The New York times has an entertaining test to see if you can spot the liar. I got 8/10 correct and found it easier to guess after only watching the first few seconds of the video. I wanted to watch one video again, but I couldn’t. I’m guessing that’s intentional, so make sure to pay […]

If you had the chance to speak to 20,000 people, what would you say? It’s not just a hypothetical question. ListServe is a mailing list whose sole purpose is to allow one randomly selected member a day send out an email of their choosing, and it’s an intriguing idea. I’ve been a member for about […]

Here is a heart wrenching story of how children are kidnapped from their beds, given a weapon and forced to join Joseph Kony’s army. In some cases they’re even made to kill their parents. I applaud Invisible Children and what they’re trying to accomplish. If you’re able, please join me in contributing to the cause. […]

Eight year old Rachel Beckwith was aghast when she learned that other children had no clean water and chose to skip her ninth birthday party, asking her friends to instead donate $9 to mycharity:water for water projects in Africa. She set a goal of $300 and was disappointed to only reach $220 on June 12th, […]

I was shocked to receive an email from XMarks today, announcing its own demise. They’re open to ideas to keep the business alive, but barring a new solution, it will cease to operate on January 10, 2011. If you have more questions about the shutdown, see their shutdown FAQ. I’ve looked at the alternatives and […]

The humble In-N-Out burger was voted #1 burger on the Zagat 2009 Fast Food Survey. Other winners were Panera for best salad, McDonald’s for best value and best fries, Chick-fil-A for grilled chicken and KFC for fried chicken. Speaking of KFC, the Oprah/KFC coupon deal was a bust. I went to my local KFC with […]

Google has done it again. The big news of the day is Google Grandcentral has turned into Google Voice with new features. Lifehacker and Techrunch did a great job covering the service, but I wanted to share my two cents on the change. Grandcentral has remained the same for a long time. It worked, but […]

Here are the best sites I’ve found to get live maps of the 2008 presidential election results, in order of how good they are. Yahoo – Autorefresh, shows electoral and popular votes. NY Times – Not as up-to-date as Yahoo, but shows detailed state county view. C-SPAN – Displays other candidates and voter initiatives like […]

We all like to keep informed and we all know about the standard news sites. But there’s more out there. Here are some non-standard news sites that provide new ways of viewing the news or allow you to customize it to your preferences. There’s even a site that makes a game out of reading the […]

I just got a beta invite to RedLasso, which allows you to pick and choose clips from all sorts of TV networks. It includes Comedy Central, NPR, Bloomberg, CNN and a host of others. Instead of just writing about a news event, it’s a lot nicer to be able to show your users a clip […]

Strongest Dad in the World [From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly] Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on […]

Note that this is not about making money from telemarketing, but from the telemarketers. André-Tascha Lammé of Sacramento, CA has made $6,000 from unwanted telemarketers’ calls so far. He files in small claims court (online) and most companies have settled with him out of court. That money has got to be some of the most […]

Take a look at this news blurb: US space agency NASA has said it plans to start work on a permanently-occupied base on the Moon after astronauts begin flying back there in 2020. The base is likely to be built on one of the Moon’s poles and will serve as a science centre and possible […]

Quite some time ago we had some issues with AT&T Wireless where our coverage on the TDMA network was gradually degrading but they wouldn’t let us cancel our contract without an early termination fee or let us upgrade to the GSM network without having to pay. Thankfully the folks at Get Gephardt took care of […]

According to a study, close friends, as opposed to family, make people live longer. “The reasons are not entirely clear. Friends and confidantes might help with coping in times of stress and difficulty, the team suggests. They might also encourage healthy behaviours, such as seeking help for new medical symptoms.” Of course this study was […]

I just heard the news that Yahoo! acquired Konfabulator, which would have been exciting if I’d known what in tarnation it was. I took a look at Konfabulator, and I’m impressed. It has all sorts of widgets you can put on your desktop, like a calendar, weather, to-do list, CPU usage, Memory usage etc. I’m […]

On the way to work this morning I heard about the terrorist attacks on the radio. When I arrived at work, I was curious to find out more and once again I’m astounded by the power of Wikipedia and its ability to provide information. I learned a huge amount about what happened from the London […]

Time Magazine put together a great list of 10 cool websites, a few of which I already use regularly. The others may soon be in that category as well.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Laughter is the best medicine?” It reminds me of Jack Handy’s observation; “Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.” The saying is slightly off according to a new study, which found that happiness is the best medicine. […]

According to a Guardian article, users who checked their e-mail frequently had an “average IQ loss [of] 10 points, more than double the four point mean fall found in studies of cannabis users.” When I need to concentrate and focus on something the best way is for me to close my mail client to avoid […]

As I’ve demonstrated in the past, I like cows. Not the actual animal so much as talking about them. I find it humorous when people moo (within reason) and I think cows can be a great source of entertainment. However, now that I know that cows are smarter than we thought, I feel I should […]

A 63-year-old man who hasn’t slept for more than two decades has been told there is nothing wrong with him by doctors. Ukrainian Fyodor Nesterchuk from the town of Kamen-Kashirsky said the last time he managed to doze off was more than 20 years ago. “I can’t remember the exact date and I don’t know […]

I once wrote about exercising your brain because I had heard that the brain was like a muscle. New research results from a European study indicates that exercising your muscles can keep your brain from losing its cognitive abilities. The 290 participants, all men, were between the ages of 70 and 90 when the study […]

While perusing Google news I found this delightfully entertaining news article. Instead of politics, oil prices and Britney Spears’ marriage, we need to talk more about long-necked sea monsters. A long-necked sea reptile that lived millions of years ago in what is now China may have used its stiff neck to sneak up on unsuspecting […]

