Big Pickles

Yesterday we were talking about how we needed to upgrade our stereo system, and Melissa mentioned the Bose store we saw at the mall.

I told her that Bose sucks.

She was incredulous, so I offered to post a few links. It's a lot to read, but by the time you're done you will be amazed at the sheer power of marketing.

What about Bose? (short)

Why Bose Sucks Review Resources (long)

Stuff like this always makes me wonder what else I'm assuming is good or true, not because I've examined it, but because some rich, powerful company or organization has spent a lot of money honing my perceptions.

Labels: audio, debunkification

It's a sport where you throw a ball at someone's face.

It strikes me as an office-friendly version of Crotchball.

I've seen the flickr group before, but I didn't know they had such a slick website. Be sure to watch the instructional video.

Labels: fun, sports

I've heard of people who stop by Ikea every morning for breakfast, and others who choose to simply hang out there on the weekends, but now you can elect to stay overnight if you just can't bring yourself to leave.

Labels: shopping

Some guy went to Dell's website and priced a PC with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed.

Notice the price.

(Don't get the joke? Explanation.)

Labels: incredibly geeky humor

There's an article about Junie B. Jones books in the New York Times. Apparently, some parents object to Junie's grammar, afraid their kids are going to start talking like her if they read too many of these books.

I don't buy it. The arguments I thought of as I read the first few paragraphs show up on the second page: Mark Twain and Shakespeare. I think exposure to non-standard English, in either direction, can only be educational.

Labels: books, language

The boys at Car Talk recommend adjusting your mirrors to eliminate your blind spots while driving.

They say it takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome.

Labels: driving

These lists pop up all over the place from time to time.

I thought the first three were pretty good.

Labels: lists

In 1947 Life Magazine asked some cartoon artists to draw their characters while blindfolded. The results are pretty cool.

Labels: art, fun

So the Asian kids are using their piano skills to play the guitar. They just crank up the volume and play one-handed hammer-ons (to use a term I recently learned from Guitar Hero).

And hey, since you only need one hand, that frees up your other hand to play ANOTHER GUITAR!

Labels: crazy guitar skills, music, simpsons

You enter your address at this site, and it tells you how walkable your house is.

Except, there's been so much traffic at the site I haven't been able to try it yet. The way it's supposed to work, as far as I can gather, is it counts up the number of businesses, schools, and other services within walking distance (1 mile) of your house.

I have to imagine that my address has a pretty good walking score. I think we have every kind of business imaginable within a mile of our house, plus two schools and two nice parks. Maybe we should start walking more.

UPDATE:

So I finally get in and find out that my house has a walk score of 35: Unwalkable. That's bogus, man. Actually, it didn't see a lot of the businesses in my area, so I might have had a better score had I been able to update the information.

Labels: maps, walking