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Author: Cory

Seattle Band Map Project

Seattle Band Map Project

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sxswbandmap

I always get a kick out of sitting with friends recollecting all the bands and shows we have seen in Seattle and how the bands all related to each other.

I am stoked to see that somebody has finally attempted to connect all the bands to each other at Seattle Band Map.

Check out the Wired Magazine article about the Project:

Rachel Ratner, a longtime multi-instrument rocker, was telling friends about her collaborations with a handful of Seattle bands over the years. The explanation eventually merited diagramming on a pad of paper. She detailed how bands related to one another, what members they had in common, what shows they’d played together. When she finished she’d produced a spaghetti-like flowchart, replete with countless snaking lines and about 30 circles of names.

Washington urination electrocution

Washington urination electrocution

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A Washington man was in a single car accident last Friday, ramming into a power pole.  The 50-year-old man suffered no major injuries in the accident and called family to come help him get his car out of the ditch.

While waiting for his family to arrive, he decided to go “see a man about a horse”.

One can only imagine what happened next, and since the Seattle Times did a poor job speculating, I will provide the following as my reenactment, beginning after the phone call to family:

“Well, son of a bitch. This sucks and I gotta take a piss.  Well, they’ll be here soon, I’ll just hold it….  Oh, god they’re never gonna get here…  That’s it I’m gonna just pee into the ditch.

(sidenote: He doesn’t see that he has knocked a powerline into the ditch and it’s live.)

zipppp….. pssssss……  “Ahhhhhh…..”

“YEOWWWW!!!!!”

The Seattle Times picks up the story at this point indicating that, while an autopsy is planned, the burn marks seem to indicate a direct path of travel of the electricity.

Ouch, this has got to be a terrible way to go.  Remember to look where you pee, you never know when the reaper is gonna come for you.

Hilarious Tech Guy Call

Hilarious Tech Guy Call

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Over the weekend a woman called into a radio talk show to complain that her “Linksys wireless connection” has disappeared.

Via Mashable:

Meet Jennifer, she had been unwittingly yoinking Wi-Fi for more than a year and a half when the gravy train ran out, after which she called into Leo Laporte’s Tech Guy radio show in a state of utter confusion.

Even as I chuckle to myself thinking about this woman, I am reminded of my many friends and family who rely upon me for various levels of technical support and the questions and confusion that often ensues.  But, none of it compares to this, truly priceless.

I think it’s the fact that she knows what she did and is still seeking some sort of solution from the Tech Guy.  Perhaps if she just said “oooooh, now I get it….” and hung up it wouldn’t be so funny to me.

1984 Arrives in 2010

1984 Arrives in 2010

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School districts across the country are supplying students with laptops for students to use both at school and home.

Unfortunately, one school district has decided to use the laptops as a means of invading the privacy of the students and their families.  It is alleged that the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania , used the embedded camera as a way to monitor the behavior and activities of students.

According to TechNewsWorld:

What sparked the discovery was Assistant Principal Lindy Matsko’s assertion in early November that Harriton High School student Blake Robbins had been “engaging in improper behavior in his home,” the filing explains. Matsko allegedly used as evidence of that behavior a photograph taken by the webcam in Robbins’ computer.

Robbins’ father then confirmed with the school that the district had the ability to remotely activate the webcams in the laptops it gives its students. Documentation accompanying the laptops, the family charged, made no reference to that ability.

“As the laptops at issue were routinely used by students and family members while at home, it is believed and therefore averred that many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including, but not limited to, in various stages of dress or undress,” the filing states.

The functionality to monitor computer use as discussed in this article is not unusual, and is well known to those who use their employer’s computers.  What makes unusual is the use of the webcam to capture images of the user, without prior notice,  whether or not the user is at the keyboard.

As I write this I keep looking at my own webcam staring at me.  I never use it, but can’t help but think what it could capture if someone had control over it…

Unfriend is the word of the year?

Unfriend is the word of the year?

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Oxford University announced the Oxford Word of the Year 2009:

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

Whatever…. Doesn’t everyone know that it’s ‘defriend’ not ‘unfriend’?

Here is a partial list of some other notable words in 2009:

Technology
hashtag – a # [hash] sign added to a word or phrase that enables Twitter users to search for tweets (postings on the Twitter site) that contain similarly tagged items and view thematic sets
intexticated – distracted because texting on a cellphone while driving a vehicle
netbook – a small, very portable laptop computer with limited memory
paywall – a way of blocking access to a part of a website which is only available to paying subscribers
sexting – the sending of sexually explicit texts and pictures by cellphone

Economy
freemium – a business model in which some basic services are provided for free, with the aim of enticing users to pay for additional, premium features or content
funemployed – taking advantage of one’s newly unemployed status to have fun or pursue other interests
zombie bank – a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support

Politics and Current Affairs
Ardi – (Ardipithecus ramidus) oldest known hominid, discovered in Ethiopia during the 1990s and announced to the public in 2009
birther – a conspiracy theorist who challenges President Obama’s birth certificate
choice mom – a person who chooses to be a single mother
death panel – a theoretical body that determines which patients deserve to live, when care is rationed
teabagger -a person, who protests President Obama’s tax policies and stimulus package, often through local demonstrations known as “Tea Party” protests (in allusion to the Boston Tea Party of 1773)

Environment
brown state – a US state that does not have strict environmental regulations
green state – a US state that has strict environmental regulations
ecotown – a town built and run on eco-friendly principles

Novelty Words
deleb – a dead celebrity
tramp stamp – a tattoo on the lower back, usually on a woman

Glenn Beck Brings Freak Show to Seattle Tomorrow

Glenn Beck Brings Freak Show to Seattle Tomorrow

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This Staturday, the mayor of Mount Vernon is going to give Glenn Beck the key to the city.  If it was closer, I would go up there and let everyone in Mount Vernon know what I think of Glenn Beck…

From the AP:

Mount Vernon Mayor Bud Norris came up with the idea to honor Beck, proclaiming Sept. 26 as “Glenn Beck Day” as a way to honor his success as a nationally known broadcaster. The event at which Beck is scheduled to speak sold out.