I listen to NPR almost every morning on the way to work, and occasionally if I’m running late I hear the The Diane Rehm Show. It’s also common to hear her telling about the upcoming show during Morning Edition. If you’ve heard her voice, you’ll understand my thinking here, but I thought she was at […]

Growing up, I heard nothing but praise for Ben Franklin as an inventor, scientist, politician and diplomat. I heard he played a significant role in the creation of the United States and that he was constantly improving himself by using his list of 13 virtues, focusing on one virtue a week. On the other side […]

For $7.25 Utah drivers can access their driving record online. Phil tried signing up but it gave him an error, so if you’re concerned about losing $7.25 you may want to give it a few days. (via Phil Windley)

Time Magazine has assembled a list of the 50 best web sites of 2004. It’s not a list of the best web sites of all time, but a list of the top sites that piqued their interest over the past year. Here’s the complete list of 50. I especially liked fedstats.gov, freetranslation.com, mojam.com, metacritic.com, photos.yahoo.com, […]

Get a free Wired Magazine subscription by providing only your mailing address. No gimmicks that I can see. (via waxy links via gizmodo via slick deals)

Driving is already be a hazardous experience, but this latest invention could make things even more so. An inventor has come up with robotic traffic cones, but I have to wonder what happens if they malfunction? It could turn a peaceful drive home into a video game-like adventure, swerving around the crazed traffic cones like […]

Let’s say you’re aiming for the utmost in building entrance security. What would you use? Did fingerprint recognition come to mind, where you have to be a technology mastermind to fool it? (at least according to the movies) Tsutomu Matsumoto, a Japanese cryptographer, has shown that he can trick the detectors four out of five […]

I noticed a few new features in Gmail today. When you log in there’s an option to remain logged in for 2 weeks, which is very convenient on machines that are always on. The other feature I know about is that you can have a signature now. Go to Settings, and it’s the last configuration […]

Today’s Ask Yahoo question is Where can I find a complete list of names for all the troops killed in the Iraq war? The answer was at CNN’s War in Iraq casualties page which has an overview, and views by month (2004), country, killed, wounded, race, age, and gender. It’s one thing to hear numbers […]

If there is an increase in police officer candidates in Italy, I’m pretty sure this is the reason. Can you imagine driving along the highway and seeing this in your rearview mirror?

I haven’t heard about the reasoning or if it’s here to stay, but my GMail account quota just went up from 1000MB to 1000000MB, otherwise known as a terabyte. Update: The quota has been changed back to a Gigabyte. It was fun while it lasted though.

After Google’s announcement of free online e-mail with 1000MB quota, Yahoo is offering 100MB for their free users and virtually unlimited storage for paid accounts. I wonder what gave them that idea? (Even though it’s still 10 times less than GMail) (via jeremy) Update: If you’re having problems using Yahoo Mail, try using a browser […]

The next time you feel the need to write a honku, the following article may be enough to cool your engines. In Nigeria they have a problem with drivers going the wrong way. It’s not just once in a while either – it’s a common occurrence! And while you may declare in a fit of […]

Extra, extra! Get yer free ice cream today only. (And it’s not an urban legend either. It’s for real)

1. Go to Google and search for cloning. 2. Click on the top sponsored link with the title, “Cloning Is Now A Reality – The Godsend Institute Can Create Life From Life Via Cloning, Today! (make sure you have flash enabled in your browser) 3. Read through the site, finding quotes like: All of the […]

Today I found lots of interesting links so instead of picking just one, I’m including all of them. Stan Wagon has developed a bicycle with square wheels, but it provides a smooth ride. How? By creating a road with a rather odd shape. Pictures of toilets from around the world. I used a few strange […]

It’s a half hour before April Fools and the article was published on March 31st in the afternoon, so I think it’s on the up-and-up. It says that Google is going to offer free e-mail with 1GB of storage, all searchable. Their revenue will come from advertisements inserted into outgoing messages based on the message […]

I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the site, but the Fact check site purports to provide unbiased information about the presidential candidates. The first headline I saw said Bush’s attack on Kerry lacked context. The second headline said a Democratic ad confused fact with fiction. In other words, they’re saying both candidates are trying […]

I’ve become a regular listener of NPR and one of my favorite programs was Morning Edition with Bob Edwards. He impressed me as an interviewer that would consistently ask meaningful questions that I wouldn’t have thought of but wanted to know the answer to, and he did a superb job of presenting the news each […]

I was in the market for a laptop and eBay was my first stop. I checked there several times over the course of a week or two, but couldn’t find what I wanted. A concern I had was that one person’s definition of ‘great condition’ would include a cracked screen and a broken ‘e’ button […]

FundRace.org allows you to search by zip code or name for people who have contributed money to presidential candidates. Here are some names I found: Stephen R. Covey, George W. Bush – $500 Karl Malone, George W. Bush – $2,000 Barbara Streisand, John Kerry – $1,000, John Edwards – $1,000 Ted Kennedy, John Kerry – […]

The news of today’s bombing in Madrid was unpleasant to say the least, but it hit closer to home for me because I lived there for two years. I felt awful when I learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center even though they didn’t affect anyone I knew personally. Now I have an […]

Lehi High School (in Utah) has decided to make students pay when they’re late. They’ve been having problems with students roaming the hallways during class, and the money will be used for student activities. Doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me.

In case anyone had any concerns about the longevity of the universe, this news will make them happy. The universe has at least 30 billion years left.

The media’s slant on politics can be frustrating at times, because you never know if you’re getting the real information or not. I was pleased to find what I consider to be an objective, (although a bit dry) article about President Bush’s $2.4 trillion budget proposal for 2005. I like seeing actual dollar amounts and […]