geek:
This weekend is Barflies.net's, the website, 11th Birthday.
Happy Birthday to us!
In internet years, I think that makes us about 97 years old... ;oD
10 years ago today, Alex West, Ben Yau, and I got together at my brother's house in Huntington Beach with several computers and a bunch of scary snacks that Ben brought and we coded & launched Barflies.net to build on the Barflies mailing list that I had been running for the previous year and the SocialD message board that Alex had been running for the 4 years previous.
In the normal way of things, I should have thrown a big party tonight to celebrate 10 BIG YEARS on the internet. I have spent the last two months trying to find where all the early contributors of the Barflies.net have gotten themselves off to (Hey Amber & Erik Jansen, where are you? Email me!), so that Julie Wanda and I could throw a good thank you party and Hey, We are Still Going Strong party.
In typical, Wanda and Jen fashion, we are running fashionably late. Expect a party announcement soon.
Happy 10th Anniversary to us!
[Originally posted at Black Phoebe :: Ms. Jen, re-posted with permission]
An ear worm is a pernicious song / melody / chorus that wiggles into your brain via your ears and stays all the while niggling at your brain and causing you to wake up singing it or worse... The worse is having the ear worm song stuck for days on end.
The best way to get rid of an ear worm is not to ignore or attempt to replace it with a better or more acceptable song, but instead to infect others around you. By some odd law of the universe that science has not yet documented, if you pass on your ear worm to at least 3 or 5 other humans, then it mercifully leaves your brain.
Back in college if the most pernicious of all ear worms infected us, we would start singing it in the cafeteria line. Evil but true. By the time you got your food and checked out, the ear worm would be gone, all the while 5 others behind you in line were shooting you eye daggers and singing along under their breathes.
By this same principal, my college roommate and I once got a large part of the audience at the Troubador, between bands, singing the Worst Ear Worm of All Time. This was a great accomplishment for the late 1980s.
Thankfully, Blip.fm has come up with a great antidote for ear worms. Blip.fm lets you post the song you are thinking of and then write a small note to go along with it, think Twitter plus a song database. Thus, when you think of a song, rather than letting your mind chew on it for hours and tormenting you, you can log into Blip.fm, and post the song and share it not just with your friends but with various other lovely folk on Blip.fm.
Today, when I heard a 70s ear worm gem on the radio and was too appalled to change the channel, as the song started to burrow into my brain, I went home, turned on the computer, when to Blip.fm and blipped it - 1975's Hot Chocolate's "I believe in Miracles". And I wrote:
This song, while an oldie, is a TERRIBLE HORRIBLE Ear Worm. I heard it on the radio today, now I must infect you...
And then Blip.fm set me free. So, I decided to test my karma and post the Worst Ear Worm of All Time to Blip.fm, yes - the ear worm that infected the cafeteria line at Pitzer College, the ear worm that infected a metal show at the Troubadour... Yes... The Green Acres Theme Song... I dare you to listen to it:
But this, if you are an American who watched too many re-runs as a kid, is the ALL TIME MOST infectious Ear Worm...
What is your favorite all time ear worm?
Internet surfing late this evening led me to Lesile Hall's Gemstone Sweater site, which led me to the bank of videos for her music/performaniceart/parody. Wow!
Happy First of August to you. Or rabbit rabbit. Or Happy Lughnasadh. Whichever you prefer, just remember to have a good bonfire and some 'smores.
To re-launch the Barflies.net after our 4 month hiatus, I will be blogging here at the Barflies.net and at Alex's Bar daily as a part of the NaBloPoMo August Hot challenge.
So, what is hot for today, August 1st? A good bonfire. In lieu (or Lugh) of a good bonfire, then a nice, hot, sweaty nightclub...
Yes, Barflies.net is back with a new backend (Movable Type Open Source) and a refinement of our design.
Sorry for our prolonged absence, but we are a volunteer blog and that includes the services of the webmistress / webdev ...
Doesn't everyone need a good vacation?
But in Lodz, Poland, a teenage boy hacked into the local trolley system to use it like “a giant train set.”
From CNN's 2007 101 Dumbest Moments in Business...
I give you Number 13 (some of these are just too perfect not to share...) or "How to Use a Laptop."
13. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Amid concern about overheating notebooks and exploding batteries, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in September issues a helpful tip on how to use a laptop:
"Do not use your computer on your lap."
From CNN's 2007 101 Dumbest Moments in Business...
I give you Number 10 (some of these are just too perfect not to share...) or "Would You Want this Guy on Your Sofa?"
10. Comcast
... or stay on the line and one of our representatives will wake from his drunken slumber to assist you.
During a routine service call in June, a Comcast cable repairman falls asleep on the couch of customer Brian Finkelstein.
Finkelstein's ensuing video, complete with soundtrack ("I Need Some Sleep," by the Eels) and commentary on the company's poor equipment, high prices, and lousy customer service, quickly becomes a viral hit on the Web.
Comcast apologizes and fires the nodding worker -- who was stuck on hold for more than an hour while calling in to the company for assistance.
Would you believe these cats, their offspring, and inbreeds sell for as much as 22k? I love cats and am fascinated but this long eared, beautifially marked creature. They are basically the mix of an African Serval and a Bengal Tiger Cat, and then domesticated through the inbreeding.
Check out this article on CNN below:
Don't you just wish you could do this? I mean, don't you just want to have green hair and ride a skateboard through the streets? I think this YouTube Video explains it all.