Put It On My Screen!!

Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.

Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?

Peter Gibbons: Yeah.

Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.

Life in a cubicle got you down? Check out www.thinkgeek.com and find some toys to spice up your cube. You know you want these. Maybe then your life will be a little better than Peter Gibbons.

This is really cool. It shows a "magazine" cover before and after it has been retouched to death to make an average looking person look much better. I guess this just goes to show that in today's digital age, nothing is as it seems. But seriously, do yourself a favor and click on the picture or here to see this little demo.

Then after you marvel at that website, point your browsers to fluideffect.com, click on porfolio, and then click before/after to see some rather interesting photos of celebs before and after being photoshopped to beauty by computer nerds. Thanks, to Bng for showing me this!

Kids, behave yourself...you have been warned. Glad school wasn't this tough when I was a youngster. It would have been terrifying seeing a nun wielding scissors charging me. Extra, extra, read all about it: Teacher and student fun with scissors 101

My beloved Pittsburgh Pirates just aren't fun to watch...They haven't been fun to watch since 1992. It starts to wear on you after awhile, but I'll still cheer them on. That said, I am a Steelers crazy, so May minicamp certainly did make me much more excited about Pittsburgh sports. It's not that I have given up on the Pirates forever, just this abysmal season. Next year they'll be good again. I believe that...I do every year. I found it interesting that Gene Wojciechowski wrote an article on ESPN talking about how tough it is to be a Pirate in a Steelers town. B.S. Pittsburgher's love the Pirates. They just hate losing. If the Pirates were competitive at all, people wouldn't be focused on the Stillers right now, but rather they would be on the Bucco Bandwagon. So Burnitz, C. Wilson, stop feeling bad for yourselves and try playing some decent ball. Jack Wilson is right when he says no Pirate deserves to be on the All Star team this year. The Pirates need to use that underdog motivation to get things rolling, afterall it worked for the Steelers...Maybe the fledgling Pirates could learn something from the Steelers. Check out the info graphic on the right to see why the Steelers are the favs in P'burgh right now and give the Wojciechowski article a read: Tough being a Pirate in a Steelers' town




NFL Pre-Season Power Rankings

The first Power Rankings for the new Football year. Well, all that talk about the Steelers and the Pirates got me psyched for Football season! CBS Sportsline has released their preseason rankings. Check them out here. My thoughts: The Bengals seem rather low on that list. I think they'll be better than that. I agree that the Cardinals could be one of the sleeper team. Steelers #1 and the team to beat? Makes me happy for sure, but time will tell if they have a running game and can have an effective passing game with young receivers. Ahh football, only a little over 4 months until you return.

Hopefully this will be the only news featuring a Cleveland Brown that this site ever sees....

It's been hard on us, hard on Reuben. We're taking a limo everywhere, even to the grocery store. -Kellie Droughns, wife of Cleveland Browns running back Reuben Droughns, after her husband's acquittal on DUI charges.

Poor guys.

I am not a fan of cats...My problems with them are numerous. Dogs are so much cooler. Cats give me horrendous allergy attacks. Cats skulk around and in general look like they are up to no good. Some people like cats. Some people use cats to get engaged. I am not those people. Thus, I find this video clip hysterical. Now before you go all PETA on my a**, calm down...No animals were hurt and this is all in good nature. I would never condone hurting a cat or any animal.



Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Apple has done it again. Now I know that those of you who know me are probably saying, "C'mon, you would buy the iPlague if Apple released it", but I have to say the MacBook is a pretty good bargain starting at $1099. If I was in the market, I would probably be interested. No scratch that, I am interested even though I am NOT in the market. An iSight webcam, Front Row, 60GB starting, an Intel Core Duo processor, and a 1.08 inch thickness make this laptop a steal. Plus, it runs Windows too. The best of both worlds. What are you waiting for?

Not necessarily news, but I am just finding out about this. This is now high up on my list of places I want to visit. I have always wanted a Fender Custom Shop guitar. Perhaps a trip to Dusseldorf is in order. I personally believe I could spend hours in the picture on the right playing all of the fine instruments. Guitar lovers only should check out the following article: Fender Custom Shop Lounge

Apparently, working for the Home Shopping Network or QVC as an on air personality can be extremely dangerous to your health.

I love how in the first clip, they send in a backup to keep selling the product and crack a joke. I am also thoroughly amused that in the second clip the woman points out "and that has never happened" when the guy falls off the ladder.

File this under "Great for looking at during work." From Bng...This site is pretty cool. It features a bunch of different optical illusions for your viewing pleasure. These aren't your mother's optical illusions though, as these will move around the screen and blow your mind. Gotta love optical illusions. Check it out: Motion Induced Blindness

This is just kind of cool and random. Tiny Eyes is a website that shows what the world would look like if you were a newborn going through the first 6 months of your life. Check out the link here: Tiny Eyes.

