Frida

Romantic Wedding Invite

2011-03-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

100-day repetitive projects

2011-02-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

For the past five years, Michael Bierut has taught a class for aspiring designers where students have to record the results of "a design operation that [they] are capable of repeating every day" for 100 straight days. Here are some of the results.

Zak Klauck: "Over the course of 100 days, I made a poster each day in one minute. The posters were based on one word or short phrase collected from 100 different people. Anyone and everyone was invited to contribute." The perfect exercise for a graphic designer.

Source: 100-day repetitive projects via kottke.org

A Collection of Free Kindle Resources

2011-02-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

Dinner With My Family is taking a one week hiatus due to a cavalcade of visiting family and an inability to get good pictures of a meal. Tune in next week for the series' return.

On Monday, Sarah gave me a wonderful Valentine's Day gift – a Kindle. I've had a great deal of fun playing with it all week long.

Unsurprisingly, within a day of having the Kindle, I found myself spending lots of time online looking for great free resources for the Kindle. What books and other materials are out there for free for Kindle users?

Since I've received many emails over the years from Kindle users – and I know at least some people subscribe to The Simple Dollar using a Kindle – I thought I'd share some of the best resources I've found, both this week and over the years.

If you don't have a Kindle but think you might own one someday, bookmark this page.

Feedbooks
http://www.feedbooks.com/
Good for a smattering of free current novels and many well-known public domain classics
Feedbooks is a source for purchasing electronic copies of books readable on the Kindle, but the site also offers a huge selection of free works, including quite a few well-executed copies of public domain literature. Generally, what you'll find here are very good versions of the more well-known classics, whereas Gutenberg (below) has a much wider selection but some of the less-well-known items can sometimes have minor issues (extra punctuation and so on). I particularly enjoy the new free releases section, where unknown authors give away a novel or two in order to try to make a name for themselves; you can find all kinds of things in there!

Five free quick picks from Feedbooks: The Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker, Accelerando by Charles Stross, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow, The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.

Project Gutenberg
http://www.gutenberg.org/
Good for classic literature as far as the eye can see
Project Gutenberg is a repository for electronic copies of any and all public domain books. The advantage of this is that if you're looking for a piece of classic literature – and pretty much everything prior to 1920 is public domain – you'll find it here. The disadvantage is that the database is huge – you can wander for days through the mountains of books listed there. Another minor concern is that some of the lesser-known titles can have dodgy elements in their text, including some unwanted punctuation. However, if you enjoy reading classic literature, this is a definite place to go.

Five free quick picks from Project Gutenberg: The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams, Silas Marner by George Eliot, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Dubliners by James Joyce, and Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.

Amazon's Free Kindle Store
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/
A deep mixed bag of free books
Amazon themselves has a free Kindle store which usually contains books that are available for free for a short time as a promotion from the book's publisher (my own book had this kind of promotion in the middle of last year and hit #1 on the "free" chart). There's a big mixed bag of books on there, but I found a couple interesting reads just this week – although they seem to no longer be free, just that quickly. Thus, it's difficult to link to a list of free picks for this store.

Other Sources?
After investigating a lot of additional Kindle resources, I found that most of them fell into one of three categories.

One, they were full of junk. By junk, I mean that a significant portion of the books were unreadable on a Kindle, either due to language problems or software errors or something else. Many of them seemed to be just scrapings of websites, resulting in piles of badly-formatted text.

Two, they were duplicates of Project Gutenberg. I found several sites that seemed to just duplicate what Project Gutenberg was doing, often just collecting piles of Gutenberg books that they themselves liked.

Three, they were full of pirated books. I found a few repositories of pirated books during my search, but I know quite well the work that goes into writing a book and I'll leave it up to the authors whether or not they want an electronic free copy floating around out there, not the pirates.

Of course, with the three resources above, you'll have plenty of free stuff to read. If you can't find something to entertain you in all of that, I'm not sure how to help.

Source: A Collection of Free Kindle Resources via The Simple Dollar

2,000 ancient archaeological sites discovered via Google Earth

2011-02-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

I love reading about this, and I just wish I can zoom into China and view ancient ruins in the Taklimakan desert.