But, I just found out that I don’t have to drive for over an hour to flip him off in person.  All that I need to do is go down to Safeco field.

From the Seattle PI:

The Emerald City is hosting a man who calls Barack Obama a “racist,” sees a back-to-school presidential speech as “indoctrinating” children and defends an obscure 18th Century constitutional provision that set in place the slave trade and capped taxes at $10 a slave.

While paying good money to see such a lunatic is hard to fathom, the Seattle PI continues:

Still, there are plenty of “wing nuts” to give Beck a warm welcome. The private reception-with photos ($500) is sold out as well as the private reception-without-photos ($250) and the on-field seats with lunch ($100).

I will most likely walk down there just to gawk at the folks that look to him as a hero (and laugh at them).

LOLzPorn site is a funny new site

LOLzPorn site is a funny new site

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A couple days ago I was chatting with a friend bouncing ideas off each other and he was asking me what I thought about the website icanhascheezburger.com ?

funny pictures of cats with captions

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I told him that I thought it was a pretty funny site.  He next asked me what I would think about a site that posts porn images with funny LOL speak captions.  As we discussed this,  would we both started laughing and determined that it was a fun idea. After all, what could be funnier than LOL porn?

From that conversation, LOLzPorn.com (Not Safe for Work) was born. From the site:

At LOLzPorn you’ll find the Interweb’s funniest sex pictures. Because breathing heavy and laughing are nearly the same thing!

Here is a redacted version of an image on the site (Clicking image will open NSFW version):

cheezburger

In a nutshell, LOLzPorn is a fun place to find hot nude pics with silly captions added.  You’ll ROFL from some of the clever captions on the images.  The site has everything from sexy pics to shocking photos.  This is a twist on the classic porn images found all over the internet.

Internet Addiction Clinic opens outside Seattle

Internet Addiction Clinic opens outside Seattle

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The first residential treatment center in the US for Internet Addiction opened this summer outside of Seattle.

From the State Journal-Register:

The center, called ReSTART, is somewhat ironically located near Redmond, headquarters of Microsoft and a world center of the computer industry. It opened in July and for $14,000 offers a 45-day program intended to help people wean themselves from pathological computer use, which can include obsessive use of video games, texting, Facebook, eBay, Twitter and any other time-killers brought courtesy of technology.

Kanye West is a Dick at the 2009 MTV VMAs

Kanye West is a Dick at the 2009 MTV VMAs

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I really like Kanye West.

But, last night he was a huge dick on the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards show.

While the lovely Taylor Swift was accepting her award for Best Female Video, Kanye came on stage, took the mic and said “I’m sorry, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time”.  By the time he was done, Taylor had no time left for her 1st Moonman acceptance.

Here is what Katy Perry said in her tweet:

Fuck U Kanye. It’s like u stepped on a kitten.

Over on MTV.com, Taylor is quoted as saying:

Well, you know, I was up there and I was standing there and I saw Kanye up on the stage,” she explained. “I was really excited … and I kind of wasn’t excited anymore.

According to MTV.com, when Beyoncé won for Best Video of the Year:

This is amazing,” said B, recalling her first VMA nomination at 17 with Destiny’s Child. “It was one of the most exciting moments in my life, so I’d like for Taylor to come out and have her moment,” she added, in one of the classiest moments in VMA history. Accepting a big hug from B, a beaming Swift joked, “Maybe we could try this again,” thanking all her fans for their support.

So, in the end everything worked out hunky dory and I don’t have to delete all my Kanye mp3s.  🙂

BUT….Is it possible that this was all one big publicity stunt?  I wonder cuz, as Taylor Swift attempts to break out of the “country singer” mold and gain a wider audience, is it not possible that Jay-Z, Kanye, and Beyoncé were all intended players in the huge buzz that this has created? Only time will tell.

In somewhat related, but weirder news, it has been revealed that Kanye also interrupted Obama’s recent speech.

Lady Gaga Nip Slip at 2009 VMAs

Lady Gaga Nip Slip at 2009 VMAs

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In what appears to be a nod to Janet Jackson, Lady Gaga experienced a slight wardrode malfunction (more precisely – a lack of function) during her award acceptance at the 2009 MTV VMAs.  During the show, she changed her wardrobe no less than5 times but only this outfit offered the classic Nip Slip (technically it didn’t slip, but who cares.)

lady-gaga

In somewhat related, but weirder news, during her live performance one of her dancers paid homage to the upcoming Swine Flu Pandemic by wearing a white surgical mask made out of a g-string…

dancer

We hope this will clear up the confusion over the urban legend surrounding the biological gender of Lady Gaga. Yes, that is her vulva you can see through her panties. Yes, she has a vagina. No, she’s not a hermaphrodite.