Archive for July, 2009

If this isn’t creepy – Imagine in the movie “Meet the Parents”, Gaylord was playing with the Grammes URN that actually looked like Grammes. If you saw an urn shaped like the head of the dearly departed, you gotta wonder if they didn’t preserve the head and burn the rest.

Cremations Solutions is using 3D facial reconstruction to create these pots to keep the ashes of the loved ones. The skull comes off so you can get to and care for the ashes.

If you want something prettier, then Cremations Solutions will do a 3D reconstruction of your favorite celebrity (or as the website says – ‘celebraty’). Maybe Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett or Michael Jackson? Then you can say your Pop was a famous TV show sidekick, I guess.

A full size urn will run you $2,600, while the keepsake will only cost $600. To compare, a casket starts at $500. The burial plot can run you as little as $50 or more. Cremation can range from $500 and up.

I guess it all depends which way you go.

Hate By Numbers is a Video Journal co-produced by Cracked.com. I have seen it before – it’s a sardonic look at News and culture. Gladstone will offer commentary to whatever the subject is – In his own way.

This week, he puts the gloves on a song by the Black Eyed Peas. It’s called “I Got a Feeling”. Of course, if you forget the name of the song, that’s OK. Just listen to the first minute and you will never forget that song again. EVER.

I just got an email saying that Dorkazine wasn’t working. I went to the site and it looked fine, however, after a little bit of movement around the site, I noticed that it was indeed – not working correct.

Since I was not in front of the main machine, I switched over to another theme.

Dorkazine is getting a facelift in the coming weeks, so for now, we’ll keep it in a default state until I can make the change. Sorry if this caused any inconvenience.

Thanks to Scott for sending me a note saying. You are truely a Dork…

Browser History – Some people delete it, others don’t care. Some people don’t know how much data people can get from when you are online, but the reality is a webmaster can get a lot of data from the user. Now we’re not talking secure data (unless you do not update your browser), but more of what kind of computer you have, what browser you use, etc.

But Browser history?

Well, think about it. If I can go back to sponsors and say this person uses a Mac with Firefox, and this is the last 30 websites they were on; that will give the webmaster a marketing advantage. They can then find out (for example) 30% of users go to website.com, so the webmaster can head to that website to get more targeted ads or affiliations.

It could also give people an insight of what you are doing illegally. Then you can be watched closer by websites and maybe even Internet Service Providers. It’s a stretch, but it could happen.

Do you want to see this in action? Well here is a way to do it. Web2.0collage.com is a website that can show you where you have been in a nifty little collage of icons. It will scan your history and create the collage.This is the collage I had created for me:

Now let’s look at this picture closer. From it I know that I have been on Google, Yahoo, CNN, CNet, Facebook, Dell, HP, Microsoft and many more. It also shows I have been on AdBrite and Commission Junction – two sites I get advertising from. It says I was on AT&T’s website – which is true because I am an AT&T customer. I use CCleaner, Flickr, OpenDNS and lot of other sites.

Do you see where this data can become usefull?

There are ways to counter it – Google Chrome has the incognito mode for example. Firefox also has an Add-on that will allow you to block sites in the History.

It is something to think about when browsing. Of course, someone is always collecting data while you are online. This is not a scare tactic: just a reminder on how much of a mirror your computer can be.

So in the first week of using the iPhone, I have been working my way around the App store. I have come up with some interesting applications. Some are really Usefull. Others – well, not so much.

It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Take, for instance, this app called “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time”. If you need a good laugh, or something to talk about, and your friends are big on Family Guy, then download this one. It’s good for a laugh, but it was also the first app I removed from my phone.

You can tap the screen or shake it and hear the popular saying. It would have been a bit cooler if the creator made a more updated banana dance. The pixelation is a little to annoying to watch.

PBJ time is free

Etch a Sketch

I got this one simply because I was asked if there was one. There is a free one and a pay version. The free one, you can create simple pictures by either moving the dials or drawing on the screen. You can choose different brushes and colors.

While it’s not the actual Etch a Sketch – it is a pretty good replacement. I might just have to do some art in the future with this application.

Do you have an app you like that I should check out? Let me know.