2,000 ancient archaeological sites discovered via Google Earth via DVICE Atom Feed

Video: Lions, Tigers, Servals, and Other Wild Felines Playing With an iPad

2011-02-08T20:16:00.001-08:00

Sent to you by rt r via Google Reader:

iPad for GIANT CATS Game for Cats

Start your weekend off right with playful, tech-savvy wild cats
"Game for Cats" is an iPad app with a moving image (either a laser dot or a mouse) upon which all housecats are genetically obligated to pounce, repeatedly. It's almost unbearably adorable. But what about the less domesticated felines out there--lions, tigers, caracals, servals, and the housecat-sized Geoffroy's cat? Turns out they'll play with the app as well, even if their paws are iPad-sized to begin with.

This video, which features one of those ear-piercing songs that come built-in to those 15-key Casio electric pianos that can only play one note at a time, is the result of a collaboration between the app's developer and the Conservator's Center in North Carolina. The Conservator's Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving these animals as well as other non-feline animals like wolves, lemurs, binturongs, kinkajous, and deceptively cat-like genets. You can read more about the Conservator's Center here.
Source: Video: Lions, Tigers, Servals, and Other Wild Felines Playing With an iPad

treehouses...

2011-02-08T20:16:00.000-08:00

I have always loved trees and tree houses. Seeing some once in a while is a treat for the eyes.

Source: treehouses... via maggie's secret garden

The Bed Dance

2011-02-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

I love Katie's blog. Watch this fun video she made.

Source:The Bed Dance via Color Me Katie

Things you can do from here:

Subscribe to Color Me Katie using Google Reader
Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Super-Tiny Chameleon Photographed in Madagascar

2011-02-08T20:13:00.001-08:00

Photo: Will Burrard-Lucas In nature, some of the most incredible species come in the tinniest packages. While traveling in Madagascar recently, wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas happened upon this teensy-weensy Brookesia...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Super-Tiny Chameleon Photographed in Madagascar via TreeHugger on 12/5/10

Minty

2011-02-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

Source:Minty via Comixed - 4 panel comic strip (yonkoma or 4koma)

Nice one :-)

2011-02-08T20:12:00.000-08:00

Two great white sharks swimming in the ocean spied survivors of a sunken ship.

"Follow me son" the father shark said to his son, and they swam to the mass of people.

"First we swim around them a few times with just the tip of our fins showing."

And they did. "Well done, son! Now we swim around them a few times with all of our fins showing."

And they did. "Now we eat everybody." And they did.

When they were both gorged, the son asked,"Dad, why didn't we just eat them all at first? Why did we swim around and around them?"

His wise father replied, "Because they taste better without the poo inside!"

Now you know...

Why Sharks Circle You Before Attacking.

Source: Saturday Satire - Shark Attack via Wise Herb's Random Jottings

Amazing robot that mimics human expressions.

2011-02-08T20:11:00.000-08:00

Source: Video: Creepy Japanese Expression-Mimicking Robot Hangs Out In Hospitals, "Comforting" Patients via Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

Surprised Kitten!

2011-02-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

Sanctum - the review.

2011-02-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

Hubby wanted us to go see Sanctum. On first seeing the poster, I assumed it is a horror movie. I am not a horror movie fan, and after checking a bit of the story on Wikipedia, I decided to go ahead and watch.

And the decision turned out for the best.

The film was familiar to me on so many levels, the most superficial one being that, I had read a startlingly similar true story once, on Readers Digest. That was when I was around 10 years old, and still the memory is vivid. At many moments in the movie, I would think to myself, hey, I have seen this before.

The film is sad, very much so. I really mourned each wasteful death in the film, more than I have mourned virtual deaths in years. The part of me that gets hurt watching movies, has learnt to compartmentalize, and tell myself, "No one really died, it is just a story." Sometimes I re-write stories in my head with a happy ending. Perhaps the best compliment to this movie is that I could not do so.

And still, I love the film, for much the same reason it is named the Sanctum. That it shows man's insignificance while also showcasing his strength. That arrogance and wealth do not amount to much when you are up against the forces of nature. And that, to truly love yourself, you have to reach within your sanctum, whatever it is. To hold a mirror up and say, this is who I am.

How does the movie relate to my own life? By the fact that, I don't think I have truly, ever, found my sanctum. Or at least, I do not find it right now. Telling yourself that you have total strength, and believing it, are two totally different things.

The closest I came to believing in myself, was after I had hit a personal nadir, and knew not which way to turn. One way is off limits ever. Because I don't know what lies on the other side. So, I turned to friends who provided support, and said that when they could win, so can I. And so, though I did not believe totally in myself, I pretended to, and slowly drafted a plan that would help me become stronger.

