December 2007 Archives

Sanrio is launching a line of Hello Kitty stuff for men. Wait, those little pencil-boxes weren't unisex?

An Sanrio Co. employee shows Hello Kitty products targeted at young men at the company's headquarters in Tokyo Friday, Dec. 28, 2007. The cuddly white cat, usually seen on toys and jewelry for young females, will soon adorn T-shirts, bags, watches and other products targeting young men, company spokesman Kazuo Tohmatsu said Friday. The feline for-men products will go on sale in Japan next month, and will be sold soon in the U.S. and other Asian nations, according to Sanrio.

So many memorable things happened in 2007. We'd better start hiding the evidence, now.  
 
Seriously, there's a whole lot of shit that went on this year that we'd rather not have to explain to our children and grandchildren. Let's do our best to destroy every record of it. If that fails and if you're, in fact, reading this in the year 2107, we'll do our best to put it into context. But, really, you had to be there.

Not safe for work.

Whats its color is an image-color processing utility that will evaluate an image and give you the image's primary and complementary dominant colors of an image, how many visually unique colors are in an image, and the top ten visually unique colors in an image.  
 
Extremely useful when creating any type of designs around an image.

Cut the bindings off of books found at a used book store. Find poems in the pages by the process of obliteration. Put pages in the mail and send them all around the world. Lather, rinse, repeat.  
 
This site is a chronicle of a very specific set of collaborations between the artists listed...working on the titles listed...  

Toupees for your baby. Honest.  
 
Check out the Gallery

Once again, The Year in Media Errors and Corrections. Correction of the year: "Following the portrait of Tony and Cherie Blair published on 21 April in the Independent Saturday magazine, Ms Blair’s representatives have told us that she was friendly with but never had a relationship with Carole Caplin of the type suggested in the article. They want to make it clear, which we are happy to do, that Ms Blair “has never shared a shower with Ms Caplin, was not introduced to spirit guides or primal wrestling by Ms Caplin (or anyone else), and did not have her diary masterminded by Ms Caplin.”

50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007.

RIP Netscape browser, 1994-2007. AOL, who acquired the groundbreaking browser as part of a $4.2 billion deal in 1998, announced the end today. Good-bye or good riddance?

The centenary of the birth of James Bond creator Ian Fleming is to be marked next month with six extra-long UK stamps, Royal Mail has said.  
 
Each stamp has been lengthened to show a number of different Bond novel covers, with first-class stamps featuring Casino Royale and Dr No.

A new law in New Jersey gives authorities the right to take away computer and internet access from convicted sex offenders, regardless of whether computers or the internet played a role in their crime. Snip from Ars Technica:

According to one of the law's backers, state Senator John Girgenti, the law makes it easier for sex offenders to stay on the straight and narrow, "reducing the risk of them being tempted to be a repeat offender."

Bill S1979 gives the state broad authority to regulate a sex offender's computer and Internet usage so long as the person remains on parole. And the law is tough: anyone who uses a computer to help commit sex crimes will be prohibited from using computers or the Internet at all. The State Parole Board may also impose restrictions at its discretion on offenders even if they did not use computers to plan their crimes.

In August of last year we ran a controversial look at 43 reasons why 2007 would be a great year for movies. Now that 2007 has nearly come and gone and almost all of those 43 movies have been released, it's time to look ahead at 2008. The last 12 months have played a major part in building the hype for most of the movies mentioned and I can now say that 2008 looks way more appealing at this moment than 2007 did at the same time last year. This could be the year that we see revolutionary new changes in Hollywood, not only as the Writers Strike ends but as we encounter films like Cloverfield, Speed Racer, and The Dark Knight. Let's take look at 54 reasons why 2008 will be an awesome year for movies and an even better year than 2007...

Hardly week goes by without a major archaeological discovery or the publication of a radical new theory about the human past. Reducing a year's worth of these stories to the 10 most important was a tall order, especially since our intent was to go beyond the headlines and select those we thought made a significant impact on the field--ones that will be talked about for decades.

A wife stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife following an argument sparked when she accused him of opening a Christmas present early, US police say.

Just as the festive season gets going, drinkers in America are finding their favourite beer suddenly more expensive or even—horrors!—not available at all. Hit by price increases and shortages, many breweries, particularly the small “craft brewers” and the even smaller microbreweries, are being forced to raise prices, make do with modified recipes or shut off the spigots altogether.  
 
