Friday, April 28, 2006

Critiki


Worldwide Guide to Tiki Bars and Polynesian Restaurants

A Worldwide Guide to Tiki Bars, Polynesian Restaurants, and other sites of interest to the midcentury Polynesian Pop enthusiast.

Modec


Electric Delivery Van

The Modec range is possibly the greatest leap forward in commercial vehicles since the internal combustion engine. Quiet, pollution free and with a carrying capacity to put most others in the shade, the Modec range is the future of urban delivery. Developing an impressive 102bhp and 300Nm of torque, Modec vans can carry two tonnes up to one hundred miles at fifty miles an hour with zero emissions... all from a single charge. Goes great with the H2PIA!

World's first hydrogen city



H2PIA

This is NOT a fantasy. No, we can have a fully sustainable lifestyle, free of addiction to oil, coal and gas, well before the widely projected date of 2050. If all goes well, H2PIA will begin construction in 2007. And I want one.

Oh yeah Baby...

Asians really do it better ;)




Great Ad. Won't tell you what it's for.

1984 Apple Newsweek Advertising Insert


Oh and check out Bill Gates.

In the Fall of 1984 Apple published a 16-page (with fold-out) advertising insert in Newsweek magazine. For many, this was the first “up-close” experience with a Macintosh — detailing the radical features of this new computer. The Macintosh was obviously evolving during the production of this insert as applications, icons and even hardware change from one photo to the next (and are often different from what actually made it to the shipping product). Also, in stark contrast to more recent advertising, this brochure actually makes direct comparisons to the competition with ample text to go along with the pictures.

Disable USB Drives


Remote Administration For Windows

Disable USB Drives
Once in a while I have a friend, or customer that needs to keep people from using the USB ports to copy data off of a system. It is easy to lock a machine down, disable the floppy, and CDrom in the bios. Many times when you try to disable USB - it disables it entirely. This can be a real pain on newer laptops or systems that don't even have a PS2 interface for the mouse or keyboard.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Sears Wishbook


1983 Sears Wishbook Photos from Flickr

Lots of pictures from the Sears Wishbook circa; 1983. Including this gem describing the new CD player, Only $589.00

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Happy 50th Birthday


Big Metal Boxes!

It may not be printed in red on your calendar, but April 26 is an important date in economic history. Fifty years ago, the Ideal-X, a war-surplus oil tanker with a steel frame welded above its deck, loaded 58 aluminium containers at a dock in Newark, New Jersey. Five days later, the ship steamed into Houston, Texas, where trucks took on the metal boxes and carried them to their destinations.

Way Cool Retro CD/LP player!


Break out the Elvis LPs!

Looking for a new LP record player that’s also compatible with CDs? Check out the Teac SL-A200. This retro-styled device features a built-in 3W x 2ch amplifier, CD player (with CD-R/RW compatibility), AM/FM tuner, analog (RCA) output, and blue/orange LED indicator lights. The belt-driven turntable offers three playback modes — LP, EP, and SP

Bake-O-Mat 1960



Be sure to check the gallery.

How about a bakery on wheels that “mixes and processes the ingredients, electronically bakes, slices, and wraps any of a wide variety of hot breads and pastries—as you watch”? The “Bake-O-Mat” was just one of the futuristic concepts featured in a 1956 issue of Scientific American.

Artie; Software for your iPod


frobba.com - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Artie's main purpose is two-fold: download appropriate album art covers for songs in your iTunes database and to create playlists based on these album art covers.

Artie uses Amazon.com to search for album art covers. If it finds a wrong one, it'll find the right one. If it can't find anything, it'll move on.

Artie can also resize the album art already assigned to songs in your database. Some songs might have HUGE album covers, making the file size of your songs larger, taking up precious hard drive space and/or iPod space. Artie resizes the images to 160x160 pixels, making them still viewable in iTunes and on your iPod without distortion, while cutting down file sizes.

If you hate album art, Artie can also remove the album art from the selected tracks."

3d Office Planning Software


IKEA IKEA Office planner

It's a free app for Windows that lets you visualize the physical layout of your office, drag and drop models of furniture into it, and see it rendered in 3D. Of course, the whole point of the exercise is to get you to buy IKEA's flat-pack wares, and it'll even tally up the price of all your 3D furniture for you, but you could also just use it to get a feel for how much desk you have room for before hitting Office Depot.

Retro CD-Rs that look like 45s


Groves and everything.

LOOKS & FEELS like a REAL VINYL LP Record. We like to call it the DJ-Style Compact Disc. It's great for recording your music!

Old-Time Radios


Listing of Radios - Jack Berg Sales

Looks like these babies were hiding in the back of a warehouse for the last three or four decades. Grab yours fast, they are selling out quick!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Handy programs to put on a USB stick. at SnapFiles.com


Handy programs to put on a USB stick. at SnapFiles.com

These FREE programs do not require any installation and can be run directly from a USB drive. Keep some useful apps handy while on-the-go!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Javelin 2 Seater Personal Jet Fighter


ATGs Javelin

Aviation Technology Group's Chairman and Founder, George Bye, had the intense desire to bring military style and performance to general aviation. Based at Centennial Airport in Englewood, Colorado—ATG is leading the way in the design and development of a cost effective, high performance jet.

ATG was incorporated in June of 2000 to harness the synergies of emerging technologies into the design, development, and production of the Javelin executive jet. Its derivatives include the Javelin military trainer and advanced jet trainer.

Talk about your quick commute! This'll get you to the office in a hurry.

Mac / 68kEmulator


Old Os Mac / 68kEmulator

What's in this How-To? In this how-to, you be guided through the full process of setting up MacOS 7.5.3 and optionally the 7.5.5 update on Basilisk II, the freeware Mac II emulator designed by Christian Bauer, from scratch using only freeware, downloadable items. The end result will be a fully working MacOS system.

Walking in Los Angeles



Walking in Los Angeles

Walking in L.A. - Photographic byproducts of my obsession with experiencing the greater Los Angeles area up close and personal.

How To: Build a Batphone


Millionaire Playboy

I started poking around on eBay and found full-blown reproductions of Commissioner's Batphone with the cake cover on top. If you remember, Bruce Wayne had the red no-dial phone on his desk in stately Wayne Manner. Commissioner Gordon's phone at Police Headquarters had a cake cover on top reinforcing it's solemnity. Since I wanted this phone at work, it needed the cake cover. Back to eBay, there were some nice reproductions floating around, but they were over $300, and frankly, I'd get in big trouble with the Princess of Power if I spent that much on a telephone. She didn't quite understand that this is the telephone of all telephones. Oh yeah, and I wouldn't be able to eat for like a month. To me, that was a decent trade-off, but alas, I needed other options

The Worst President in History?


Rolling Stone : The Worst President in History?

George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history

20 Reasons NOT to have Children


Just Don't Do It.

20 Reasons Not to Have Children

Birth.
Imagine pushing a grapefruit through your anus. Imagine it taking ten hours. Imagine that after ten hours of trying to push a grapefruit through your anus and failing that doctors cut a big hole in your belly to remove the grapefruit. Don't believe anyone who says that they forget all about it in a few months.

Responsibility.
All of life's prior responsibilities pale in comparison. If you decide to have a child, that new person must absolutely be your top priority. As your child will remind you when he or she is older and something goes wrong, "I didn't ask to be born." A child is a life long commitment to a person who is innocent of this choice.

Diapers.
Disposable diapers these days absorb lots of liquid, and they don't leak. But you still have to change hundreds of them. Often they contain more than liquid. As the child gets older, diapers become smellier and bigger tasks. Then there is toilet training, with its inevitable setbacks and accidents.

3am wakeups.
Caring for a child takes a lot of physical and emotional energy, made all the harder by babies that only sleep for ninety minutes at a time. Many parents of much older children seem to forget how hard the first few months were as they look at the past with rose colored glasses. Don't believe them. Parents need sleep to work well, and they often can't get it.

Hard on marriages.
A baby takes so much time and attention that spouses must already have a great friendship and work well together before the baby arrives. It is a certainty that one spouse will disagree with the other about decisions on how to care for the child. It is likely that one spouse will resent the lost time with the other. A marriage with some difficulties will get much worse when a baby is crying and the parents are sleep deprived.

Advice.
Total strangers leap forward to offer advice about how to raise your child. Most of the advice is contradictory and flat out wrong. Strangers will be much easier to ignore than your friends and family, many of whom have raised children quite successfully. Some advice you may want, but lots of it will be unsolicited and unappreciated.

Changed relationships.
When your family expands by the addition of a child, your relationships with everyone, and I mean everyone, changes. Your child is at the forefront of most of your thoughts, and those people without children cannot relate. Those people with children are finally happy to see that you can relate. Everyone will watch how you raise your child and will at some point cluck and disapprove, including those who raised ten children and those who raised none. Some strong bonds will weaken, some friends will not been seen again. Some may improve, but with your energies and devotions directed towards your child, that is much less likely.

Free time.
You will have none. Most time not spent with your child will be spent catching up on work you need to get done. You and your spouse must carefully plan any time away from your child, and very little can be done spontaneously. To pretend otherwise is probably neglectful of either your child or your spouse.

