Cool Gear: app refresh Little Photo

I may have waxed nostalgic before about how a silly little app can refresh a phone and make it seem new again.

What is true for the iPhone is also true for the Android.

Little apps  like Little Photo for Android. Tons of cool photo effects with a cool zune like interface.
Apple may still be ahead in the app department but free apps like this make the android market seem like a viable alternative after all. Just about 1 year behind.

Random Tuesday observations.

Things I have learned this week (and its only Tuesday):

No matter how busy you will get, and you will get very busy, you can always get busier.

Mankind’s biggest problem, most of the time, is over complicating the situation. Seriously if you could simplify things you could rule the world.

Wilfred looks like a damn funny show.  Damn funny.

Even though I am getting older, I can still be surprised. As much as I like being right all the time, I hope that never entirely stops.

Apparently I am doomed to re learn things I have already learned over and over again.

Origon of the cursor

I
Love
History.

thanks to gizmodo for the lesson

Happy Memorial Day Everyone

Just a reminder memorial day is more than just an extra day off.

Thanks to annarbor.com for the photo.

Tornado sirens going off!

Tornado sirens going off - Phone is blowing up with warnings and TV is talking about 70 MPH winds.

Brace for impact everyone.
*update*
It was pretty much a non event here as the storm line broke up just on our doorstop.

Fishing gear.

Top reasons might be too excited about going fishing next month

Top reasons might be too excited about going fishing next month:

1)      tied my shoes with a monofilament knot this morning.

2)      Measured the truck for outriggers… almost put them on

3)      Already easing into my beef jerky – beer diet

4)      Randomly breaking out in my U.P. accent.

5)      Already mapped out trip to Cabellas for gear I likely don’t need.

SWA- Squirrel with attitude

Here you see a little indignant rodent that just stayed out side of my reach chirping like crazy when tanner and I were in the front yard for our morning routine. He sat on one of the giant silver maple twins in the front yard barking at us. This little guy knew he was just safe and I was just tired enough to let it slide. I have had enough of nonsensical complaining this week already.

Swa

Like I said... it rained like a bitch today

Images like this all over Ann Arbor were the norm today as heavy rain flooded roads all over the place.
Sadly more rain on tap for tonight. 

Its a pretty rainy Wednesday here in Ann Arbor today

Its a pretty rainy Wednesday here in Ann Arbor today. Just enough to make me not want to get anything done. 

The worst part it I have a lot to do and instead I would just rather watch the rain. 

Oh well... back to work.

Best comment of the day:

It wasn't that long ago we were all "Holy Shit! AMD made a 1ghz desktop CPU!"

Now the phone does it.

We're such spoiled tech-hungry monkeys. 

Thanks to gizmodo and Stu

I've been called a lot of things this weekend...

I've been called a lot of things this weekend...from Asshole to Zealot but somewhere in the middle I was a mechanic tracking down the cause of the mysterious blown fuses to this faulty voltage regulator on the ATV.

Its a great world where I can track down the service manual on line and use it to help me narrow down the style cramping 30amp main fuse blowing issue.
At least I hope this is the issue. I will let you know as soon as I replace it. 

My secret fishing lure this year....

My secret fishing lure this year....LAZER CAT

Kitty found an empty spot in my tackle box and went all Scott Summers on my ass.

Dear Pet supply sellers

Even if I had a bird, and I don't, there is no way in hell that I would pay $4.16 for a Stick.
I found this stick, debarked and ready to put in your bird cage in the store. All for the low low price of $4.16. Or you can just go outside and snag one off any random tree and save yourself some green.

Spring is back and the fish are calling

Spring is back and the fish are calling my name.  Spring in MI can be so damn nice.

Sometimes I get so Busy...

Sometimes I get so Busy...when I am pressing buttons I start pressing phone buttons on the computer keyboard and the keyboard buttons on the phone.

Gotta.
Stop.
Multi-tasking

I

Urban Garden

A new way to fill potholes.

(aptly named spring st, Ann Arbor MI)

Thanks to arborweb.com for this one.

COOL GEAR: ASCII ART GENERATOR

 If you dont know what ASCII art is, well you are probabally not as old as I.
Or maybe not so geeky.

If you do know what it is, Or if you want to re-live some old school fun. I found this generator for you to play with.

Click *here* to check it out.

Have fun with it.

Top five reasons it does not matter if this weekend is the apocalypse. ( and Im not sayin it will…. But just incase)

Top five reasons it does not matter if this weekend is the apocalypse.

( and Im not sayin it will…. But just incase)

5) At least I won’t have to mow the lawn Sunday

4) No more world = no more debt. That may not be all that bad.

3) I did not want to return that library book anyway.

2) This might be my only way to retirement.
1) Lets face it either way… we all had a pretty good run.

Latetly some one has mistaken my tolerance...

Latetly some one has mistaken my tolerance...for weekness.
This is somthing I will not tolerate.

<3 & h8 2 b back

As always the problem with leaving seems to be:
You miss it when you are gone but when you are back you remember its not all its cracked up to be.

Big family wedding this weekend

Million things to do. 
Thousands of  details.
Hundreds of guests.
Dozens of issues.
Two people.
One happy couple.

