These are the cool things I found around the web for May 13th through May 17th:

• Space Shuttle Endeavor as seen from a plane – Awesome!

Click here to view the embedded video.

- And now in video!.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This song is the most awesomest thing in the world.

• Transformers-Cufflinks-thumb-572xauto-56004.jpg (572×378) – Awesome Transformers cufflinks!
• Paul Haggis Vs. the Church of Scientology : The New Yorker – “I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t.”
• YouTube – Captain America: The First Avenger TV Spot 1 (OFFICIAL) – Ah here is the REAL Captain America trailer!
• Failing hard drive sounds – Datacent.com – Datacent – Great resource for us that build and repair computers.
• Groupon – Save The Money – If anyone got their panties in a bunch about the humorous Groupon commercials they actually have fundraisers set up to donate money to causes and get credit towards Groupon, now that is a Groupon anyone can support!
• Learn the Basics of Photoshop in Under 25 Minutes [Video] – nice video on Photoshop basics. I still suck at Photoshop though…
• Build a DIY NERF Gun to Supercharge Your Foam Warfare [Video] – Nice!
• mN3MB.jpg (715×904) – Jeremy Clarkson turning the other cheek after some idiots got their panties bunched up from a joke about Mexico on a recent Top Gear.
• When Should I Visit? – Made by Dan W – For those that want to find out when places are the LEAST busy. This side analyzes Foursquare checkins to tell you when is the least busy day.
• Fashion Ump: The greatest mustache silhouette T-shirts ever! – Big League Stew – MLB  – Yahoo! Sports – These are interesting new shirts that Nike has for the upcoming baseball season. I’m not sure if I’m quite sold on them yet.
• The Official Google TV Blog – I’ll have to start following this.
• jack weppler – Google Search – Wow this guy got owned by his ex-girlfriend!
• tumblr_lfyfv2AcCs1qfkbn1o1_400.gif (400×544) – Katy Perry before and after photoshopping. Looks good either way… IMO.
• Underwater with Disneyland’s scuba divers – Around Disney – The Orange County Register – Here is a story with quotes from my uncle as well.
• YouTube – Every Role a Starring Role – Behind the Scenes with Scuba Divers – My uncle talking about his job at Disneyland.
• BBC defends “Top Gear” jokes about Mexico – Yahoo! News – Oh come on, TG always lays on the stereotype jokes, this is nothing new, and it is still funny!
• The Food Lab: All-American Eggplant Parmesan | Serious Eats – Test.
• YouTube – HD FPV – “Hunting Hydrogen Ballons with Fireworks” – Fun with remote control helicopters and fireworks.
• mlb_1280.gif (1280×820) – Cool map of where baseball fans are for every team.
• The Pratfall of Penny Arcade – A Timeline – Bunch of people are Butthurt over a comic that Penny Arcade did back in August. Wow, talk about blowing things out of proportion…
• YouTube – HD Twilight Landing At LAX (Cockpit View) – If you are going to watch one video I post this week, this should be it!

For those of you that didn’t see the pictures I posted 2 weeks ago, we put up our Christmas lights, we also got our tree decorated (pictures will be posted at the end of the month).  The past couple weeks we have been taking care of our Christmas shopping and also prepping the house for the first of what will be many Christmas parties our house will be the host of.  This Sunday is my dad’s side of the family’s Christmas party, we should have about 20-30 relatives in attendance.  And then on Christmas day we will have a party for my mom’s side of the family, which will be a bit smaller but will also include Kelly’s family (actually both parties will include Kelly’s family) and any friends that want to come over.  Work is winding down for the year as goals have been met and projects have been completed, I’m happy to say I still have a job that I enjoy although this year was a lot different from the previous two years due to the lack of new hires our department had to train.  Kelly’s business is doing well, although we did have a decrease in business compared to 2008, but we are in good standing.  All the animals are happy and healthy and we are all looking forward to the new year.  I’m proud of myself for keeping up with my Weekly Cool Links project, even though it’s not quite as ‘weekly’ as it claims to be, I hope someone out there finds some entertainment in me sharing what I find interesting.  Lastly my Eat in OC project has been doing great, I typically have around 5000 visits a month and I’ve made some major inroads with gaining new readers.  I’ve been linked to on a number of local websites, and high-profile local blogs, and in addition my articles are routinely linked to in the Orange County Register’s Community Blogs section which is only 5 links deep from their front page, how many others can say something like that?  I’ll probably post one more time before the year ends, but for now let’s move on to the rather large links section!

Food
Lifehacker had a great article on maximizing Thanksgiving leftovers that will also prove useful with Christmas leftovers.  While over at Slashfood they had 4 fast recipes for making great Tomato sauces.

Tiger Woods’ Women, er I mean Chicks
Some of these links may not be safe for work, or family friendly.  But this is my blog so if you don’t want to see possibly scantily clad women don’t look at the links in this section.  If you are related to me and offended, oh well, I’m sure you have something else you can be proud of me for, get over it… ;)
Twitter is a wonderful tool for communication and for people to share pictures with, some pictures are more interesting than others as you can see from this collection of Hot Chicks that use Twitter for the powers of good.  I do not approve or disapprove of their use of Twitter…  Maybe Twitter chicks aren’t your thing?  How about Chicks dressed in various NFL Team Jerseys?  What’s that?  You like farm girls?  How about German farm girls that model to help German agriculture?  Here you go.  Personally I like my girls a little different from the norm.  Lastly there is the Internet’s Girlfriend…  Funny how I’ve been on the internet for 15 years yet hadn’t heard of her till recently.  One suggestion for her site, more pictures like this and less like the one on the top of her website…

Sports
It got so bad at Notre Dame this year that after they fired Charlie Weis they went straight to the big man in the sky and offered him the head coaching job.  The Onion reports that Jesus Christ himself turned down a 3 year multimillion dollar offer to coach the Fightin’ Irish.  Maybe he was just holding out for the right job?  Such as this Head Coaching position with the Lingerie Football League!

Cool
Virgin Galactic has launched their official site for the space travel, complete with Spaceship Two pictures and information on the roll out.  Never would have thought space travel (even of this kind) would be available to the general public in my lifetime.  Lifehacker had a number of cool informative posts the past couple weeks, including Fixing Your Relatives Computer, Guide to Avoiding Online Scams, and the Most Popular Top 10s’ of 2009.

Funny
I read three comics online; Order of the Stick, Dilbert, and xkcd.  I’m particularly fond on one of the Dilbert comics from this week, because it’s how I feel at my job sometimes.
Another one from this week that really hits the mark is this one regarding the use of FAX machines.  As for xkcd I have to give some love to ‘Daylight Saving Time‘.  Looking for a last-minute gift for a friend or loved one?  How about, How to Date a White Woman or the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book?  All these and more really do exist!  If you are single and looking for a Russian Mail Order bride one of the companies involved has started to compare them to celebrities!  Now you too can date a girl that sort of looks like Jessica Beil!  Just make sure you ask them these 10 questions from Deadspin before you ask her to marry you, it will save you a lot of heartache.  And lastly, now that you got your celebrity look a like wife, it might be a good time to reflect upon those stupid things you did when you were young and might regret someday…

Videos
My website is currently sponsored by Bitch Slap The Movie!, in theaters: January 8th, 2010!

If you know anything about the movie, commercial, or TV show business you might find some humor in this.

I love reading Maximum PC and listing to their podcast, I love this video someone put together from Gordon’s rant of the week regarding the Apple Tablet.

And last but not least at all, the Space Shuttle is awesome and this high quality video of the STS-129 launch is worth spending 15 minutes to watch.

STS-129 Ascent Video Highlights from mike interbartolo on Vimeo.

Oh and Merry Christmas!

Now, on to the links!

TV Stuff
If you have ever wanted to know more about the themes that make TV writing then I highly suggest to take a couple hours to browse and read around TV Tropes.  It’s especially a great read for anyone that’s ever wanted to learn the tricks of the trade for writing anything from Comics to TV.

Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, what’s the difference?

Music Stuff
Looking for music like the music you like?  Check out Musicovery, a music discovery service.  Doing a search for Jimmy Eat World on there actually links me to a number of other bands I’ve also enjoyed throughout the years.  Pretty impressive.

Here is a funny music video

Chicks Man
If you are interested in attractive philologists, check out Hot for Words.  She’s not really my type, but hey I know there are a lot of you out there that like big boobed blondes.

Check out these chicks melting ice.

Food Stuff
Lifehacker had an article this week on 10 Simple Freeze Tricks to Save You Time and Money.  Info and links about what can be frozen (Broccoli yes, Onions No) to how to make your freeze more efficient.  It’s a good starting place for many people.

Windows 7 Stuff (Tech Stuff)
So yesterday Windows 7 was released.  I’ve already been using it for 3 weeks and think it’s pretty great, especially the 64bit version because nothing beats using 8 gigs of RAM on a computer (except 16 gigs).  A number of websites had guides for Windows 7, but Lifehacker’s Complete Guide to Windows 7 is the most comprehensive, plus it links to lots of other great starting points to learn more.  If you are looking for a more historical look at Windows, you have to check out Maximum PC’s 50 Best (and Worst) Moment’s in Windows History.

Funny Stuff
Check out Life’s pictorial on 30 Dumb Inventions, how about those screaming tomatoes, and to think people follow that crackpots “religion”.  I only read Maxim magazine for the articles, that’s why I’m sharing the 10 People in Every Office article they recently posted.  Lastly check out Stuff White People Life and Photobomb for some more funnies.

Oh no the Pixar lamp killed the letter I!

MBA in 2 Minutes

1. Revenue – Costs = Profits
2. Businesses without customers are not in business
3. You must do everything you can to attract and retain customers

Besides work not much happened the last couple weeks, we had a couple various family gatherings, a relaxing 1 week vacation, and saw a couple movies.  Funny People (3 Stars) and 500 Days of Summer (3.5 Stars) you can check out my movie reviews here (more reviews to come as I catch up!).  Lastly I’m getting into golfing and bought some new irons last week, that should be arriving at my house today and I’m looking forward to playing 1-2 times a month if possible.

On to the Weekly Cool Links!!!!

Music
I have a bunch of music links this week, most of them about finding new music, something I struggle with because of my specific eclectic preference.  I’m always interested in finding more music I might like, iTunes DOES NOT CUT IT with their recommendations, even Genius is just sort of ok, but Lifehacker put together an article on articles and ways to help, with their Top 10 Tricks for Making Your Playlists Rock.  There is Project Playlist which can help you find music, generate playlists and create ringtones for you.  Lastly if you are looking into turning an old computer into a “media server” you might want to check out Amahi, doesn’t require much power or high priced tech to get running, and can stream to just about anything, in addition is has lots of features that compare to those of Windows Home Server!  And lastly, I thought I would share an artist I discovered yesterday, this girl can do wonders with just a ukulele and has a very pretty voice.  She is also playing in Long Beach in a week or so.

Movies
Not much on the movies front this week, but how could we all have missed the production of Lesbian Vampire Killers!  Most of the reviews say it’s pretty bad, but come on with a name like that it has to be at least entertaining.

Sports
I found this gallery archive of Iconic Dodgers Photos from Sports Illustrated.  My favorites include the picture of Sandy Koufax’s no hitter, if you look closely on the chalkboard someone wrote and then erased that he went 0 for 4 in the game.  Also love the picture of two of the best pitchers ever in baseball, Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.  Glad that they included one of my favorite Dodger of all time, Orel Hershiser.

