Google Maps + Cell Phone Towers

Cell Phone Tower Search

This is pretty cool, especially if you're one of those poor cellular customers who would really like to figure out where their carrier's towers are.

Using the Google Maps API and publically available cell tower location information, cellreception.com has created an easily searchable database. Nice work.

Robot Boy

CrapVille - Robot Boy

Check the link for the best Robot dancing you'll ever see...

EVER!

A Visit to Adobe

PhotoshopNews » A Visit to Adobe

PhotoshopNews editor takes a trip to the home of Photoshop engineers in San Jose CA. I always find these kinds of exposes interesting because it's a look into the little explored world of geek culture.

Excluding the logos, it looks a lot like the office background info pieces I've seen for Bungee, Pixar, and many other high-power high-funding groups. Fun stuff.

Saginaw Man gets 7-15 years for Bible Assault

Lansing State Journal:Man gets 7 to 15 years for assault with Bible

"Saginaw County Circuit Judge William Crane last week sentenced Charles E. Averill, 46, of Saginaw. Averill had pleaded no contest to charges including assault with intent to commit great bodily harm and carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent."

A "dangerous weapon with unlawful intent"??? Jesus spent a lot of time talking about the power of faith but I'm pretty sure this isn't what he had in mind.

It's hot...

... REALLY hot.

Lansing State Journal:'Unbearable': Lansing swelters in hottest summer since '49

Yesterday around noon I checked the weather maps at weather.com and Michigan was in an area that had the hottest temperatures in the country.

V for Vendetta Trailer

Movie trailer goodness for your Monday morning. I loved the V for Vendetta comic book when I was younger, and having just seen this trailer I'm REALLY looking forward to the movie. One gets the feeling that those who made this flick waited until just the right time. Without giving anything away, I'll just say that the main focus of the story and the moral/ethical implications strike a much heavier chord than they did when I first read it.

V for Vendetta Trailer - Quicktime

Enjoy!

Ouch!

World Aquatic Championships on Yahoo! News Photos

Every once in a while you see a picture that... well... just click the link and you'll understand the subject of this post.

Don't worry, nothing too graphic.

So Long Spotlight Theatre

the HUB - Curtain falls on Spotlight Theatre

When I was in highschool I did a lot of theatre work, starting with acting but by the end I was mostly doing stage tech work. It was a lot of fun and in a lot of ways I miss it.

One of the last shows I worked on was a production at the Spotlight Theatre. I remember being amazed at the place, because they had managed to put together a fully functional theatre (excluding a fly system) in a HUGE old barn. Never would I have imagined they could take a barn and make it work for shows that well.

What every Lansing mayoral candidate should know

City Pulse - Gretchen Cochran - 7-20-05

I'll admit I didn't really care about local elections until I moved to Lansing proper. For those of you outside of "The Mitten" (as the lower peninsula is known) Lansing is often used to describe a large area of surrounding towns and villages. This is probably due to the fact that when you're outside of Michigan it's easiest to just say "I live in Lansing" because that's one of the only towns most people have heard of.

I grew up in Lansing, but not IN Lansing. My family lived in Haslett, a small and old town about 15 minutes away from Lansing-proper by car.

Back to the point!

The last mayoral election in Lansing was very, VERY close (approximately 200 - 300 votes made up the difference) so there is a lot of attention on it this year. Gretchen Cochran's article covers several of the issues, but also talks about the issues that aren't being addressed, including abuse rates and infant mortality in primarily black areas.

HEY LANSING POLITICOS: Our town is falling apart. I don't claim to have the answers, but for this term please DO SOMETHING other than trying to maintain the status quo.

Saint Aaron

newtimesbpb.com | News | Saint Aaron | 2005-07-21

Sorry the posting has been slim lately, but I've been feeling a tad overwhelmed and any opportunity I get for some down time is a blessing.

When the world seems full of people who always put themselves before others, when very few people seem willing to help each other, when a company values profits over its employees health, it brings me a lot of relief to read about Aaron Jackson.

Statler & Waldorf Movie Reviews

Statler & Waldorf review current movies on Movies.com.

I love these guys. At the Muppets 3D interactive movie in Disneyworld they heckle the audience as you leave the theatre.

Funny stuff here, but I must admit it makes me a little uncomfortable seeing my geriatric homeboys pitching movies.

