Fantasist's Scroll

So, today, my Friday Fun Links have a theme.

I'm not sure if it was the cleaning this week or what, but I've been feeling very, well, um, "domestic". So, my fun links this week pretty much all have to do with things around the house, or housing itself.
Okay, so let's start from the outside and work our way in. First, I have a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplesimon/sets/72157594514999805/">link to some interesting plans for an 11 foot by 7 foot flat in London</a>. Apparently inspired by a janitor's closet with a bathroom that sold for £170,000 in London's upmarket Chelsea, the plan is really quite ingeneous.
Now, let's talk furnishings... If you've just spent $335,000 on a large broom closet, you probably don't have much left over for furnature, so it'll be IKEA for you. No worries, though, thanks to the <a target="_blank" href="http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/index.html">IKEA Hacker blog</a>. Yes, the stuff on that blog all started life as humble IKEA flatpack that got modified into something wonderful. I especially like the breakfast nook for two.
But, you'll need light for this tiny hovel, right? Well, thanks to Gizmodo, you can light your flat with <a target="_blank" href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/coolest-lamps-ever-235028.php">the coolest, freakiest science-fiction lamps ever</a>. Also, you can use the <a target="_blank" href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/goofy-light-switches-might-turn-you-…, hippest, most radically arty light switches ever </a>to turn the lights on. I thought the pool ball switch was cool for the mini-flat, since it was described as being about the size of a billards table.
But, wait! There's more! Since this flat would be so totally strapped for space, there'd be no room for a rack of cookbooks in the kitchen, er, make that, by the tiny hotplate and microwave. So, instead, use the <a target="_blank" href="http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/cooboo-digital-cookbook-concept-2350… Digital Cookbook</a> that's the size and shape of a spatula!
And, finally, in a barely related story, if you can squeeze into the fridge, get out some <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nofactzone.net/?p=883">Ben and Jerry's Steven Colbert's Americone Dream ice cream</a>. No, I'm not making that up, but, also no, it's not quite available yet. Yet.

So, there you have it, a geek getting domestic and working on too little sleep. Enjoy your links and your Friday!
And, yes, this did appear on my other blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">Diary of a Network Geek</a>.

Today is <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wbburrou.htm">William S. Burroughs</a>' birthday.

<p class="daily">Born in St. Louis, Missouri on this day in 1914, he is best known for having written <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=0802132952%26tag=fantasis… Lunch</em></a>, which was later turned into a movie that starred Peter Weller. He started writing while attending Harvard, but when a piece of his was rejected by <em>Esquire</em> magazine, he was so disappointed that he didn't write again for six years. He tried to enlist in the military, but he was turned down by the Navy,and when he got into the Army infantry, his mother arranged for him to be given a psychiatric discharge.
So, at 30 years old, he moved to New York City and got involved in a bohemian scene. It was there that he was introduced to two younger men, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. He also got addicted to heroin, and wrote his first book about it, a memoir called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=0142003166%26tag=fantasis…;. It came out in 1953.
Burroughs is also famous for having accidentally shot his wife at a party while recreating the infamous "William Tell scene."</p>

Okay, these are all crazy links that almost have a theme.

Well, if you count that I found them all amusing, I guess that could be a theme.
Hey, at least they're funny!
First, there's chicks noodling. Now, if you aren't familiar with noodling, that'd be bare-handed catfish fishing. No rod or reel, just you and the catfish, mano-a-mano. Er, mano-a-fino. Anyway, when I saw this on <a target="_blank" href="http://delendaestcarthago.blogspot.com/2007/01/noodlin-with-chicks.html… Est Carthago</a>, I just had to share the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.catfishgrabblers.com/websites/grabblers.nsf/content/B8AE0D33…; video series</a>. (Pretty safe for work, so no worries.)
Next, in a totally different vein, there's the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.themysticeye.com/reviews/hellokitty.htm">Hello Kitty Tarot deck</a>. Yes, it's the occult made cute with the Hello Kitty Tarot deck. Not much I can add to that.
But, I think the <a target="_blank" href="http://dirtymicrobe.com/products/tokyo-micro-garden/330/331">Cell Phone Micro Garden</a> might just top it. Yes, these are actual plants in actual tiny jars that you hang from your cell phone. I guess it's for the Greenies that want to start small.
And, for those of you with kids, I have the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cakescookiesandcraftsshop.co.uk/acatalog/Revolver-Gun-Stainl… Cookie Cutter</a> and "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gellibaff.co.uk/">Gelli Baff</a>". While I think the cookie cutter is self explanitory, Gelli Baff might take a bit of description. It's a powder that you add to water to make, well, colored goo that your kids can play with. To get rid of the good, you just add a neutralizer and more water to rinse it away. I wish we had these when I was a kid!

