Offbeat

The Secrets to Beauty in One Simple Video!

It is not a secret that Photoshop enables magazines to make people look like idealized versions of themselves. In the world of photographic manipulation, no one has wrinkles, or pimples, or unsightly beads of sweat on hot days. Everyone is skinny and muscular, and clothes fit perfectly. In addition to being wildly unrealistic, it’s always ripe for parody, and Forbes shared a video that perfectly nails the absurdity of it: Fotoshop by Adobé is hysterical, and I love how it takes on not only Photoshop but the entire beauty industry. We are bombarded daily by commercials for chemicals that hide…

Gear Bits

Using YouTube to Relive My Favorite Childhood Show

When I was a kid, I loved educational television. Sure, 3-2-1 Contact was fun, but my favorite show of all time was Square One! What was Square One? Only the greatest show of all time…about math! From Wikipedia: Square One Television (sometimes referred to as Square One) is an American children‘stelevision program produced by the Children’s Television Workshop to teach mathematics and abstract mathematical concepts to young viewers. Created and broadcast by PBS in the United States from 1987 to 1994, the show was intended to address the so-called “math crisis” among American schoolchildren. The show was revived for the 1995–1996…

Gear Bits

Star Wars Burlesque! (NSFW)

A friend of mine sent me the link to this amazing new “Star Wars” themed show on Facebook, and now I really wish I had the vacation time and disposable income to visit Australia. Not only does it look beautiful but they have a very… Uhm… creative take on the Star Wars mythology. Again, warning, this is not suitable for kids, workplace, or anyone who doesn’t want to think about C3PO that way. Check it out. Sadly, I am guessing it will be some time before we see this show hit the states. Hopefully, it has a nice long run…

Gear Bits, News

Check Out A Cool ‘Live Lip Dub’ Wedding Proposal

Photo courtesy of Alysha Beck and The Oregonian Way back in the stone ages when I proposed to my wife, cell phones were very rare and barely functional outside of cities (and only made ‘phone calls’), video recorders were bulky and tape based and left behind large rectangles no one ever saw again, and a ‘flash mob’ would call to mind a bunch of people with no clothes on. Oh, and my thoughts involved a romantic setting, relaxation and solitude for my proposal. But as noted at LaughingSquid, Portland, Oregon actor Isaac Lamb had some different ideas about how to…

News

Add a Swimming Pool Nearly Anywhere!

I rented a house on Lake Nasworthy, or “Lake Nasty Water” as the San Angelo locals call it, back in 1995. It was a cute blue two-bedroom bungalow with a huge great room in the back that looked out on the lake. I had a boathouse that held my Sea-Doo, and when the mood struck, I’d go for a ride. Living on the lake was great for everything … except swimming. The water was murky, there was at least a foot of muddy sludge at the bottom, and there were water moccasins in the shallow areas. Not that I would…

Gear Bits, Outdoors

Add “Skydiving Without a Parachute” to the “Don’t Try This at Home” List!

I saw a headline on The Clymb today about a skydiver who completed a jump without a parachute, and at first, assumed the gentleman made a dramatic landing with a malfunctioning parachute. As it turns out, the actual story is much cooler. The jumper is a stuntman, and he designed a wingsuit specifically to try skydiving without a parachute for landing. They laid out boxes to help cushion his descent, and he landed safely! Check out the video below, and then hit up Sky.com for more details on his suit and flight. Then let us know: would you jump out…

News

Drink Like a Winner with a Gold Medal Bottle Opener

I am extremely excited for the upcoming Summer Olympics. Winter Olympics are ok, but summer is the best. Track and field, beach volleyball, swimming, beach volleyball, gymnastics, and did I mention beach volleyball? Now, I am not so excited as to celebrate with a themed party (full disclosure: we did that in college for the winter Olympics, and let’s just say it was sort of like “The Hangover” but with mystery IHOP receipts instead of casino ones). But if you do, you need to fully commit to it, and Gadgets and Gear has you covered with a medal-style bottle opener:…

Gear Bits

Modern Family Reimagined as Horror!

The ABC sitcom “Modern Family” is a sweet, funny look at what it means to be a family today. Each character has a mix of unique and stereotypical traits, and the kids are no exception. Alex, the middle child of one family, is the brainy daughter, and she often plays the straight man/outsider to the wackier elements of the show. One fan took those clips and reinterpreted them in a decidedly non-comedic way. What if Alex wasn’t just the brainy, put-upon middle child, but the brainy, put-upon, sociopath middle child? Fans of the show will know many of the out-of-context…

Gear Bits

A BBC Series Will Attempt to Dissuade People Who Believe In Alien Abductions

It’s interesting to hear the reasons given when people believe in things which seem contrary to what evidence otherwise proves, but there are plenty of people who do. Whether it be the country of Obama’s birth (and whether his US certificate is forged or not), that the earth will be destroyed in 2012 when the Mayan Calendar ends, that the events of 9/11 were not a terrorist attack, that childhood vaccinations cause autism, or that Beyonce was ever actually pregnant; there are people who find controversy in topics that others consider obvious closed cases. I recognize that, for many, there are…

Gear Bits, News

How Early Exposure to Dungeons & Dragons Impacts the Rest of Your Life

Were you playing tabletop Dungeons & Dragons as a child? Do you wonder how that might have impacted your life ever since? Now you can track your life through this flow chart! Head to The Uniblog for the full resolution version! Source: NY Times via The Uniblog

Gear Bits

How Much Gear Is too Much?

