Here's a list of 1001 things to do with liquid nitrogen that was linked to from Boing Boing.

Hmm...where does one buy liquid nitrogen, anyway?

1001 things to do with Liquid Nitrogen

Hey all.  Just a quick note to my family and friends that the Dryer/Cross Wedding Website is now live.

Click here to go see it!

As a fancy-camera-owner, I can relate to this story.

So there was this woman named Judith who went on vacation to Hawaii with a fancy camera.  Unfortunately, show lost the camera in one of the Hawaiian parks.  She reported the camera as missing to the local park ranges, and started a Flickr website trying to recreate her photos with those from others who have gone to Hawaii.

Earlier this month she received a call from a park ranger telling her that a Canadian couple reported finding her camera and giving her their name and number.  She then called the family and they verified that, yes, they had her camera, even describing specifics like the color of a rubber band she had wrapped around it.

Then the family dropped bomb number one:  they told her that their nine year old son found the camera, and while they wanted to show him how to do the right thing by calling, he'd been using it for a week and they didn't want to take it away from him.  They then also told her this story about how the child was recently diagnosed with diabetes and was convinced he was cursed with bad luck, and they thought taking the camera away would prove it.

Plus they had spent "a lot of money" to get a charger and memory card.

"This is an expensive camera, you know," Judith told them, to which they replied, "Oh, we know, we looked it up."

Finally, figuring that there was no way this family was going to give her the camera back, she proposed that they just send her the memory card with her photos along with $50 for the camera.  Two weeks later a package arrived, but it only contained some CDs with the photos.  "We need the memory cards to operate the camera properly" an enclosed note read.

When she called the family back about their keeping the memory cards and not sending the money, she was told that she should be happy they sent anything at all, as most people wouldn't even do that.  Yeah, they're real good people.

You can read Judith's account first-hand at her site by clicking here. 

There is some debate in her comments as to whether she should post the family's name and address on the web.  While I don't agree with doing that (I could imagine quite a few people that really have nothing to do with this harassing the family for some time), but I do think she should direct the family and the local authorities to her online account to see if she can pressure them into doing the right thing, as they claimed they originally wanted to do.

Lost Rhapsody, from WeirdAl.com.  A must-see for fans of the show.

Maybe the boat's been missed for the 2006 Valentine's season, but for those looking forward to 2007, I present my award-winning*, patented** 4 Pillars of Valentine's Day.

1. Flowers.  At work is best, but a bouquet that evening works if necessary as well.  But skip the roses - they jack the price up for V-Day specifically, and you could get her a HUGE mix of spring flowers for the cost of a dozen roses.
2. Dinner.  Unless you're some amazing and romantic gourmet chef, go out.  Some place nice.  Some place that requires reservations for Valentine's Day.  And make the reservation at least a week in advance so you can get in at a decent time.
3. Chocolate.  All women love it.  Well, most women anyway.
4. Gift.  Even something small but personal, like a photo of the two of you in a nice frame, or a manicure/pedicure gift certificate.

The great thing about the 4 Pillars of Valentine's Day is that you can vary each part depending on your personal budget, but so long as all four are satisfied in some way, you'll leave her very happy each Feb 14!

* No awards were really won.  Unless you consider my upcoming marriage to my sweetheart.  Which I do.
** Not really patented.  In that case, consider it open-source for the betterment of mankind.

I found this photo on Boing Boing today, and I thought it was pretty cool.  Note the little trees at the bottom - according to the site that originally hosted it, the trees were vaporized within microseconds.  The photo was from 7 miles away with a 10 foot lens, giving a shuttle speed equal to 1/100,000,000 of a second.

Click here to see the original site with more photos.

First came Darth Tater...

Then came the Spud Trooper...

Now comes...  Artoo-Potatoo!

Can a Princess Frya or Tuberacca be far behind?

Narnia 2:  The Search for More Turkish Delight

(Ok, that's not the real title, but I've never read Prince Caspian.  I don't know why, but the whole "brother sells out family for Turkish Delight" plot of the original was a bit odd to me.  Of course, I've never had Turkish Delight, so maybe I'm wrong).

When I was in high school, I worked at Target right when they started their Club Wedd registration system.  I always thought it looked fun going around the store with one of those little guns, making a list of things you'd want.  In fact, I always thought they needed some sort of general gift registration using the same thing - think how easy that would make Christmas!

