7/24/2003
Random thoughts has moved
The spudart random thoughts blog can now be found at:
http://www.spudart.org/blogs/randomthoughts.php
Why the move: pmachine is much better than blogger.
blogger vs. pmachine
The comparison between blogger and pmachine
Comments:
pmachine's commenting system is very good. Make a comment and click the "notify me" button and you'll get an email when more comments have been added to that post. Blogger doesn't have a commenting system, so I installed a 3rd party commenting system (yaccs) that was super super slow.
Content Mangement:
Blogger isn't appropriate for managing lots of content. Pmachine is more apt to do this. Eventually my entire site will be powered by pmachine, art, photos, etc. Although, neither of them can batch upload files. But that gets me to the next point.
Customization:
While blogger does allow you to make a template and customize, it doesn't really give you that many options (not nearly as many as pmachine). Since blogger hosts the database of your posts and you can't access it, that severely limits what you can do with it. With pmachine, I can write my own php/mysql programs to do whatever I wish. Soon I will be writing a custom batch upload program.
Bookmarklet:
Since blogger upgraded their system, the bookmarklet doesn't work for Macintosh Explorer. I use that ALOT for the links bar.
Categories:
With pmachine you can organized your posts by category, blogger can't.
"Users tend to migrate from Blogger, not to it." -MacWorld
Another quote from MacWorld:
For users who want a Weblog system that can expand with the needs of their publication or business, we recommend Movable Type or pMachine. Both offer excellent features, extensibility, and power, and they're both easy to use. In fact, with a bit of tweaking, Movable Type and pMachine can serve as basic content-management systems. Demanding users will likely be satisfied with either system.
Here's a page I did on how to export all your blogger posts into pMachine format
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7/23/2003
Butterfly chair + Couch = Hammock
My brother is looking for a couch. There are no google results for "goofy couches". However, this fire bubble couch would be fun. And ooo, the Incredible flying couch. I need a Couch Potato. Here's an idea. The Incredible Couch Rally. Set up couches on wheels outside and play croquet while sitting on the couch!
from IM conversation with twin brother, Erik, about designing a couch for his basement
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7/22/2003
i'm gonna develop a product and make millions!
While at walgreens today, I came across a product called "Neat Sheet." Why use your old towels and blankets at the beach, when you could use a sheet that is specially formulated for the sand and water?
Brilliant. Think of an item where you already own, but that you use it for something else.
Now that take that function and develop a product that is specially formuated for that function.
Get the idea? Be a millionaire.
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7/21/2003
what would you bring back in time?
hmmm, if you could travel back in time, but could only bring one thing, what would it be? I"m looking out my window at a row of buses, and it would be fun to have a bus back in time. But then you'd need gas for the bus. That's part of the irony of it. You bring something hi-tech back, but then you'd have nothing to fix it.
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7/18/2003
a life's mystery
How does one roller blade only on one foot?
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take me to your leader
In the movies when an alien lands on earth and says "Take me to your leader." What actually happened? Did they take the alien to see the president? Wouldn't this be an unwise decision? Here you have this total unknown being demanding to see the president. Why do it? He could just vaporize the president in a nano-second.
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The more it rains, the more social law is erased.
Whenver it extremely pours, people go nuts. Running around screaming and yelling, acting like wild animals.
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7/17/2003
zap2it illustrations
Chicagoans, grab a Red Eye newspaper next week to see some Zap2it.com advertisements I designed and illustrated. They are full-page color ads with lots of purple.
Here's the schedule of when they will appear.
Monday, July 21 (Get Inside TV.)
Tuesday, July 22 (Need help processing what's on?)
Wednesday, July 23 (TV has never been this filling.)
Thursday, July 24 (Get Inside TV.)
Monday, July 28 (Need help processing what's on?)
I am available for hire to do illustrations. Check out my illustration section.
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0:50, half on the hour
It's 4:50am right now. Don't you sometimes wish that when it's :50 on the hour, that the hour is only half way over?
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Friends' blogs
The friends' blogs list on the right column has been updated. Here's a little diddy about each.
Serious Danger: Interesting, smart guy, Matthew Shultz. Had the honor of going to art school with him. Updated almost every day. New York.
Confessions of a Foodie: The amazing Tom Saaristo with his daily updated blog about food. Tom is a good buddy at work. Updated every day strictly. Chicago.
