Link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-blogs-follow-web-designer/

For those of you who are in the same vocation as me - you'll find this interesting... or maybe even useful.

If you are a web designer, chances are there is always something interesting to be found. Whether you are looking for some creative inspiration, trying to stay up on the current trends, or are seeking the latest buttons, textures, or graphics, you can find them. If you simply want to sharpen your skills – or learn new ones – you can do that as well.

Link: http://mashable.com/2010/08/17/text-messaging-infographic/

Some interesting facts that you may not know about the simple form of communication known as text messaging.

Link: http://www.geekosystem.com/slow-songs-800-percent-justin-bieber/

They get really really cool - even Jusin Biebers music gets cool... and that's saying something.

Link: http://mashable.com/2010/08/18/tales-of-things/

I gotta admit, this is a novel idea. Basically you print out a QR tag (like a barcode) - stick it on something you own and then that code is associated with a journal for the object. If someone buys the object they can add to the journal etc.....

Once an object is labeled with a scannable QR code, its movements can be tracked, as well as any subsequent stories. Each object has the ability to tweet when its memories are scanned, as well.

All the user has to do is photograph the object or place to be tagged, write a few words or upload a video about it, print out a site-generated QR code and affix the code to the item or at the place. From that point forward, the place or thing can be tracked through TalesofThings.com.

The site’s creators call it the “antique roadshow of the future.”

Will it catch on? Eh I dunno... but it is a neat idea.

Link: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_ceo_suggests_you_change_your_name_to_escape.php

This is a no brainer -

Schmidt thinks teenagers should be entitled to change their names upon reaching adulthood in order to separate themselves from the Google record of their youthful indiscretions, is something worth stopping to take note of.

Goes back to the BBS days of using handles, and yep.... I'm pretty thankful that no records from those days still exist. Although my handle did follow me for several years after that.

Link: http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/

I'm always searching for my next book series and this site is certainly helpful if you're not sure where to go next. Put in a title or an author of something you've read and you'll get suggestions...

Link: http://www.onlineschools.org/blog/bacon/

All hail the king of meats!

Link: http://www.ebookstack.com/

1 - it does not look like these files are completely legal.

2 - some of the text files have odd characters.

3 - the site will probably not be online forever.

Knowing those things, if there's a book you just have to read then get it before the site gets shut down.

Link: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/snuggie_hopes_to_recruit_youtube_parodymakers_to_m.php

Yup, you heard correctly. Five big ones for the winning commercial - funny ones are acceptable.

the Snuggie Choice Film Awards - a request for "commercial, short film, documentary or parody" videos.

The winner will receive $5,000, a trip to New York City and maybe even the opportunity to produce or appear in a real Snuggie-brand commercial for 2011.

Get those cameras rolling!

Link: http://joannecasey.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-to-use-elevator-without-stopping.html

I've never tried this but word is that it works -

Link: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/send-automated-emails-save-time-sendemail-windows-task-scheduler/

I think every one of us has wanted to pre-set an email to fire off at a specific time - for whatever purpose. This article from Make Use Of tells you how you can do just that.

Most Windows users know about the Windows Task Scheduler by now. In this article, I’m going to show you how you can use Windows Task Scheduler in combination with the awesome SendEmail SMTP command-line tool to send off scheduled, automated emails that include multiple attachments.

Kind of amazing to see how close they were to being right.

Link: http://www.womansday.com/Articles/Health/Home-Remedies-Around-the-World.html

Pretty interesting article with a few of the classic home remedies ( some of which I never heard of ) do they work? Some of 'em do.

Native American Moms: Garlic Rub for Bee Stings

Dosage: Crush garlic bulbs and wrap them in a cloth. Rub the poultice onto the sting.
Verdict: Do it. Bee venom is acidic, and the natural components of garlic will neutralize the pain so you’ll feel immediate relief, says Ranella Hirsch, MD, clinical assistant professor at Boston University’s School of Medicine in Massachusetts

Link: http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/new-uses-for-old-things/summertime-new-uses-00000000016188/index.html

There are some really good ideas here to make your summertime a little easier.

Antacid Tablets

To soothe a bug bite, dissolve two tablets in a glass of water, then dab the solution on the itchy spot.

I can't say this will work for everyone but it's sure worth a try....

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2010/07/14/how-to-write-a-heart-and-other-symbols-with-the-keyboard/

I'm sure most of you already know this - but for the few who don't - now you know how to make those magically invisible symbols with your alt key.

# ☺
# ☻
# ♥
# ♦
# ♣
# ♠
# •
# ◘
# ○
# ◙

Link: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2002334,00.html

Think spending 5-7 bucks for that fancy schmancy carton of Organic eggs is healthier? Think again.

Most of the time, according to a just-released study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the eggs are indistinguishable. When there is a difference, it's often the factory eggs that are safer.

Link: http://jalopnik.com/366699/2010-pontiac-g8-sport-truck-the-el-camino-is-back

Just in time for the resurgence of drive in movies - so get those 1970's captain chairs out - bolt a couple in the back and don't forget that cooler! heh...

the El Camino is back! In January we reported this re-bodied Holden Ute would be called the 2010 Pontiac G8 ST, and like a Phoenix rising screamin' from the ashes of a bygone era of car-platformed trucks, this new heir to the truck-car throne would emerge from the over-built and over-spec'd world of modern haulers.

What has me confused is the Pontiac branding - I thought that brand was dead and gone?

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/07/12/son_of_the_invisible_gorilla/

The trick-cyclist who created a famous video in which viewers routinely fail to notice the appearance of a man in a gorilla suit among a group of people passing basketballs has produced a sequel.

