Sunday, November 13, 2011

Worlds collide! No, really.

I mainly use Twitter as a news reader, ok, well also as a time waster, but only SOMETIMES.
I stumbled across a really neat feed that tweets the events of World War II in real time. The flow in as if the events were occurring today, as current news stories. The dates and times correspond, and they include pics, quotes and links.
I'm only a little bit of a history buff, but I really liked the idea and presentation of this.
Check out : @realtimeWWII on Twitter. You'll join the other 101,315 followers in this unique use of modern technology.

Q

#CMC11

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Sleepiness doesn't stop creativity - #CMC11

..but insane schedules sometimes push things way way off course.

Ugh.

I find that over the last year or so, I've been enjoying podcasts and news / spoken word stations on my iPod far more than I listen to music. One silly time waster of a podcast that I listen to regularly is the horribly-titled "Professor Blastoff".

The show is hosted by three friends who are comedians, and the premise they started with is they found a small hatch in the basement under one of their houses, opened it, and found a large abandoned lab. Poking around, they found a radio with which they began communicating with this "Professor" who seems to be floating around in another dimension.

Here's the little blurb from their website :


Professor R.L. Blastoff initally created a weekly radio show in the early 1940′s, shortly after he had begun preliminary work on a prototype time machine. His research over the course of his distinguished career in fields such as applied physics, molecular biology, and chemical engineering earned him numerous prestigious awards – including two nobel prizes. Sadly, before his radio show reached the air, his time machine reached completion and he was transported not only to a different time – but a completely different dimension. Since then, he has been helplessly trying to navigate his way home. Until he returns, his radio show is guest-hosted by three people who mistakenly wandered into his office.

Yeah.

So this sounds absolutely terrible. Believe me, I know. I knew and enjoyed two-thirds of the cast prior to them starting the podcast, and despite the hokey premise I decided to check it out.

The bizarre setup is a way to lead into the three hosts to discuss their interests in science, theology and anything that grabs them. It is silly, but enjoyable to pass the time and they often have guests to lend a hand in explaining some of the tougher topics.

The most recent one featured the comedian and sketch actor Paul F. Tompkins and was about creativity, and I thought I'd share it in case anyone is interested. It is definitely fluff, and not a deep, thought-provoking show, but it's silly and enjoyable and there are definitely some topics that spark SOME thoughts. The hosts keep it clean, but there is some (very occasional - in fact I can only recall a few instances over the 28 episodes) language, so the kids MAY need to be out of earshot, but it's never vulgar or inappropriate.

Here's a link to the latest show on creativity : http://www.earwolf.com/episode/creativity/

Here's a link to the show's website : http://www.professorblastoff.com/

Hopefully it'll make someone smile or laugh!

Q

#CMC11

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Coffee maker! Drip! Drip! Drip! #CMC11

A few quickies this morning. I've had them sitting but forgot to add them...

I LOVE this thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbBA1DRE84&feature=player_embedded

The Inkling is so, so sweet.


And I just thought this was pretty neat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaRcWB3jwMo


More soon!

Q

#CMC11