Happy Wednesday!

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Panic Attack 2009!

If you've read some of my past posts, you know that I enjoy reading other blogs with either an RPG or tech flare. As such, I get daily updates from the Geeks Are Sexy blog which always has some deliciously wonderful update, and today was no exception.

From the Uruguayan producer Fede Alvarez comes this neat 5 minute short called Ataque de Panico (Panic Attack) 2009.



An interesting tidbit of information is that Fede Alvarez only spent about $300 USD to shoot the entire 5 minute short, and because of this great work, according to Collider, Alvarez has signed a deal with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures. Collider continues to say that Alvarez's deal "is reportedly in the six- against seven figure range (meaning that he’s being paid $X00,00 and if the film gets made he gets a bonus amount which would bring his salary to $X,000,000)."

That's really impressive and I hope that film and more get made. I look forward to seeing more from Fede Alvarez as his work is just remarkable! To read more about how he made Panic Attack, check out Alvarez's comments here!

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Techknow Thursday!

Hey boys and girls, if you like music, enjoy vehicles, and love improv, then I think you're going to enjoy this next video: Techno Jeep!

For Techknow Thursday, I thought this bit of random techno music would be a great post. I hope you enjoy and if you do, spread it far across the internet to friends and loved ones everywhere! Or, just watch it over and over like I did this morning.

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Happy Wednesday!

It's that time of the week again! Wednesday is Hump Day and it can seem to last forever, but in a tradition that started with the EvilDM, I present Happy Wednesdays! Wednesdays can be happy and enjoyable again with plenty of curves and cleavage to go around, so sit back, relax, and enjoy your Wednesday.

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Happy Belated Wednesday!

It's not the Twilight Zone. It's Thursday (almost Friday), but I can't pass up some wonderful beauties, so here they are! Enjoy!

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Ho! Ho! Ho! Kinky Christmas!

Alright, I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but for those of you who enjoy the flavor, Fetlife.com is hosting a "Sit on Kinky Santa's Lap" giveaway.

If you enjoy it or are just getting interested or maybe have a friend you know who's into the scene, check it out or send your friend the link. That is all. Thank you.

Oh, and whether you enjoy that sort of thing or not, here's something we can all enjoy:

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WTF Friday: You Can't Unsee Anything

Wow, I was deeply disturbed by this. It was enough to share it with all of you too, but remember, some things, even if they are safe for viewing at work, can still scar your retina. That's the only warning you'll get.

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Happy Wednesday: Santa's Helpers

I arrived home today to find the wife unboxing the tree and wrangling the light strands, so I preceded to aid her in the small amount of decorations she wished to erect for the holidays. We enjoyed doing it together, and I really love the blue, white, silver and purple we used to deck out the tree. Christmas is perhaps my second or third favorite holiday (right behind Halloween and Fourth of July), so I'm getting excited as the day fast approaches.

Speaking of erecting things, I believe today is Wednesday which means it's time for those wonderful beauties I try to bring you every week. In honor of the approaching holiday, Co-Ed Magazine brings you some of the cutest and sexiest Santa's Helpers around. Enjoy!

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Google Wave: I Have Invitations!

I finally got my invite to join the greatness that is Google Wave (really, I'm not sure yet of anything but very excited :D) Anyway, the point of this short post is just to let everyone know that as part of being accepted into the small group at Google Wave, I can invite eight others to join me there. So, if you're interested even just to experiment with a new Google product, leave me a comment. Thanks!

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After a Short Hiatus: Dancing Gloves

Well, I know that it has been some time since my last post, but I've been busy with job searches, Thanksgiving, and what not. Today, though, should begin the return to regular posts (at least until Christmas). But, on to a different and a bit more somber topic.

I'm sure that everyone knows someone whose life has been changed by breast cancer, and many times, we never know quite what to say in those crucial moments. I know that saying that we're there for someone is never quite as personal as we wish for it to be.

