The object of the game is to move the red block around without getting hit by the blue blocks or touching the black walls. If you can go longer than 18 seconds you are phenomenal. It’s been said that the US Air Force uses this for fighter pilots. They are expected to go for at least 2 minutes (I doubt our tax dollars were used to create such a simple test but you never know).

My PR is 59.16 seconds – mostly dumb luck.

(Hat tip: Levi)

I have linked to Dark Roasted Blend a few times now. The collection of photos Avi pulls together on a routine basis are entertaining to say the least. I enjoy flipping through gReader to view the subject matter at hand; although today I will admit I was taken back by the September 11th premonition photos he selected. Freaky.

I always knew that avocados were not the healthiest option to eat but it is a fruit - all natural. One 6-ounce avocado contains about 325 calories and 31 grams of fat. That is absurd! Can someone please verify this fact?

Here is a list of some really interesting and useful information you may not have been aware that your mobile phone could perform.

1. Emergency - The Emergency Number worldwide for mobile phones is 112. If you find yourself out of your service providers coverage area and there is an emergency,
   dial 112 and the mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked.
2. Locked keys in car - Does your car have remote keyless entry? If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at home, call someone at home. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car and have the person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your car will unlock.
3. Hidden battery power - Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370# . Your cell will restart with a reserve and will show a 50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when you charge your mobile phone next time.
4. Disable a stolen mobile phone - To check your mobile phone’s serial number, key in the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 #. A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset. When your phone gets stolen, phone your service provider and give them this code. They will then be able to block your handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless. You probably won’t get your phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole it can’t use/sell it either
5. Free 411 information - Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411 information calls. When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all.

This is sweet. Perceptive Pixel illustrates what can be done with multi-touch technology. I am intrigued by the idea and application. My only issue is with finger prints and smudges. I flip out now when someone lays a greasy finder on my LCD I can only image a screen as such. I would be wiping it off every 5 minutes.

A friend living in San Francisco had a fun day of Santarchy. In his own words:

Once again it’s the holiday season, which means eggnog, mistletoe, and Santarchy!! This Saturday Tatyana and I went down to Fisherman’s wharf for the San Francisco event check santacon.com for the event in your city! If you don’t have one already, start one). Like last year the forecast was for rain, cold, cold, rain. Miraculously the skies were clear on our way down the hill to the water. The first stop was Pier 39, aka Fisherman’s Wharf. Ground zero for tourists. Along the walk we would occasionally see a Santa or two heading in the same direction. Once we were closer, Santa’s were spilling out of cars, trolleys, and buses. (more…)

Yehuda Berlinger outlines a seven step plan for “creating quality” work. Reading this post is timely in application to my own current employment. Working with such large sums of numbers and presenting them in fresh, creative and thought poking ways is both challenging and rewarding. Although not revolutionary in principal I fully support the idea of researching disconnected subjects. My endeavors in the blogosphere and geekdom have helped me a great deal. Now if my math skillz can just make my coding a little smoother.

This is just crazy

O lny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The
phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,

it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit
a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef,
but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot
slpeling was ipmorantt! if
you can raed tihs psas it on !!

via: Foo

Applying a force-directed algorithm to the “what did other customers buy” data results in a nice tool, Amaznode, for finding related new media.  Clicking on a related node will yield the title, publisher/director, price and give you the option to place the item into your Amazon shopping cart.  Pretty slick implementation.

Scale is everything when dealing with visual display.  In Population:One every pixel in the illustration equals one person on earth.  Use the right scroll arrow at first then drag the horizontal scroll bar to reach the end of the illustration. Daunting.

I have always had a difficult time determining local time in other parts of the world. I can never quite remember what world cities are in which GMT time zones. With a quick Google search you can find out in a jiffy.

time Shanghai

I would like to congratulate Maureen for her achievements at Charming Shoppes, Inc. as ranked in the WWD Top 20 publicly traded high-volume specialists (login required) coming in at #4. She has taken the firm from zero to more than $25 million in annual online sales revenues in a very short amount of time.

Volume: $2.76 billion, up 18 percent
This plus-sized specialty retailer registered a 54 percent spike in profits last year with its Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines brands. It also bought the catalogue unit from Crosstown Traders.

Urban waste land becomes Star Wars scenes for action figures with these photos from Cedric Delsaux. At first sight I thought people got dressed up in Star Wars costumes and roamed an urban landscape scouting for pix but Joey tells us they are superimposed figures.

McDonalds gets creative with breakfast promotion in Wrigleyville.

The wife and I saw Wicked last night. The Broadway series musical is touring in Chicago and has been for quite some time. Tickets are extremely difficult to obtain in a desirable section. If I am not mistaken the show is sold out every night it has been performed which played well for us as we get tickets through a connection that works at the theatre and hooked us up with phenomenal seats dead center, eight rows back. This was my first musical and I must admit it was not a terrible experience. (more…)