And it was a good plan. So good, in fact, that I was able to execute maybe 30% of it. And the result was that I started to believe in myself more than I have ever believed. It was enough for the moment, but not for what was to come in years forth.

The best thing about a blog is it can successfully hide your cowardice and hypocrisy.You can talk all you want and not end up doing it. You can focus on gaiety and fun while ignoring what is important in your life.

The best thing about movies, though, is that they provide perspective. You get to sit still in a dark room for a long time, and you get a lot of insight that you might not get otherwise.

Strangely, despite all the tragedy in this movie, it was uplifting, because it showed the tenacity of the human spirit. And that, right now, has become my sanctum. A place inside me where I can look, and say, hey, I have it in me to continue.

W1N

2011-02-03T10:18:00.000-08:00

For the un-initiated, you need to know Leet speak for this.

Source:W1N via mendel's soup

10 “Rules of Life” from Tolstoy.

2011-02-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

10 "Rules of Life" from Tolstoy.

What Are Your Rules? Tolstoy's rules are pretty straightforward:

Get up early (five o'clock)
Go to bed early (nine to ten o'clock)
Eat little and avoid sweets
Try to do everything by yourself
Have a goal for your whole life, a goal for one section of your life, a goal for a shorter period and a goal for the year; a goal for every month, a goal for every week, a goal for every day, a goal for every hour and for evry minute, and sacrifice the lesser goal to the greater
Keep away from women
Kill desire by work
Be good, but try to let no one know it
Always live less expensively than you might
Change nothing in your style of living even if you become ten times richer

From: http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2011/01/10-rules-of-life-from-tolstoy-what-are-your-rules.html

My poetry

2011-02-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

~o~o~o~

I was made a bonsai.

I was a sapling who reached out to the sky with my arms, and shared my fruit with all.

I was shamed for the promiscuity of my little branches, and taught that the only way to survive, is to pot my roots, and shape myself, with a snip her, a burn there, till I became a perfect bonsai.

And if you wondered where my compassion went, this was all I had.

But life took me toward towering banyans, which did not mind the thousands of creatures that nestled in their loving branches,

And I realize I have the choice to break my pot, stretch my roots into mother earth,

And pass on her strength through my fruit.

~o~o~o~

I like this concept of Log b a = 0.

B cannot exist for any value of a other than 1, and when a is 1, b can be anything.

Poetic, aint it??

B says to A: If you aren’t the 1 for me, then I don’t care for you. But if you are the 1 for me, than I can be everything to you !!

~o~o~o~

Often, the poems we call beautiful

are not the ones with the most depth,

but the ones that reflect our own thoughts.

Same applies to intelligence and people.

~o~o~o~

As the days pass

I have learnt to see

Through a gaping hole in fabric,

A piece of blue sky.

~o~o~o~

Is it enough that I love you,

Or do I have to say I love you

On saying which, do I have to

Straddle the heaven and earth

And bring you a black orchid

As proof of my love?

I cannot give you anything

But my love. I can’t dance,

But I can arrange flowers.

I also know to watch out for

A Love that is too demanding.

Ani – Ghost City of 1001 Churches

2011-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

I just love these ancient buildings...it sends a shiver down my spine to look at them.

Image Credit Flickr User Snotch

Ani – some call it the City of 1001 Churches, others the City of Forty Gates. Yet no one has called it home for more than three centuries.

Abandoned by its once prosperous and powerful inhabitants, it is situated on the Turkish side of a militarised zone between the border of Turkey and Armenia.

The city of Ani is no stranger to death, destruction and desertion.

Click here for the entire article:

Ani – Ghost City of 1001 Churches via Kuriositas

The unexpected athlete

2011-02-01T11:32:00.000-08:00

This is quite an interesting read.

Chrissie Wellington never really did sports growing up. Then, in her 20s, she started running and astonishingly soon after that, starting winning every Ironman triathlon she entered. Wellington's body and mental focus turned out to be uniquely suited to endurance events.

Then at around 130km into the bike ride, with Sutton's words "Don't defer to anybody" ringing in her ears, she started moving up the pack. "I came up to the lead group of girls and instead of thinking: 'These are the champions and the best in the world', I just went straight past them." Even so, Wellington never believed she would hold on. "Halfway through the marathon I still never thought I would win," she says. "You know they are behind you and you never know what they are capable of. I was running scared the whole way, thinking: 'They'll catch me, they'll catch me.' But they just didn't."