Angie O'Neal: Fellow designer's blog with neat links, ideas, rants and life. Updated more than once a day. Chicago.
Kim Quigley: Programmer friend. Blog about life. Updated almost every day. Pennsylvania.
Googamook: Very funny friend, Kara Koenning. Updated about once a week. Colorado.
Spinninghead: Great poet friend, Rose Connally. Updated once a week or more. California.
Rocket Hampster: Her mind works in interesting ways. Updated more than once a day.
Supah: The Electic artist, Amy Beth Payne, with her wonderful links. Updated almost every day. Michigan (formerly chicago).
sw33t: Web designer, jeepin friend, Sarah Fulka. Posts on this blog are made by many people more than once a day. California.
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7/16/2003
The Occasional Potato is coming back!
The Occasional Potato is a xeroxed group of things/articles that I find interesting. And it has a potato on every cover. If you would like to recieve one in the mail, email your postal address to me at: potato@spudart.org
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tiny mlb all-star trophy
The 2003 Major League Baseball All-Star Trophy looks like they bought it at some garage sale. No. It doesn't even look that cool. Looks like they spent a whoppin twenty bucks on it. How can they give out such a crummy award, espicially when it's called the Ted Williams All-Star MVP.
I espicially like how commissioner Bud Selig was handling the trophy before giving it to Garret Anderson. He was toting it around like spare change.
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7/15/2003
weirdest stamps ever
It's rather appriopriate that they would CHOP the photo very tightly on these neuter/spay stamps.
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7/14/2003
grossest stamps ever
The United States Post Office is selling the most creepiest stamps ever--bat stamps. And they just aren't nice friendly looking bats, they are zoomed in photos of their heads. GROSS! GROSS! GROSS! EWWWWW! *RUNNING IN CIRCLES WITH HANDS WAVING UNCONTROLLABLY*
My condolences to any relatives of the red bat, leaf-nosed bat, and pallio bat. As for the spotted bat... sorry but yer just way too butt a55 ugly.
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7/11/2003
structure
Weird. Just two days before the porch collasping in chicago, I took out this book, Structure in Sculpture. It lays out the fundamental technical structural issues of concern to creators and commissioners of sculpture, from balance and geometry to the structural characteristics of different materials.
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7/10/2003
sausage attack
Major League baseball player, Randall Simon of the Pittsburgh Pirates whacked the Italian Sausage in the head during the Clement's Sausage Race at the end of the sixth inning at Miller Park. Here's the video
This is just hilarious. And I cannot believe how upset people are getting over this. "This is one of the most outrageous things I've ever seen inside a ballpark or outside a ballpark," said Rick Schlesinger, Brewers executive vice president of business operations.
Liven up! It's a freakin mascot, people! In fact, if the person inside the Italian Sausage costume was really fit for the job, she would have playfully fought back against Randall Simon. Maybe forcing him to finish the race with the sausages and brats.
If anything, it shouldn't be Randall Simon who is in trouble, it should be the Italian Sausage for being such a weinie.
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the O.S. OS
While talking about Mac OS 9, the old school OS, it dawned on me that "old school" and "operating system" both have the same acronym.
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7/9/2003
G.I. Joe vs. The Transformers #1
Is out right now! I opted for the Metratron and Cobra Commander cover. Although I'm more of an autobot fan, the Optimus Prime / Snake Eyes cover just wasn't as cool.
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Bites and Bytes
Today McDonalds is providing hi-speed WIFI wireless internet access in 55 San Franscisco McDonalds restaurants. Chicago and New York will soon get theirs. When will it come to your town?
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7/8/2003
:-P :-b
The emoticon with the tongue sticking out
:-P
can also be displayed as
:-b
Erin showed this to me in an email today, and it's just so amazing. Ahh, the little things.
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7/7/2003
testing comments system
Comments system is now working again. Comment and comment some more. :-)
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less than three days left
vote for the final two players for the all-star game:
VARITEK AND PATTERSON!
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7/2/2003
dictatorship
"I WILL RULE WITH A SOFT FURRY FIST"
kara's away message.
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good way to get dizzy
A fun way to get super dizzy is to walk in circles in an elevator that is going up. (just discovered this while in an empty elevator this morning)
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7/1/2003
T3
Got to see Terminator 3 with special premiere tickets in Chicago. It was very whomp-assafull.
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zap2it illustrations
I'm doing illustrations for Tribune Media Services Zap2it.com advertisements that will appear in the Chicago Red Eye, LA Weekly, Village Voice, OC Weekly (Orange County) newspapers. Although, they haven't been published yet, i'm posting about the drawings of here, because I want google to index it. So when people search for drawings of zap2it ad for TV listings, they will find that I'm the illustrator for these ads. (sometimes it takes a few weeks for google to index my blog)
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6/30/2003
x or j?
can you believe there are more words with the letter "x" than the letter "j"? Check out this letter frequency list.
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6/28/2003
yoo-hoo sucks
ohmigosh, do not buy Yoo-hoo if you want chocolate milk. It's like water with chocolate powder. I even tried adding five of those half-n-half mini-moo's to give some creme texture, but it's still awful.
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6/27/2003
You go first, I'm so nice
A person standing in front of you on an elevator who is getting off at the same floor as you. But then when the door opens they signal the sweeping hand motion to indicate for you to get off first. While this is nice, I find it minorly annoying. Now I have to rush out of the elevator, because this person is standing right there waiting.
It's like when there's only one car at stop sign and they indicate for you to cross. But then you have to hurry, because the car is waiting. I'd much rather just have that car go and for me to take my time across the street.
Maybe I just have no elevator manners.
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6/26/2003
powermac G5: the cheese grater
Apple should give out a wheel of cheese for every cheese grater powermac g5 sold.
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6/25/2003
walking fast
"...so I walk like I'm on a mission
cuz that's the way I groove."
I find that when I walk fast, I get more done in the day. Not cuz i'm saving time, but it sets the pace for the day. (no pun intended)
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6/19/2003
pencils
A very interesting email by "Too Sharp" Tom of the 14th floor pencil sharpening club:
I'd be interested in knowing how long you will use a pencil, that is how short you will let it get, before you replace it with a new pencil.
Remember the kids in school that would use their pencil to the very end? Others would get a new pencil halfway through.
Does the abscence of an eraser on the pencil prompt you to go for a new pencil? Some people never used the eraser on the pencil and used a separate one. Others would wear-down the eraser and then put one of those replacement erasers on the end.
The questions are:
1. How short will you let your pencil get before you replace it?
1a. Has this parameter changed throughout your life?
2. Does the depletion of your eraser cause you to replace the pencil?
2a. Why or Why Not? Has this parameter changed throughout your life?
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6/14/2003
which cap is more cool?
I'm considering getting a new chicago cubs cap.
Option A is from hometeams.com.
Option B is from lids.com.
Which baseball hat is more cool?
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6/13/2003
energy ball
Everyone has an "energy ball", read about yours here.
(the link here has been fixed)
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6/12/2003
six years old
my website is six years old today!
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6/11/2003
good art is like a maze
The next few days I will be adding some roughed-out concepts to the thoughts section of spudart.org. Today's thought is: good art is like a maze.
Posting longer thoughts has been inspired by denise's diary. Mac people, the links on that page don't work for us, look at the code for the links.
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6/10/2003
a way to think about your storage
Does your storage serve to make you prepared or sentimental?
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6/9/2003
moonday
kara: its not maaawnday its moooooonday
matt: pull-down-your-pants-while-driving-and-moon-someone-day?
kara: yup exactly
from IM conversation with kara.
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6/5/2003
cold soda pop
What would take longer to chill in a refrigerator:
* unopened soda pop
* opened soda pop (but with the bottle cap twisted back on, and none drank)
I would think the opened soda would chill faster, because alot of the carbonation has been released. Those air bubbles would slow down the cooling process. (air takes longer than water to cool).
Whaddya think?
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6/4/2003
King of Cork
Here's a quickie little illustration I did for baseball's new "King of Cork."
http://www.spudart.org/chicagocubs/sammy
I say good for Sammy. It makes baseball more interesting. Coaches stealing signs, pitchers doctoring up balls, players corkin bats. Say, we need a good spitball pitcher in the majors now-a-days.
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top of the world
Matt: "at the top of the tribune tower yelling down at people"
Kara: "on top of the world, looking down"
Matt: "because we live on a globe, wherever you are, you are on top of the world."
from IM conversation with kara.
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