File under ridiculous: Having just finished spending $4 billion dollars to change their name from AT&T Wireless to Cingular, Bell South was acquired by AT&T...who now intends to spend $2 billion to rename Cingular (yep, you guessed it) AT&T Wireless. You know what would have been cool? Saving $6 billion dollars in the first place and passing on the savings to the consumers. Check out the following for more info: Cingular Yet Again Becomes AT&T


Speaking of Monopoly... you currently have 2 days left to shape the future of Monopoly. Monopoly is releasing a "Here and Now Edition" in which the properties will be based off current landmarks and places in the United States. So go vote now and shape the future of a classic board game.

I don't currently have a backyard and while I often miss it, I have to say it is quite nice not having to go out weekly to mow the lawn. Mowing a lawn can be one of two things: relaxing and enjoyable or a serious pain in the butt. Some days it can be nice to be out in the lawn working on your yard, while other days, it can suck because your allergies are acting up and the grass is clumping all over the place. Nothing says fun like having to rake up your yard after mowing it because the grass got too long. Perhaps those days are coming to an end. Curious? Check out this article: No-Mow Grass May Be Coming to Your Yard Soon

This is pretty cool. As a Vonage customer, I think it is great. Now, if I can just get some friends in the European cities so that I can call them. Check out the press release below or get details here.

HOLMDEL, N.J., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Vonage America Inc., a subsidiary of Vonage Holdings Corp., a leading Internet telephony company in North America, today announced that it has waived its international calling rates to land lines in France, Ireland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom for subscribers signed up for the $24.99* per month Premium Unlimited Plan and the $49.99* per month Small Business Unlimited Plan. Current and future subscribers will no longer be charged the rates formerly billed per minute to locations within these countries.

"Continuing to recognize the requirement Vonage's customers have to make their communications needs less expensive, starting today you can now call your family, friends and business associates residing in Paris, Rome, Dublin, Madrid or London at no additional cost," stated Michael Tribolet, president of Vonage America Inc. "By including calls to these European nations within our unlimited calling plans, Vonage is now able to bring friends, family, and businesses from around the globe closer together."

Apparently it is really easy to throw places with a dress code into a state of panic. Friendly coworker Anton sent me a link at work and I have to say it is pretty funny to see what happens when a group of 80 people all dressed in blue and khaki go into a local Best Buy store.

Turn on the Fun: Best Buy Mayhem

So, two of my favorite artery cloggers, Five Guys, from my time in NOVA, and The Original Hot Dog Shop, from my time in Pittsburgh, have apparently moved in next to each other in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Oakland. CMU's online student newspaper brought this shocker to my attention in this article. As a born and raised Pittsburgher, I have to hope that The O kicks Five Guys obese butt. Despite my well-wishes for The O, I was just at Five Guys this past weekend (sigh...so much for living past 75...) and I have to say, the food is probably just a touch better. That said, you just can't get that disgruntled, po'ed ex-Steel worker attitude at any place in Pittsburgh quite like you can at The O, so I think both establishments will fare well.

So will eating at either Five Guys or The O kill you? Probably. I imagine that every 5th visit takes 2.5 years off your life. For those of us who fear they may be close to death due to such great eateries, check out this article...If you are able to walk a quarter mile, chances are you will be around for at least six years.

Smash My Viper
Leaving work the other day, I saw a beautiful Dodge Viper in front of me. I assumed it was a co-workers Viper and thought, jee, maybe some day I can blow too much money on a car. Then I noticed that the url smashmyviper.com was plastered all over the car. I decided to investigate. Apparently, the guy who runs the site probably with 99.9% certainty works at the same company as me. He is trying to raise money to get out of debt, sell the viper, and open a bar. You've got to love a person with goals, but I for one hope this whole smashmyPRODUCTNAMEHERE .com trend ends in the very near future. Note: There is no link to the site, as I do not support smashing objects that I would like to have, be they iPods or Dodge Vipers, but if you read the article very carefully, I am sure you can figure out where to point your browsers to.

...oh wait, it's just somebody talking on a bluetooth headset. I love technology. I love gadgets. I even love my bluetooth headset. I loathe people walking around everywhere talking incessantly on a bluetooth headsets. Back in the good old days (i.e. the 90's), it was easy to spot a crazy person walking towards you on the street. Nowadays, everywhere you look, people are talking on their wireless headsets, gesturing wildly, and generally looking insane in the process. Can't we go back to the good old days where you could walk through the grocery store without seeing walking around chatting away? Perhaps even worse than talking incessantly into a bluetooth headset is wearing one around like it is a fashion accessory. I recently saw three guys walking next to each other wearing bluetooth headsets. I think they were actually all on the phone with each other. Perhaps that blinking blue light blinded their peripheral vision and they didn't even know they were right next to each other. Ashame, really. People, save the bluetooth (and even wired headsets) for when you are in your car and you actually need a handsfree solution. I for one feel less safe since the proliferation of these headsets, as how can I tell when a crazy person is approaching me? Last week I urged people to practice safe gum-chewing technique. This week, I ask all of my 1 or 2 readers to help fight the good fight against people who just don't know when to not wear those damned headsets.