Anyway, last night Kim and I began observing the pre-wedding tradition of gift registration at Target.  The most surprising thing about it was how it took well over two hours to go through the whole store, but all in all it was pretty fun.

Click here to see our Target registry.

We leave for Chicago tomorrow, but next week we plan on completing our registration by also registering at Bed Bath and Beyond and possibly Pottery Barn. 

As adults getting married after having lived single for a few years, we find that many typical registration items like dishware, glassware, etc aren't needed - we already have most of that from everyday living.  So instead we tended to go for things like tools, garden equipment, a Roomba, games and alcohol.

Speaking of the wedding, I really need to get a move on with our wedding plans website.  More on that as I get to it.

I have been known to be a moderate E-Bayer, so I have a UPS account for shipping out packages  Up until a few months ago, I had only used it via PayPal shipping, but I've recently started using it direct from the UPS site to originate shipments.

When I first started using my account via the UPS web portal (My UPS they call it), I noticed the address on file was my old home address, which I moved from two years ago.  Expecting a web application to work reasonably, I updated the address.

Today I got a call from a collection agency on behalf of UPS.  As it turns out, changing your address via their website does not change your billing address.  I believe it's important to note that nothing on their website tell you this, but apparently changing your address on their website changes...nothing of relevance?

I paid the collection company, and they tell me that it won't hit against my credit, and I've called UPS and changed my billing address, but the question remains:  why have an address change option on their website if it doesn't change any of your account addresses?

From Joystiq:

Though it's not quite Broadway, the below reenactment of the NES and arcade classic, Punch Out, is pretty darn good. The music is especially catchy, and the moves are disturbingly accurate. You know you're a gamer when all of this makes sense. A very funny and entertaining way to see just what an impact video games has had on our culture.

Click to see the video

Letterman to O'Reilly on last night's show: "I have the feeling that 60% of what you say is crap."

See it at Crooks and Liars.

For your viewing pleasure - The Zelda Dance!  Click any of the images attached to see the video.

It's a commercial from Japan for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo.

Dedoo Dedoo Dedooo Dedoooooo!

Remember how in the 1980s, there was all this hype in the media about kids playing Dungeons and Dragons becoming evil?  I guess there was a comic book written illustrating this fact. 

I give you Dark Dungeons.  Some images below, copyright their author.

Black Leaf is declared DEAD! SHE'S DEAD TO US NOW!

Debbie - aka Elfstar - is asked to join a real coven.

Debbie turns evil and casts a spell on her father. Note the evil wrinkles now around her nose.

Evil Debbie (or is it Elfstar now?) uses her spell to get her dad to buy her D&D merchandise!

Marcie kills herself because she let Black Leaf die.

The local pastor performs an exorcism on Debbie. Now Elfstar answers to a new master.

Interestingly, the version sold now has a modified version of THIS page, which in the past denounced Tolkien and CS Lewis, too.

With my birthday coming up tomorrow, the perfect gift for you to get me is also coming up for sale!  The World Aquarium in St. Louis is auctioning off their live two-headed albino rat snake named "We"!

Click for CNN Story on We

Unlike most two-headed animals, this snake has lived to adulthood and continues to do well, mainly because both heads attach intact to a single digestive system.

Bidding for the snake (snakes?) will start at $150,000.

Take Super Mario Bros and make it Lord of the Rings-esque, and you get this.

I suspect it's been around online for some time, but for those of you who haven't seen it, I'd recommend checking it out.

Mario Brothers - The Flash Series

Merry Christmas AND Happy Holidays to my friends, family and strangers who happen to this site looking for a picture of a scuba cat.

There has been much talk of late about a "Liberal War on Christmas".  What I find funny is that I am liberal, have many friends who are liberal, have many friends who would not consider themselves Christians, yet I've yet to meet anyone who is actually offended by the term "Merry Christmas".  If ever there was a fabricated conflict for the sake of news, I believe it is the War on Christmas.

I got this from Jessica's blog, originating from the LA Times:

The Grinch Factor
by Rosa Brooks

THE WHOS down in Who-ville
Were a tolerant lot:
Who Christians, Who Muslims — a Who melting pot.
Who Hindus! Who atheists! Who Buddhists, Who Jews!
Who Confucians, Who pagans,
And even Who Druze! The Who 1st Amendment's Establishment Clause
Said, "No creches in courts," and the Whos loved their laws.
Because somehow … they worked. The Whos rarely fought,
Mostly, each Who did just what he ought.
Every Who down in Who-ville
Loved the Consti-Who-tion a lot.
But the O'Reilly, who lived up in Fox-ville,
Did NOT!
The O'Reilly DETESTED the Who Consti-Who-tion,
He thought it was some sort of liberal pollution.
Now, please don't ask why, for I really don't know.
Perhaps it had something to do with his show.
It could be that his head wasn't screwed on quite right.
Or it could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his RATINGS
Were two sizes too small.
Well, whatever it was, bad ratings or tight shoes,
He stood there one Christmas, just hating the Whos.
"They're so multicultural," he sneered, "and wherever they're from,
They lack the good sense to just launch a pogrom!
There's no Who ethnic cleansing, no Who Inquisition,
If this PEACE can't be stopped, I may lose my position.
Those sensitive, tolerant Whos! It's quite grating.
I must think of something to fix my show's ratings!"
Then he said with a smirk, "I know just what to do
To destroy all the joy in the land of the Who!
I think I can end that PC Who peace.
This year, not one Who will enjoy his Roast Beast!
"Here's just how I'll do it:
I'll tell each Who Christian
That the liberal Whos have devised a new mission
To take away Christmas!
To mock and destroy
Till no little Who Christian is left with a toy!
And when secular Whos — most likely Who Jews —
Attempt to deny it? Why,
I'll just SPIN THE NEWS!
"I'll bluff and I'll lie; I'll sow seeds of mistrust.
Soon they'll form battle lines into
Who 'THEM' and Who 'US,'
Based on which Whos prefer
To sing out, 'Merry Christmas'
And which Whos say, 'Kwanzaa!'
Or 'None of your business!'
"They'll get so confused and so MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD
That they won't even notice the way
They've been HAD!
They'll be so busy squabbling
They won't notice the war!
They won't care if Who rich
Start to trample Who poor!
"Forget torture, and terror, and taxes, and health!
They'll waste all their time on some red-hatted elf.
"And the Who Consti-Who-tion?
They'll stretch it or burn it!
If it came as a gift, they would try to return it!
"The Who Christians will think that they fight the good fight,
They won't know that they're puppets of the Fox-ville Far Right.
They'll forget all that DRIVEL about faith, hope and LOVE
And say 'Merry Christmas' with a sneer and a shove.
"But I? I will prosper! My ratings will soar,
And maybe at last they'll forget I'm a BOOR.
Then for every Who Christmas tree
A most fitting adornament:
My O'Reilly MUG on the tackiest ornament!"

—

… And what happened then?
Well, the rest's up to you.
But I know what I'd like this holiday season:
A little less NOISE and a little more reason.
So Who Christians! Who Buddhists! Who Muslims! Who Jews!
WHOever you are, just say NO to Fox "News!"
If you don't want to lose the whole Who Consti-Who-tion
It's time to reject the Far Right Revolution.
So turn off O'Reilly and everyone shrill,
Let's have some peace
And old-fashioned GOODWILL.

Phil pointed me in the direction of this clip from SNL...

SNL - The Chronic of Narnia Rap

What happens when good squirrels turn to the dark side...

[Via Bonnie]

A funny shirt (for those who understand it) from ThinkGeek.com:

Ordered a new piece of art for the kitchen.  This one is from LA artist Luke Chueh.

More of his very odd work can be seen at his website - www.LukeChueh.com.

Kim and I put my Christmas tree up this last weekend.  I used to never decorate for the holidays, but Kim's really into it, and I've found it infectious - at least with my particular favorite holidays.

When she lives here next year, I imagine my tree will go in the home theatre, and our main shared tree will go upstairs.

Click Photo to View Full Size
It's a big download, but you'll see the detail that way.

For those wondering, I got an Xbox 360 on Tuesday last week.  I had preordered one online some time ago, so no waiting in long lines for me.

That turkey sure gets around!

See how far hard drives have come in the past 30 days?

This drive stored 500K (roughly 1/3 the capacity of a 3.5-inch floppy disk).  I recently bought a microdrive the size of a compact flash card that stores 6GB.  Ain't progress grand?

I found this funny link on BoingBoing pointing to this flash video of Ahnuld and his motley band of right-wing muppet pals.

Check it out.

[From Geek on Stun]