Well, here's a great video from the entire crew at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. It's dubbed as the Pink Glove Dance and was inspired by Medline Industries new line of pink latex gloves to help bring awareness to breast cancer. It's a great video, and I hope you enjoy it!

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Shatnerquake: Free Digital Download!

Note: This is a re-post of a previous William Shatner-related piece. Why? The author of the book Shatnerquake, Jeff Burk, recently commented on the blog the following message:

To whom it may concern,

I am writing because I saw your website covered the book “Shatnerquake.” I am the author and I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you. It is little things like simply posting to on the internet that help out independent artists, like myself, in this era of giant crushing-corporations.

I am also writing to let you know that on this coming Tuesday, November 17th, I will be offering “Shatnerquake” as a free download on my website (www.JeffBurk.wordpress.com). I figured that since you covered the book in the past, your readers may be interested in knowing that they will be able to get it for free this week.

Thank you again for your help.

Thanks Jeff!

So you heard the man, read the review below, or don't. Whatever you decide though, definitely head over to Jeff's site this Tuesday and download Shatnerquake. When you're done reading it, I know it'd be the perfect stocking stuffer for all your Trekkie friends and loved ones!


"I first came across this next piece of Shatner fun at the great site Neatorama. It's the book Shatnerquake by Jeff Burk (who also puts out The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction with Andersen Prunty and Jordan Krall).


Now, having yet to read this book, I can't give it my full review (obviously), but being a fan of both William Shatner and Bruce Campbell, it sounds like great fun! From Amazon's website, here is the premise:

William Shatner? William Shatner. WILLIAM SHATNER!!! It's the first ShatnerCon with William Shatner as the guest of honor! But after a failed terrorist attack by Campbellians, a crazy terrorist cult that worships Bruce Campbell, all of the characters ever played by William Shatner are suddenly sucked into our world. Their mission: hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner.

I can't wait to sink my eyes into this one! I hope it's as great as my mind is already making it out to be. If any of you have read it or just have thoughts about William Shatner, Star Trek or Bruce Campbell, feel free to leave a comment!"

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Happy Wednesday!

Boy, it's been a bit busy now that I've been working, so I've slacked a bit on the post updates lately. Oops. But being Wednesday AND Veteran's Day, I could not skip today's post...from Co-Ed Magazine...Babes in Camo. Enjoy, and remember to thank a service member for his or her service today.

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Recipes for Mouth Cancer Survivors

Straight from reddit, this is a touching story of a lady who suffered from mouth cancer but died before she could finish this cookbook especially for those who can't eat normal foods.


The lady's son has completed the book, and it is in currently in the production phase. If you know anyone who could benefit from these recipes, I'd suggest you give the sample recipes a looksie. If you like the idea and the recipes, buy a copy or two. Please share.

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WTF Fridays: Welcome to my Study

Truly some videos fitting of today's theme! The wife was working at her university job when her supervisor said that before she could continue, she had to watch these "studies." She found them hilarious, she shared them with me, and now, I'm doing you all the same pleasure. Enjoy them!

Welcome to my Study Video 1



Welcome to my Study Video 4



That's just a sampling of the great oddities in store with this series! I hope you'll watch them all and become just as disturbed as I have become.

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Inmates Save Guard: A Lesson in Respect

From CNN comes an article that really struck me as evidence of one of those sort of "life truths," so to speak. I know that many of you probably know I volunteered for two years on a mission for my church, and one of the things that I learned while out there is a truth I owe to a firefighter, naturalist, and friend.

He sort of opened my narrow view up to the idea that there's more out there. Additionally, he used the animals he worked with to exemplify the idea that everything needs and deserves respect. That respect takes many different forms from close friendship for some to simply an awareness to stay away for a time.

I have a hard time sometimes explaining this point, but I believe strongly in showing everyone respect regardless of station or creed. This story shows the truth behind that. From CNN:

Hillsborough County, Florida, Deputy Kenneth Moon was alone at his station at a county jail facility near Tampa when an inmate attacked him with no warning.

