One of the odder items I've seen in recent past. It's a bunny, for your computer. It's ears move. It will teach you tai chi. Light up with different colors. But unfortunately, I don't think it will make toast. His name? Nabaztag.

So you are probably wondering if a rabbit can really be "smart"? Well this bunny can teach you tai chi, read your e-mail, report the weather or stock market, pull RSS feeds and tell you the time. We'd say that's pretty smart - but he's also got personality. Nabaztag can move his ears, play music, talk and whistle, and his body can show off hundreds of colors and special patterns of light. Sometimes he will even have his own random things to say, as long as you can put up with his moods![Thinkgeek]

Here's one way to warn people.

To call attention to pockpocketing, Brussels Airlines resorted to a sort of anti-pickpocketing campaign and placed fake, rubber hands inside un-attended bags. Aside from the fact most people would freak out and scream if they came back to their bag and found a hand inside... [Adrants]

The other day I was driving around and realized that the clock in my car was almost right (it is usually horribly off). I never reset it for spring so now I'm trying to figure out who changed it. Are there people who break into cars and reset clocks? Hmmm.

Not just bunnies. SINGING bunnies.

drive yerself nuts...
...with da little singin' bunnies (Flash). [crossmind.net] [via jenett.radio]

Do you play Second Life? Are you looking for some action? Then check out SL Escorts for listings and reviews. Also see an article on 1UP on MMO Call Girls.

[via Waxy Links]

It's finally here, though the video quality isn't that great. I give you the trailer for Snakes on a Plane.

This has popped up everywhere in the last 12 hours. Sheesh. Here's my Johari Window: http://kevan.org/johari?name=snooze. Tell me what you think of me or something.

From McSweeney's, The Elements of Spam.

14. Use the active voice.

Notice how aloof the passive voice is.

Your balls are to be slurped the most by cum-starved nymphos!!!!!

Hardly persuasive. The five exclamation points feel tacked on, an attempt by an inexperienced writer to breathe life into a desiccated construction. The active voice, however, allows you to write with verve and straightforwardness.

Cum-starved nymphos will slurp your balls the most!!!!!

CNN has an article on "Maid Cafes" in Japan, a popular place for some otaku.

Maids rule in Japan's nerd nirvana

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- "Welcome home, Master," says the maid as she bows deeply, hands clasped in front of a starched pinafore worn over a short pink dress.

This maid serves not some aristocrat but a string of pop-culture-mad customers at a "Maid Cafe" in Tokyo's Akihabara district, long known as a Mecca for electronics buffs but now also the center of the capital's "nerd culture".

"When they address you as 'Master', the feeling you get is like a high," says Koji Abei, a 20-year-old student having coffee with a friend at the Royal Milk Cafe and Aromacare.

"I've never felt that way before." [CNN]

I've been aware of the whole maid thing in Japan for a while just due to the amount of anime shows about maids. They are a whole genre in and of themselves. Everything from victorian romance type stories to action shows with robot maids to catgirl maids. But for some reason the idea of going to a maid cafe just sounds... wrong. It just sounds like too much of a bad joke. I especially like the line in the article about being able to get your ears cleaned (WHAT?). It actually is probably mostly an extremly focused version of what I've heard of called cosplay cafes, where the waitresses are dressed like characters from various anime shows.

One for all those ravers and former ravers: the top raver flicks of 1999. Courtesy of xaotica.

Posted by Accordion Guy, a funky Flash animation called Drum Machine.

Happy New Years to all my friends. 2005 has been quite a rollercoaster and I survived it relatively intact (well, as intact as one can be when gaining a new lung). I'm also glad it is over because I'm ready to start fresh again now.

2005 was all about healing. 2006 will hopefully be about rebuilding. I'm actively pursuing a new job. If I get it, it will mean moving back up to Boston and living on my own. It will really be almost starting out from square one again. It's all kind of scary and exciting.

I don't do resolutions because I never seem to actually get around to them. So instead I'm just saying I'll just keep working to grow stronger and stay healthy.

My resolution for the year:

And they are quizzes. I should burn for this.

How Gregory should improve for 2006: Make a magical wand that eradicates all of your social awkwardness Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Now you too can pimp your nutcracker.

Brilliant!

Romeo and Juliet, told entirely in emoticons....

Romeo and Juliet, told entirely in emoticons.

[via Blog of a Bookslut]

Okay, one more quiz for the day and I'll stop. But I liked that I was Very Silly.

               ^________________________________________
         9.001 |       |                 /|             |
               |       | Write questions/ |             |
               | Visit | to The Oracle /  |             |
           F   |Parents|        /\    /   | Libertarian |
               |       |       /o \--* S  |             |
           u   |       |------/o   \   l  _--_          |
               |-------+      \   o/\  e '    `         |
           r   |   \_          \ o/  \ e( Date )        |
               |     \_ Attend  \/ o  \p "-__-"         |
           l   |       \_ party  \  o /   |             |
               | Watch   \_       \  /----+-------------|
           o   | TV all    \ __    \/                   |
               |  day       ]  ---__|    Play Doom      |
           n   |____________|       +___________________|
               |          \  Drink  |______             |
           g   | rn        \heavily_|      |            |
               | alt.       \     /        | Oaklahoma  |
           s   | binaries.   >---<   Do    |            |
               | pictures.  /     \__ your +------------|
             9 | erotica   /  lint   \ laundry          |
               +----------------------------------------->
               -3                              6.02*10^23
                          F o r t n i g h t s

I hope this isn't becoming a test blog :). Honestly, I thought the test was a little easy. I was expecting a bit more of a challenge.

Because I was psyched to get this result:

Gimme some sugar baby.

Which B-Movie Badass Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

For the first three hours I was awake today I thought it was monday. I most probably confused a few people that I was talking to this morning.

After listening to TWiT the other day I felt compelled to check out Tiki Bar TV, Forbidden cocktails in a swank pad. I can't decide if it is genius or incredibly stupid, but I do know I can't stop watching it. You should definitely give the Tiki Bar a visit.

A few months ago I posted about Sony filming a commercial where they released 10,000 super-balls on a hill in San Francisco. Well it turns out it was actually 250,000 superballs, and they've posted the commercial online. Pretty cool looking.

A wonderful mashup of Plato's Republic and Reservoir Dogs can be found here.

[Thrasymachus is tied up in a chair. Socrates is brandishing a gun in his face]

Thrasymachus: Don't kill me, man!

Socrates: Are you finished, fucker?

Thrasymachus: Look, look, man, you can have my ten yoke of oxen. My virgin daughters? My pomegranite orchard?

Socrates: You like pomegranites? Shit, motherfucker, I hear they've got a fuckin' all-you-can-eat special going on on pomegranites where you're headed.

Thrasymachus: Don't do it, Socrates. Be fair.

Socrates: [Suddenly contemplative] Fair?

Thrasymachus: [Sees an opportunity for survival] Yeah, fair... think about my wife and children --

Socrates: Would you say that to be fair is the same thing as to be just? [Republic Dogs] [via Boing Boing]

If philosophy class had been like this maybe I wouldn't have done so badly in it.

A month ago I posted about 101 things in 1001 days. I started my list (and am nowhere close to 101), but then I ran into this site called 43 Things. It is the same kind of idea, but the site will keep track of the things you want to do, tag them, see what things other people want to do (which is a big help in coming up with ideas). Check it out.

Sometimes you just hear about sites that sound oh so wrong. So, if you've got a daughter and want to make some extra cash, just send her over to RentMyDaughter.com.

It just sounds so wrong. Someone needs to work on their naming.

My japanese name is 小川 Ogawa (small river) 拓海 Takumi (open sea).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Now, the question is, which is my first name? Were they giving names in traditional japanese format?

Okay, these are too funky. I want a pair of them for myself. I may just have to break down and buy them for myself.