TV
If you happen to know anyone that is looking for a job, perhaps Veridian Dynamics might be just the place.  Well regardless if it is, I highly recommend that you check out the two episodes of Better off Ted that will be on this week (Tuesday 08/11/09 at 9:00 P.M.).  Or maybe you are like me and you just accidentally want to somehow download all the TV shows you are interested in so you can watch them later on your own time and without advertising… Well ShowRSS might be able to help you out…

Tech
If you don’t know by now, both myself and Kelly have iPhones, and one way I keep up with the release of free applications I might want to check out is by visiting FreeAppAlert, actually I have them on my Twitter, but I check out their website via their feed there.  Talking about the iPhone I’m really stoked to see that the FCC is interested in getting to the bottom of the application approval process at Apple after their denial of the Google Voice app.  I was really looking forward to getting to use my Google Voice number, hopefully these questions that the FCC has made will get Apple and AT&T to stop with the antics.

Neat Stuff (probably tech oriented)
Did you know that my relative and US President John Quincy Adams is tweeting?!!?  It’s all being done by the Massachusetts Historical Society, as this article explains.  J.Q.A. kept a 1 line a day journal 200 years ago while he traveled to Russia to be the first US Ambassador to Russia.  According to my calculations he’s currently just off the coast of Canada make his trek to Russia.
View Larger Map

On to present day, I really thought this graph by the New York Times showing how people spend their day was interesting.  I love the data that have put together and the ability to filter through it and see some specific groups.  For those of my friends that enjoy beer, and especially Miller Lite, they are soon to release some new draft technology to be used in the home.  This one should probably be in the tech section, or maybe I should just make an iPhone section, but someone has come out with software that allows one to track what is in their pantry and allow it to link with their iPhone to help create shopping lists and keep your pantry items up to date.  With the integrating of the pantry list on your computer you can have an automated shopping list that updates to your iPhone pantry list!

Local
That’s right I have a local section, but not much to report.  OC Register posted a list on Certified Farmers Markets throughout Orange County, although it doesn’t include the one in Stanton on Mondays (unsure if it’s a certified but I could have swore it was), also check the comment section for most lists.  Lastly, Gustavo Arellano at O.C. Weekly wrote about an article he read in a Jewish satire magazine, in which porn star Joanna Angel praises the sausages from Mattern Sausage in Orange for, “Its curved shape was good for hitting my G-spot and, because it was a smooth surface, it was also great in my ass.”  If that’s not a praise for their sausage then I don’t know what is!  What Gus didn’t mention is that there is actually an article and pictures of Jenna von Oy from Blossom fame!!!

Videos

Ladies, is this what it has come to?  What extracurricular activity does the Shake Weight resemble?

Are all the people in Santa Cruz like this, or is their something wrong with the water?

Don’t forget the Aspray next time you have issues with your body odor.

And lastly I had to include this awesome time-lapse video of Disneyland construction, it’s amazing how quickly they were able to do stuff back then, compared to the time it takes today.

Have a great week!

Sports
The USC Football 2009 Media Guide is OUT!  And you can go and print out your own copy for freeeeeeeee!  I expect everyone that I know personally to carry their copy with them at all times and to show me it when I ask for it.

Music
I don’t know how current these album covers are from Russia, but wow those are quality with a capital T.  Is that Pete Townshend?

Movies
For those of you closely following my blog you may remember me mentioning RunPee about a month ago.  Well RunPee has created the #1 reason why anyone should get an iPhone, the RunPee application!  Now you can quickly check when is the best time to pee while out at the movies!

TV
Tonight (July 10th) one of my favorite TV Shows returns, with the final 10 episodes of Eureka on the newly renamed SyFy (SciFi Channel).  If you haven’t checked it out, you really need to, the show is quirky and fun.  Or if that is too mellow for you, how about purchasing some of the newest porn from Hustler (link is safe for work)?  TV shows remade into Porn movies!  Such as This Ain’t Star Trek XXX and Not Three’s Company XXX.  I’ve purchased a box set of all volumes… Ok I haven’t really, but it’s still funny.