Source:The unexpected athlete via kottke.org

Sharks Seen Swimming Down Australian Streets

2011-02-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

As if the flood waters weren't bad enough for the people of Queensland, it now appears that there are sharks swimming in the streets. Two bull sharks were spotted swimming past a McDonald's in the city of Goodna, Butcher Steve Bateman saw another making its way past his shop on Williams street. Ipswich councillor for the Goodna region Paul Tully said: "It would have swam several kilometres in from the river, across Evan Marginson Park and the motorway. It's definitely a first for Goodna, to have a shark in the main street."

Source:Sharks Seen Swimming Down Australian Streets via Slashdot

Baby Enjoying a Grapefruit FAIL

2011-02-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Lovely :-)

Source:Baby Enjoying a Grapefruit FAIL via Epic Fail Funny Videos and Funny Pictures

Dog sled

2011-02-01T11:29:00.000-08:00

This is another adorable video :-)

Source:(title unknown) via Explore

VIDEO: Camouflage Kitteh

2011-02-01T10:16:00.000-08:00

This is awesome :-) Notice how the scared cat looks for other camouflaged cats in the flowers as it walks away!!

Source:VIDEO: Camouflage Kittehvia Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger?

How croissants are made

2011-02-01T07:33:00.000-08:00

This 10-minute video about how to make croissants is fascinating. Watch at least until the 1 kg sheet of butter is placed on the dough to be folded over several times.

Spoiler: they turn out great, which was unexpected because so often croissants are more bready and dry than flakey and moist, even in France. (thx, aaron)
Source:How croissants are made via kottke.org

Snow Rollers: Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds Of Icy White Delight

2011-02-01T07:31:00.000-08:00

Snow Rollers… not your grandfather's whitecaps, unless gramps is an Eskimo! This rare winter phenomenon can occur anywhere in the world if conditions are just right, and the eerie beauty of a meadow covered in frozen white waves is, for those lucky enough to witness them, a rare pleasure indeed!

Mother Nature's Snowmen

(images via: Global Times and NOAA)

Most everyone has enjoyed the experience of making a snowman, and those who have done so know that the easiest way to make one is to start with a small snowball, then roll it in snow until it becomes a BIG snowball. Do this three times, pile the snowballs atop one another, and you've got your basic snowman. Of course, the weather outside has much to do with your success – because the weather determines the texture and consistency of the snow.

(images via: Telegraph UK)

Snow Rollers are somewhat similar to the snowballs used to make snowmen but they are much more dependent on not only the weather, but the condition of the snow on the ground.

See What Condition Your Condition Is In

(images via: Likers and Earth Science POD)

Meteorologists investigating Snow Rollers have turned up some common factors that seem to be prerequisites for their formation. The snow, for starters, needs to be sticky enough to hold together once the ball gets rolling, so to speak. Referring back to snowman-making, the ideal type of snow is loose in consistency while the "stickiness" derives from an air temperature slightly below freezing.

(image via: C.Atrox)

Ground temperature is important as well – it should also be slightly below freezing in order to provide a little bit of lubrication between the various layers of snow. The most critical of such layers is formed from ice, so that embryonic Snow Rollers can initially break free from their anchoring substrate. This is NOT good, however, if you're in a mountainous area standing downslope. Can you say "avalanche?"

Winter Wind FTW

(images via: MPR News and Terre Haute)

Now let's talk about wind. Too stiff a breeze will simply shift snow and blow it into drifts. For Snow Rollers to form on a relatively flat ground surface, the wind must be of a certain speed and it has to blow consistently – no gusts, as newly formed Snow Rollers are often delicate.

(image via: Ilmajaam.ee)

Wind can also come into play by shaking clumps of snow off of tree branches or overhanging rocks, cliffs or what have you. If the clump should fall on an unstable snow pack and the wind is blowing just right, Snow Rollers or natural snowballs can form.

A Step On A Slippery Slope

(images via: Crop Circle Science and NOAA)

Gravity will sometimes act to assist Snow Roller formation. An inclined surface often needs less of a shove from the wind to get Snow Rollers in motion. Falling snow clumps as mentioned above can also "hit the ground rolling", and end up at the bottom of a valley greatly increased in size.

