Capn Design

March 2003

This month I posted 36 entries, watched 6 videos.

Summertime

Posted March 31, 2003

Last week, it was warm. On Saturday I walked to the laundromat in a t-shirt and shorts. The sun was shining and I was feelin' groovy. Today and yesterday were not so nice, but this has not effected my level of excitement.

I am getting pumped for this summer. I have more or less decided I'll be staying here for a while longer, at the very least through this summer, so I'm planning all of the fun summer things I want to do. More than anything else, I just want to have a lot of picnics in the park. Eating outside on a sunny day with a bunch of friends is probably one the most fun things you can do. Well, unless you are the kind of person who hates your friends, the outdoors and any foods that begin with the letter "t." Thankfully, I'm not one of those people.

More than the fun things, I think summer is the best time for romance. I plan to find a worthy female and sweep her off her feet. There are a million fun summer dates. I'm a big fan of drive in movies. You don't pay a lot, you have some privacy and you can talk or go to the bathroom without bugging the people sitting next to you. So, if any girl in the NY area wants to go to a drive in movie with me this summer, let me know. I promise I'll only try the yawning trick once or twice.

My Newest Toy

Posted March 31, 2003

A little while back I mentioned a new segment I planned to create called Media Intake. Well, it's ready enough for you to see it, if you'd like. Here it is. Essentially, I will be able to keep track of every bit of media I take in. Every book I read, every record I hear and every film I see. Right now, it is just a basic list of everything I have entered. There is more information about each event that is not listed yet, but it's coming.

So, in Zeldman-esque style, I will let you watch me as I create. Along those lines, I have a question for CSS gurus. When I'm using a table (it's ok, it's for data. you're supposed to use them), how can I create a border in the cell? Also, how do I get rid of cellspacing and cellpadding with CSS? I can't figure these things out.

Finally, could those people with windows machines check out the page and make sure it doesn't look funny. Thanks.

My Wish Granted

Posted March 29, 2003

A while back I wrote a piece on videogame journalism for Emmie Magazine. The post here was a call to arms, asking for help, and the piece itself looked at the state of videogame journalism.

In the last couple days I've found a number of sites that are writing about the things I want to hear. They are as follows.

Game Girl Advance - Apparently, this has been around for a little while. It mixes up theory with personal stories and reviews. I think this site is going to be a personal favorite.

Got Game? - A Corante blog, which is neither here nor there. It plans to look at everything from theory to games in academia to gaming with the kids. This will hopefully provide a constant stream of good writing as Andrew Phelps, the writer, is most likely getting paid.

8Bit Joystick - This is a gaming culture site that also does some reviews and whatnot. A lot of fun.

Ludology.org
Popular Gaming Culture

The New UPS

Posted March 27, 2003

Two days ago, UPS unveiled a new logo. The last logo was designed in 1960 and is one of the best, most recognizable logos ever created. Here are the two logos, old and new, side by side.

Although the new one is infused with color, the font is crappy, the swoosh is a joke and the gradient just looks dumb. Although I think this is completely unnecessary, the UPS people clearly disagree.

"UPS is a vastly different company today than most people realize," said UPS Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew. "Today we are bringing our look up to speed with our capabilities."

Okay Mike. I still think that there was no need to spend $20 million (according to adweek) on a campaign that will not at all improve their branding. And while we're on that subject, I'd like to discuss this "brown" slogan. Megnut took a stab at it, and I'd like to say that when I think of brown, at least when the word is said outloud, I think of crap. So "What can Brown do for you?" does not have the meaning that they had anticipated. As Megnut said, it is very forced. No had referred to them as Brown; they are trying to force the nickname on us.

None of this will effect my usage of UPS, but I don't think it's going to help and it is definitely unnecessary.

The Wind Waker

Posted March 27, 2003

My favorite defender of Hyrule is making his way across the country en route to my front door. I am ridiculously excited. The demo of the game I played at the Cube Club was amazing and I can't wait to get addicted. Unfortunately, I still haven't had time to beat Metroid Prime or Mario Sunshine. Of course, that means I'm busy which is very good for me.

The three games I mentioned above completely and totally justify buying the Gamecube. Yes, it doesn't have nearly as many games as the PS2 and the Xbox is probably capable of better graphics, but these games look amazing and play even better. Aside from maybe the NES, I've never had a system where I've bought 3 games that I think are amazing. And so, the Gamecube has been worth the cash.

In a matter of days, Link and I are going to kick some serious ass.

