Rubber Duckie, you are the one

“DuckPlanet.com”:http://www.duckplanet.com/ is the number one Rubber Duckie website on the internet and a must-see for the major collectors and the merely curious alike. After perusing the “insanely comprehensive photo collection”:http://www.duckplanet.com/collection_main.html, you may be starting to feel a jonesing for your own rubber duckies. If that’s the case, check out the “duckplanet links”:http://www.duckplanet.com/ducklinks_main.html for a long list of duck suppliers and private collections. Of course if you’re looking for the Paris Hilton-level rubber duckies, try DuckDoos “scented ducks”:http://www.duckdoo.com/. Hmm, mango rubber duckie…
If you do anything at on this site, play the “Duckplanet squeaker game”:http://www.duckplanet.com/squeaker_game_main.html in which you have to guess which rubber toy makes the specific squeak they play for you. Seriously.

One man's journey to see the results of his actions

Fred Pearce, senior environmental correspondent for the “New Scientist”:http://www.newscientist.com/ is calculating his footprint. Unlike the increasingly popular “footprint calculators”: found online, Pearce is actually going around the globe and visiting the source of the “gold in his wedding band”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/03/freds-footprint-cost-of-gold.html, the “jeans he wears”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/04/freds-footprint-jeans-from-dhaka.html?DCMP=Matt_Sparkes&nsref=fred, and his “favorite coffee”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/03/freds-footprint-how-fair-is-fair-trade.html. In this amazing series, the audience discovers, along with Pearce, just how connected the world it is. What we do and buy right here instantly (and sometimes catastrophically) effects people in as far off places as Dhaka, Tanzania and the South Africa.
Also featured in the ongoing series “Fred’s Footprint”: “Fairtrade cotton”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/02/freds-footprint-cottoning-on-to.html, “prawns”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/04/freds-footprint-where-prawns-meet-mafia.html, recycled “mobile phones”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/02/freds-footprint-old-phones-offer-new.html and “computers”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/01/freds-footprint-dollar-day-for-wrecked.html and “green beans”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/01/freds-footprint-green-beans-and-old.html. Follow Fred’s Footprint as it’s revealed at the New Scientist “environmental blog”:http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/.

Killer Apps for Mac – TV Shows

http://thepiratebay.org and "isoHunt":http://isohunt.com. Well, all those worries are a thing of the past, and you have "TV Shows":http://tvshows.sourceforge.net/ to thank for it. Not that I'm condoning illegal downloading, but if you were so inclined this is how it works. This wonderful application runs in the background, constantly checking for the latest and greatest torrent files of your favorite TV shows that you can then open with your torrent client. Seriously, "click on subscribe, they do the rest," it's amazing. Visit the "TV Shows":http://tvshows.sourceforge.net/ homepage on sourceforge for news, reviews, and downloads. Previously featured *Killer Apps for Mac* include: "Adium":http://duenos.net/article/129/killer-apps-for-mac-adium, "Sidenote":http://duenos.net/article/111/killer-apps-for-mac-sidenote, "Darwiin Remote":http://duenos.net/article/193/KillerAppsforMacDarwiinRemote, "Mac Pilot":http://duenos.net/article/174/KillerAppsforMacMacPilot, "Disk Inventory X":http://duenos.net/article/163/KillerAppsforMacDiskInventoryX, "Tangerine":http://duenos.net/article/150/KillerAppsforMacTangerine, "SizzlingKeys":http://duenos.net/article/119/killer-apps-for-mac-sizzlingkeys, "Vienna Reader":http://duenos.net/article/204/KillerAppsforMacViennaReader, "VLC Player":http://duenos.net/article/228/, and "App Zapper":http://duenos.net/article/231/.

Synæsthesia: How to Taste Thoughts Without LSD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia the other day and couldn’t believe my nostrils. Synæsthesia is the non-debilatating condition where your senses are switched, i.e. you can hear colors, smell sounds, and even sense emotions in numbers. As weird as it tastes, it is thought to be fairly common. It goes underdiagnosed because synæsthetes are able function normally while seeing music and feeling colors and are typcially surprised to find out that this is unique to them. "Preview this free test":http://synesthete.org/demo.php to take after "registering":http://synesthete.org/login.php?action=register&remail=&semail=&ch to see if you’re one. Also, check out "this excerpt":http://www.bluecatsandchartreusekittens.com/Blue_Cats_and_Chartreuse_Kittens_Ex.html from and "the site":http://www.bluecatsandchartreusekittens.com/index.html for a "book":http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0716740885/qid=1003606833/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_15_1/002-2610210-3787248 written from a synæsthetes’ sensorial perception of the world.

Alternative lacing tactics

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/info/index.jsp?categoryId=690482 from Dick's Sporting Goods. Here are their general lacing tips for any layout: * Make sure your laces are loose before you slip into the shoes. Doing this maintains the integrity of the eyelets and heel. * Tighten your laces from the bottom (toe end) to top (ankle end), tightening gradually at each set of eyelets. * Remember that a shoe with more eyelets allows you to create a more custom fit with lacing.

Loofas are vegetables?

That’s right, the thing you thought was a sponge from the bottom of the ocean is actually a dried out vegetable and get this, you can grow one yourself!! Go check out this “how-to guide”:http://groovygreen.com/groove/?p=689 from “GroovyGreen.com”:http://groovygreen.com/ to find out how. SO COOL!!!

"Video Vets" complete

I posted a few weeks ago about the “Video Vets commercial”:http://duenos.net/article/184/ being made by “MoveOn.org”:http://moveon.org and director “Oliver Stone”:http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000231/ and wanted to update you on that project. The commercial has been finished and is embedded below, although you can also “find it here”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvJ9Ys7rhrA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmoveon%2Eorg%2F. More than the ad, I found “the interview”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv2tAaTNNX0&mode=related&search= with Oliver Stone to be very interesting, although not surprisingly on the wordy side.

Killer Apps for Mac – App Zapper

An epic open-source journey

A Brooklyn-based technologist/activist/blogger by the name of “Noel Hidalgo”:http://luckofseven.com/about will be embarking on an epic voyage he is calling: “On the Luck of Seven; an open-source journey around the world documenting free culture, social innovators & global change.” The journey will last 7 months, span 7 continents, cover the 7 seas, and visit the 7 wonders of the world, all while researching 7 “topics of freedom”:http://luckofseven.com/whats_focus/. The trip will start (duh) on 7/7/07, but only if 700 people pledge to give him $11.11. Follow the journey at “LuckofSeven.com”:http://luckofseven.com/.

Have a pixel problem?

LCD panel displays are great, they’re cheap, efficient and bright. The only problem, they’re made up of tons of little pixels that sometimes get stuck or die. I’ve had a few monitors go bad over the years and never knew there was anything you could do about it until now.
For dead (black) pixels: These pixels aren’t getting signals from your computer any more. This isn’t as guaranteed to work as the solution for stuck pixels below, but try the steps recommended on “this page”:http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Stuck-Pixel-on-an-LCD-Monitor and tell me how it goes.
For stuck (colored) pixels: These pixels aren’t dead, they’re just confused. Try downloading “JScreenFix”:http://www.jscreenfix.com/ and running it. The developers even claim that it can cure plasma screen burn-in.

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