Nate's Random Walk

favorite thing EVER | all we do is spread the joy

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:16:00 -0700

all we do is spread the joy

This site rocks. There's nothing better than wandering into an entire website dedicated to liking things. Well, okay, TVTropes.org, but you know what I mean. Anyway, check out FTE. It'll make your day better. I promise

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How Internet Works | Vladstudio.com - free desktop wallpapers, widescreen, dual monitors, iPhone wallpapers, iPad wallpapers, backgrounds for mobile phones, wallpaper clocks, e-cards

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:02:00 -0700

via vladstudio.com

An AWESOME depiction of what your browser is doing when you're sitting there looking for cat videos or snarky IT commentary.

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Catalog Living

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:21:54 -0700

Ready for anything…

via catalogliving.tumblr.com

Leaving my basket of secondary shells under the table allows me to rotate in new shells at a moment’s notice!

There is so very, very much to love about this little site. The formula is simple: take over-decorated pictures and put awesome text beneath them. Check them out. Because you deserve it!

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Crazy Apple News Site Tells Gizmodo what they think about the whole iPhone thing:

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:59:30 -0700

Every now and again we answer really, really inFrequently Asked Questions to help those of you with no moral compasses deal with the zephyr-like and ephemeral changes in Basic Decency.

Q: So, I found this guy, and he found this thing, right? And it’s kinda not a thing that people are supposed to see yet, okay?

A: Give it back to the rightful owner.

Q: But, well, you see, I feel like I have a duty to the faceless crowds of people who visit my site on a daily basis. I mean, they deserve to know what’s coming, right?

A: Do you get paid per click?

Q: Well, kinda per pageview.

A: Give it back to the rightful owner, and give them all the money you made off of exploiting their trade secrets.

via crazyapplenews.com

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Andy Ihnatko on Gizmodo's hot iPhone 4G

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:57:11 -0700

Plus, I’d be gravely concerned about how I’d come into possession of this phone. Gizmodo’s story is very, very fishy and they need to be far more open about the provenance of the device.

Right now, they’re sticking to the story that

Step One: This phone was lost in a Redwood City bar;

Step Two: (nervous cough);

Step Three: They got it last week.

via ihnatko.com

Thank you, Andy.

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infographiclarge_v2.png (1983×1402)

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:48:57 -0700

via julianhansen.com

Yes yes yes yes yes yes. So much fun.

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Cleanliness IS next to godliness: new research shows clean smells unconsciously promote moral behavior

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:22:59 -0800

via news.byu.edu

This leads to some interesting questions regarding what human intelligence and decision making abilities actually are. How much of our behavior is pre-programmed and how much is up to us?

Naturally, we can act selfishly in a clean environment, but apparently there is impetus to do the opposite, which we must overcome to carry out the selfish act. Is the opposite true in a dirty environment? could we sentence people to clean their house three or more times a week and reduce the number of people in prison? Lots of fun questions to play with here.

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Ten rules for writing fiction

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:51:02 -0800

This should be required reading for anyone planning on participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Every rule has a reason, and most of them (in Elmore Leonard's set) also have excuses, usually of the "if you're as good as so and so you can do this" variety.

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Why We Make Home Videos - Pogue's Posts Blog

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:31:42 -0800

...I discovered [it] has nothing to do with technology, and everything to do with emotion, family and memory.

As someone who recently purchased a Flip HD, this is nice justification.

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The Best Flag in the world

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:27:57 -0800

via kottkegae.appspot.com

http://kottke.org/09/10/the-best-flag-in-the-world#

Forget all that "truth, courage, beauty" stuff. We want a flag that explains exactly what our country's all about.

Whackin' off heads.

You got a problem with that, Mr. Liberal? Looks like it's time for some old fashioned patriotism! Say bye-bye to your head!

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Further Proof That People Who Make Great Software Don't Really Understand Hardware

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:53:46 -0800

via macworld.com

Gaaaaah! My eyes! My poor, poor eyes! What is that...that THING? And who in their right mind would put it in their entertainment center? When does the hurting stop?

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Why doesn't this ethernet cable work?

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:57:23 -0800

See the full gallery on Posterous

As near as we can tell, it started having problems more than a month after the staple was put through it.

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The nerdiest thing I have ever typed

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 07:23:12 -0800

"there needs to be a good reference online for the etymologies of idioms."

No, seriously, I really want one. I don't care if it means I'm a total geek.

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Hey, they weren't supposed to show my new iPhone on the web?

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:56:49 -0800

via macworld.com

Oh, don't I wish.

Wait, no, actually I don't. That thing is hideous. Expensive, but still hideous.

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NaNoWriMo 2009: I won!

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:39:37 -0800

With two days to spare, This picture gave me the good news. NaNoWriMo: It's a rush.

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ThinkGeek :: Optimus Maximus Keyboard

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:57:36 -0800

via thinkgeek.com

Oh man, everyone on earth needs this keyboard. IT'S MADE OF TINY SCREENS, YOU GUYS!

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Apple and EMI To Release Limited Edition Stereo USB - The Beatles

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:39:38 -0800

via beatles.com

This has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever seen. Instead of selling digital media DIGITALLY, we're going to pack it into a strange plastic thing, which will be a pain to keep in your house and sell it to you that way. Come on, Beatles people! Just sell your stuff on iTunes and Amazon like the rest of the world and stop being so, so OLD.

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The First Server I Actually Like

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:36:12 -0800

via apple.com

Oh man I want one of these! If I only had an extra $1000...I would spend it on something else, like food or mortgage, obviously. But if I needed a server and had $1000 to buy it this would be it.

OSX Server is an excellent platform, once you get used to its eccentricities. I would almost start a small business just to get to use this as my office server. :)

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A picture is worth a thousand words. A movie is often priceless.

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:23:35 -0700

A few days ago my colleague and I were having problems getting warranty service on a machine we support. The problem was that we would see the problem, document the problem, send the machine in, they would sit on it for a few days, declare it fine and send it back. This was getting stupid our client was starting to think that we didn't know what we were doing. Finally, we struck upon a great way to visibly demonstrate the problem without going down to the repair center and hitting them until they gave us access to their workbench: we faced one of the iMacs in our office towards the problem child PC, opened Quicktime, and told it to record from the iSight camera. Then we demonstrated the problem, with commentary, and emailed the movie to the support team. And their bosses.

Yes, there are more convenient ways to do it. Yes, there are more elegant iSight recording programs out there than Quicktime. If you have any of those, feel free to use them. The point is that it's no longer all that hard to demonstrate exactly what's wrong with a system instead of trying to explain those "funny box things on the screen" that the techs can't ever seem to see.

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3 Kids under the age of five. Grad School. 50 hours/week job. I'm still gonna do it.

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:04:25 -0700

via nanowrimo.org

50,000 words in November. I'm gonna do it, even with all the possible excuses I just listed.

What's your excuse?

The point is to do it. Even if your novel isn't good. Even if you never publish it, you are starting to think for yourself and use the gray stuff between your ears for something more than storing TV shows.

I did this last year, and it was hard, terrible, frustrating, stressful, and I'm so glad I did it that I can't wait for November 1st to roll around so I can do it again. There is great joy in thinking, and creation. And there's amazing joy when that accursed word count bar you've been staring at every day finally turns a beautiful shade of purple (purple is the official color of winning NaNoWriMo).

Do it. You'll be glad you did.

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