The Art of Improv

Posted March 26, 2003

On Monday, I went to my first improv class at Upright Citizens' Brigade (UCB). It was the most fun I'd had in a very long time. In fact, I had been feeling sick all day, but during the three hours I was in class I completely forgot about my illness. Usually classes make sicker.

Growing up in Chicago, the birthplace of longform improv, I have always had a love for this artform. It is probably the most rewarding style of theater. I can't explain why, but I hope to be able to in eight weeks. See, aside from taking the class I also picked up the manual to longform improv, Truth in Comedy, by Charna Helpern, Del Close and Kim "Howard" Johnson. I'm enthralled by all of this. It is entertaining, intellectually stimulating and lets me hang loose for three hours a week. I can already tell I'm going to get addicted.

So, if any of you in New York want to join me at the UCB Theater for one of there shows, I'm in. In fact, I get in free to the Thursday Harold shows so your ticket would only be $2.50. I am also planning to see their flagship show, Asssscat 3000 which is free at 9:30 on Sunday nights. And if you're in Chicago I recommend you check out Improv Olympic, Annoyance Theater or Second City.

Font Hunt

Posted March 25, 2003

Right now, I have a font shortage. There's a couple projects I'm working on and I just can't find the right font for the job. So where do you get your fonts? I want free and I want good. None of this crap that looks Matrix-y or is wrapped in bubbles.

Tell me your secret spots.

It's About That Time

Posted March 24, 2003

I love this design, I really do. It even almost won an award. Still, I'm jonesing to redesign. I haven't had the chance to design anything in quite some time and my brain needs to be challenged. Also, I have a new section that will be ready by, if not before, then and some of the old sections need to be worked on. I want to post more photos and reviews, but I need to make it easier for me.

I am going to give myself plenty of time and aim for a May 1st deadline. Hopefully things will be just as good as they are this time. Hopefully better since this design is going to be tough to part with.

On another note: after listening to the new Cursive record a few more times I am starting to really like it. Not their best, but I'd give it a solid 7.5.

Iraqi Civilian Deaths

This page lists the number of civilian deaths that were caused by Gulf War 2. As of this posting there have been as many as 200 civilian deaths. Way to go USA.

Demonstration Coverage

Posted March 23, 2003

I couldn't go to the protest yesterday, which was disappointing. Thankfully, 200,000 other people did show up. Now I didn't watch much tv yesterday, but I did just see a story on the local news. The only problem is that it was about the rally in support of the war. As the newscaster put it, "1,000 people showed up." She was very enthused. They then briefly mentioned the anti-war rallies and the 200,000 people, only to return to their coverage of the huge demonstration in Times Square today.

During the piece they did some interviews with people who were "outraged" by the protests yesterday and who just want to "liberate the people in Iraq." Have you heard the Iraqi people begging us to liberate them? I haven't.

The media frustrates me to no end.

This War Is Boring

Posted March 23, 2003

Twelve years ago we got to see a building blowing up from the perspective of the bomb. That was totally awesome. Now, all we get are continuous stories about reporters who are training with the troops. They're really training! So, I've come up with a few ways to spice up this war. Technology moves fast and I want Gulf War: Son of Evil Republican to be dazzling.

Full Color, HD Missle-cams
Last time, we had this grainy green image that showed us a square-ish looking building and something that looked like a door, but only for a split second. I want to be able to zoom in through the window and see the look on the hospital worker's face as the missle crashes through the front door. It's important that we know the face of the enemy, and in color!

Helmet-cams
Just like American Gladiators, I want to see the soldiers shake as they fire their machine guns. Also, think about all of the crazy antics that must go on when they don't know the camera is there.

Confessionals
We need to start learning from reality tv. After an important battle ends, soldiers should be able to enter a private confessional booth, a la The Real World, and tell all. You mean the Iraqis didn't ask to be freed? Scandalous!

Final Duel
The NCAA Tournament is exciting because you go from 64 teams to just 2, and then 1. I think we should have Bush and Saddam fight it out in a Fear Factor-style battle. They'll get points for eating buckets of worms and walking on shards of glass. The last one standing wins.

Anything is better than the coverage we're getting right now.

Good Busy

Posted March 22, 2003

Apparently it's only been two days since I've posted, but it feels like a lot longer. The last week has been intense as I've had multiple friends in town, I just moved and (this is new) I just got a new freelance job with American Photo and Popular Photography (the relevant site). The job is great so far and I'm going to be bringing in some money, which is very good.