Speaking of thing missing

This hugh silver maple my neighbors just chopped down will be missed.

Good Morning

Ahhhh.....
SPRING.

Meanwhile at work…

Meanwhile at work…I have the normal 1.5 million things to do and the stupid phone lines were out. This was last Monday, so I had to go into the utility room with the repair guy when I noticed something a little odd.  The pipe for the sprinkler system for the whole complex was sticking out of the cement. The cement was broken near the base. Did the pipe freeze? Did it shift?

I took this shot, sent it off to the sprinkler guys, they could not figure out what was going on. So I tabled it. Fast forward to today.

This morning as I casually drove by the utility room something caught my eye and I screeched to a stop. I backed up and saw this:

Yep the pipe was missing. Not just missing sawed off.

W.T.F

It seems that I was unable to see the obvious. It was not frozen or broken it was smashed. It was not the sprinkler guys. It appears some mental midget thought that it was a good idea to smash the concrete to get the pipe out. This particular super genius, when he could not get it out a week or so later decided just cut off the copper pipe. I estimate that this is a couple of dollars worth of scrap copper. Tops.

Ok here is where I go a little off the rails:

To the person that took my copper pipe.
It not about the money, or the time or the hassle.

Its more than that.

This really just pisses me off. I mean really really angers me. More than it should. Some might call it displaced anger, I would say it’s a focusing event.

Tomorrow I have a meeting with the sprinkler guys, the police and neither one of them are really going to give a shit. I, on the other hand, have made an enemy.

Random wanderings: A stop by Zingermans

It was a spectacular weather day and my work day actually took me on a quick field trip. I was on Detroit st in Ann Arbor so I just had to stop by Zingermans.

Not the roadhouse but the real deal downtown. I was only in and out for a second but the sights and sounds alone were enough to send the heart racing.

Interesting tree

At the end of a long day, completing a short weekend Tanner and I had our walk. It was a nice finish and the weather could not have been better.
I thought the bark on this tree was interesting so I took a quick shot of it looking up.

Shop time: Car maintenance edition

It was only 39,000 miles ago the girls car was new. Today, in the blink of an eye, it was time to replace the break pads.

Thanks to my good friend Ron, his help and the use of HIS shop, it was a quick pleasant , and most importantly inexpensive morning project.

You’re living in a computer simulation, and math proves it

*re-post*but totally worth your time.

You’re living in a computer simulation, and math proves it

Ed Grabianowski — Is your life really your life, or is it actually the dream of a butterfly? Or is it a complex computer simulation indistinguishable from "real" reality? Don't worry, it's just a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something.

Questions about the nature of reality weren't invented by high-as-a-kite college sophomores. Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi noticed sometime around 300 BCE that his dreams of being something other than human (a butterfly, most famously) were indistinguishable from his experience being Zhuangzi. He could not say with certainty that he was Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly rather than a butterfly dreaming of being Zhuangzi.

Continue reading *here* at io9.com

Cool gear: Planetary for iPad

For all the saber rattling between Apple and Android there is no doubt, at least in my mind, that Apple is leaps and bounds ahead of its open counterpart in the app department.
Planetary is one of those apps that just cements my point.

Its just a music player. That's it. Just a music player that is so uniquely executed that it is just a joy to use.
Just a music player like no other. One that just blew my mind. If you have an iPad check it out. It free in the iTunes store. You wont be disappointed. Click *here* for a review.

Support our general cause and/or movement:

Is it me or are protesters getting lazy.

Thanks to clickondetroit.com  for the photo.

Mexico's new cultural ambassador....

Mexico's new cultural ambassador.... seems to be getting into the whole Cino de Mayo spirit.

When cornered for a comment BA had this to say:

FOOL! OF COURSE 1980'S TV STARS ARE STILL RELEVANT! FOOL!

If you stand by the river long enough:

Another landmark gone:

From annarbor.com
 
Ypsi Arbor Bowl closed for business after its final frame on Saturday. Ypsi Arbor Lanes was Ypsilanti’s last standing bowling alley, with a number of league bowlers who played there regularly. Bonkowski said that the alleys were busy on its last Saturday night, and that many regulars made their way out to say goodbye.

This one kind of makes me sad. I used to live right down the street from this place. 
   

Cool gear- bolefloor hardwood floors. Life is not a straight line.

If you like wood floors you might just love bolefloor's more natural take on the tradtional favorite.
Check the product out *here*.
 Just don't get mad if you fall in love only to find that the product is not quite available yet (summer of 2011). Likely out of my price range anyway as craftsman ship like this cant be cheap. Still a guy can dream right?

Globe Stand Complete and more.

Did I get some things done this weekend? Sure I did.
Did I get what I wanted to done? Not even close.
I did manage to get the globe stand stained, sanded, and sealed.

The little project turned out pretty good. 
I also did manage to knock out this little utility cars designed to to hold rakes/shovels and yard implements. This was actually an old oak trashcan that I put on renewed.refurbished for this purpose. Since this was a project that I had not started I was only able to build the handle from a similar red oak the grid the internal grid, and trim are are a softer wood that I am hoping will stain up as a nice contrast. Once all the glue is done drying I guess we shall see.