Moon, 64, was no match for Douglas Burden, 24, in custody on various drug charges. With Moon still in his chair, Burden put him in a choke hold and pulled tight.

And then, surveillance video of the Monday attack showed, other inmates jumped into the fray.

They jumped in, but not to help Burden. Instead, the inmates knocked him down, called to more guards for backup to Moon, and immobilized Burden until the reinforcements arrived. Col. James Previtera said that this just shows the respect shared between inmates and guards, and I believe it. I really enjoyed this story and hope you will also. The surveillance video is below.

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Batman: Terror of the Night

This is a great video, but I have no idea how this guy hangs upside down. This would scare the wits out of me if I just came up on this guy, but it is definitely worth the watch though.

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I'm a Man and Proud of My Wife!

Just a short, quick post because no length of text could truly do her service, but I just want to make it known that my wife is a brilliant person and scholar. And I'm so very proud of her and everything she does!

What prompted this you ask? Well, today she informed me that she was chosen as the new president of the Chi Sigma Honor Society and yesterday, one of her professors (one known for being fairly strict in the grammar department) congratulated the wife and two others for being published! Go Helen! This is an awesome achievement in the academic world, and the first step of many more for her. Here's a few images from the published content (published in the Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education Newsnotes).

The Newsnotes Volume and Number


The Table of Contents


The Title of Assessment Article and wife's byline (YAY!)


Now, I couldn't show it all just to avoid any copyright issues there may or may not be, but I'm extremely proud of her! Helen, here's to many more publications!

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Happy Wednesday!

So, yeah...I guess I can say this now that I've actually started...I have found some work. For the time being, I'm a RazorTemp temporary worker for the University here and right now I'm working for the Division of Continuing Education. It's a bit tedious, but hey, I'll do tedious over nothing...give me all you've got! I love it because the office is downtown, and there are great people who work there! Anyway, that's my excuse for slowing down a bit on the blog, but I'll never give up on Wednesdays...I can't do that to the EvilDM nor can I do that to you guys (and gals...I know you're out there!).

So here they are. You're Wednesday line up!

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Manly Monday: Cthulhu!

There's nothing manlier than H. P. Lovecraft's horror tales and especially that of Cthulhu...unless it takes this version.

The Adventures of Little Cthulhu

Forwarded my direction from the wife, this is a great video which carves the tales of H. P. Lovecraft just a wee bit differently. I hope you enjoy it!

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Post-Halloween Photo Scavenger Hunt

Halloween...one of my favorite holidays! What, with ghouls and goblins running around, tasty eats, and great parties, almost everyone's bound to find some fun! Over the weekend, I had some fun of my own with friends at a Halloween party Saturday night. The best part of the party was the photo scavenger hunt. We split into two teams and took off around town trying to best find situations which fit the prompts. The prompts came from the game Apples to Apples where one of the judges took 14 green adjective cards and paired them into seven pairs. Then from those seven, the two teams narrowed it down to five pairs of adjectives and we were off. Here was our list:


So, where is the most logical place to go to find the best options for these prompts? Dickson Street in Fayetteville, of course!

Before going on, I should say that our team won in four out of the five categories...we didn't quite get "Gaudy and Lopsided." Oh well, it was a lot of fun!

So, here are our entries! What do you think?

Protective and Plucky (love me some Supergirl!)

Gaudy and Lopsided

Savage and Effervescent (this was the toughest - Baptists are effervescent, right?)


Offbeat and Foolish (the guy's wearing nothing but a suit coat and a thong!)


And, lastly we have Abrasive and Lethal (my personal favorite!)

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Techknow Thursdays: Cars of the Future

Egads! I almost let this day get away from me. I'm not to be foiled though, as I present to you two items for Techknow Thursday.

This first item is a bit of design and innovation for the interior of a car. Two cars to be precise. Nissan and Toyota are both getting fanciful in their designs, but I find these latest developments enjoyable.

I like how Nissan just goes at it making you feel like you're in the middle of a cockpit, while Toyota gives their idea a bit more finesse and a look of delicate luxury. Personally, I'll stick with the Nissan design because I'm afraid I might break something in the Toyota cockpit
.

via Gizmodo

The second topic for today is the dual screen laptop coming from both Kohjinsha and GScreen and although the idea seems a bit flimsy, I like how they made it work. The two videos below show promise for the idea. I might have to get one for myself...eventually.

Kohjinsha's Dual Screen



And the video for the GScreen Spacebook is over at Gizmodo's site. It's a larger ~15" dual screen laptop, but I like Kohjinsha's styling better.

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Happy Wednesday!

Halloween is right around the corner and that means women in tight-fitting, sexy costumes. I enjoy Halloween quite a bit and here are some great reasons, thanks to Co-Ed Magazine, for you to make it your new favorite holiday!

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Therapeutic Tuesday: Existential Therapy

"No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse."
~ Nietzsche, 1892/1966, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (W. Kaufmann, Trans.), p. 18

First off, the existentialist view on life is largely considered to have began with Nietzsche and has grown and blossomed into a useful therapy for mental health issues. I, for one, am a fan of the take Victor Frankl had on existentialism, but for it to be useful, quite a few existentialists say that you must take it and make it your own. If you do not, it becames painfully aware that it is either inauthentic or you are not effective.

Additionally, it seems that as long as you know your subject, creating your own out of the existentialist pool needn't be that difficult. Many, including Rollo May (one of the big names in existentialism), note that throughout existentialist base, one will find influences from Jungian ideals to Gestalt psychology, Psychodynamics and more. With so many influences, it can be easy to get lost, but it can benefit the true existentialist in developing his or her own thoughts on the matter.

Okay, so what is existentialism? If you go strictly by the book, Merriam Webster's defines it as:

a chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.

As previously mentioned though, that is dry, scholary, yet at the end of the day, still inauthentic. Taking a page from Louis Hoffman's website, one of the chief binding agents of the existentialist theory is the question as to whether there are any major answers to this existence. Many believe that one cannot gain access to that answer until after this life has concluded. There are optimists, and I tend to fall into that party more, that focus "on the potential for good and growth that is inherent in the human condition."

However, even the optimists will conclude, for the most part, that any structure found is merely there as a "human construction to understand the theory." I think of it as trying to describe an abstract. You can use metaphors and stories all day long to explain love or hate, but it is hard to say exactly what love or hate is without confining it to a limited definition. Maybe I'm way off here, but I see the optimist point of view as saying, okay, the human condition is at times cruel and cold, but rather than focusing on the horrible parts, let's highlight the good things in one's life.

Again, I'm just starting to find what I believe and under what banner I would like to live. My wife could do a much better job at this than me, but in attempting to share with you the ideas behind existentialism, I can grow and re-evaluate my surroundings which is ever more beneficial than simply allowing someone to write this up for me. I hope.

"Our thesis is that symbols and myths are an expression of man's unique self-consciousness, his capacity to transcend the immediate concrete situation and see his life in terms of 'the possible,' and that this capacity is one aspect of his experiencing himself as a being having a world."
~ Rollo May, 1961, "The Meaning of the Oedipus Myth"
In Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, Volume 1, p. 44

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I Love xkcd: A Music Video

This little charmer comes via Today on the Interwebs and it was originally put together by noamR. If you enjoy the webcomic for xkcd, then I'm sure you'll find this video to be witty, funny, and catchy to boot. And if you've never heard of xkcd (preposterous I know), then head on over to their webcomic after the video. Enjoy!

I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.

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Green Pizza: A 21st Century Innovation

Okay, more specifically Going Green with Pizza in the 21st century. This company, Eco, Inc., in it's debut into the market, gives us a brilliant twist on the pizza box. Not only is their new pizza box made from all recycled materials, but it can be broken down into plates and a leftovers container. I found it quite simple yet absolutely brilliant! I'd stand behind them...let's hope pizza restaurants do also! Here's the video (via Geeks Are Sexy) below.

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An Entertaining Guitar Duet

From the YouTube video's blurb:

The 2009 Brazilian Music Institute featuring Cecilia Siqueira and Fernando Lima (Duo Siqueira Lima) performing TICO TICO NO FUBA (Zequinha de Abreu). The Institute has been active since 2001 and is organized by musician and professor Welson Tremura.

It is an entertaining and beautiful performance. Enjoy!

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Techknow Thursday, Part 2: CarGo

From designer Adam Schacter via Geek Civilization Online comes this brilliant bit of conceptual design. It's termed the CarGo, and it may help solve a lot of inner city problems with delivery trucks and traffic. It really is a terrific concept!


The CarGo has room for a single occupant and the rear half of the vehicle can reconfigure based on the needs of the driver and the contents which are to be delivered. It accomplishes this with changeable axles and an extendable wheel base which can accomodate various types of deliveries and various types of traffic. Additionally, there is a telescopic tilt which allows the CarGo handle much like a motorcycle or commuter car and allows it to handle corners well.

According to Geek Civilization, the car has three configurations:

Compact mode – for traveling in normal city traffic and for ease of parking.

Narrow mode – for maneuvering in and out of heavy traffic.

Pick-up truck mode – the wheels are extended out for a better stability.


I look forward to seeing the CarGo take over cities across the world as a standard electric commuter car/delivery truck!

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Axis of Awesome and Pachelbel Rant

Just a quick add here to my musings today. Still working on the second parter of Techknow Thursday, but I ran into this first video on Facebook from a friend which then reminded me of the Axis of Awesome video. Enjoy!

Pachelbel Rant



Axis of Awesome

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Techknow Thursday, Part 1: Smart Bump

We've all been there. We're driving home, to the office or wherever and actually going the speed limit when we come upon a street full of annoying speed bumps. Even though we're already going a safe speed, we still hit the large bump which can be jostling for the car and for us. At best, it's a minor annoyance, but there's a company looking to change things.


Mexico's Decano Industries is developing a smart speed bump (sadly, the company has little to no web presence as I learned from Timothy Sykes' blog). Ideally, as long as you're driving the speed limit or below, it will stay in a depressed state - allowing you to travel over it without the bump. However, if you're like me and tend to have a lead foot, then this intelligent tech bump pops into action and slows you down (in other words, it does its job).

At present, that seems to be the only photo we have of the device, but Decanoboss on YouTube has given us the video animation below, along with a short description, showing how the smart bump should function (ideally, of course).

A great Intelligent Bump created by mexican inventor. It´s stays flat when vehicles cross over it at speed limit, but retracts forming a bump when a vehicle cross it exceeding speed limits, so this device only affects vehicles running over speed limits. Low Cost engineered effective speed restrictor, autonomous operation, it is a real lifesaver by reducing accidents, pollution killer because reduce stops and accelerations compared with common bumps, so also improves traffic speed (continuous speed vs. continuous stops ). Easy installation.

Article Info via: AutoMotto blog/Geeks Are Sexy

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A Morning Motivational Moment

Coming to you straight from the Geeks Are Sexy site is this motivational video. The tag line is "if you've never failed, you've never lived. It came to my view at a great time as I am still currently in the job hunt. Now, I'm not saying that I've got it as bad as these great people nor am I saying I could do what they have done. What I am saying is that I can stick it out and keep taking those rejection letters and emails knowing that it will only make me value the job I get even more. So, without further ado, your video.

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Happy Wednesday!

I'm off! Off to a follow-up interview that is. Hopefully I'll get this job at DHS, but before I go, today's that day...hump day. And that means Happy Wednesday for everyone! Today, we have some lovely photos from the Busted Coverage, Co-Ed Magazine and The Women of WTF websites. I thought it might add some diversity to the photos, so let's hope I'm right. Enjoy!

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