Now I'm about to head out to a party, but I thought I'd check in and say that I'm here, the apartment is now in good enough shape to be photographed, and life is good (except for the whole war thing). Next week things should settle down a bit as people leave town and I iron out my schedule. Oh, I'll be adding an improv class to the mix starting Monday. Should be fun/interesting.

Yay for life, boo to war.

The Big Dance

Posted March 20, 2003

Although the title of this post could be related to explosive ballet occuring in the Middle East, instead is about something much more important—college basketball.

I'm not really a college sports fan. In fact, for 350 or so days of the year I pay no attention to college sports, but for some reason I get very excited about the NCAA Tournament. I think it's just the nature of the tournament. It's the only time when the 64th best team in the league has a chance to win it all. In pro sports they would never make it to the playoffs and in college football the few potential champions are known with a few weeks left. In college hoops you never know until it's all over.

And so, yesterday I put together a bracket over at Yahoo! Sports and signed up for a league advertised on a new blog I read. I think I will do well because all of my picks are based on my preconceived notions of these teams from ten years ago. It's like the beer commercial where the girls win the football pool every week because they pick the team with the cutest uniforms. This is why, despite lots of hype, I think that the Duke Blue Devils will not win it. Their mascot is really ugly.

UPDATE: After the first day, I have only gotten one pick wrong (NC State). If tomorrow goes as well, I'll be sittin' pretty.

Weekly Events

Posted March 18, 2003

Events worth attending this week:

Tuesday the 18th
What Liberal Media? Truth and Bias in the American Media's Coverage of War and Peace @ CUNY Graduate Center

Wednesday the 19th
Weblogger Meetup @ Remote Lounge

Thursday the 20th
On Dangerous Ground @ MoMA Film
Les Savy Fav @ Southpaw
Luna @ Knitting Factory (& Friday)
The Soundtrack of Our Lives @ Irving Plaza
Vandermark 5 @ Tonic

Friday the 21st
Sigur Ros @ Radio City Music Hall
Television @ Irving Plaza
Folk Implosion @ Maxwell's

Saturday the 22nd
Breathless @ AMMI
Chungking Express @ AMMI
Calexico @ Bowery Ballroom

Sunday the 23rd
Buck 65 @ Maxwell's (&@ Knitting Factory on Monday)
Wall to Wall Joni Mitchell @ Symphony Space (I recommend the 8-11pm block, free)
Cave-In, Piebald @ Knitting Factory

More War Thoughts

Posted March 18, 2003

The last couple days have been really fruitful for me lately. I moved into a new place and just today I have two really good job leads. At the same time we have this war thing hanging over our heads. I want to be able to let it roll of my back and attack it with humor, but I'm having trouble doing that.

Just now the janitor was buffing the floor, which caused numerous thuds, and it caused my heart to skip a beat. I guess I just have to accept what's happening and do my thing.

How are you coping with recent events?

War Blows

Posted March 18, 2003

After watching our fearless, fear-inducing leader on television last night I started to get physically scared. I am obviously scared for the innocent residents of Baghdad, but I am also fearfull for my own safety.

After 9/11, Bush and his administration were careful to protect the citizens of America. Last night he claimed that by attacking Iraq on our own terms we are preventing a war on their terms. Granted, I don't have access to sensitive intelligence data, but I had no real fear of Hussein and Iraq until Bush started swatting at the hornet's nest. Sure, we have a bigger army, but Hussein has nothing to lose at this point.

This morning I read an article form the BBC explaining that Saddam rejected Bush's request for him to flee the country. A quote from Saddam's son asks for Bush and his family to leave the country. For some reason, this struck me. Also, this list of bullet points hit me.

* UK Prime Minister Tony Blair makes a passionate plea for support in parliament, following the third resignation of a member of his cabinet.

* The third main US ally, Spain, will not send combat troops to Iraq, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar tells parliament.

* Turkey's parliament comes under renewed pressure for a new vote to allow US troops to deploy.

* More foreign diplomats leave Baghdad.

Blair has had three cabinet members resign? We only have two serious backers? What is Bush doing?!? Before this post becomes even sloppier and rantier I will stop, but I am fearful right now.

69#176;

Posted March 18, 2003

Today I had a 69 with someone. Oh, whoops. I meant to say that it was sixty-nine degrees today. Man, I love it when seasons change.

