WebRev Blog

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And from the "What People Think I Do" over at those crazy site with all the cats, we're going to dedicate this to Tim Short, of WebRevelation:

Happy Friday, everyone - have a great weekend!

The "fun" news of the week is that Google has an "Easter Egg" on its search page which is getting a lot of attention.  No, not the chocolate kind of Easter egg (my favorite).  A virtual Easter egg is a something unexpected that you find, usually while searching for something else.  The site Eeggs.com has a list of famous virtual Easter eggs found in in movies, tv shows, software, music, books, and art.  I'm sure they'll be adding this week's little gem from Google, as well.

The phrase "do a barrel roll" is making the rounds on Twitter and other sites, because if you type this phrase (or the related "Z or R twice" ) into the Google search bar, the whole screen will rotate automatically.  I must be easily amused, because I've done it about ten times now. 

The phrase originally comes from a video game called Star Fox 64 from the 1990s.  A n example of how the phrase is used is HERE in this YouTube video.  Fans of the movie Shrek may think the donkey looks a bit familiar.

So, go ahead, and do a barrel roll. Do it. You know you want to.

Speaking of rolling - remember to roll back your clocks before you go to bed on Saturday night.  It would be a shame to miss that extra hour of sleep.  Most of your computerized devices are set to automatically update, but you may still need to update your battery-powered devices and house clocks.  Some of us still need to update the clocks in our automobiles.  In case you're like me, and probably won't remember to do this (even after reminding everyone else to all week), you might want to consider downloading an app.

A friend of mine lost a computer keyboard this weekend to a cup of spilled coffee.  Naturally much discussion ensued, including suggestions for what to do with the fried piece of equipment.  My suggestion was one that my co-workers and I did with a keyboard when our boss went off to the World Cup in Germany a few years ago.  (Photo above.)  I got the suggestion from website in 2006, and modified the instructions to:

Take all of the keys off, and put a layer of cotton down, and moisten it with a spray bottle of water.  Sprinkle alfalfa seeds on the cotton, and spray the cotton down again.  Replace the keys, and place the keyboard in an area that gets sunlight. For the next several days sprinkle the whole thing with water and voila!

Some other people have found some very interesting things to do their old keyboards.  Have a look.

From ZedoMax

From Udustar

From Marketing Alternatif

From Craziest Gadgets

From Emphasa

From Instructables

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. 
 

It's almost time to say good-bye to 2010, which means the year-end wrap ups are beginning.  Jib Jab has a great  one:

Some people are taking the "if you can't beat them, mock them," approach to dealing with the stress of holiday travel this year.  Several people have protested the new security procedures by stripping down to their underwear prior to entering the security screening area.  These guys decided to go through Sky Harbor in kilts.  Others are posting funny edited "TSA photos" of themselves or others, like this clever person selling a "Miss TSA Calendar" on e-Bay, or PETA, cashing in on the free publicity to save the animals.

Speaking of animals, I've decided to show you how I TSA'd my bunny.  Don't worry - he didn't mind.  He has a good sense of humor and actually insisted on a second "pet-down."  You can do this with any photo, following these basic steps.  I started with this photo:

The next step is to mostly unsaturate the color using your photo editing software, to create a black-and-white version of your photo:

Finally, use your photo editing software to "invert" the colors, to create a negative of the photo, and Voila!

Note that unless you actually have an x-ray scanner, if you want photos that are actually going to show body parts, you're going to need to start with a photo that shows those body parts.  This is a family-friendly blog, so I'll let you figure out how to obtain one of those.

Also see:  Because I don't want you to see any of my wobbly bits.

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking. 
 

 Click HERE or on the photo below to Enlarge.

Click HERE or on the photo above to Enlarge.

So, it turns out that being a "geek" is all the rage, these days, unlike a couple of decades ago.  There are lots of quizzes availble online to help you verify and validate your geek-ness.

Daniel Roth, at Wired, explains why  the trend toward geek-chic might be a good thing:

...It's an art that has, for the most part, been lost on educators. The notion itself seems incredibly daunting—until you look at one maligned subculture in which the smartest members are also the most popular: the geeks. If you want to reform schools, you've got to make them geekier.

 

"Geeks get things done. They're possessed. They can't help themselves," says Larry Rosenstock, founding principal of eight charter schools in San Diego County collectively called High Tech High. He has come up with a curriculum that forces kids to embrace their inner geek by pushing them to create. The walls, desks, and ceilings of his classrooms teem with projects, from field guides on local wildlife to human-powered submarines. (A High Tech High art project called Calculicious, based entirely on math principles, now hangs in the San Diego airport.) The students all work in small groups as a way to foster shared enthusiasm: Get two kids excited about something and it's harder for a third to poke fun at them...Continue reading Making Geeks Cool Could Reform Education >>

So, go ahead, everyone, let your Geek Flag fly!

Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking.