Brad's Blog

Sociology Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Sun, 22 Jan 2006 15:12:00 +0000

History professor Jacques Pluss did an incredible sociology experiment by pretending to be a Neo-Nazi for a year. He ended up being fired from his job and more or less ostracize by everyone despite doing nothing other then admitting he had many extreme right wing views. You can read about it in an article on the History News Network. It's fascinating to see how people react to things like this. I've got to tip my hat to the professor for having the guts to follow through with an experiment to this kind of extreme.

enjoy,
Brad

Great Photoshop Contest!

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:35:00 +0000

All I can say is wow!

There are some incredible entries in the latest Worth 1000 Photoshop contest. The theme for the photoshop contest is Canvas Earth, which required people to "Use nature and geography as your canvas. (i.e. Make a lake shaped like a teletubbie, or volcanic rock look like a dragon, constellation patterns that seem to look like images, or rock shapes that seem to resemble actual things)."

Enjoy,
Brad

Check Washing

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 15:02:00 +0000

What is "Check Washing" you ask? Until this morning I'd never heard of the term either, but after reading an excellent article written by Sean Patrick Kane I was enlightened to both the process and the best defense against check washing. Check washing is the process of taking a check that has been written, protecting the signature section, washing the ink from the rest of the written part of the check, and then writing in a different name and amount.

In general I'm not worried about things like this, but after reading the article I thought it was worth sharing. While this wasn't what happened to us, we did have our car broken into a few years ago and a blank check stolen, so I know what a pain it can be to go through the process of stopping payment on checks, get new accounts, and deal with everything else related to this sort of crime. In case you don't feel like reading the article, which I really recommend (why else would I have it in my blog), in a nutshell the conclusion is that you should use a "Gel Pen" when you write checks. The ink in a gel pen is different then those found in a standard ball point or felt tip pen, and is pretty much unaffected by the various methods used by check washers.

see ya,
Brad

Top 50 Inventions

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:54:00 +0000

Popular Mechanics has posted a list of what it considers the "Top 50 Inventions of the Last Half Century." Kind of made me feel old to see how many things I remember becoming common household items, and then seeing how long ago they were invented!

Enjoy,
Brad

25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2005

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 14:24:00 +0000

For the voyeur in all of us, earthcam.com has posted their "25 Most Interesting Webcams of 2005." Being a bit of a webcam viewing junkie, I've got to say that the 25 listed are some of the best I've ever seen. Included in the list are:

The Giant Pandas webcam at the National Zoo. You can switch between several cameras.

TennesseeÂs Anderson County SheriffÂs Department jailcam which shows a live feed of their booking desk.

ClickOnIt Webcam where you can turn lights on and off in a person's house.

Pyramidcam which is a webcam of the Great Pyramids in Egypt.

Enjoy,
Brad

This Round Goes to Darwin!

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:08:00 +0000

Chalk one up for sane and rational thought!

U.S. District Judge John Jones ruled that teaching "intelligent design" would violate the Constitutional separation of church and state. You can read an excellent article about it on CNN and the judge's official ruling is available on the courts web site in PDF format.

Humpback Whale

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 22:54:00 +0000

Here's a link to a great article in the Wednesday, December 14 San Francisco Chronicle about a 45-50 foot, 40 ton, humpback whale that was rescued by divers this week. When the whale was found by fisherman it had 20 crab-pot ropes, which are 240 feet long with weights every 60 feet, wrapped around its body and through it's mouth. Divers came to its rescue and spent and hour cutting it free, and afterwards the whale appeared to thank them by coming up to each of them and nuzzling them like a dog.

Enjoy,
Brad

Coffee

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 15:45:00 +0000

I like my coffee as much as the next person, but apparently they are a little more serious about it over in the Netherlands! It's amazing the pictures they are able to make on the top of a latte! Check out the photo gallery from the 2005 Latte Art Championship.

enjoy,
Brad

The Best Things In Life Are Free!

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 15:48:00 +0000

Who says the best things in life aren't free? And I'm not just talking about software illegally downloaded off the internet. :-)

There is a ton of great freeware out there to do almost anything you can image. Whether it's organizing your digital photos (Picasa), protecting your computer from a virus (AVG Anti-virus), getting a free replacement for Micro$oft's over priced Office (Open Office), writing outlines for a school project or that novel you've always wanted to write (Keynote), or getting the best darn web browser (Firefox) or mail reader (Thunderbird) on the market!

Check out Gizmo's "The 46 Best-ever Freeware Utilities." He updates it regularly, so check back from time to time.

see ya,
Brad

Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 19:02:00 +0000

Brought to us by our friends in the UK.

Who knew that looking behind you while running a red light with a stolen car was such a good time to get a portrait taken?

Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest

enjoy,
Brad

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 18:55:00 +0000

Ah, the wonderful childhood memories of Christmas past...

Nothing says Christmas quite like a photo album of children scared to death by Jolly Old St. Nick! :-)

Enjoy,
Brad

Sudoku

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 15:57:00 +0000

As usual, I'm the last to know about the "in thing." Apparently the hot new game for 2005 is a "simple" numbers game called Sudoku. Check out this web site that has both online puzzles and pdf versions you can print out and do offline.

Enjoy,
Brad

Cool Science Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 14:11:00 +0000

Check out Steve Spangler's web site for a great science experiment with Mentos and Soda! Steve is the Director of National Hands-on Science Institute in Denver where he coordinates the staff development training for 850 teachers nationwide. Their goal is to help science teachers find fun, hands-on methods for teaching science to kids. If science class had been like this in school I think even I might have enjoyed it!

Video - 18 Foot Mentos Eruption

Video - The Perfect Mentos Eruption

Enjoy,
Brad

Welcome to my blog

noreply@blogger.com (Brad Speierman) — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 01:40:00 +0000

Welcome to my blog. I hope you'll come back regularly and check in on my ramblings.