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Mind-Reading Electronic Question Game
Does it fly? Can it cry? Can you eat it? Is it blue? Can you throw it? The Mind-Reading Electronic Question Game is a cool-looking device that can guess an object that you’re thinking of (although I...
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winter holiday music
Jethro Tull Christmas Album I’ve never been much of a Deadhead, but as youthful musical obsessions go, I would say I was definitely more of a Tull Skull. As such, this is one of my favorite winter...
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Friday
Friday movie collection Friday Night Lights movie NPR’s Talk of the Nation: Science Friday (program site) Bike Friday: folding travel bicycles Photo Friday: weekly photo challenge Illustration Friday:...
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fun sites
Googlism: Find out what Google "thinks" of you — or of anyone or anything else. The Dialectizer: Turn the verbal content of a web page into any of a variety of funny dialects, including "Jive,"...
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Katamari
Knowing that I have an addictive personality — at least with regard to the "soft addictions" — I do my best to stay away from treacherous time traps like Freecell Solitaire. And if I owned a game...
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Pandora, the Music Genome Project
Ever wish there were a radio station that played exactly what you wanted to hear? Well, there is — sort of. Pandora is an online project put together by music experts who’ve spent the past five years...
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Groundhog Day
If you’re not in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania today, you can celebrate the annual tradition with the next best thing: watching my all-time favorite comedy film, Groundhog Day, which is said to be —...
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Super Bowl commercials
What’s the best part of the Super Bowl? The parties? Making food or ordering in? The risque halftime entertainment? The fact that for some, it marks the end of seventeen weeks of misery? While you’re...
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It really makes you think…
It really makes you think — Philosophy Talk: A couple of Stanford University professors discuss one broad, intriguing topic — such as time, happiness, forgiveness, virtue, propaganda, science, free...
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shipwrecked in New York City
The O.C. character Summer Roberts described This American Life as the "…[radio] show where those hipster know-it-alls talk about how fascinating ordinary people are." Albeit an accurate description, I...
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Miri Ben-Ari: hip-hop violinist
I sometimes find myself intrigued with the classical or jazz instrumentalists featured in pop, rock or hip-hop songs. Who are they, and how did the pop artists and producers find them? One such...
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Oscars, Baby!
2005 was a great year in movies. I, for one, am glad that Jon Stewart is hosting the 78th Annual Academy Awards. Attend an Oscar party, or host one yourself.
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geek meets hip hop
The Treo mail alert Swoosh sounds a lot like the background piano drops in Kanye West’s song "Heard ‘Em Say," which is Track 2 on Late Registration (also available through iTunes). Every time mail...
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Peyton Place: 50th anniversary
If you’ve ever read the scandalous classic Peyton Place — now in its fiftieth anniversary — or seen the movie, you’ll no doubt be fascinated by the backstory. The death of author Grace Metalious...
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found my thrill
Thank goodness Fats Domino was found alive and well after the Katrina disaster in his native New Orleans. He was found in his home in the Ninth Ward, although some say he was actually found on...
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feel-good commercials
I realize that advertising represents (and sometimes causes) many of the ills of our society, but I can’t help it — as something of a pop culture aesthete, I love me a good commercial. I think this is...
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baby safety
It’s hard to imagine a better — or funnier — gift for the parents-to-be who already have everything than Safe Baby Handling Tips by David and Kelly Sopp. This novelty picture book is basically a...
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best free audio podcasts
Over the years I’ve developed a pathological fear of boredom, and subsequently a fear of mundane activities that lead to boredom, like waiting at the airport (especially at night), exercising (if it’s...
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U2 3D
I accidentally invited bleeding-edge tech journalist Robert Scoble to a private Kyte party. How it unfolded is a little embarrassing, but suffice it to say that the moral of the story is, don’t be...
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index card philosophy
I spotted Indexed, another blog-turned-book success story, in the Chronicle Books store the other day. Indexed represents two great ideas: first, it’s a novel use for index cards (other than, say,...
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