In the new basketball-tossing vid, a gorilla also makes a brief appearance, but some other mildly noteworthy events also occur. Many people nowadays know that a gorilla will appear; but even though they are expecting unexpected events, those in the know are no better at clocking the non-gorilla oddities.

Link: http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110018/10-brands-that-may-disappear-in-2011

Some you'd expect - some maybe not.... two of my least favorite companies are on the list.

Radio Shack and Blockbuster.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/5579541/the-geek-vacation-checklist

I'm going on vacation for a week soon and found this useful. If you have a vacation coming up give it a look over.

Planning a vacation can be stressful enough without adding technology to the mix. Take the stress out of your summer travel plans with a geek-oriented vacation checklist.

Link: http://www.hackinthebox.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=36892

Interesting to see an open source encryption model has outwitted every attempt at several law enforcement agencies to decode it.

I guess the lesson here is two fold ...

1 - if you want to hide stuff... Truecrypt is a great program

2 - if you forget your passkey you are out of luck.

Think this was a rumor? Nope, apparently when they bought the land it had a whole underground complex on it and now those tunnels are used for Disney's purposes.. Thought I'd post this as I'm going to Disney this month - Woot!

Link: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11040438

Sure, this might be different... but what do you mix it with ? Seems like a perfect recipe for salmon vodka flavored vomit

The Alaska Distillery in Wasilla just recently launched its Smoked Salmon Flavored Vodka, about a year after the Seattle-based Black Rock Spirits introduced a bacon-flavored vodka.

Both savory spirits were intended to complement Bloody Marys, but are finding wider uses among mixologists.

"I think there was some madness and some drunkenness involved, honestly," said Toby Foster, an Alaska Distillery partner and the one charged with coming up with new flavors with Alaska themes.

Amen brother.... Amen.

Link: http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/06/23/facebook-thinks-email-is-probably-going-away

Just like the famous prediction that Desktops are going to die or that the "thin client" would take over for operating systems ( anyone using Android OS on a pc today? ) - Facebook is way off base with this prediction. The articles author is right, Email aint going anywhere as - how could you even sign up for Facebook without an email? How could Facebook spam you with notifications if you didn't have email?

Are Facebook staffers really so disconnected?

and the latest figures say that only 11% of teenagers email daily. So email (I can't imagine life without it) is probably going away.

Yes, let's base our whole outlook on what teens do as they're so much a reliable and trustable metric...

Next time you don't have a corkscrew - or maybe this would be a good bet to make at a party... here's how - (though the Language is French - you'll get the idea).

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/15/ozzy-osbournes-blood-to-b_n_612758.html

I just read his autobiography "I am Ozzy" - awesome read. After finishing though I was left to wonder the same thing. Maybe science can decode this mystery.

Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/14/jobs_apple_pride_fail/

Nice article bringing you up to date on Apples Walled Garden and Steve's battle to bring HTML5 to the forefront. I'm seeing a lot more negative opinions of Apples handling of this Flash battle ... Apple has more than started to lose it's cool.

Jobs' line is that HTML5 is the future for graphics, video, and presentation, and that Flash is history. Jobs, though, is misrepresenting and damaging HTML5.

Last week, his rhetoric was sanctified as the company's official position when Apple posted what it called an HTML5 Showcase, which purported to show what you can build on the web using open specs such as the World Wide Web Consortium's HTML5 and JavaScript.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/5562291/throw-smelly-shoes-in-the-freezer-to-freshen-them?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lifehacker%2Ffull+%28Lifehacker%29

You probably thought exactly the same thing I did when you read the title ... something like "but then the spumoni will taste like feet". Right?

First put the shoes in a ziploc bag. Turns out the bacteria that cause the odor can't survive the cold. So an overnight stay in the deep freeze can make your shoes smell better.

No word on how much yelling at you'll get when the little lady finds your boots on top of the peanut butter pie tho.

Link: http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/06/03/what-to-do-if-locked-out-of-gmail-and-what-to-do-now-if-you-are/

What with the way Google ties all your services into one login - having your account hacked or stolen could be devastating. This is one important article, not only as a fix but as a preventative measure.

If you are already locked out of your Gmail account, like one of our writers recently was, the first thing to do is visit the Gmail help page that tells you what to do if you cannot access Gmail. From here, choose, "My account has been compromised" and you will be directed to the Gmail account recovery form.
The recovery form asks for very detailed information about your Gmail and Google usage in order to verify that you are actually the owner of an e-mail account. If you're already locked out, be prepared to start thinking long and hard about what Google services you use and when you started using them.

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article7139267.ece

Um, well hearing it from their perspective I guess it sorta makes sense.

He has survived plane and quad-bike crashes, drug and alcohol addiction, mental breakdowns and dysfunctional family life to become a world authority on pharmacology, neurology, psychology and hypochondria. Meet our new under-the-counter health columnist, Dr Ozzy

Link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37466438/ns/today-entertainment/

Patrick Stewart has been upgraded from captain — to knight.

The actor — famous for playing Capt. Jean-Luc Picard on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" — officially became Sir Patrick Stewart when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

Careful with that pointy thing lady!

Link: http://www.ghacks.net/2010/06/02/amazon-personalized-ads-opt-out/

Personalized ads are pretty cool - they take what you've recently looked at and bought and suggest things that are similar. However, there are some times when this wouldn't be so cool. Lets say you were looking at things (or buying) - "things" that you wouldn't want all over your Amazon page when you opened it at work or a friends house....

Ghacks has the goods on how to disable this behavior.

Link: http://en.digitalkamera.com/how-big-is-a-yottabyte-infograph/

Go caught with this question in Trivial Pursuit and I didn't even know there was a Yottabyte - so here's a great infographic showing you the size of this puppy.