Science Project!

UPDATE: There's a third frame that got cut off. Please click on it to read the rest!

My dad found this comic in the paper he was reading on our flight back from upstate New York on Monday. I think it will be quite applicable to Louis and I in the future... hopefully I can set aside my perfectionism to let him make the project ;-)

Review: Stainless Steel Sharpie

Seeing as how my mom works for Sharpie and hooked me up with some, and how @sharpiesusan tweeted nonstop about how they're available at amazon.com, I thought I would give a review on the new Stainless Steel Sharpie. First, I'll give my initial thoughts before I obtained one, then the review once I got my hands on it.

I have to admit, I thought the idea of a SS Sharpie was cool as hell when I first heard about it. I mean, like most guys, I like metal. Plus, my dad is a welder, so I'm into that kind of stuff. I almost picked a stainless (or titanium) wedding band before I realized resizing them would be a pain. That's about as far as I thought about it though, as I didn't really seek out any pics or specs (I knew my mom would eventually get me one anyway). The one negative thought I had in my mind (which has since been contradicted) was that refilling this SS Sharpie would probably be a mess. Anyway, on to my first meeting with SS Sharpie.

Actually having the Sharpie in my hand was great. It looks amazing. The best part is probably the laser etched, raised "Sharpie" logo. I guess I never realized it before, but the cool new logo brought to my attention that when I hold the marker, the logo is upside down since I'm left handed. Granted, this is no knock, but I'll be trying to convince the higher-ups (i.e., mom) to make some lefty SS Sharpies! It writes great and it looks really cool and professional. My one concern over messy refills was unwarranted. The refill is actually the entire marker, and the SS part is basically a screw-on sheath and cap. Again, amazing. That about sums it up, like I said, amazing. Definitely worth the ~$6.

For a review from an actual expert, check out Office Supply Geek. They were nice enough to send me their review via twitter (@OfficeSupplyGee) after I had mentioned I was going to write one, and they have some great pics I was too lazy to take.

Great T-shirts!

I saw this ad on Facebook for a really cool t-shirt. It's a "you're killing me Smalls" t-shirt. Seeing as how "The Sandlot" is one of my most favorite movies for-e-ver, I couldn't pass up sharing this.

Oh, but it gets even better! If you go to the link for the shirt, they have the whole scene quoted. THEN, on the "related products" list for this shirt, nothing other than a Rick "the Wild Thing" Vaughn jersey, Jamaican bobsled team shirt, and yes, from one of my favorite trilogies, an Adam Banks jersey.

For those not hip to these movies, they're respectively: "Major League," "Cool Runnings," and "The Mighty Ducks." The dude who thought of making shirts from these movies is a pure genius. If I had money I'd buy one or two, or three.

Gainsville Photobooth rental!!!

Oh yeah, and if you're planning an event, I highly recommend renting a photobooth. Linnea had one at our wedding and used it as our guest book. Guests went in, then the attendant glued their photos in the book, and our guests wrote to us next to their pictures. It was one of the biggest things at the reception, right up there with the dance floor and the hosted bar.

So anyway, you should especially get one if you live around central Florida. One of my good friends Taylor just helped start phobooth.com. They even have props and everything!

Things I found 02

Unfortunately, well not unfortunately for me the new dad, but unfortunately for the new thing I started a couple weeks ago called "things I found," having a baby kind of hindered my ability to peruse the things I normally peruse online. Well, here are some stale things I found the week before my son was born, and one from today.

If you're lucky, they'll make a sign for your name, instead of spelling out the letters. Did any of your students do this Grandma? [Kottke]

I guess they make "cat"s out of some pretty expensive metal. [Tribune]

This stuff does happen. Straight out of Clancy... [Tribune]

Viva Watermelon! [Sun Times]

Line cutter!

Kottke posted about a guy who encountered a line-cutter at an Apple store when the iPhone 3G was released. I linked to Lance's site to read the entire entry, and it was absolutely amazing. Not only was it written with a great attention to his thoughts and details, but I started getting mad at the line-cutter myself! This blog entry is probably how I would envision my blog if that's what I did for a living. Unfortunately when I post, I get too excited and try to get it published quickly rather than being patient and adding the details that made that post so wonderful.

Read it! You'll be happy.

Things I Found 01

Taking inspiration from something on kottke.org, I've decided to post an almost-weekly entry linking to really interesting articles or information I found online over the week. Enjoy.

Even Bill Gates hates Windows. [Endgadget]

Don't swat the honey bee. [News Gazette]

Maybe they'll make "anti-matter" like in Angels and Demons. [Chicago Sun-Times]

Nick Swisher really is that awesome. [Chicago Sun-Times]

People in my building are hanging with Harry Potter. [Chicago Sun-Times]

You can sell your life on eBay (including friend introductions) for $380,000. [Chicago Tribune]

Good thing I didn't play PS3 this week. [Endgadget]

Segways to protect Olympcs. [Endgadget]

Tiger hurting 10 years = new, SUPER TIGER. [Daily Illini]

According to Uni Watch, White Sox were the first team to put names on back of uniforms, use separate batting practice jerseys, only MLB team to wear shorts, and celebrate half-way to St. Patrick's day. [ESPN]

Proof that I rock

Here's some proof that I officially rock. Apparently, two-thirds of the last 6 presidents have been left-handed, and McCain and Obama are both lefty's too (thanks Kottke). In fact, in several of the elections both major candidates have been left-handed. You should read the article, it talks about how you only use half your brain, and I use all of mine!

Warning: gaydar may be faulty

I was trying to catch up on some of my Google Reader feeds that have been neglected, when I came across the article linked in the title of this post. It's an editorial about an article the writer found in the LA Times about a study that found some interesting things regarding sexual orientation and genetic traits.

The story mentions one study that found that the hair of gay men was 3.5 times more likely to grow in a counterclockwise fashion.

Still another found that men who were left-handed were 34 percent more likely to be gay. That figure grew to 90 percent for women.

Holy cow! So if you don't know me, my wife and I are both left handed (and heterosexual). So we notice other leftys, and I really doubt the lefty remark above is true. I'd love to see who they actually studied to come to these conclusions, and would hope they try and look at people from all areas of the country.

Anyway, besides the lefty thing, and depending on how the media twisted their results, this could be a pretty ground braking study that could essentially prove that being gay is not always a choice, but genetic. If they can prove it, that would be a huge step toward certain people (and church denominations) becoming less homophobic. Granted it would take a while, and these results could be totally wacky. The editorial author does bring up a good point, that if they can find pinpoint accurate traits, what if someone doesn't want their orientation known, but has those traits?

Remember: "90% of statistics can be made to say whatever you want, 50% of the time." What a great commercial...