Heelys hidden-wheel skate shoe

A few days ago I saw a little girl skate across the floor of a department store. I saw her head glide by but what she was actually skating on was obscured by racks of clothing. She noticed that I was watching her and when she got to the end of the aisle and I could see her feet, she was walking normally on what appeared to be regular sneakers. I thought I was crazy but a few minutes later I saw her do it again. This time, when she popped out of the aisle, I had caught up with her and saw her gliding and then coming to a sudden complete stop before walking again...

[via Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women]

Yeah, they're kinda silly, but they look fun.

In the last five days or so I've run into at least as many references to Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Mostly it has been via mentions in various weblogs. It had actually made it onto my list of books to check out. So today I get home to find that my mom just got it from Amazon. I think the universe is telling me I should read this book.

Coming up soon is the six month anniversary of my lung transplant (Oct. 14th). I'm trying to figure out just what I should do for this. Maybe some kind of get-together that weekend or maybe something this weekend. I definitely want to do something. Leaves look like they've got another few weeks so I'm putting that on hold. Maybe a fall BBQ? A nocturnal party with some music? Anyone up for actually coming down?

I've been feeling really good lately. So I'm up for something fun.

I personally think it should come in a big roll. It isn't really duct tape if it doesn't make that noise when you rip a piece off. It also needs to be multipurpose. You should be able to use it to build some bizzare contraption with it, like MacGuyver.

Duct Tape Band Aid

I am a man's man. Nothing hurts me. I am pretty much invincible, except when my kitty scratches me. The worse thing is going to the construction site (work as I call it) and getting ridiculed by all of the other guys, and even the women for wearing a daffy duck band aid. This is a duct tape band aid for the most hardcore people out there. No longer will people think you are a baby. I mean honestly, nothing says hardcore more than having duct tape wrapped around a boo-boo. Maybe dipping said boo boo in motor oil and wrapping a used diaper around it is harder core, but not by much.

The Duct Tape Band Aid [OhGizmo!]

[via Gizmodo]

I've been real bad about remembering this year, but this morning I remembered!

RABBIT RABBIT

Shining looks like it could rock. Check out the trailer.

Here's a list of 1,159 naughty words according to the NFL. These are not allowed on personalized jerseys from the NFL Shop site. There are some interesting ones in there.

As seen over on Swirlychick's LJ, the ColorQuiz. Give it a try.

Gregory+Blake took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Takes easily and quickly to anything which provide..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

As usual with these quizzes I take things with a grain of salt. I think the one thing that really rung true for me was the line "Anxious to experience life in all its aspects, to explore all its possibilities, and to live it to the fullest." This has definitely been a big issue for me post transplant. And I'm still kind of rediscovering myself too, the whole experience has definitely changed me a bit.

Off to Boston to pick up some drugs, get my hair done, and maybe visit with some folks. I really should see who is in the cambridge/somervillish area during the day. Anyone up for lunch someday? Now that I'm feeling more mobile I am hoping to get up there more often (hopefully gas prices will come down some to help make that possible).

We need these in the US. Some of the other vending machines linked to are cool too.

Japanese lobster-vending machine
Cory Doctorow:

Earlier this week, I blogged a great collection of Japanese vending machines, but this one is even better, sporting, as it does, a coin-operated live-lobster vending machine! Link

(Thanks, GenkiGecko!)
Update:Here's a commercial supplier of coin-op lobster game/vending-machines (courtesy Daniel Drucker)
[via Boing Boing Blog]

ARRRR!

BOOTY!

WENCHES!

From #!/usr/bin/girl, more flash game fun. Remember Grow? Remember Grow RPG? Well now it is an all new Grow, this time it's a cube!

Flash Fun: GrowCube
Here's a little fun for your Monday: GrowCube. I like to have something to distract me from the beginning of the week. [via #!/usr/bin/girl]

I've almost got it figured out!

Wow, grade school kids redo the video for Devo's Whip It. And it's pretty cool! [via Boing Boing]

Nick posted a link to PostSecret. A site where people mail in postcards with a secret on them. Pretty cool. I keep wondering if I have any secrets to share.

Thank you McSweeney's for providing me with such fun reading materials. Today we've got Things Hagrid the Half Giant Woudl say If He Served Jesus Instead of Harry Potter and A Letter from "The Power" to Public Enemy.

From the first:

"Speakin' of cups runnethin' over, laddie, mine's be gettin' a mite dry. How 'bout changin' this 'ere water into somethin' a bit more, well, frisky?"

"Why, if a fellow wanted ta get away clean, Peter-me-lad, all they'd have ter do would be ta deny they ever even knowed Jesus. Uh-oh. I shouldn't eh told yeh that."

And the second:

Dear Chuckdee, Flavor Flavor, Professor Griffin, and everyone else,

Hey, guys! What's up? Or should I say "what up"? Is that how you hippity-hoppers and homeyboys and gangerbangers are saying it now? Never mind. I'll get right to the point.

Do we have to keep fighting like this? Or, more specifically, do you really want to keep fighting me? I don't mind indulging you if that's what you guys want. It's not hurting me, of course, since I am The Power after all. But I just wonder if you might consider giving it up. I mean, this has been going on for a while and I'm still very much here.

Do you realize that you've been fighting me since 1989? (What a crazy summer that was, huh? Whatever happened to that funky drummer?) Now, that's 16 years ago. Babies born that summer are driving cars now! So much has happened since then. Presidents have come and gone, the Soviet Union collapsed. But not The Power! Honestly, guys, I'd really like to be your friend and hang out with you at your rapping concerts. It's time to put this behind us.

In the battle between animals. The squirrels shall rule the world:

Labrador loses to a squirrel

When Carl the labrador chased a squirrel into the woods, his owners' only concern was for his quarry.

But they should have worried about their dog. Because seconds later Carl re-emerged with the grey squirrel firmly clamped to his neck. [Telegraph.co.uk] [via Warren Ellis]

As my gnome warrior in WoW says, "Ya'know. Squirrels are deadly when cornered.

You find the strangest stuff on Wikipedia:

Fan death is an urban legend confined primarily to South Korea. The legend states that an electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room, can result in the death (by suffocation, poisoning, or hypothermia) of those inside. This belief also extends to air conditioners and the fans in cars. When the air conditioner or fan is on in a car, Koreans are apt to leave their car windows open a crack to avoid "fan death".

...

The legend is remarkably resilient, and is accepted even by many Korean medical professionals. In summer, mainstream Korean news sources regularly report on cases of fan death, even if more likely causes (e.g. heart attack, gunshot, alcohol poisoning) are evident. [Wikipedia: Fan Death]

Damn, this is so cool. I would have loved to have seen this happening. The second picture is the better one I think.

Ten thousand superballs rolling down a San Francisco hill-street

Cory Doctorow:
These photos document the release of 10,000 small superballs at the San Francisco hilltop corner of Filbert and Leavenworth. Wow.

Pic 1, Pic 2
(Thanks, Umgrue!)

[via Boing Boing Blog]

After reading about the pilot for a TV show called Global Frequency over on Heath Row's Media Diet my curiosity went into overdrive. I read up about it some on the net and then hunted down a copy of it. One of the best pilot episodes I've seen ever I think.

But what is just as interesting is how this leaked pilot has really generated interest in the show. People are asking "how can we help get this show to TV". The site FrequencySite has coverage of what's going on with it (though they don't suggest you go out and download the show, that would be bad :)). But imagine if a network were smart enough to use this as a way to promote a new show. Especially one that might be a bit of a risk (as this one may be). Then see how strong the feedback is, and they might get an idea of how successful it could be.

Anyways, if you get a chance to see this, definitely check it out. I now kind of hope that it does actually get picked up after all.

Now Playing: Love at First Sight from the album "Black Sea" by XTC

Adrants has links to two videos from AOL promoting their new service AIM mail.

To promote its new AIM Mail, AOL has a couple of strange online videos, created by ATTIK. One has a receptionist drifting into a daydream which consists of superhero midgets...oops...dwarfs...oops...little people giving her a tickle attack. The other has a pair of sushi falling in love only to have one killed by getting eaten. Both end with @aim addresses and no other form of linkage.

Once at the AIM Mail site, there are blogs that promote the videos. The videos can be viewed HERE and HERE. [Adrants]

No real point here, just some links I found interesting today.

• Sam & Max: The Flash Animation
• How Movie Studios Misuse Reviews [boing boing]
  

  Daily Star: "Trainspotting meets A Clockwork Orange!"

  Actual line: "This glum, violent drama about a Scottish thug ruined by drink is written and pretentiously directed by Richard Jobson whose approach — Trainspotting meets A Clockwork Orange — is bad enough to drive you to drink in no time."

• TV Dinner Inventor Gerry Thomas Dies [boing boing]

Now I'm off to try updating this blog to MT 3.2.

Once again, something from Boing Boing leaves me a bit speachless:

Lapjuicer designed for lapdancers to make juice

This chair is designed to hold a piece of fruit so a lapdancer can grind the juice out of it. Semi-NSFW photos of the chair in action can be seen at the link.

Those damn people at NASA! How dare they? :)

Russian astrologer sues NASA over comet experiment

MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian astrologer has taken legal action against NASA for compensation, claiming that the US space agency's bombardment of the Tempel 1 comet will upset her horoscope and violates her spiritual rights.

The experiment, in which NASA fired a projectile the size of a fridge at the comet Monday, was an attack on "the holy of holies," Marina Bai's law suit claims, according to Russian press reports. Her suit, filed at a Moscow court, claims violation of her "life and spiritual values." [Yahoo! News]

Happy 4th of July everyone. I haven't been posting much because I just haven't felt like I've had much to say. But the last day or two I've been feeling a little bit more talkative and it finally reached critical mass.

My sister and nephew are here visiting for the week, which is nice. My nephew is all about playing Pokemon on his GBA. He keeps wanting to trade with me (Yes, I have it too.) The problem is I haven't played in months and have no idea how I got different Pokemon. Though he's since educated me on how to evolve all kinds of various ones (whether I wanted to know or not). He's a good kid, needs to listen to his mom more, but a good kid.

I also missed my goal of walking around the block. Mostly because the weather was pretty oppressive last week, not the best conditions for pushing myself some. Instead I walked all the way down to the CVS on Friday, which is considerably longer than going around the block.

I've also been poking around at dating sites online. I'm kind of curious to hear what sites people like. I think I had a profile on match.com years and years ago, but it's probably long gone. Anyone have any favorites?

A few years ago I remember a story going around about someone trying to use a $2 bill at a Taco Hell. Snopes doesn't have any indication as to if it is true or false, but it seems that there are some people out there who still aren't familiar with $2 bills.

Best Buy Has Customer Arrested For Using $2 Bills

A Baltimore man tried to pay for a Best Buy car stereo installation with $2 bills—and was arrested. Apparently the man was already upset with the Best Buy's service, so thought he'd stage a minor protest by using the uncommon currency:

"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."

He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

(Thanks, C0bra!)

More proof that Best Buy is actually "Worst Buy": Man arrested for paying in $2 bills [Anandtech]

[via Gizmodo]

I've seen Gloomy Bear comics, but never an actual one. I want one!

Gloomy bears
It's a little mean, don't you think, to give little kids cute stuffed bears to hug while they sleep, dreaming of the day when they will befriend a real bear, not yet knowing that it will never ever happen. I am still not over it. Gloomy bears, designed by Mori Chak are adorable and pink, but the blood stained claws will let your children know that bears are wild animals, not to be hugged if encountered in the woods.

Gloomy bears are $20-$40 at unica. [via Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women]

Decided to take one of those silly quiz things:

Taken from LJ:

How many total songs?
7580

Sort by Song Title
First: 'Till the End of Time, Delerium
Last: track 8 (it's in japanese: 黒い翼) off of Los Angeles by the brilliant green

Sort by time:
First: Let's Hear It For Nine Inch Nails, Nine Inch nails
Last: Essential Mix - 04.01.2001, Carl Cox Live @ Space

Sort by Album:
First track: (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing, Heaven 17, (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing (cd single)
Last track: LITTLE BUSTERS, The Pillows・他, フリクリ オリジナルサウンドトラック

Top Ten Most Played:
I Love Love You, Hideki Naganuma/Guitar Vader
READY STEADY GO, L'Arc~en~Ciel
HEY! JIMMY, HAV
Super Shooter, RIP SLYME
Cutie Honey, Koda Kumi
The Concept of Love, Hideki Nagnuma
A Place in the Country, Adam Ant
Puss n' Boots, Adam Ant
Future Is What We Are, Ken Ishii
Run Rabbit Junk, Yoko Kanno

10 most recently played: (Same comment as last one):
Place in the Country, Adam Ant
Take Me To The River, Talking Heads
You Won't See Me Coming, Jean-Jacques Burnel
Screw, The Cure
It Only Makes Me Laugh, Oingo Boingo
No One Lives Forever, Oingo Boingo
Greetings to the New Brunette, Billy Bragg
Like a Prayer, Bigod 20
Run Rabbit Junk, Yoko Kanno
HIT IN THE USA, BEAT CRUSADERS

Find "sex", how many songs show up?
18

Find "death", how many songs show up?
13

Find "love", how many songs show up?
442

Someone online mentioned a site with shots of the International Snow Sculpture Championships. The winning one is stunning. I'd love to see shots of it in the process of being sculpted.

Today we're making gingerbread houses. It's a tradition that my mom has some friends over and they make them every year. I'm most likely going to be working on one, but for the moment have been busy taking pictures of the houses as they are constructed and decorated. I'll be posting to Flickr once they are done.

Seen over on Gizmodo. A yo-yo ice cream maker.

I personally think that after 10 minutes of using that to mix your ice cream your arm would be pretty tired. I guess it might be good to keep kids busy for a bit.

Seen over on a friend's LJ, a flash movie with a dancing and singing bunny.

In case you ever wondered what To Kill a Mockingbird was about.

It's the true story of To Kill a Mockingbird. Complete with pirates, robots, slaves, lasers, flaming sharks, ninjas, the moon, and a pickle, done in Flash. [via jenett.radio] [via waxy]

In the world of bizzare news:

Pickled cats thrown at police

Hamilton woman angry at police confiscation of pickled snakes so threw a jar of pickled kittens at them

It has been revealed a Hamilton woman was so angry about police taking her three preserved snakes that she stormed into the station and threw a jar of pickled kittens at the counter.

The jar shattered. [NZCity News]

I personally think the sentence "It has been revealed a Hamilton woman was so angry about police taking her three preserved snakes that she stormed into the station and threw a jar of pickled kittens at the counter." would make a great entry into the Bulwer-Lytton Contest.

I can't remember where I saw the link to this originally (or I'd give credit). Here's a subset of a bunch of disclaimer stickers for science textbooks. The first one is an actual disclaimer is taken from a sticker designed by the Cobb County School District in Georgia (see original).

Thinking that students might be threatening the president by performing Bob Dylan's "Masters of War", the Secret Service paid a visit to a Boulder, CO high school this week.

School Talent Show Draws Secret Service

Colorado Band Singing Dylan Song Seen as Threatening President Bush

BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 12, 2004 — Parents and students say they are outraged and offended by a proposed band name and song scheduled for a high school talent show in Boulder this evening, but members of the band, named Coalition of the Willing, said the whole thing is being blown out of proportion.

The students told ABC News affiliate KMGH-TV in Denver they are performing Bob Dylan's song "Masters of War" during the Boulder High School Talent Exposé because they are Dylan fans. They said they want to express their views and show off their musical abilities.

But some students and adults who heard the band rehearse called a radio talk show Thursday morning, saying the song the band sang ended with a call for President Bush to die.

Threatening the president is a federal crime, so the Secret Service was called to the school to investigate. [abcnews.com]

For further reading, here's the lyrics to "Masters of War" (which was first released in 1963).