Cloudform » Geeky Notes

Stairway to Heaven Played on 5 iPhone Ocarinas

Bill — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:53:56 +0000

A new app by Smule lets you blow into the iPhone mic to play an Ocarina, with chording of notes with your fingers like a real ocarina. The don’t-you-dare-play-it-in-guitar-stores promo video is excellent.

How to Make Motivation Last, and Save Time While Doing It

Bill — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:01:21 +0000

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” -Buddha

Recently saw a post about Rational Triggers for the Emotoself:

I use short phrases to combat stagnation and anxiety. The problem is that inspirational phrases too often have short shelf lives. “Celebrate Life” seemed to have an impact on me one night while I lay in bed thinking about how my life is like a washing machine drum, spinning but not moving. I repeated those two words like a mantra for a couple months until they were just two words again. Then “Respect The Time You Are Given” gave me a push. That lasted for about as long as it took me to jot it down. For the moment I am hooked on “What Would The Hero You Do?”. When I start to feel lazy or trapped I think of a perfect version of myself and try to imagine what he would be doing right then and there. I don’t always emulate him (my pecs aren’t big enough), but it serves me well…for now.

Everyone reading this has a password or several. Further, for security, hopefully it is long and includes uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols and no dictionary words. Also, it should change regularly.

Tough to do, right?

I’ve found that I can both inspire myself to get things done and solve the password dilemma with one task. How? Find a phrase that you find motivational, and turn it into a password. Then, you’ll be forced to sound it out to yourself in order to fill in your password, reinforcing whatever thought it is many times a day.

So, instead of thinking InswhbdIoswr2bd twenty times a day, think–

“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”

Since it is difficult to remember the seemingly arbitrary numbers and letters, you will be forced to speak it internally whenever you type in a password, reinforcing the notion.

Need new inspiration? Choose a new quote, and change your password–great for new inspiration and security purposes.

Skate or Die!, DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE

Bill — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 23:24:19 +0000

Technically, Double Dribble was the first NES game to use digitzed voice. It wasn’t Ramones-cool like this one though.

Screensaver Blows Windows Using Local Windspeed

Bill — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:27:15 +0000

I like ambient information devices–particularly ones that give you information at a glance in a clever way. If you’re stuck inside on a Windows machine, check out Kaze to Desktop. Kaze–’wind’ in English–moves your windows around based on the speed of the wind at your location.

Also, take a look at Drop Clock from the same group–it’s a gorgeus screensaver clock with both Windows and Mac versions.

Link

iTunes 8 Magnetosphere Visualizer Tip

Bill — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:56:35 +0000

Oh man, I really like the new visualizer for iTunes. It’s like a black hole disco ball.

It’s based on a beta from last year from the Barbarian Group–the clever folks who also made wacky things like the Subservient Chicken.

For those new to Magnetosphere, a quick tip–you can change a lot of the visualization options by pressing the ? button. I’m sure Apple buried this somewhere in the documentation, but this non-obvious trick gives you some neat variation.

Science / Faith Flowchart

Bill — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:11:55 +0000

“Let’s Grok” — Claymation Screenshot from 1985

Bill — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:04:33 +0000

The Adventures of Mark Twain–a 1985 claymation film by Will Vinton of California Raisins fame–has an alien nightclub sequence in which the following appeared (yes, the alien wearing the shirt has 4 boobs and 3 heads). I took a photograph of the DVD–

The t-shirt junkie in me had to make a reasonable facsimile on Spreadshirt.