Fun
The internet was made for fun, but before the internet there were other fun things (many of which still exist) such as Dungeons and Dragons, Satan’s game!  Oh wait, no it’s not Satan’s game, it’s just a freaking board game with imagination, but anyway, did you know that playing Dungeon’s and Dragons actually is a great tool for learning things about business?  I have to agree, just as I agree with those articles that say playing Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games get people ready for real world scenarios.  And let’s continue with the theme of lists of 10 with a top 10 list of things NOT to buy with your credit card.  Credit card companies don’t just deal with numbers, they also write up psychological profiles based upon the purchased you make, and these items bring up the red flags (don’t worry I boought my boxed set via Paypal!).  I see you a top 10 list and raise you to the 15 Creepiest Vintage Ads of All Time (I’ve included my favorite to the right).

Tech
This is usually my favorite section, since I’m a big tech geek.  The biggest tech news of the week has to be Google’s official announcement that they are working on a Google Chrome Operating System, it’s about time they actually just came out an admitted to it, after a couple years of speculation.  For those of you tech support people, the guys at Support Details might help your job be a little easier, with their website attempts to auto detects settings on a customer’s computer.  Some of you might have noticed that I have a Twitter account (and you can follow me and the posts here there!) well I present to you the Twitter 10 Commandements. Yeah I know I do 1 or 2 of those (such as Auto-Tweet).  Oh and last but not least Google Voice now lets users change their phone number that they originally got randomly from Grand Central, you even get to try and make a customer #, I was able to get us a phone number close to our home number.  We are going to start using the Google Voice number when we give out our number to people.

And lastly I present some of the best videos I’ve found on the Internet the past 2 weeks.

Very neat video by a Japanese band that must a been a bitch to produce and direct.

Can you flush a whole roll of toilet paper down a airplane toilet?

What watch he does to get the top button of his shirt snapped, that’s awesome!

Which to you prefer, the A Hole or the B Hole?

First let’s start with personal stuff, I got a fraking ticket last Saturday!  Sad part is I didn’t even do what the officer said I did, oh well.  I’m contemplating fighting it in court, but I don’t even know if it’s worth it.  Our bathroom is almost done.  I know I keep promising pictures, and I keep meaning to post them, but I’m going to wait till it’s completed (which should after I get home from work on Friday).  We have also been working on getting the cabinet doors painted and hung up in the kitchen, we are about 3/4 of the way done after we were able to hang up 5 of the doors last night.  We are trying to get as much as possible done before our big 4th of July House Warming party that we are having next Saturday!  Many pictures will be taken and I’ll make sure I get them on here ASAP.  And lastly I’ve been doing my best to get my ass in shape the last three weeks by going for walks 3-4 times a week.  Last night I broke my current record by taking a 4.11 mile walk averaging 3.5 miles per hour.  I’ve been using a site called Trail Guru along with my iPhone to keep track of my adventures (Kelly has been going with me most the time as well).

Without further ado, I bring my weekly links.

First I’d like to pay tribute to one of my favorite quaterbacks of all time. We really are going to miss you Brent! (from As Seen in WI)

Cool Websites
Moving on, have you ever wanting to make a decision but weren’t sure which way to go?  Then give the site Hunch a try, it will ask some questions about you (the more questions the better it knows you) and then it will attempt to help you have a decision.

Cool Tech
Windows was really in the news this week with the announcement of pricing for Windows 7 ($120-320 depending on what version), to be released on October 22, 2009.  The Home Premium upgrade will be $120 but if you act now you can get it for $50 on preorder, or if you act from now till the 28th you can walk into Micro Center and get a coupon to purchase it for $39.99 once it’s released!  Microsoft also released a beta version of the brand new Microsoft Security Essentials, which is basically a lite version of Anti-Malware / Anti-Virus software, good for those of us that don’t need the extras included in the pay versions of those types of software.  I’m using it on a number of computers already and find that it has a very small footprint, so far I like it and will be recommending it to friends asking for help.  Another thing I recommend to friends when they ask is Firefox.  Firefox is just about to have their next big update with the 3.5 version coming out very soon.  In the meantime I’m suggesting people check out the Lifehacker Firefox Add-on Packs, which will greatly improve your internet experiences.  I haven’t checked this piece of software out personally yet but if you are in need of heat mapping out your wireless network you might want to get ekahau Heatmapper out, it’s supposed to be pretty sweet.  And to wrap up the cool tech from the week, check out this USB Microwave that is in the works!