And, finally, there's a <a target="_blank" href="http://informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/01/dear_steph_and.ht… on Information Week about two kids passing notes in the comments section of someone's blog</a>. Apparently, all other communication was banned and locked out, but these two girls managed to find a new way to pass notes in class on the same blog that reported the story. So, watch your blog comments, folks, you never know what you might find!

So, enjoy your Friday Fun Links and I promise, I'll write something real on my other blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">Diary of a Network Geek</a>, this weekend.

Okay, there is no theme to this at all.

Well, I guess, links I saw this week that made me scratch my head could be a theme, but, whatever...
First, as many of us are thinking about our taxes and how to pay less of them to the government, this story from MSN about the <a target="_blank" href="http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/AvoidAnAudit/The9WeirdestTax… wierdest tax write-offs</a> made me laugh. I especially liked the one about the pimped out Amish buggy.
Then, there was this story about <a target="_blank" href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/16/rfid_tattoo/">RFID tattoos</a>. My first thought was that it would be an interesting way to track your kids, but, apparently, they're using it to track livestock. Which makes sense, since <a target="_blank" href="http://www.slate.com/id/2157840/?GT1=9010">meat is the most shoplifted item in the stores</a>. I mean, meat isn't cheap, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out how much gets stolen on the hoof, too. And, I'm sure it'd be easier for other kinds of record keeping, too.
The last wacky link is to a story about the iPod index. Well, to be more specific, an <a target="_blank" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6286211.stm">index to track currency values based on the cost of an iPod</a>. Apparently, an Australian bank is using the iPod as a commodity on which to place relative values of world currency. I wonder if it's occurred to them that shipping and manufacturing costs in various parts of the world might skew that index? Well, anyway, iPod fanataics already know ours are like gold.

So, now, I've hopefully given you something to read that ends your week with a chuckle.
Enjoy your Friday Fun links!
(And, yes, this also appeared on my other blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">Diary of a Network Geek</a>.)

It's the birthday of the man who brought us <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Conan the Barbarian</a>, science fiction author <a target="_blank" href="http://www.rehupa.com/">Robert E. Howard</a>, who was born in Peaster, Texas on this day in 1906. If you're from Texas, or just passing through, you can find out more about him at the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.crossplains.com/howard/museum.htm">Crossplains Robert E. Howard Museum</a>. If you can't make that, you can read more about him at <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Howard">the Wikipedia</a>.

Okay, so, once again, my thoughts are scattered, and my links are, too.

First, there's a link to an article on Australian IT that makes me glad I don't live in Singapre when I was teaching my parents about bandwidth theft. Apparently, a nosy neighbor turned a kid in and now, he's <a target="_blank" href="http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21073422%5E15405%5E%5En… sentenced for stealing another neighbor's wifi bandwidth</a>. Kind of harsh, but, then it is Singapore, so he's probably lucky he didn't get caned!

Here's two that are sort of related. At least, they both rot your brain.
First there's the gross one. Did you all hear about the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/15/brain_worms_in_texas.html">"brain worms" found in South Texas</a>? Apparently, these nasty, little buggers, if you'll pardon the pun, get into your brain via improperly stored and prepared food, then, they eat their way out.
The other brain-rot story was one that surprised even this jaded cynic: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/18/dea_photos_of_potlac.html">pot-lac… snack products</a>. Yeah, no joke. They're illegal as all hell, but some guy was apparently selling these cannibis-infused "look-alike" snacks. Crazy stuff.

