Clever coding ninjas

Back during the Dot Com bubble there was a website called desktop.com that attempted to recreate the functions of an OS using nothing but clever code and a browser. It looked great but suffered from a few things. 1) Lack of apps 2) Slow and 3) No business model.

In time desktop.com went the way of so many other Dot coms. But fear not! All that is old is new again! A company called Goovy has created an pretty damn spiffy application in Macromedia Flash. The system is not only good looking, but it actually does things.

The psaudo-desktop features an email client (which can access POP3 accounts) a contacts manager (which can import contacts from Outlook) a Beta Calendar app, a News reader, a ton of games and other bells and whistles.

I have to say that from a visual and usability point of view this system is very slick. A clean interface without excessive animated crap. The mail client features right-mouse menus. Thgis might mean little to you, but if you've ever worked with flash you know that right-mouse clicks are verbotten. These clever monkeys made it work. Go check it out. (Make sure you hhave the latest flash plugin first) The account is free and its fun to play with. Leave your impressions in the comments.

Do NOT f*ck with Vets who are bikers

Fred Phelps is a crazy 'preacher' who runs a website that is so vile I won't event link to it. His bigest pet peeve is gays but he's taken to protesting at the funerals of kids killed in Iraq. Apparently he's quite happy that IED's are killing these kids. These are not gay soldiers, but he's happy they are dying nonetheless. Apparently every second that isn't spent grovelling before GOD(tm) is a SIN and must be punnished! He has already protested at several funerals and I'm amazed a Marine Vet hasn't beaten the living shit out of this moron.

Phelps went to the funeral of a soldier recently but his hateful signs and bullhorn gibberish was drowned out by over 100 Veteran Bikers. Good for them. Of course, the evil part of me wishes that Phelps had run into the street brandishing a protest sign and was "accidently" run over by 100 plus bikes, but we can't have everything.

Words cannot express..

If you were at Pennsic this year, and you were in camp at just the right time. You witnessed an event so mindbendingly stupid and funny that words cannot describe it.

Somehow Trent (AKA Danger Trent) obtained a parachute. How he obtained the parachute is a story best left for another time. When he mentioned this fact I asked to see it, thinking it was just the canopy from an old parachute, which might be put to use as a shade of some kind. What he produced was a complete rig, including harness. Well.... that kind of toy is just begging to played with. So through trial and error we strapped Trent into the parachute and sent him to the highest part of the camp. What happened next is the stuff of legends. All I can say is "OolalaOolalaOolala!!!!


Thank you Trent. You are a pioneer and a man without fear.

Mystery Man buys $2500 to Serenity and gives them away...

God bless you sir.

If you haven't watched the series go get it on DVD. Then go watch the film. It indeed holds more emotional and visual appeal that the latest Star Wars (and I'm a Star Wars fan). The show was awesome and the movie is great. I hope there will be others.

Where ships go to die.

I will someday have to visit this place. A sargasso sea, a cemetary for boats who rust away slowly into sad corpses. If you use Google Earth you can actually spy some of these wrecks from orbit along the shores of Staten Island.

More clever monkeys

This is a heads up from my semi-cybernetic friend who tells me that this website shows some disturbingly clever images of gutted pumpkins. Go look and be amazed.

Baby squeezins at last!

Baby squeezins at last!
Originally uploaded by stevepack.

Our attempt at a whirlwind shopping trip to the Flower Factory, Hobby Lobby, Harbor Freight & Tool and Jungle Jims has been thwarted or at least delayed by a lack of places willing to serve us breakfast. Our third attempt landed us at The Original Pancake House where I was able to order this, a Dutch Baby. Only the Germans would name a pancake this. Wacky Germans.

Secrets....

Few places can possibly exceed the imagination of writers or artists. After all, they can create anything with their minds. But the Winchester house in San Diego does just that. Built by the widow of the inventor of the Winchester rifle the house was in a constant state of construction (and re-construction) is a supposed attempt to confuse the ghosts of those killed by her husbands guns. It features hundreds of rooms, doors and stairs to nowhere, intricate stained glass windows that may hold secret meanings.

Now there is a photo blog that shows some off limits areas of the house. Go take a look and be amazed. Very cool indeed.

Like Vampyres?

An old school friend of mine is putting on a production at the Cleveland Public Theater called 'The Vampyres'. It's pretty damn cool (otherwise I wouldn't post it). The play opens October 5th and runs for 2 weeks. You can fine more information about the play here.

Here's some more details:

THE VAMPYRES by David Hansen, directed by Alison Hernan Garrigan
Featuring Sadie Grossman, Margi Herwald, Tim Keo, Doug Kusak & Matt Zitelli
Wed at 8 PM, Thu - Sat at 11 PM, Sun at 6 PM
The Levin Theatre at CPT, 6415 Detroit Avenue.
216-631-2727

Jungle Jim's is the bomb

Jungle Jim's is the bomb
Originally uploaded by stevepack.

A sprawling playground of food. It boggles the mind. I will post more pics after I've rested. Frankly, I'm beat. Truly this is the most super of markets.

Are you not entertained?!?!?!

I give you...

Flying Spaghetti monster....the game!!!

It's mostly bullshit

It turns out that most of the horror stories coming out of the Dome and the Convention center during the Katrina disaster were simply not true. In the confusions and chaos rumors started and spread like wildfire, picked up strength and went out of control. I remember hearing these stories, but they did not suprise me. People do fairly horrible things to each other all the time.

I'm glad that it turned out to be a case where things were'nt as bad as reported. Make no mistake, the conditions were horrible. The response was still too slow. FEMA was still being run my a Bush crony. But the stories about people (specifically the urban black poor) of New Orleans regressing into animals weren't true. And that gives me some hope.

Last day

Last day
Originally uploaded by stevepack.

The corset wall of shame. Where crappy corsets are placed for public mockery.



Yesterday rocked. High sales volume. Today we sat on our asses until 2 in the afternoon. Then we managed to pull in sales as a soft rain began to fall. We did not beat last years closing weekend. I wonder how much better we'd be doing if we weren't in a goddamn war and the economy wasn:t a wreck. I am so glad i had Aliki and Heather working with me this year. They helped the idle hours pass quickly and were whirlwinds of action when we were busy. I was so tired and frazzled at the end of the day that I screwed up their pay. We got it straightened out but i hope they dont think I was trying to cheat them. I just literally ran out of thinking process. Tomorrow i pack everything up and head home only to head down to southern Ohio's show tuesday to do 2 'kids days' which is sort of like being kicked in the balls but less fun.

Pirate goodness

A little late for Talk like a Pirate Day, but tasty nonetheless:

Another poll thingy

You are a Social Liberal (63% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (25% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating