Abebooks--40 million books: Used, Rare, and Out-of-print Books You Want!
I had read about AbeBooks.com a few years ago, and it seems they are now the premier used book seller on the net. Amazon has used books (a few of which I've bought), but I noticed in their listings that many of them come up from abebooks.com anyway. Might as well go directly to the source....
"Abebooks is the world’s largest online marketplace for used, rare, and out-of-print books. Abebooks connects those who buy books with those who sell books, providing abundant selection at affordable prices.
Bookbuyers love the variety and selection of 40 million books, offered by 10,000 booksellers who list on Abebooks. Readers find bestsellers, collectors find rare antiquarian books, students find textbooks, and treasure hunters find books they’ve been seeking forever."
TechTV | Dark Tip: Alcohol 120%
Easy CD Creator? Nero?
Forget them, just try out Alcohol 120% to copy everything that's out there....and backup any games or CDs you don't want to lose.
Not a personal rant, but a woman who takes her ranting seriously and publicly. She has written some excellent columns over the years....some of which you may have read in the LA Times, NY Post, or the Boston Herald.
Let your voice be heard!
Innovative Geodesic Dome Shelters - Pacific Domes
"Pacific Domes -Ideal family dwelling guest house workshop or yoga studio. Architecturally engineered steel frame handles heavy snow & hurricane winds. Durable covers are weathertight / windows, screens & wood stove set-up. Winterizing kits available."
The Pod - Folding geodesic dome shelters
Really like some of the designs of easy-setup geodesic domes on this site, except I'm not terribly confident in the materials they used for construction.
The designers were obviously going for the eco-friendly materials for building -- they use recycled paperboard which is sandwiched between a protective layer. They think they will last an average of 3 years in an outdoor environment.....which I think is too short.
In addition, the connections between the panels appears to be slightly cheesy -- first you tab and into slot b, then you TAPE it in place. Tape? Your kidding.
Still like the concept as a design structure...
Now I want to know the price!!
Little article on how to build your own GPS jamming device: component source and schematics.
Also, here's an article that discusses whether this is a problem or not.....hehe.
For all those comments looking for the schematic, just read the article first! It's there, but you have to do a little work to extract it. People are so lazy sometimes, I can't stand it.
Some wise-ass humor that Ken pointed me towards....
Why the hell did the chicken cross the road? Find out below with answers from famous people!
GEORGE W. BUSH
We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or it is against us. There is no middle ground here.
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
To die. In the rain. Alone.
more....
AL GORE
I invented the chicken. I invented the road. Therefore, the chicken crossing the road represented the application of these two different functions of government in a new, reinvented way designed to bring greater services to the American people.
COLIN POWELL
Now at the left of the screen, you clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.
HANZ BLIX
We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.
MOHAMMED ALDOURI (Iraqi ambassador)
The chicken did not cross the road. This is a complete fabrication. We don't even have a chicken.
SADDAM HUSSEIN
This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it
RALPH NADER
The chicken's habitat on the original side of the road had been polluted by unchecked industrialist greed. The chicken did not reach the unspoiled habitat on the other side of the road because it was crushed by the wheels of a gas-guzzling SUV.
PAT BUCHANAN
Why? To steal a job from a decent, hard-working American.
RUSH LIMBAUGH
I don't know why the chicken crossed the road, but I'll bet it was getting a government grant to cross the road, and I'll bet someone out there is already forming a support group to help chickens with crossing-the-road syndrome. Can
you believe this? How much more of this can real Americans take? Chickens crossing the road paid for by their tax dollars, and when I say tax dollars, I'm talking about your money, money the government took from you to build roads
for chickens to cross.
MARTHA STEWART No one called to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the farmer's market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.
JERRY FALWELL
Because the chicken was gay! Isn't it obvious? Can't you people see the plain truth in front of your face? The chicken was going to the "other side." That's what they call it -- the other side. Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And, if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media whitewashes with seemingly harmless phrases like "the other side."
DR. SEUSS
Did the chicken cross the road?
Did he cross it with a toad?
Yes, The chicken crossed the road, But why it crossed, I've not been told!
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.
GRANDPA
In my day, we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.
BARBARA WALTERS
Isn't that interesting? In a few moments we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting and went on to accomplish its life-long dream of crossing the road.
JOHN LENNON
Imagine all the chickens crossing roads in peace.
ARISTOTLE
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
KARL MARX
It was an historical inevitability.
VOLTAIRE
I may not agree with what the chicken did, but I will defend to the death its right to do it.
CAPTAIN KIRK
To boldly go where no chicken has gone before.
FOX MULDER
You saw it cross the road with your own eyes! How many more chickens have to cross before you believe it?
SIGMUND FREUD
The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.
BILL GATES
I have just released eChicken 2003, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook - and Internet Explorer is an inextricable part of eChicken.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?
BILL CLINTON
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What do you mean by chicken?
Could you define chicken, please?
THE BIBLE
And God came down from the heavens, and He said unto the chicken, "Thou shalt cross the road." And the chicken crossed the road, and there was much rejoicing.
COLONEL SANDERS
I missed one?
Publications / Resources | Toy Inventor / Designer Guide
Nice guide written for aspiring toy inventors and designers. Also a good list of contacts and references at the end.
Brilliant Java Applet that lets you construct your own 3D "creature" and then using neural networks and learning algorithms it will learn to walk, turn left, turn right, etc.
Fun!
One note, he's a French guy so the English translation isnt' too good.
Brian Walker, Rocket Guy: Project R.U.S.H., Inventions, Toys, Pioneer
Personal website for the "Rocket Guy" who is seriously building a personal rocket that will launch him into space (30 miles up). He's been working on the project for a number of years and the progress he's made looks quite good.
In addition, he has apparently made some serious money as a toy designer since this is how he's been funding the project. If you look on the Toys page you'll find he built such items as the:
Air Bazooka
HeliShot
Light Chaser (popular at Disney)
(among other things)
Sounds like a great gig to me.
The Webby Awards: 2003 Nominees
Pretty much the all around best and most influential sites out on the web right now.
SodaPlay is an interactive soda-straw constructive design interface where you can play with other constructions, build your own constructions, and more.
The models have fixed nodes, movable nodes, elasticity / muscle struts, and more.
A true time waster for the engineer, builder, and child within each of us.
More detailed entry to follow....visit the site!
The new Matrix Reloaded trailer is out - and the movie will be in theaters on May 15th - one month from today! Can't wait.....
The Car Talk guys (Click and Clack) had a poll about practical jokes a while back, and then compiled some of the best ones into a list to inspire the rest of us!
What was your best practical joke? Let me know....
CNN.com - Solar cells less pricey, more efficient - Apr. 14, 2003
Every minute, the sun bombards Earth with enough energy to supply its power needs for a year. Yet only two one-hundredths of a percent of all the electricity fed into the U.S. grid originates from sunlight.
Now wouldn't it be nice to harness that power for everyday use....granted it might not work in Seattle, but plenty of the US gets ample sunlight...
Episode 701 - I'm A Little Bit Country
Let's just quote South Park for a moment:
Cartman: I learned somethin' today. This country was founded by some of the smartest thinkers the world has ever seen. And they knew one thing: that a truely great country can go to war, and at the same time, act like it doesn't want to. [a shot of the crowd] You people who are for the war, you need the protesters. Because they make the country look like it's made of sane, caring individuals. And you people who are anti-war, you need these flag-wavers, because, if our whole country was made up of nothing but soft pussy protesters, we'd get taken down in a second. That's why the founding fathers decided we should have both. It's called "having your cake and eating it too."
Randy: He's right. The strength of this country is the ability to do one thing and say another.
Skeeter: Yeah, but... if it weren't for all you guys protesting, why everyone around the world would hate the American people instead of just the President.
Gerald: And if it weren't for you people flexing your arms, America could easily get taken over by terrorists or... or China.
(from a forwarded email)
Here's the plan:
1) The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past & present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini and the rest of them 'good old boys'. We will never "interfere" again.
2) We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No more sneaking through holes in the fence.
3) All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them.
4) All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself, don't hide here. Asylum would not ever be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers.
5) No "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" and it's back home baby.
6) The US will make a strong effort to become self sufficient energy wise. This will include developing non polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.
7) Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we'll go someplace else.
8) If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere". They can pray to Allah or whomever, for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides' most of what we give them is stolen or given to the army. The people who need it most get very little, if any anyway.
9) Ship the UN Headquarters to an island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, it would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.
10) All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way, no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer.
USATODAY.com - Strain of Iraq war showing on Bush, those who know him say
Despite the fact of how I feel about our current political situation and our President, I found this behind the scenes look at how he handles the stress of war very interesting. Even though I may not agree with all his policies, I think that he is in it for the good of everyone.