The humble hop, the plant that gives beer its distinctive flavour, is the main problem. Many farmers in the Pacific north-west, where America's hop production is concentrated, have turned to more profitable lines—especially corn, which can be made into ethanol.

Set of 81 (and counting) screenshots. Tags include episode titles, actress names and characters' names.

Uh.. can you say public domain?

In a potential blow to themed resorts from Vegas to Tokyo, Egypt is to pass a law requiring payment of royalties whenever its ancient monuments, from the pyramids to the sphinx, are reproduced.  
 
Zahi Hawass, the charismatic and controversial head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told AFP on Tuesday that the move was necessary to pay for the upkeep of the country's thousands of pharaonic sites.  

I get killer migraines, and i'm insanely scent sensitive, so the following news is very important to me.

A British doctor is leading a drugs trial that could spell the end of the misery endured by thousands of migraine sufferers. John Chambers, a consultant cardiologist at Guy's Hospital London, says that when, on a mere hunch, he tested clopidogrel [Plavix], a simple clot-busting drug, on five patients plagued by migraines, it worked, in some cases, "spectacularly well".  
 
Now a wider trial on 280 patients is under way with the results expected next year. If the drug proves similarly effective, it could mean an end to the throbbing head, nausea and flashing lights that characterise a typical attack...  
 
Currently, migraines are treated with beta blockers, to lower blood pressure and regulate the heart, as well as anti-depressants. Other treatments include aspirin, paracetamol and stronger pain killers...  
 
Dr Chambers's treatment is based on the hypothesis that migraines can be caused by tiny blood clots that form in the heart and travel to the brain, disrupting the blood flow and causing the typical symptoms of one-sided headache, nausea and photophobia....

 

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton's potential inheritance dramatically diminished after her grandfather Barron Hilton announced plans on Wednesday to donate 97 percent of his $2.3 billion fortune to charity.

For free bachelorette party ideas, advice, games to play and recipes, you have come to the right place. For over seven years, Bachelorette.com has met the needs of bachelorette party planners. Our team of experts updates this page with useful and easy-to-prepare bachelorette party ideas.

No food, no drinks, no sex in the shop. Thank you.

Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live digital short featuring Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg that originally aired on December 16, 2006.

AKA as "Dick in a Box". Not safe for work.

The Alvin Show, 1961. The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late). The Witch Doctor, Pop Goes The Weasel, Chipmunk Fun and The Alvin Twist

Without further ado, here’s a quick compilation of some of the most interesting ‘Best of 2007′ lists I’ve come across during the frantic media recap of ‘What Was in 07′, before the manic, mad dash to xmas seasonal insanity, and the consequent post-holiday crash into 2008:

1. Best of 2007 Lists (the definitive meta-list by Fimoculous)
2. Master List of Online “Best of 2007″ Music Lists (a meta-music list by LargeheartedBoy)
3. Updates to the Master List of Online “Best of 2007″ Music Lists (updates to #2 by LargeheartedBoy)
4. 40 Best Raps of 2007 (top hip-hop tracks by CocaineBlunts)
5. 15 Best Candies of 2007 (delish sugar treats by CandyAddict)
6. 50 Best Websites of 2007 (multiple categories list by Time & - oh look - who’s a top news site?)
7. 30 Best Albums of 2007 (top rated by the critics and aggregated by Metacritic)
8. 25 Best Careers of 2007 (so choose wisely, my friends, by BizTech)
9. Most Hated Companies of 2007 (the most widely & heavily criticized, by BloggingStocks)
10. 100 Best Products of 2007 (because there can never be enough products, a list by PC World)
11. 22 Best Music Videos (some silly choices by MusicForKidsWhoCan’tReadGood)
12. 25 Best Books of the Year (fiction, non-fiction and more by Publishers Weekly)
13. 100 Best Films of 2007 (a mix of new and re-releases by TimesOnline)
14. 18 Best American Hospitals of 2007 (a incredibly paradoxical list by USNews)
15. Best Global Brands of 2007 (aka the biggest brands in the world, by Interbrand)
16. Best of NYC 2007 (best of the Big Apple, by the VillageVoice)
17. Best Biblical Books of 2007 (a “completely objective” book list by BiblicalFoundations)
18. America’s Best Restroom of 2007 (congrats to Jungle Jim’s, by ABR)
19. Best Parks of 2007 (for the adventure seekers, by National Geographic)
20. Best Industrial Design Products of 2007 (with slick imagery by RedDot)
21. Top 10 Depression Blogs of 2007 (a useful, if sombre, list by PsychCentral)
22. 2007 China Best Call Centre (the best operators ‘who will be with you shortly’ by CallCentres)
23. Top 100 Luxury Blogs of 2007 (an elite assortment by International Listings)
24. Best of What’s New in 2007 (products, inventions, and gadgetry compiled by PopularScience)
25. Top 60 Japanese Buzzwords of 2007 (vernacular awesomeness by PinkTentacle)