Cool TV
Those of you that know me, know I really enjoyed the Drew Carey show.  I’ve now started keeping up with him on his new blog, Drew From TV.  He has insights from The Price is Right, soccer, and from just life in general.  I’ve always liked Drew and he would be one of those guys I feel like I could just site down with and talk to for hours.  One of my favorite mini-series of all times was Band of Brothers, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg did an awesome job, and now I’m looking forward to their next World War II mini-series, The Pacific (click link for article and trailer).  This one has a very fond place in my heart since this where my grandfather fought, I can’t wait!

Cool Music
This guy took the time analyzing a bunch of data to figure out what bands have the most passionate fans.  It’s a pretty cool read, especially if you like numbers, and I’m happy to report my favorite band Jimmy Eat World is on his list, along with a couple other bands I enjoy.

Cool Games
I’ve heard a lot of really positive press about this game coming out for the Nintendo DS called Scribblenauts, sounds like a major breakthrough in games.  If PC gaming is more your thing, and you are cheap, then you might want to check out Download Squads list of the 25 best free cross-platform games.  There are some very solid games in the list, and best of all they are FREEEEEEEEE.

Cool Funny Links
Check out these amazing INTERNET SEX PHOTOS! – completely work safe!
Have you ever bought something via the internet (re:Craigslist) and were confused when the description was a little off?  Well check out Item not as described, which does it’s best to archive those items that just don’t really fit their description!

Cool Sports – Video of the Week!
I know it’s more like audio of the week, and I know I’ve posted this in the past, but sometimes you just gotta stay with what entertains you.

First on the home front, Kelly and I have been working lots on the house, especially on the yard this past week.  We over seeding all the grass and are in the process of putting some topper soil over it all to help the new see grow.  In addition to that our tomatoes plants have really took off and we already have a bunch of tomatoes growing, soon enough we’ll be able to have our first taste of our first home grown tomatoes!

Back to the links.  USC Football linebackers made the cover of this weeks Sports Illustrated! Looking forward to the NFL Draft this weekend and seeing where the former Trojans all go.

Macs never get viruses…. Right.  That’s why they are becoming zombie computers and doing DoS attacks due to a trojan that is infecting Macs.  Glad to see a programmer taking the time to show Macs aren’t perfectly safe either.  My webhost (Dreamhost) is offering TWO FREE YEARS of webhosting to the first 1000 Geocities customers that make the switch to a real webhost.  That’s a savings of $200 bucks!  And if you aren’t a Geocities customer you can still get great service and sign up for them from this link here (although it’s not free).

Google has a great new mobile version of their product search online now!  Specifically for iPhones and Andriod phones.  Looking forward to utilizing it while I’m out and about shopping.

My favorite computer magazine, Maximum PC just released an online article where they built a $500 Kick-ASS PC that can run Cyris at 40 FPS, pretty good bang for your buck!

Don’t forget about the big gay storm and the need for the super-umbrella!

Last couple things.  I was reintroduced to a card game that I used to love to play in high school called Tien len and just wanted to share it with everyone, it’s great for 3-4 players and simple to learn.  If you read through the rules I suggest to play with the alternate rule that you don’t have to match suits on pairs and straights because that just makes it a pain in the ass.  Just remember hearts are always the high suit!

And lastly, SAVE CHUCK!  Chuck has been one of my favorite shows to watch the past 2 years and it would be a disappointment for NBC to take such and good show off the air and continue to air crap like The Apprentice.  Come on NBC!  Go here and see what us fans can do to try and help Save Chuck!  I hate Subway and I might even end up eating it on the night of the season finale just to do my part to help the show.

Pretty sweet new feature for Firefox!