I have jury duty this week. My only other experience with jury duty was in Boston, and I remember sitting all day in a cramped room reading a book, and almost escaping being put on a jury. So I am anticipating a long day of “hurry up and wait” and have begun packing for the day accordingly. My original plan for what to bring was fairly extensive: iPad iPhone Computer (for logging into the office) Kindle Eers headphones Extra book Chargers iPhone iPod touch (for games) However, when I realized I was treating jury duty like I was going on…

Gear Bits

Antipodes Map Show Where that ‘Drill Through the Earth’ Dream Will Get You!

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you drilled straight through the earth? Chances are if you ever watched Bugs Bunny or were a child, the answer is yes! Now you can easily find out – head to Antipodesmap.com and locate yourself on the top map and see where you would end up! But one caveat – you will likely learn just how much of the planet is covered with water! Source: Buzzfeed

Gear Bits

May the 4th Be With You as Donny & Marie Do Star Wars!

If you go back 35 years to the late 70’s, it seemed that everyone had a variety show – and one of the best things was that they were all live. I loved watching the Carol Burnett show, and one of the best parts was that Harvey Korman could never keep a straight face once Burnett and Tim Conway got going. Donny & Marie had an enormously popular variety show in the late 70’s based around their singing, dancing, charming personalities and wholesome images. They brought in a younger crowd than other shows and also provided an alternative to the…

Gear Bits, Travel

McSweeney’s Guide to Airline Passenger Profiling

You’ve heard about racial profiling, but how about pants profiling? Oh, you hadn’t heard of it? That’s okay, neither had I … until I found myself nodding and chuckling as I read the list of what to expect from other passengers on a flight — based on the type of pants they were wearing! Wool Suit Pants: Will board before you. Wool Hunting Pants: Will board after you. Pleated Dockers: Will loudly talk on cell phone about ROIs and vertical markets. Pajama Bottoms: Will be flying either to or from a city with a Señor Frog’s. Sweatpants with Dallas Mavericks Logo: Will clog one or…

Gear Bits

That Classic High Schooler Summer Camp Job is Now Filled With a PhD Graduate

Anyone who thinks that economic woes are behind us needs to check out this recent article from the Atlantic. It talks about how many recent graduates are unable to find a suitable job based on their education. About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor’s degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years. In 2000, the share was at a low of 41 percent, before the dot-com bust erased job gains for college graduates in the telecommunications and IT fields. Out of the 1.5 million who languished in…

eBooks, News

Ellen Reads from ’50 Shades of Grey’

If you follow pop culture and popular books at all, you have heard something about the novel 50 Shades of Grey. If not, I’ll catch you up quickly: it was a Twilight fan-fiction which gained interest from publishers but needed a change of characters, which basically puts a young college student and a rich older man together … but rather than vampires and werewolves we have whips and chains. In fact, Christian Grey makes young Anastasia Steele sign a contract allowing him to subject her to his every BDSM whim. And if you don’t know what BDSM is … chances…

Editorials, News

Monsanto, Already ‘Most Evil Company of 2011’, Buys Bee Research Company to Hide Ills

There are few insects as critical to just about every part of the ecological cycle as the bee. Some estimates say that one-third of naturally grown food requires pollination by bees, including most fruits, vegetables and nuts. Coffee, soy beans and cotton are all dependent on pollination by bees to increase yields. It is the start of a food chain that also sustains wild birds and animals. And yet in recent years the bee population has been in freefall, with reports stating that a decline of 90% or more has occurred over the last few decades. The reports are not…

Music Diary, News

Music as Art … Sheet Music Art, That Is!

An artistic duo called ‘People Too’ from Novabrinsk in Russia are known for their amazing papercraft that seeks to bring small scenes to life, but apparently they can also bring sheet music to life as well! We all know that music is art, and therefore sheet music contains art … but it is amazing when the sheet music ITSELF becomes art! The site linked below has more than a dozen examples of great art done in between the stanzas – definitely check it out. Take a look at this one! Head to the site and check out all of them!…

News

Hilariously Effective Nike ‘I Would Run to You’ Commercial

How often do you see a full 2.5-minute commercial that even as it is obviously selling a brand, makes you stop and fully engage in the story? Well, this new commercial for Nike featuring two lovers who find themselves across the country and missing one another is cute, endearing, and hilarious. It is a great story … and well worth watching and sharing! Here is the description: Nike and W+K Portland put a romantic twist on running, with this 2:30 video about two lovers running across to country to see each other, directed by Rattling Stick’s Ringan Ledwidge. Promoting the…

Gear Bits

Frank Warren’s TED Talk on Half a Million Secrets

There is not a Sunday morning that goes by where I don’t check out the latest offerings from PostSecret, a project started after its creator, Frank Warren, had a dream while visiting Paris in 2003. The idea behind the site is that people send in their secrets anonymously, on 4×6 postcards that they have created themselves. Senders are told to “Reveal anything – as long as it is true and you have never shared it with anyone before.” The beauty of Frank’s project is that sometimes the secrets shared are secrets that could be yours, or they are secrets that will relate…

Editorials

Need Proof Optical Media is Dead? Look at My Wife.

If ever you wondered if optical media (CDs and DVDs) is dead and gone this brief interaction from last night should make the point with utter clarity. A bit of background before the “blow by blow” Elana is not a techie. She’s not anti-technology either. As she often puts it, “I think this stuff is amazing and I appreciate what it can do but that is where it ends for me. I just can’t get excited about it the way you do.” But when it comes to the 11″ MacBook air she has been using for the past year and…

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