Here is an end-of-year list of ads that reflect DIY inspiration, a geek sensibility or simply had a sense of humor tuned to the tech world. There's some irony in this list of somewhat traditional TV ads spots. I saw only one or two of these ads on TV. All of the ads are found on YouTube and I've found most of them because someone sent me a link. So I'll call this a list of:

 

Top Tech Ads Not Necessarily Seen on TV in 2007.

 

John Hodgeman's Apple ads. These ads continue to be great. It's ironic that Apple's stand-in standup is the straight man to Hodgeman -- the PC as bumbling Lou Costello. The "Don't Give Up on Vista" ads are funny, especially the one with the presidential podium. Apple.com features an animated version of the ad in the spirit of the old Rudolph the Reindeer Christmas TV shows. Apple Vista Ad 1 Hodgeman at the Podium Ad

I'm a Wii -- a clone of the Apple ads but this ad suggests that a game platform can be more fun. It does make me really want to Wii, I mean, want a Wii. The Wii Ad

The JC Penny "Aviator" ad. A nerdy young girl gets a crazy idea -- to build a rocket to take her to the North Pole. If you can imagine it, you can make it. JC Penny Aviator Ad

The Dell ad campaign "Yours is Here" in particular, the ad with the "Watch Us Work It" by DEVO soundtrack. Wrenchs and more...makes you wanna make something. Dell's DEVO ad

Will it Blend iPhone -- Kind of an anti-ad. This iPhone carbonizer reminds us soberly that all gadgets turn to dust. iPhone in a blender.

Honda's The Cog ad -- Disassemble a Honda Accord and use all the parts to make up a very clever Rube Goldberg contraption. It's a symphony of motion that's watchable over and over. Honda's Cog ad

HP's "Eternal Dreamer" ad featuring Michael Gondry -- a fluid piece that moves creatively between the physical and virtual world, between ideas and reality. I like this ad much better than HP's Gwen Stefani campaign. HP's Eternal Dreamer

Halo 3 "Believe" ad -- This ads reminds us how we grew up playing with toy soldiers -- green army men and mounds of dirt. The melancholy soundtrack makes you think you're watching a "Greatest Generation" documentary. Halo 3 Believe

Assassin's Creed ads - Beautiful, stylish, subversive re-imagining of the time of the Crusades. Hidden daggers and conspiratorial history. I wish this were movie-length. Ad for Assassin's Creed Behind the Scenes Promo

Coca Cola "What Goes Around Comes Around" ad -- a nasty Grand Theft Auto video turns sweet and syrupy. Each one of us can make the world better. Coca Cola Ad

Here are several videos that look into the advertising industry itself (as awful as sausage-making). The first is a British satire on ad agencies called Truth in Advertising. (I want to start using the term "media wankers.") There's also "The Breakup," a Microsoft-produced video featuring an arrogant advertiser as the lover and a fed-up consumer as the beloved.

Finally, if you want a over-the-top spoof of overindulgence, check out "Consumerism: The Musical."

Here's a four page gallery of space age Christmas cards from Soviet Russia. They're fantastic!.

Five years ago, "IronKite" submitted this wonderful photo illustration to a Worth1000.com Photoshop contest on the theme of "Archaeological Anomalies." The powerful picture was transformed into an Internet urban legend about the National Geographic Society's discovery of the remains of giant humans in India. Several media outlets reported the story as fact. To this day, the National Geographic Society continues to receive international inquiries about this race of giants. National Geographic News reports on the myth:

 

(One) story went on to say the discovery was made by a "National Geographic Team (India Division) with support from the Indian Army since the area comes under jurisdiction of the Army."