It is pretty sweet seeing Rowlf the Dog again though :)

Duck and Cover!

Internet Archive: Details: Duck and Cover

The 1951 classic civil defense film "Duck and Cover" in a variety of formats.

I feel safer already. Don't you?

Futurama Movie Confirmed!!!

Futurama Movie First Info - Cinematical


Bender by doloreshernandez via flickr

When Futurama first came out I'll admit I didn't give it the chance it deserved. I quickly labeled it a Simpson's wannabe (even though it was put together by the same creative team) and unfortunately I was just one of the millions of people who sent it to a far-too-early grave.

When the DVD collections came out my views on the series did a complete 180. Free from commercials the series was a lot easier to digest and I started picking them up as soon as they came out. By the time season four came out on DVD I was a devoted fan, and when my wife and I reached the end of that collection I actually felt a great sadness because I knew I would never again see any new Futurama material. Definitely a first for me with any TV show.

At San Diego's Comic-Con last week IGN interviewed Billy West (be sure to check out that link, the man has an amazing resume) and he confirmed that a Futurama direct-to-DVD movie has been green lit.

Detroit now the Second Motor City

Ontario manufacturers more autos than Michigan - Autoblog

This weekend I was sitting on the beach with my family, and the conversation drifted towards the economy. My mom's side of my immediate family moved to Illinois about ten years ago, and I try to keep her up to date on the goings-on in her old home town. As much as I love the state I grew up in and still live in it made me sad when I realized the only news I had to share this weekend was bad news.

Well, add another one to the list. Or maybe we should start a "Ten Signs of the Coming Michi-pocalypse".

Quote from the link above:

"For the first time since the assembly line was invented and implemented in Michigan by Henry Ford, the state known as the capital of the world’s industry failed to produce the most amount of vehicles in North America last year."

Bummer. Regardless of the relatively minor impact this report will have, to me it's a sign of something larger which may be happening all over the U.S. as the world changes: Michigan is losing its identity.

HEY AUTOMAKERS: Here's an idea. Turn Detroit into "The Hybrid City". With mile-long waiting lists and ever rising popularity you really couldn't go wrong.

UPDATE: I'm not alone with this idea.

Birthday Review, The Chocolate Factory, China

Times Online - China's Nuclear Threat to the U.S.

In the future when I reflect on my birthday in 2005 I'll remember two things:

1. Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory opened, I saw it, and it rocked.

2. China officially made itself a nuclear threat to the country I live in.

Bummer.

Note to self: Stay Away From Kentucky

Bad habits, poverty undermine health via Metafilter

18% above the U.S. national death rate is not a good thing...

Wikipedia Anniversaries

List of historical anniversaries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You may have noticed I link to the Wikipedia a lot. It's a free, open to anyone encyclopedia covering, well, just about anything you can imagine. You may read an article covering current topics (Wikipedia is now known for having extensive, constantly updated articles on current events such as the London bombing) and then read an article covering the in-depth physics of Star Trek's warp drive.

The front page of Wikipedia lists historical events that took place on today's date and changes daily with new info. Tomorrow is my birthday, so out of curiosity I jumped over to their Historical Anniversaries page and looked at July 15th.

According to the page I share my birthday many people of note, including Rembrandt, Clive Cussler, Linda Ronstadt, and Jesse Ventura.

There are also many historical events of note on July 15th, including Napoleon's surrender in 1815.

The Daily Show's Karl Rove Way Back Machine

onegoodmove: Lies and the Lying Liars

In case you're not up to date on the previously mentioned Karl Rove mess, this second Daily Show clip will get you caught up on what's going on.

Go Press Corp Go!

onegoodmove: An Ongoing Investigation

The link above will take you to a Daily Show clip about the recent Karl Rove mess. My favorite part is when the audience CHEERS as the press corp really drills the man at the mic.

Celebrate Your Patriotism With Optimus Prime

Independence Day for Transformers - Yahoo! News

Yee-hah! The live action/CGI Transformers movie has been given a release date of July 4 2007.

I just hope I don't see any Transformers costumes when I go see it. I can deal with Jedi, but this seems like an entirely different deal...

