

Buy them here

Live from Macworld 2007: Steve Jobs keynote - Engadget

"There's an old Wayne Gretsky quote I love -- 'I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it's been.' That's what we try to do at Apple. Thank you very, very much." Huge, huge applause, standing ovation.

Source: Live from Macworld 2007: Steve Jobs keynote - Engadget

 

Sure, the iPhone looks cool, probably works well, and may win a bunch of design awards, but it still isn't as cool as having this:

 

 

The FY8850 cell phone is a fully functional redesigned replica of a 1980's cell phone but with 21st century technology. Features 1980's look and feel complete with huge battery and long external antenna. Includes color LCD screen, polyphonic and MP3 ringtones, speaker phone and long battery life. True to its root, this cell phone does not have headset, USB connection or car charger jacks. This phone is unlocked so it can be used with any GSM carrier using 900, 1800 or 1900 frequency bands.

Birds fall from sky over town | NEWS.com.au

 

THOUSANDS of birds have fallen from the skies over Esperance and no one knows why.

Source: Birds fall from sky over town | NEWS.com.au

Torontoist: Portrait of the Artist as a Vanishing Library

 

On Saturday, at 401 Richmond's Red Head Gallery, artist Robin Pacific began giving away her entire personal library of 1,670 books in a conceptual art installation called "Shelf Portrait." If you heard about this over the last couple of weeks and it occurred to you that a well-publicized giveaway of free, interesting books in downtown Toronto on a Saturday might draw a bit of a crowd, well, you were right. Torontoist is happy to report that the same thing also occurred to the show's organizers, and they were well prepared for Saturday's mob scene. They distributed tickets with times printed on them -- 50 tickets per half-hour interval -- sparing attendees from having to wait in line all afternoon. (I showed up at 1:30 and snagged a 3:00 ticket.) Pacific also imposed a 4-book-per-person limit, ensuring that the show wasn't cleaned out by the end of the first half-hour.

Source: Torontoist: Portrait of the Artist as a Vanishing Library

MIT OpenCourseWare | Master Course List

 

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Anthropology
• Architecture
• Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation
• Biological Engineering
• Biology
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Comparative Media Studies
• Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
• Economics
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Engineering Systems Division
• Experimental Study Group
• Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Health Sciences and Technology

• History
• Linguistics and Philosophy
• Literature
• Materials Science and Engineering
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Media Arts and Sciences
• Music and Theater Arts
• Nuclear Science and Engineering
• Physics
• Political Science
• Science, Technology, and Society
• Sloan School of Management
• Special Programs
• Urban Studies and Planning
• Women's Studies
• Writing and Humanistic Studies

Source: MIT OpenCourseWare | Master Course List

52 game ideas

 

Every week in 2006 I posted a new original game idea. If you like, you can read all about the challenge I issued myself. By the end of the year it was quite cumbersome to sift through the site for find them all. So here’s all 52 game ideas in one easy list!

PublicRadioFan.com

 

Welcome to PublicRadioFan.com

PublicRadioFan.com features schedule listings for thousands of public radio stations and programs around the world. Follow the audio links to hear your favorite programs and discover new ones.

Getting started: Set your time zone, then use the main menu in the left column to navigate the site. Station names (with color backgrounds) link to online audio. Follow the  link next to any station or program to search for schedule listings and information. For more help, see our new user info page.

Customizing: You can customize the design of this front page (basic design, advanced design, custom design) and many other settings.

Podcasts: Our public radio podcast directory has grown to over 800 podcasts.

Source: PublicRadioFan.com