The account added that the team also found tablets with inscriptions that suggest the giant belonged to a race of superhumans that are mentioned in the Mahabharata, a Hindu epic poem from about 200 B.C...

Variations of the giant photo hoax include alleged discovery of a 60- to 80-foot long (18- to 24-meter) human skeleton in Saudi Arabia. In one popular take, which likewise first surfaced in 2004, an oil-exploration team is said to have made the find.

Here the skeleton is held up as evidence of giants mentioned in Islamic, rather than Hindu, scriptures.

In the increasingly surreal battle between the RIAA and music listeners, reality and satire can be hard to discern

Four out of Five People Wash Their Hands. Don't be that Fifth Guy. While you're at it, cover your mouth when you cough and stay home when you're sick. Really, how many times do we have to tell you? Wash. Your. Hands. Seriously.
Who's the Fifth Guy? "The Florida Department of Health set out to prepare people for the potential of a flu pandemic, but they faced a tough challenge: No pandemic on the horizon ... Then they built the campaign around what does matter to people: Fitting in."*

How to wash your hands and ride the elevators in the new New York Times Building.

An amusing list of activities which are normally associated with women, but that men would enjoy.

Sequel to the two-time box office hit, Jackass 2.5, will skip multiplexes entirely and be distributed online first. Perhaps this will herald a new age of online-first movie distribution?

Please pardon the dust, but, as you can see, Jackassworld.com is indeed open during construction. This is where you will eventually be able to come and, not only find all of your Jackass needs, but a lot of new stuff as well. “Growing the brand,” was, I think, the phrase they used? So, while there will be no shortage of dudes kicking each other in the balls just like in the old days, we’ve got a whole butt load of new shit planned for your face on this site in the near future. But this is-and this is what they told us-only the “soft launch.” (Yeah, we kind of giggled when they said that too.)

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.  
 
Written and presented by Annie Leonard; produced by Free Range Studios.

The net.art generator automatically produces net.art on demand.  
 
This version of the net.art generator creates images. The resulting image emerges as a collage of a number of images which have been collected on the WWW in relation to the 'title' you have chosen. The original material is processed in 12-14 randomly chosen and combined steps.  
 
The net.art generator was programmed by Panos Galanis from IAP GmbH, Hamburg, and was a commission by the Volksfürsorge art collection...  
 
Have fun and become a net.artist!  

This short survey will tell you approximately how many five year old children you could fight at once. Results are based on physical prowess, training, swarm-combatting experience, and the flexibility of your moral compass. Here are the ground rules:  
 
* You are in an enclosed area roughly the size of a basketball court  
* There are no weapons or foreign objects  
* Everyone is wearing a cup (so no kicks to the groin)  
* The children are merciless and will show no fear  
* If a child is knocked unconscious, he is "out." The same goes for you.  

Teacher Barricades Herself Inside Classroom After Hearing 'Welcome To The Jungle'

During the latter half of the twentieth century, Liverpool writers made an enormous contribution to television drama. Writers like Willy Russell and Jimmy McGovern have been hugely influential. But the daddy of them all was unarguably Alan Bleasdale, whose television dramas dominated our screens during the latter half of the 20th century in a manner that was unmatched by anybody besides the late Dennis Potter.

Though many of his television dramas were to win praise and awards, it was his two series, Boys from the Blackstuff, an examination of the lot of the Liverpudlian working class under Thatcherism, and GBH, which turned his gaze onto the local political scene -- then dominated by the Trotskyite Militant Tendency -- that really cemented his reputation as one of the top three British television dramatists of the second half of the twentieth century.

Now you can find large parts of both Boys from the Blackstuff and GBH on YouTube.

Quality viewing for Telly Friday.

It's Telly Friday, baby.

Merry Christmas, Kids! Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, you still might enjoy this fun bit of flash goodness.

Bad Astronomy's Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2007.

The Zen Mind - An Introduction. A Day in the Life of a Zen Monk. Zazen - A Guide to Sitting. Interview with a Zen Buddhist Priest.

Happy Rohatsu!