Bellray, Chaz and Becky

Posted March 16, 2003

Tonight, even though I originally had not planned on going out, I went to see the Bellrays with Romdongle, his two roomies, Charles and Becky. Charles and Becky are in from Madison for the week.

I didn't know what to expect from the Bellrays, but I was pleased. They are a kicking rock & soul revival kind of thing with a constant, albeit sometimes monotonous, stream of energy. They got you dancing and the lead singer has got a serious set of pipes.

The show was good, but it was nice to have Becky and Charles there. I hadn't seen them in months and it's nice to see some friendly faces here. I felt very comfortable tonight, which was nice.

Now, I'm going to head to sleep so that I can finish packing up and moving into my new place. Expect pictures sometime Monday.

UPDATE: Well, don't expect pictures today. It turns out that my digital camera is not working. Yikes.

UPDATE UPDATE:Camera is functioning again. Pictures tomorrow.

Pi-rish

Posted March 15, 2003

Everytime I do an Irish accent, it ends up becoming a pirate. "Arr matey, let's go throw some clovers on the blarney stone. Shiver me timbers!"

Yes, I am crazy.

Meetup

Posted March 14, 2003

Tonight I went to a Meetup. It was my third one but the first time I've gone to web design. Unforunately, only three people showed up. I had a good time chatting, but it would have been nice if more people came (12 RSVPed). I was looking for help with a new project, but the two people there weren't really interested.

Has anyone else been to one and had some success? Maybe I'm going to the wrong ones, but I have yet to have a really good time. I love the concept and I'll give it all another shot next week at the Weblogger meetup.

We Welcome You, Kordell

Posted March 14, 2003

Today, the Bears announced that they signed Kordell Stewart to a 2 year contract. This makes me very happy. For the past, well, forever, the Bears have always had a pocket quarterback. The guy sat there and ran a fairly boring audience. Now, we have some excitement.

Kordell Stewart started his career as a receiver and is known for being a very mobile QB. The Bears need this. Aside from what he can do on his own, this signing will hopefully mean a change in John Shoop's (the offensive coordinator) sleep-inducing playbook.

Unfortunately, the new season doesn't start for 6 months, so I'll be watching some indoor football for the next couple months. Go Rush!

New Digs

Posted March 12, 2003

This weekend, I am moving. After 5 months of living with the uncles, which has been wonderful, I am leaving the nest. I'm moving to Boreum Hill into a sublet with two really nice people. I found the place via Craigslist and it is a good fit. The place is really nice and I get along well with my new roommates. I'll be staying there until June 1st, at which time I'll be moving to a new place.

There are two great things about this.
1. My commute is cut by 66%.
2. I am living 4 blocks from BAM

It will be good.

Weekly Events

Posted March 11, 2003

The internet is missing one thing: a great way to find all the information you need about small/underground events in your city. Okay, so it's missing a lot of things, but it is definitely missing this. I plan to do something about this on a fairly large scale, but in the meantime I'll be posting a list of interesting events in NYC every week. Here we go... (updated as I find out about things)

Wednesday the 12th
Chris Trapper (of the Push Stars) @ Joe's Pub

Thursday the 13th
Chaplin Shorts Program @ BAMcinematek

Friday the 14th
The Roots @ Roseland Ballroom

Saturday the 15th
Kid Koala Book Tour @ Joe's Pub
8 1/2 @ AMMI
Rebel Without a Cause @ MOMA Film
Joseph Arthur @ Bowery Ballroom
Mates of State @ Northsix

Sunday the 16th
Tinkle featuring David Cross & Janeane Garofalo @ Piano's
Eraserhead @ AMMI

Monday the 17th
Royksopp @ Irving Plaza
Ed Harcourt @ The Fez

Tiny Ninja Theater

These folks believe "there are no small parts, only small actors." Currently, they are showing Romeo and Juliet performed by, well, tiny ninjas (i.e. "vending machine thespians"). I have yet to see this, but it is only a matter of time. [insert evil laugh here]

Guggenheim Exhibits

Posted March 11, 2003

This weekend my friend Becca came in town for a couple days in honor of spring break. As a result, we did some cool things. Yesterday we ventured over to the Guggenheim since there was supposed to be a pretty cool exhibit. There were actually two of them, and one more I saw a while ago that I still want to talk about.

Pierre Huyghe
His exhibit was the smaller of the two, but I preferred it. He had two installations -- a "stagelike sculpture" filled with smoke and pulsing lights accompanied by the sounds of Erik Satie reorchestrated by Claude Debussy and a film of two French housing projects. The light sculpture was very cool, but the film was amazing. It is called Les Grands Ensembles and is described as "a pair of bleak buildings, models based on 1970s French housing projects, enact[ing] a subtle inanimate drama. Enveloped in fog, the uninhabited scene is both romantic and alienating." Both of the pieces "address alternative modes of representation and communication." Muy interesante.

Matthew Barney
This talented dude created the Cremaster cycle, which is "five feature-length films that explore processes of creation." They are all completel surreal and use amazing prosthetics. The exhibit, in addition to showing portions of the films (you can view the films in their entirity at specified times), allows you to see costumes used and photographs taken during the making of the films. I'm still not sure what to make of it all, but it is certainly unique.

Bill Viola
This remains to be my favorite exhibit I've seen at the Guggenheim. It is entitled Going Forth by Day. "For this work, Viola references fresco painting to create a powerful five-part projection-based installation that examines cycles of birth, death, and rebirth. Each "panel"—a projection seen directly on the walls of a space—is approximately 35 minutes long and was recorded in state-of-the-art High Definition Video." When you sit in a room with 5 screens spewing high definition video all around you, it becomes very surreal. I would love to sit through the whole thing again. If this ever comes to a museum near you, please see it. (Speaking of which, he will be back in NYC at the James Cohan Gallery starting April 5th.)

Bruce Willis is Crazy

On this page, you'll find an interview with B. Willis that was going to be aired on The Screen Savers. After you watch it, you'll see why it wasn't. As TechTV puts it, "Willis' rage is the product of one Martin Sargent, who refuses to ask Willis the appropriate canned questions..."

Radiohead are Wrong

Posted March 7, 2003

I've been in the big city for about 5 months now, and I love the benefits. Culture is cool. The only thing that's rough is the people situation. I think I know about 4 people in the city and I've become friendly with one or two people aside from them. Radiohead, meeting people is not easy.

How is that in a city of 8,000,000 I can't find even a few people I would want to hang out with?

So you tell me: how can I meet people?

DVD Feature Request

Posted March 7, 2003

As I've mentioned, I have a hobby of watching movies, noticing actors and immediately jumping to IMDb to see what they've done. A lot of DVDs have filmographies on the DVD but in order to view it you're forced to leave the movie in order to view it. I have come up with a solution.

I envision a button on your dvd remote that will cause this data to pop onto the screen. At this point you can expand any of the actor's data and see their filmography on the screen. The "More..." link would open up your web browser, either directly (if you're on your computer) or via Wi-Fi (if you're not).

There are obviously technical restrictions that keep this from happening, but it shouldn't stop me from dreaming. Aside from the link, this is all possible right now even if it's return is not worth the effort (you could create another video layer and lay it over the current one, I think). Once we have hard drive players this will become very feasible, especially if all of these companies successfully bring the computer into the livingroom.

Update (3/9/14): Google Play starting doing this a year ago! The future is awesome.

20140314googleplay.jpg

Top 3 of 03/05

Posted March 6, 2003

Yesterday I bought three records. Here is my list of top three records bought on March 5th, 2003.

1. Glass Candy - Love Love Love
2. Cursive - Ugly Organ
3. The Minus 5 - Down with Wilco

All three are really good records, but I don't know that I'll wear out Cursive's new record like I did Domestica. That record is amazing. So by the end of the day numbers two and three could conceivably flip-flop. I'll keep you posted.

U.S. is (Really) Dirty

Posted March 4, 2003

The Guardian has uncovered secret documents showing that the U.S. is intercepting emails and phone calls from U.N. delegates in an effort to garner support for their war. Obviously, this is a huge story, one that you would expect to see in every single newspaper. But it's not, at least not in the U.S.

In a transcript of a White House press conference, Ari Fleischer refuses to give any information.

Q: May I also ask you about a report in The Observer newspaper in London, of a memo purported to be from the NSA -- an email message from a man who actually works at the NSA they established -- in which he describes a surge in surveillance of U.N. Security Council members to see what these nations are thinking about an Iraq vote. What's your response?

MR. FLEISCHER: Terry, as a matter of long-standing policy, the administration never comments on anything involving any people involved in intelligence. For example, if somebody were to say to me, is Libya an object of American intelligence -- I would never answer that question yes or no. The administration does not answer questions of that nature. We don't answer who does or does not work in the intelligence community. Once you start that, you start getting into process of elimination and we do not do that about any question, about any report, as a blanket matter of policy.

Q: But, then, if you're a Cameroonian diplomat or a French diplomat at the United Nations, because of what you just said, you're going to have to operate on the assumption that the United States is bugging you.

MR. FLEISCHER: No, it's a blanket matter of policy that we do not answer questions of that nature, whether it's true or not true, and I'm not indicating to you whether it is true or not true. It's a blanket matter of approach and policy that predates this administration

It all sounds pretty fishy to me. And a Salon premium article looks into the question of why the U.S. is covering it up. To me, it is amazing that no major US news source has picked this up. It is totally unfathomable. Hopefully this will all unfurl in the coming days/weeks.

Apple + File Sharing

Posted March 4, 2003

The best Apple rumor to pop up in a long time: Apple online music service (also here: reg. required). According to the stories:

The new service, developed by Apple Computer, offers Macintosh users many of the same capabilities that are already available from services previously endorsed by the labels. But the Apple offering won over music executives because it makes buying and downloading music as simple and nontechnical as buying a book from Amazon.com, one source said.

The songs are expected to cost $1 each and to be encoded in Advanced Audio Codec (AAC, part of the MPEG4 compression dealy). This is definitely the first service that I will consider subscribing to. Forget the fact that it is Apple-branded. What's more important is that it will likely be designed well, very usable, have lots of bandwidth and be integrated with iTunes.

There has been a lot of discussion about the topic at Slashdot, with some good points raised. The best:

  • It could be the death of the album, liner notes and song experimentation
  • People will pay for a quality service when there are free options.
  • $10-15 for an album witout CD, liner notes or case is more $$ than at yr local indie music store.

This all very exciting, but I'm even more excited about support for AAC in iTunes. Since I am ripping my music library (1k albums) onto my computer, it would be nice to have a high quality, high compression alternative to mp3. I guess I'll be holding off on more copying until iTunes 4 is released.

Woody Allen

Posted March 4, 2003

Last night I laid in bed, debilitated by a bad piece of sushi, I watched Everyone Says I Love You, Woody Allen's musical comedy. I began to think about why some people love and others hate Woody Allen and his movies. I tend to hear "you've seen one you've seen 'em all" a lot. So I questioned why I fell in the love category.

Although almost all of his movies have the same basic plot, quirky writer/detective/schlub/whatever in search of true love, most have very different settings and genres. It's obvious that love is a common theme in most movies, but Allen takes it one step further by having one basic plot. So it is his ability to transplant this story into different settings and still have it work (arguably). Annie Hall is the classic and most basic version of this story, but then you put the story in a film noir, murder mystery, sci-fi parody or a musical. This exercise shows that the essential human emotions are what draw us to a good story.

I'd also like to point out that he does have a number of films that don't follow his usual style, and a few are pretty amazing. My two favorites from that group are What's Up Tiger Lily? and The Purple Rose of Cairo.

t610

My God, is this phone sexy. And the nice thing is that in six months, when this phone will be pretty cheap, I will be in the market for a new phone. Toys!

Why Are Yawns Contagious?

Posted March 3, 2003

According to Robert R. Provine, professor of psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and author of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation...

Virtually any stimulus associated with yawns -- including viewing, reading about, and even thinking about, yawning -- evokes yawns. (Are you yawning yet?) Yawning spreads in a chain reaction through a group, a compelling example of human herd behavior and a reminder that we are not always in conscious control of our actions. The urge to replicate an observed yawn is clearly an automatic response triggered by our brains.

Studies partially explain the reason for yawning. Although we yawn more when sleepy or bored, it is unclear whether yawning increases alertness. And scientific evidence refutes one of the most popular myths of yawning? that it happens in response to low oxygen or high carbon dioxide levels in the blood or brain. Test subjects do not yawn more when breathing air with enhanced levels of carbon dioxide nor do they yawn less when breathing pure oxygen. One fact explains a lot of apparently inconsistent data. People yawn most during behavioral transitions, such as just after waking and shortly before bedtime. Yawning may help facilitate those changes. Contagious yawning may synchronize a group's behavior so that, for instance, a whole family goes to sleep together.

D.I.C.E. Summit

Gamespy.com is giving coverage of the Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain (DICE) Summit. It is about video games and there's some good stuff.

I Use Both

Posted March 2, 2003

Apparently, people tend to only use one hand to brush their teeth. In other words, righties use their right hand and lefties use their left. Me, I use both. I am amazing.

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