After waiting a couple of weeks, IMAP has finally been enabled on my Gmail account. I have been waiting for IMAP since Google enabled POP3 access on their web mail client. It’s great to see progress on Google’s part. This will allow someone to use Gmail like a local e-mail client, similar to Outlook or Mail.app. I know this is a bit of a nerdy post, but being able to keep your e-mails archived on another server, being able to see them with a usable webmail site, and be able to write complicated e-mails with my computers e-mail client…yeah that’s just cool.
Archive for October 2007
I have always loved Lego. Period. The smallest pieces, which conveniently fit on the tip of your canine teeth, were always my favorite. They were also good for making little robots and adding accent to larger sets. The small bricks always made the look, while the big ones only made up the bulk of it. Honestly I never liked the big Lego blocks. I liked the large base plates with the hills and terrain dug into them, sure, but never the large bricks. Okay, maybe that large power brick was cool, but it was too big to do anything with.
When I saw this giant Lego zombie, I knew I had finally found a perfect match between small design and large scale. It’s size was awe inspiring while keeping it’s proportions exact. The detail was that of a smaller mini-fig (as the Lego people are called) but not overdone. It was exactly how a Lego zombie would look like.
Cool, yet cheesy.
Too bad they are not for sale…yet.
I found this site a few days ago, though didn’t bother posting it. Now it has had a lot of media coverage *hits head* from many different sources, but it’s a worthy cause so I’m writing about it anyway.
In a nutshell, FreeRice donates 10 grains of rice for every vocabulary test question you answer correctly. So if you are asked if “enrage” means “infuriate” and answer it correctly, 10 grains of rice will be donated towards feeding the worlds hungry. It is free to use the site and doesn’t require registration of any kind.
This is a great way to brush up on your old internal dictionary while giving back. No one should have an excuse not to visit this site daily.
Thanks John!
When I was about ten (or so) my parents purchased some old hospital chairs. They were comfortable beasts that had vinyl covers and real wood frames. I loved them, though they certainly bought too many. I think the original intent was to recover the chairs but that never happened. We did, however, recover other chairs from time to time that were laying around. I even covered one (poorly - used a regular stapler) when I was bored one time. It’s just something you did with older furniture.
Now it seems like it’s trendy again to recover furniture. When I saw this article, I could just imagine my mother saying, “See, I just did that the other day” in reaction. With all of the “trendy” stuff smothered around their site, it just gives me flashbacks to being ten and doing crafts projects to make stuff like this because we had to. It was also just plain fun to do. You didn’t have this need to be trendy to recycle this old stuff or make cheap junk look cool.
Now people will pay $50 for a mobile made out of paper clips and poster board.
Thanks Lifehacker!
Since I started work again, I have been trying to bring my own lunches. It’s just too expensive to eat downtown every day. Sure, there may be deliciousness to discover in ever nook and cranny of Madison, but I’d rather spend my money elsewhere. Like on cell phone bills.
Bad example.
Anyway, I found this killer lunch box while trying to find ways to improve my lunch packing skills. It’s an upgrade to the wife’s lunch box (in space alone - still jealous) which she has been gracious about letting me use. Unfortunately it’s just a little too small for my meals. What I can manage to fit in there becomes a blob of food indistinguishable from whatever else has been packed. The larger version seems like it would have the same issue too. It sucks because I really love that old mess kit look to her box.
Going back to the lunch box that I lust for, a.k.a. Mr. Bento, it has a bit of a cult following. When looking for an image to use on this post, I stumbled upon this flickr group of Mr. Bento freaks. I also came across a fairly informative site about packing bento style lunches. I’ll probably not go this far in devotion, but it’s great to see that there is an American market for this stuff and some help if I need it.
UPDATE: Lindsey agreed that Mr. Bento was wonderful, so he shall be joining me in my trips to work soon. Well, in 5-10 business days. I’ll wait that long for free shipping. Oh, that bento site I linked in the article? Yeah, if you use their Amazon.com store, it knocks $10 off the cost. Plus they get a little something-something.
Paper has first, and foremost, been a tool. People that work with IT too much tend to forget it. Sometimes they (me) just need a slap in the head. When I read this article about using paper to lay out interfaces, it made too much sense.
*SLAP*