Get Fuzzy For 7-14-2005

Get Fuzzy - 7/14/05

Today's Get Fuzzy strip is really sweet. And not in the "Man that's FRIGGIN SWEET way". It describes how I feel about my pets pretty well.

Cooter doesn't like the new Dukes

Boing Boing: TV Hazzard's original "Cooter" plumb twitterpated by movie sex

Cooter has a web site!!! But it's down at the moment, so I direct you to the Boing Boing post.

This Godless Communism

"This Godless Communism" Comic Book via Boing Boing & Metafilter


Faded Communism by Jerry Wang Yu via flickr

Find out what a 1960's Catholic comic book publisher has to say about Communism.

My favorite bit of dialogue:

"...The following story tells you what a family's life would be like in a communist United States."

"This is the voice of your communist government speaking. Today, communist forces have completed the occupation of your country. The United States no longer exists. It is now the Union of Soviet States of America! Long live the U.S.S.A.!"

"What do we do now, dad?"

"We should have done our thinking and praying before this happened Bill. But it is never too late. Let's go to church and ask God's help."

Unfortunately Bill and his dad find out that their church has been appropriated and will be turned into a communist museum.

So remember kids, think and pray about communism BEFORE they take over. It's important.

UPDATE: As I continue reading the comic, I discover that, for whatever reason, the communists decided to move the capitol of the U.S.S.A. to Chicago. No explanation, no real reason. I guess they just like Chicago better.

Gorillaz - Dare Video

Gorillaz - Dare (embedded quicktime video)

Eye candy for your morning! This is the second single released off the upcoming Gorillaz album. I was a huge fan of their 2001 release, and it seems I'm going to have to pick this one up in short order :)

Fantastic animation, cut in real life images (well, just a head mainly), and a beat that flows like buttah.

Enjoy!

Autostitch Rules

Office Back Lot - Panorama on Flickr - Photo Sharing!



My first panoramic shot built with Autostitch.

Download it! It's free!

Defining "Knee Jerk Reaction"

Boing Boing: Cell service shut off indefinitely in 4 NYC commuter tunnels

In response to the London bombings last week New York City disabled cell phone access in several key subway tunnels.

What they didn't realize is that emergency workers often rely on cellular communication more than their antique radios. The NYPD asked to have all cell phone capabilites restored after receiving many complaints that disabling the service is itself a security risk.

Forty minutes ago they started turning the services back up.

As long as we continue to make short-sighted snap judgements like this we're never going to see any real progress.

DECISION MAKERS: If the time it takes you to make a decision is the same as the time it takes to respond to an e-mail then you probably need to take a class in Logic.

Eliot Cohen Rethinks the War in Iraq

A Hawk Questions Himself as His Son Goes to War via Metafilter

A very well thought out article by Eliot Cohen regarding his changing view on the war in Iraq now that his own son is heading over to fight.

Highlights:

"But what I did not know then that I do know now is just how incompetent we would be at carrying out that task."

"Decades of American policy had hoped to achieve stability in the Middle East by relying on accommodating thugs and kleptocrats to maintain order. That policy, too, had failed; it was the well-educated children of our client regimes who leveled the Twin Towers, after all."

"It is a flicker of rage that two years into an insurgency, we still expose our troops in Humvees to the blasts of roadside bombs -- knowing that even the armored version of that humble successor to the Jeep is simply not designed for warfare along guerrilla-infested highways, while, at the same time, knowing that plenty of countries manufacture armored cars that are. It is disbelief at a manpower system that, following its prewar routines, ships soldiers off to war for a year or 15 months, giving them two weeks of leave at the end, when our British comrades, more experienced in these matters and wiser in pacing themselves, ship troops out for half that time, and give them an extra month on top of their regular leave after an operational deployment."

Bill Frist Wants To Ban Prescription Drug Marketing

AdJab - Frist wants ban on drug ads

During my first year at Michigan State I took a really interesting biology class through the honors college. We didn't have any lab work, no bunsen burners or glass tubes, just two books and several hours of weekly discussion. Our texts were simple: A one-pager covering a certain issue, followed by a pro article and a con article.

One of the major topics I took an interest in was health care, and the things I learned in that class have stayed with me to this day (note to self: I'm told that's the point of college). The biggest point to impress itself on my mind is that the U.S. is the first culture to treat old age as a disease rather than a natural part of life. One third of the technologies used to keep people "on life support" (a very generic term) were NEVER intended for that purpose. And the worst part is how this fear of death by natural causes works its way into the minds of almost everyone.

Simple fact: Politicians habitually avoid the topic of health care reform. Why?

Simple answer: Old people vote more than any other age group. Any politician who raises medicare costs or who even talks about reforming elderly health care is committing political seppuku. No more public office for you, no siree.

I'm not trying to pin our rising health care costs on senior citizens. All I'm saying is our country has some really stupid reasons for not discussing very important issues.

My paycheck covers health insurance costs for both me and my wife. Over the course of the last year this cost has gone up over five hundred dollars, and our co-pays have increased about five dollars each. I dare you to find an american who hasn't heard the term "The Rising Cost Of Healthcare" over and over again. And yet the whole time we listen to health care companies complain about the rising cost they still spend tens of millions of dollars on marketing campaigns every year.

We've all seen ads for drugs where you honestly can't tell what the drug is supposed to do. A lot of these ads seem to have no other point then to make you walk into your doctor's office and ask "Hey I saw an ad for Viapercoamaltan, what does it do?" (Note: The names of drugs have been changed to protect the innocent and stupid)

Why is this ok? If a cellular carrier jacked up their prices 50% in less than a decade, complained to no end about how their business is getting more expensive to run, testified to congress about the problems they're facing, and then followed it up with a brand new campaign costing $10 million NOBODY WOULD BE OK WITH THAT. Their customers would churn (fancy biz speak for "Cancel my account") to new carriers overnight.

But for those of us who have health insurance we don't get a choice. Our employer chooses a provider and that's who we're stuck with.

I don't claim to know the answers to this problem. All I can do is point out the ridiculous state we've let it come to.

Housing Markets Pricing Out Middle Class

Housing Markets Pricing Out Middle Class - Yahoo! News

This AP article talks about something I've long had suspicions about: The surge in purchases of houses is rapidly pushing out the middle class. As owners and real estate agents get more comfortable with the market boom their reaction is predictable: jack up the prices.

California seems to be the worse off, with this scary bit of info from the article:

"In California, the situation has long been the worst: Only 17 percent of households could afford a home with a median price tag in April, according to the California Association of Realtors.

So in one of the largest states in the country, both in geographic and population size, less than one fifth of the residents can afford a home based on average sales figures.

Unfortunately Michigan isn't mentioned in the article, but I find it hard to imagine the situation is any better here.

Snipers are cool

Sniper Scope View

I am not a violent man.

However...

My favorite weapon in any first person shooter is anything with a scope on it. A few years back a friend of mine and I would spend hours playing one of the Bond games, having one on one deathmatch games in a huge town level and using nothing but sniper rifles and zip lines (think of it as spider-man with a scope). Tons o' fun.

The link above will take you to REAL pictures of a sniper's point of view (POV for those of you not into the gaming world). Nothing bloody, just a cool demonstration of the powerful scopes they wield.

The Aristocrats

Apple - Trailers - The Aristocrats

This is a movie I'm going to make sure I don't miss...

The Aristocrats deals with a joke which has apparently been tossed around (in its original form) by actors and comedians since the days of Vaudeville. The joke is supposedly raunchy, crude, and gets a wide variety of reactions.

The trailer alone is intriguing, and the movie poster simply lists the names of the seemingly hundreds of actors who are in it.

Definitely worth a look.

Oh Dannybot

Dannybot - A Short Fil by Frank Lesser via Screenhead

Video entertainment for your Monday afternoon. Dannybot is a take on the infamous "Oh Danny Boy", and reminds me of the first short story in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot.

Cellphones Vs. Landlines - 50/50

Cell Phone by lalunablanca, via flickr

It's official: more cellphone lines than landlines in the US - Engadget

My wife and I ditched our landline (bite me SBC) about 4 years ago and never looked back. Our parents had taken to automatically calling us on our cellphones instead of trying the house line, and our cell bills were rapidly becoming cheaper than a landline with caller ID and voicemail.

Here's the statistics: At the end of 2004 there were 181.1 million cellphone subscribers, and 177.9 million landlines into U.S. homes and businesses.

To give you an idea of the growth seen here, 10 years ago there were 25 million cellphone users. Experts expect to pass 200 million by the end of 2005.

There is one line in the full story that doesn't make a lot of sense to me:

The trend, spurred mainly by young people who have never paid for land-line service, is ingrained throughout all age segments, Golvin said. So ingrained, in fact, that customers in nearly a third of North American households make at least half their long-distance calls at home from their cellphones rather than their more reliable and often cheaper land lines, he said.

My long distance comes straight out of my regular use minutes. I was under the impression most cell carriers had this policy, but I guess there are still some out there sticking to the LD model.

Oh The Weekend

I hate writer's block. My problem isn't that I can't think of what to write. I have tons of stuff I'd like to write about but I have trouble locating the proper place to start.

So I start with writer's block :)

Moving on...


Muskegon Shoreline, Muskegon Summer Celebration 2005, click for full size

I spent Friday setting up my company's booth at the Muskegon Summer Celebration, one of the largest summer music festivals in Michigan. The shore line there is beautiful, and the breeze coming off the water kept our crew somewhat cool during an otherwise sweltering day. Unfortunately I was the tallest member of the group so the task of rigging decorations to the tent's framework fell to me and my muscles are still unhappy. I really need to start working out again.

Saturday we got up a little early, ran a bunch of errands, and spent the afternoon hanging out with my good buddies Zakk & J-Dub. The day was hot, and the kitties were nappish (I may have just invented a word).


Kneel before Zod! Or at least wait until he wakes up.

We stayed out of the blaring sun and watched Casshern, a fantastic movie which I highly recommend if you haven't seen it.

While we were hanging out Jason X and my wife had a battle to the death. Not really. She scored a quick hit and Jason told her to come back when both arms are functional.


Jason X vs. Jenny, click for full size

In closing I'll leave you with this random picture of my living room. Why? I don't know. I just like the way the pic turned out.


click for full size

The Kingdom of Loathing

The Kingdom of Loathing via Boing Boing



I need this sticker...

The Kingdom of Loathing is a (and I quote) "free, comical RPG". Everything is hand drawn. EVERTHING. Items include the Meatloaf Helmet, Gnollish Autoplunger, and eXtreme Mittens.

I just equipped my level 1 Dough Acolyte Pastamancer with a Pasta Spoon (weapon) and Ravioli Hat (hat).

UPDATE: After journeying to the Haunted Pantry I am now fighting my first monster, a possessed can of tomatoes.

Google Maps Pedometer

Gmaps Pedometer

When Google opened up their mapping service for anyone to use it started a series of amazing new services all stemming from that one decision.

The latest (and most useful so far in my humble opinion) is this Pedometer service. Very handy for any bikers, joggers, or just figuring out exactly how long that walk to work is.

Finally, A Literal Thumb Drive

Slashdot | Secure Data Storage... On Your Fingernails


flower/thumb by chrisandjenni via flickr

Slashdot has a story up, which has naturally taken down the original source web site as of this posting, covering developments in the storage of computer digits... digits... get it? Lame, moving on.

By irradiating a fingernail with "femtosecond laser pulses" they claim to be able to store 5 mega bits (note: BITS not bytes). The procedure is said to last 6 months which is the average time it takes to grow an entirely new nail naturally.

This last part I can definitely confirm as true. Back in January the tip of my left middle finger got slammed in a metal security door, and the nail just got back to normal last week.

Retro Games

Electronic Games - a photoset on Flickr via Boing Boing



Fantastic flickr gallery of retro games, such as the pac man game above which I played as a kid.

Designer duds for Mickey D's staff?

Report: Designer duds for Mickey D's staff? - Jul. 5, 2005

Somebody PLEASE tell me this isn't going to happen...

Spam Phishing & Trojans Take Over

Real Tech News - Independent Tech » PCs Infected in 12 Minutes

A truly scary article on the state of viri and security. According to Sophos, a security firm, an unprotected windows PC is infected approximately 12 minutes after getting online.

Makes me want a Mac even more...

Potter Park Zoo

Potter Park Zoo Pictures

Today Lansing had the nicest weather since it stopped snowing. So we decided to head out to the Potter Park Zoo and check out the three tiger cubs that were just put on display.


Jenny As Tiger



Tiger cub walking by the glass

You can see all the photos from the zoo trip here:
jasonrallen flickr photos tagged with "potterparkzoo"