Every day I encounter some new social network, a new iPhone application, a new Web 2.0 application. For most of them, I take a pass. After all, do we really need yet another social network? How many social networking aggregation tools can one person use? Is there a need for multiple flashlight applications on the iPhone while I still cannot get a decent terminal application? Are we at Web 2.1 yet? Today, I was pleasantly surprised when I found the web application, Picnik. ...

Otto the octopus, of course! Not only that, but this wily octopus can also smash his way out of the aquarium and wreak electrical havoc on the entire complex. I first heard this on Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! this weekend. An Austrian Times article elaborates: “Once we saw him juggling the hermit crabs in his tank, another time he threw stones against the glass damaging it. And from time to time he completely re-arranges his tank to make it suit his own taste better - much to the distress of his fellow tank inhabitants.” ...

Paul Bloom has written a thought-provoking article over on Slate. In “Does Religion Make You Nice?”, he suggests that the American perception of atheism may be a contributing factor to the idea that atheists are immoral people. Of particular interest to me was a study that was cited. In one of their own studies, they primed half the participants with a spirituality-themed word jumble (including the words divine and God) and gave the other half the same task with nonspiritual words. Then, they gave all the participants $10 each and told them that they could either keep it or share their cash reward with another (anonymous) subject. Ultimately, the spiritual-jumble group parted with more than twice as much money as the control. ...

[Source: McSweeney’s Internet Tendency] Fifty Years of Popular Songs Condensed Into Single Sentences A handful of my favorites from the list: The White Stripes, “My Doorbell” Using metaphor, I want to do it with you. Duran Duran, “Rio” I’d love to do that chick dancing on the sand. Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ in the Wind” The Man is currently doing it to you. Elvis Presley, “Jailhouse Rock” ...

At the risk of revealing my status as a geek, I will admit to having a double CD of John Williams’ compositions. However, that’s nothing compared to the phenomenal Star Wars video that moosebutter has released worldwide on YouTube today. The video is title “Star Wars” - an a capella tribute to John Williams. You can watch it below. The lyrics to the song can be found at the moosebutter site. ...

Hayden Tompkins writes a blog titled Persistent Illusion. I’ve been reading her posts for some time now, and she continues to impress me. Her article today is called An American Hero. In it, Hayden addresses John McCain and the trials of his presidential campaign. Tompkins illustrates McCain’s patriotism well. With regard to the election last night, one particular point stuck out for me. It broke my heart to watch people boo John McCain as he attempted to end his campaign with a measure of dignity. Simply because he would not set verbal fire to the effigy, to the looming spectre, of Barack Obama as President-elect. John McCain deserved to be cheered, supported, and allowed one final moment of presidential statesmanship. ...

[via ze frank] Patrick Moberg, an illustrator, made a fun caricature of the 44 Presidents of the United States. [caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1440.0”] November 4, 2008[/caption] The high-resolution version is on his site.

For those lucky enough to be in a district that uses electronic voting machines, you may think that technology has not changed much since the last election. However, the technology showcased at this election was not something for voters to touch, but rather to watch. As part of their coverage last night, CNN debuted the first hologram interview on television. Those in the information technology field have known about this for a little while (Cisco did a live demonstration of it), but to see it used by mainstream media makes it a whole new ball game. Imagine what this will do for awards ceremonies, televised interviews, and other events where many people from disparate locations must congregate. ...

Jessica Hagy has been around the Internet for some time. Most people know her for her site, Indexed, which has become a staple of Word Wide Web surfers everywhere. If you’ve yet to experience the fun, I suggest you head on over and check her site out. I am subscribed to the Indexed e-mail feed so each morning, I get an index card in my Inbox. This was today’s. [caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“373.0”] How to Waste Your Life[/caption] ...

The origin of the alliterative phrase “proper preparation prevents poor performance” is unknown to me, but I know where I first heard it. My fifth grade teacher in Catholic grade school ground that mantra into our heads. Combine it with the Boy Scouts’ “Be Prepared” motto, and you should have a recipe for success. Except that there are times when even proper preparation misses a step. It’s all part of the learning process. So it is that I humble myself to the great MySQL prep gods and bow in deference to those who came before me writing documentation so that I would not repeat the same mistake. ...