Thinking Chaos, Thinking Fences

11 November 2002

Naked International iPods! This guy has assembled more than 500 photos of iPods around the world. See iPods at Notre Dame, Machu Picchu, or the Great Pyramids! As a recent iPod convert, I'm trying to pick the best Dublin spot. Bobbing around in a pint of Guiness, I expect. 10:17:56 PM    comment []

Scrabble-mania! If my company goes under, we can blame my mother. She's discovered online Scrabble, and is currently kicking my ass. However, the net result is that the Scrabble meme has reached Cape Clear, and there are numerous games going on among my colleagues. My greatest triumph? The other day I used up all my letters and got 77 points for ERRANDS. Which, coincidentally, is an anagram for DARREN'S. Thanks Mom. One note if you're going to play a game. This particular online Scrabble game does not validate your words! So, be sure to check them before completing each turn. The designer does point out that this is useful if you want to play in another (Arabic-based) language. 10:14:22 PM    comment []

A Visual Family History What a fantastic idea this is. This family has taken photos of themselves each year since 1976. As children are born, they are added to the list. I guess it could be faked--I've got enough PhotoShop skill to make it happen, but I'd like to believe it's real. 10:06:03 PM    comment []

Outtalk the Telemarketers And I quote...'The direct marketing sector regards the telephone as one of its most successful tools. Consumers experience telemarketing from a completely different point of view: more than 92% perceive commercial telephone calls as a violation of privacy. Telemarketers make use of a telescript - a guideline for a telephone conversation. This script creates an imbalance in the conversation between the marketer and the consumer. It is this imbalance, most of all, that makes telemarketing successful. The EGBG Counterscript attempts to redress that balance.' 9:57:17 PM    comment []

At first I thought this was horribly freakish... But the more I think about it, the more sense it makes, in a new agey way. Life Gem has 'discovered how to capture the carbon [in your body], and until now, lost during cremation. Once captured, this carbon is placed in one of our unique diamond presses replicating the awesome forces of nature – heat and pressure.' Why not? Is it any more weird than burying somebody and visiting their grave periodically? This way you can keep them with you all the time. Of course, being my mother's son, I immediately imagined the worst-case scenario. What if you lost it? Still, an interesting alternative to the cemetary or ashes-on-the-hearth solutions. 9:53:53 PM    comment []