(image via: Wikipedia)

Now here's something you don't see every day – then again, who'd really expect to? Give nature a slippery surface, add snow, fine tune the temperature and you've got a recipe for twin Snow Rollers. Too cool for school… though not THIS school.

Field Of Dreams

(image via: KATU.com)

Classic Snow Rollers, however, are typically seen on clear, flat fields upon which gravity plays no part. Their creation, propagation and lateral motion is governed strictly by the wind – as well as the aforementioned snow and ground conditions. A newly discovered field of Snow Rollers can look like a meadow scattered with miniature white hay bales – so artificial, onlookers find themselves scouting for footprints of the makers.

Roll Out The White Carpet

(image via: Wikipedia)

There are physical limits to the size of Snow Rollers. You won't see an entire field rolled up like a cheap carpet, for example, as weight and stress conspire to keep most Snow Rollers looking much like rolled-up sleeping bags. The very wide Snow Rollers shown above, photographed in the Giant Mountains of the Czech Republic, are as rare as they are ephemeral.

(images via: Crop Circle Science and NOAA)

Snow Rollers also gain weight as they roll, and sooner or later – often sooner – the weight of the Snow Roller combined with resistance from the fresh snow ahead of it counteracts the forces of wind and inertia. The biggest reported Snow Rollers were roughly 2 feet (60cm) in diameter.

The Hole Truth

(image via: Morning Earth)

One salient feature common to most Snow Rollers is the "donut hole" in the middle. One would think that it would be impossible to roll a blanket of something as fragile as snow around, well, nothing… and you would be correct.

(images via: Terre Haute, Enquirer and Burlington Free Press)

Snow Rollers do indeed have filled holes at their inception, however this initial layer of snow is usually thin due to the baby Snow Roller's size, and soon crumbles under the stress and vibration incurred as the Snow Roller picks up speed and snow.

(image via: Enquirer)

Snow Rollers are as delightful as they are rare – the latter accentuating the former. Winter may seem to offer nothing but chills and spills, but rare and special natural phenomena like Snow Rollers provide those lucky enough to witness them an undoubtedly warm thrill. Let's roll!

Source:Snow Rollers: Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds Of Icy White Delight via WebEcoist

Type 241543903 in Google Image Search

2011-02-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

Frida

Romantic Wedding Invite

100-day repetitive projects

A Collection of Free Kindle Resources

2,000 ancient archaeological sites discovered via Google Earth

Video: Lions, Tigers, Servals, and Other Wild Felines Playing With an iPad

Sent to you by rt r via Google Reader:

treehouses...

The Bed Dance

Things you can do from here:

Super-Tiny Chameleon Photographed in Madagascar

Super-Tiny Chameleon Photographed in Madagascar via TreeHugger on 12/5/10

Minty

Nice one :-)

Amazing robot that mimics human expressions.

Source: Video: Creepy Japanese Expression-Mimicking Robot Hangs Out In Hospitals, "Comforting" Patients via Popular Science - New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

Surprised Kitten!

Sanctum - the review.

W1N

10 “Rules of Life” from Tolstoy.

10 "Rules of Life" from Tolstoy.

My poetry

Ani – Ghost City of 1001 Churches

I just love these ancient buildings...it sends a shiver down my spine to look at them.

The unexpected athlete

This is quite an interesting read.

Sharks Seen Swimming Down Australian Streets

Source:Sharks Seen Swimming Down Australian Streets via Slashdot

Baby Enjoying a Grapefruit FAIL

Source:Baby Enjoying a Grapefruit FAIL via Epic Fail Funny Videos and Funny Pictures

Dog sled

This is another adorable video :-)

VIDEO: Camouflage Kitteh

How croissants are made

This 10-minute video about how to make croissants is fascinating. Watch at least until the 1 kg sheet of butter is placed on the dough to be folded over several times.

Snow Rollers: Tumblin’ Tumbleweeds Of Icy White Delight

Mother Nature's Snowmen

See What Condition Your Condition Is In

Winter Wind FTW

A Step On A Slippery Slope

Field Of Dreams

Roll Out The White Carpet

The Hole Truth

Type 241543903 in Google Image Search

Just type it, and see what shows up :-) Source:Type 241543903 in Google Image Search via Hacker News

Just type it, and see what shows up :-)

Source:Type 241543903 in Google Image Search via Hacker News