Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with music: 

and other reasons I love TED:

Sure I have talked about TED before  but sometimes you just have to see it to believe it. Please check it out *here* .

 

EDC: Every Day Carry

EDC is a term I hear a lot from Police and Firemen that I ofter associate with the gun or knife they carry "Every Day"

But really we all have a small list of items that we carry that this site showcases just that: what people carry... every day.

In their own words:

Everyday Carry, or EDC, generally refers to small items or gadgets worn, carried, or made available in pockets, holsters, or bags on a daily basis to manage common tasks or for use in unexpected situations or emergencies. In a broader sense, it is a lifestyle, discipline, or philosophy of preparedness.

Its fun to see what others carry and its given me some ideas on how I might change what I carry... every day.

Enjoy  it *here* or cut/ paste this in to your browser of choice. 

OH and don't forget to check out the archive.

http://everyday-carry.com/ 

Science is really cool and other reasons I justify my geekness.

You might not know what quantum trapping and super-conductors are but you should. Why? Because with that you can do stuff like this (see video) and if you cant see the video... then read more about them *here*.

Thanks to io9 for this one.

New York pays tribute to Ann Arbor

Recently the New York Times posted an article (*see it here*) highlighting some of the cool things do do and places to go in Ann Arbor.
I have to say the hit most of the good spots.
Hmmm... and I thought all New Yorkers were rude. Its good to be wrong sometimes. Thanks Guys.

Cool Gear: Acer Iconia-6120 14-Inch Dual-Screen Touchbook

Recently I have been lusting after some new tech and I have been following all the new Honeycomb tablets with great enthusiasm.
The Girl is not as enthused.

“What do you need it for?” She asked

“ I don’t need it I just want it.’ Was my best answer.

The more I think about it the more I realize she is right. What would I use it for? I mean the computer is my comfort zone. What do I need a tablet for.. running apps? Maybe what need is a new computer. A fabulous new laptop, something like the Acer Iconia-6120 14-Inch Dual-Screen Touchbook. Its not perfect, and the batter life leaves something to be desired. Yet… its awesome.

You can read more about it *here*.

For now its just a thought but I fear if I don’t get something I will fall into a tech coma.

Just more proof I should be committed.

I am WAY to excited about this little generator plug that we just had installed today.

Loosing power is never fun.

Being able to provide power to entire sections of the house one breaker at a time....

Nice.

My neighbors are in western Canada....

and they are blogging about the experience.
 I can honestly say in am totally jealous.
Not just because they are on a 3 month vacation, but that is certainly part of it.  Mostly it is that the photos they are taking are amazing and the adventure they describe is truly once in a lifetime.
The amount of raw nature they are capturing is almost unbelievable. Like this black wolf cub that they found wandering by the side of the road.
Just.
Amazing.
I can only stand back and take it all in.
You can see the blog yourself *here* if you want but I warn you… its intoxicating.
(Hint- check out the archives)

Some rumors you just *hope* are true

From Gizmodo:

Bin Laden Killing Team May Have Used Night Vision Contact Lenses

Jesus Diaz — Christian at Military.com's Kit Up! has heard an interesting rumor on one of the technologies that Seal Team 6 used to kill Osama bin Laden: Night vision contact lenses! Holy pants, Batman.

    I heard a rumor that the Team guys who busted bin Laden might have been wearing "cat vision" contact lenses that literally give the wearer night vision for a limited time without having to wear the bulky, heavy NVGs.

  

Cool Gear: Living with Square

What is Square? It’s a solution to a problem I didn’t know I had. What it really is is a mini credit card reader that you hook up with the * free * software and once you jump though some hoops viola! You have your own personal credit card machine for your smart phone or tablet.

Check it out *here*  or find it in any app store (at least Android or ios ) but here is two things that amaze me:

1) Everyone that sees it thinks its cool.

2) No one has heard of it

So what do I do with it? So far I don’t know. I could see it would be a killer app for a small business. Or a garage sale. For now it’s just cool that I can take credit card  payments, and I have used it… for some people that owed me money. Some reimbursements for lunch, materials I purchased and more.

 

Still, it is largely a solution to a problem I did not know I even had.

A cool solution at that.

Somtimes you find the coolest things

I ran in to this classic 1966 Honda today.

I think I am in love.

To bad the girl sad no.

Cool Gear: The Hover Bike

Mark this day.
This is the day when cool gear has reached its pantheon.
What you see here is the hover bike. You can read more about it *here* but really this is all you need to know.
I want one. I want one. I want one.
When I saw it I… I wanted one. Later I thought about it I wanted it more. Much later I was still thinking about it… I wanted it more.
I goes over 170 mph, 10,000 feet and screams awesome.  Sure the Girl thinks I’m nuts but lets face it, I am. Hell I even kind of like the way she doesn’t even sugar coat it. The Hover bike is awesome. Sure its not out yet, but it will be. If not I will just make one. I am not kidding, I will have one.
Is this the future of travel? Maybe. I will I have one? Definitely.
PS: I thought about it some more: I want 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.

I had almost forgotten..

Among all the crap on the InterWeb is great resources like the Library Of Congress full of goodness and images of all kinds like this architectural drawings of the LOC itself.

I could get lost in there.

Just Cool: Romantically Apocalyptic

I stumbled across a certain web comic called romantically apocalyptic about the adventures of two dudes in a post nuclear holocaust that I find intriguing. It includes a lot of cool things : Aliens, monsters, misguided survivors and maybe best of all irreverent and almost over the top sarcasm.

I have to say hit the link *here* to see one of my favorite panels and peruse around a bit when you have some time to kill.

AGAIN WITH THE FLIPBOARD....

Flipboard, for the iPad, is still keeping me enthralled AND is single handedly kept twitter interesting for me.

Not that I would not use twitter with out filpboard... I just would not find it so damn cool.

Cool Gear: FIlson Tin Cloth Packer Coat

Somethings are so awesome that they almost defy description.

This is the case with Filson Tin Cloth Packer Coat.

With fall around the corner this jacket will keep you warm and Filson quality will mean this jacket will be around for years.

I have to be honest: I have a pair of Filson hunting pants and a hat and these two things I count on my very short list of prized possessions.

In a world of disposable items the quality of Filson is a refreshing breath of fresh air.

If you are interested you can find it *Here*.

Cool Pict...

The tenant at the country house just landed a new job as safety manager for a steel plant. He emailed me these this picture of a furnace in action. melting steel.

I thought it was cool enough to post.

Rainmeter...desktop zen

Since the new laptop is running
windows 7 I decided to take advantage of some of the more powerful customization tools and ran across Rainmeter.

Rainmeter allows a little more customization than the overage windows options allowing me to make my desktop a little more minimalist... just the way I like it.

Scary thing is I only have had a second to play with it.... it might just be the beginning of something crazy.

(Click on the above image to see a better view of my current desktop)

The Devil is in the details....

Here you see actual pencils, actually carved by hand into actual little tiny works of art.

Someone has way too much time on his hands. Honestly,though, I love it.

Thanks engadget.

Cool gear: best table ever

I thought we had a cool dining room table but this one is frickin awesome.

Worthy of James Bond, this may be the best piece of furniture I have ever seen. Thanks to Hack a day for this one.