Is This Really Necessary?

What was the sin, exactly? Depending on the difficulty level,...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:46:01 -0700

What was the sin, exactly? Depending on the difficulty level, this will color my opinion of the album.

(via adamsdayoff)

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:42:55 -0700

(via adamsdayoff)

MST3K - Space Mutiny - The many names of David Ryder

Thu, 20 May 2010 02:07:17 -0700

MST3K - Space Mutiny - The many names of David Ryder

More adventures in untargeted marketing.

Wed, 19 May 2010 17:20:32 -0700

More adventures in untargeted marketing.

Still missed.

Wed, 12 May 2010 18:23:46 -0700

Still missed.

Ghostbusters Theme (Mystery Songs version) WARNING: Will cause...

Wed, 05 May 2010 00:56:55 -0700

Ghostbusters Theme (Mystery Songs version)

WARNING: Will cause madness if listened to in its entirety

Video

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:33:45 -0700

No one gets this. Fine. It makes me laugh. Flickr

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 23:36:00 -0700

No one gets this. Fine. It makes me laugh.

Flickr

Courtesy of The Truth In Venue-Naming Act of 2010.

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:52:11 -0700

Courtesy of The Truth In Venue-Naming Act of 2010.

Cruisin’ by Sessions (Record Offer, 1985) Did it scare me...

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:54:48 -0700

Cruisin’ by Sessions (Record Offer, 1985)

Did it scare me how many times I knew exactly which phrase of what song was going to be played next? Yes it did.

25 years. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. Those are some deep mental hooks.

The Search for the Gas Pedal Flaw

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:03:19 -0800

The Search for the Gas Pedal Flaw:

“The same cars exist around the world, but no accidents of this type have occurred anywhere outside of North America. There were also cases of stuck Toyota gas pedals in Germany. The drivers braked successfully, and notified their car dealerships. None of them met their deaths.”

Monkey News: The Space Monkey Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant,...

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:17:48 -0800

Monkey News: The Space Monkey

Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington

Look, all I’m trying to do is buy an album. You...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:20:14 -0800

Look, all I’m trying to do is buy an album. You know… with money? They way you’re always lamenting that people don’t do anymore? And the reason I’m trying to do it through Amazon UK is because you don’t have the album in the US store. And the reason the album isn’t in the US store? I don’t know why. It’s an MP3 download. There’s no reason for these artificial barriers anymore.

Fuck it. I’m sure someone’s ripped it somewhere.

Battlestar Galactica Cylon Bubble Machine I remember this...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:18:00 -0800

Battlestar Galactica Cylon Bubble Machine

I remember this playing a large role in the last season of the remake.

When the Cylons tilted their heads back and shot bubbles at each other and that theme music would swell up… I wish it was still on the air.

Let’s enhance…

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:58:58 -0800

Let’s enhance…

Dear Toyota: How about easing up a bit on the touchscreen lockout?

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:48:39 -0800

Late last summer I got a ‘10 Prius, and I love it. It handles great, is fun to drive, and getting 42 mpg kicks the shit out of the 17 that my eight year-old truck managed to eke out.

It also has a healthy dose of tech, which suits me fine (and is in sharp contrast to the truck, too). A lot of that functionality is routed through the touchscreen in the middle of the dash.

There’s just one problem; Toyota really doesn’t want you playing with it while driving. Most onscreen controls are disabled while the car is in motion.

I was struck by the pointlessness of this “safety” feature while making a call to an automated system today (which is done by voice, saying the name of the contact which was wirelessly imported from my phone, which is awesome) and I had to push a number on the phone.

Here’s how this would work if the touchscreen wasn’t locked out:

Push the onscreen “0-9” button that calls up the number pad.
Push the onscreen “0” button.

Clearly, too distracting. Here’s how it actually works:

Push the onscreen “0-9” button (which for some reason is still active while the car is in motion) that calls up the number pad.
Number pad is displayed, but all buttons are grayed out and inactive.
Push the “voice” button on the steering wheel.
Push it a second time to interrupt it reading a helpful paragraph of instructions.
Say “send tones” *
Push the “voice” button on the steering wheel to interrupt it reading another set of helpful instructions.
Say “zero”.
Push the “voice” button on the steering wheel (this may not be necessary, but I was in a rhythm).
Notice the active “send” button onscreen, press it.
Hope that the automated system on the other end of the call hasn’t timed out on you.

Safety!

I like how the voice solution to pressing a button on the screen is to push a button on the wheel four times, give two voice commands, and then PUSH A BUTTON ON THE SCREEN. This is a system that would have benefitted by a bit more thought.

* I didn’t know that there was a voice option for this. I pushed the voice button out of frustration, and it showed a list of available options onscreen that can be read, and “send tones” was one of them.

They Might Be Giants performing “Birdhouse in Your...

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:20:29 -0800

They Might Be Giants performing “Birdhouse in Your Soul” on The Tonight Show in 1990.

I remember seeing this live when it aired and thinking:

The song was played in triple-time
The horn section (including Doc) was on crack
It was the best thing I had ever seen on The Tonight Show

First Late Night with David Letterman opening, February 1982

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:00:29 -0800

First Late Night with David Letterman opening, February 1982

CES 1979: Flashback Look at Electronics

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:28:21 -0800

CES 1979: Flashback Look at Electronics:

A link because they’re not allowing embedding. : /

Love the footnote after the narrator mentions the cost of movies on video cassette (kass-ette) while The Sound of Music plays.

I’m not getting the photo choice on this one. Is he...

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:23:34 -0800

I’m not getting the photo choice on this one. Is he supposed to be homeless? A hippie? Or is this some famous guy that I don’t know?