And, finally, since I finished paying the bills right before I typed this in, from the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/01/11/money-making-hobbies-from-… Slowly blog, Money Making Hobbies (from 1938)</a>. The dream is always to get that hobby that not only pays for itself, but makes a little extra, too. Sadly, based on the suggestions from this book, the only way to make money with a "hobby" is to write and sell this kind of book!

Anyway, that's all I've got in me this week. It's been another long, busy one, so, enjoy your Friday Fun Links!
(And, yes, I'm back to reposting the stuff from my other blog, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">Diary of a Network Geek</a>.  It was a really long week!)

I really ought to produce my own again, but...

But, between work and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">Diary of a Network Geek</a> and having an actual life, I haven't had the time! Still, I do love craz, surreal art, so, until I have time to make some of my own, enjoy these two links.
First, there's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.windfiredesigns.com/ruthfolio_pages/120V_60Hz/extension_cord… totally surreal painting of a giant extension cord at WindFire Designs</a>.  If you look around the sight, there are more pictures like this one.
Secondly, there's the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/e_tank0603.php">super miniature aquariums at Age of Aquariums</a>.  It's hard to believe, but these folks claim that these are actual aquariums and not just Photoshopped pictures!

Hope this gets you your crazy Friday Fun Link fix!
Enjoy the day!

So, I've gotten a lot of hits here looking for information about Sheridan Simon.

Sheridan Simon was a very well-known and respected Physics professor at Guilford College who was also quite enamored with science-fiction. In fact, he used to create logically plausable solar systems and planets for science-fiction authors, for a small fee. He advertised in the back of LOCUS magazine, the trade mag for the speculative fiction crowd. He designed <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fantasist.net/downloads/HoffmanQuartet.pdf">Hoffman's Quartet</a> for me in 1992, but sadly passed away in 1994. He was truly an amazing man and had a real genius for translating hard physics into very readable language that even guys like me could understand.

What's a bit more interesting, though, is that he wrote science-fiction, too. Now, for a long time his pen name was quite a mystery. In fact, the story went that even his wife didn't know the name he wrote and published under. While that makes for a good story, I don't know if it's actually true or not. In any case, a lot of folks have been through this website looking for that pen name, since I mention Dr. Simon on occasion and do rather well in the search engines. In any case, I got a wild hair to track this down the other day and I have an answer, I think. If I'm reading <a target="_blank" href="http://www.locusmag.com/index/s687.html#A16278">the entry on LocusMag.com</a> correctly, he published under the name "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.locusmag.com/index/s162.html#A3161">Yeaton Clifton</a>".

Of course, since all his work seems to have been published in now-defunct magazines, I doubt it will be very easy to find. At least you know who to look for now!
Good luck!

I'm too tired and busy to write a whole Friday Fun Post.

Really, it's just been too hectic and crazy and I've been too sick and tired and busy to write a whole entry explaining why the links that struck me funny this week, struck me funny.
So, just go read the post at <a href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">Diary of a Network Geek</a>, instead.

Have a happy Friday!

It's the birthday of one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century, <a href="http://www.asimovonline.com/">Isaac Asimov</a>, who was born in Petrovichi, Russia in 1920. He came with his family to the United States when he was three years old and his parents opened a candy shop in Brooklyn. Issac grew up to become a professor of biochemistry at the Boston University School of medicine and in 1950 he published his first novel <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Pebble in the Sky</a>.

About the same time Asimov took part in writing a textbook for medical students and he found that he loved explaining complicated things in ordinary language, and so he set out to write about science for the general public, in language they would understand. He said, "Little by little my science writing swallowed up the rest of me."
Asimov developed a regimen of working ten hours a day, seven days a week, producing between two and five thousand words a day. Asimov's method was to write a book about any subject that interested him but which he didn't fully understand. He used writing as a way of teaching himself about everything.
By 1970 Asimov had written more than a hundred books and he began branching out into areas other than science. He wrote about nuclear physics and organic chemistry, history, Greek mythology, astronomy, religion, in addition to his collections of limericks, mystery novels, autobiography and science fiction. By the time of his death in 1992 he had published more than 400 books.