Worry.
Parents always worry about their children, monitoring how fast they reach each milestone and how well they grow, eat, sleep, crawl, walk, read, make friends, and so on. And yet there is little a parent can do beyond allow a child to proceed at his or her own pace. It can be frustrating and scary when your child isn't eating well, or cannot read at his or her grade level, or is socially inept.

Money.
Children are expensive in several ways. One parent loses wages while caring for a child. Children need to eat and be clothed. They need toys with which to explore the world. They need health care, they need education, they need activities and hobbies. They will need car insurance. The proper raising of a child is not cheap.

Laundry.
Children do not contribute to household chores until they are older, and even then they generate more work than labor. Having a child means that your living space will need more cleaning than before, not only as your child makes a mess of it but also because you cannot let your child crawl around in dust and dirt. Your child will find all sorts of vile things to put in his or her mouth in the cleanest of homes. Your laundry and dishes will double, and you will do all the picking up after your child for many years.

Tantrums.
Many times you will tell your child that they cannot have what they want, and they will scream to get you to change your mind. You will need to avoid saying "no" as much as possible, but then stick to your decision when you do. Otherwise you will encourage tantrums. However, younger children cry because that is the only way they have to express themselves, and you need to be attentive. It becomes difficult judging when a child is having a serious problem and when he or she is having a tantrum. Tantrums are not just for two-year-old children, they will continue for years in many different forms as your child will attempt to change your mind. At some point children figure out how to get what they want despite you, and that opens another can of worms.

Rebellion.
Children need to assert their independence and individuality. All will feel stifled in some way by their parents or other authority figures, and they will attempt to subvert the dominant hegemony. Didn't you? It usually isn't pretty.

Dissonance.
Lots of adults do not get along with their parents. Perhaps they forget all the work that their parents put into raising them, or perhaps they resent that the work that their parents did was not enough. At some point your child will probably be very angry with you, and may even hate you for years. This is not uncommon, and you know it because you can name a dozen people who don't get along with their own parents.

Pain.
Your child will cry and you won't know why or how to fix it. You will mess up and let your child get hurt. You won't be there and your child will get hurt. Your child will get really sick. Your child will fail at something and feel humiliated and worthless. Guaranteed. The world is a hard place on everyone, especially small, naive, fragile people.

6 billion.
The world is already overpopulated. Do you really have to add to it? Do not answer this question lightly. Every new human draws on our limited resources, tramples over previously undamaged land, creates more waste, and accelerates worldwide instability.

Failed expectations.
You may expect your child to be interested in things that fascinate you, and then be disappointed. You may be brilliant and your child may be dull. You may be athletic, unhappy to discover that your child has trouble walking a straight line. Your child may abandon your religion or main beliefs. Your child may grow up to be someone you have very little in common with. In fact, your child will definitely not be a little version of you. Any thoughts about what kind of person you want your child to be are wasted thoughts, and probably detrimental.

Lost freedom.
People without children can easily pack up and move. They can be without work or change careers. They can break up with their partners and find new ones. Children, while often flexible, must be accounted for in all major life changes. In fact, they demand that the world not change around them so fast while their own understanding of the world grows and changes at the same time. Stability and routine allows a child to explore life from a vantage of safety and consistency. You must be willing to give your child such stability at the cost of your own freedom.

Hard work.
Raising a child takes more than love and time. You must concentrate on all methods of communication that your child attempts so that you may properly understand his or her needs and wants. You must introduce your child to new stimulation and situations regularly. You have to figure out best ways to teach your child at each age, what to teach them, and when to teach. You must be available and responsive to your child even when you are tired or sad or very busy.

The unthinkable.
The death of a child, while unlikely, is devastating. It often destroys marriages, as both spouses need comfort that the other cannot provide. Frequently one parent will blame the other. So much emotion, time, and energy gets poured into a child that to lose it all at once is crippling. Many well meaning people say hurtful and stupid things in a misguided attempt to help. This is one case where it is better to not have loved at all than to have loved and lost.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Drive-ins


The Definitive Resource for Drive-In Information

Have you noticed that drive-ins are experiencing a revival? A number of drive-ins are re-opening for business, and new ones are even being built from scratch. Drive-in sub-culture is thriving these days.

Welcome to ConeyIsland.com!


Everything Coney Island!

CONEYISLAND.COM is the official website of CONEY ISLAND, USA. We are Coney Island's resident not-for-profit arts organization. For information on other Coney Island attractions, see our Tourist Information page.

Largest Route 66 Resource on the Web


Get your Clicks on Route 66.

What more can I say, EVERYTHING Route 66!

America As It Was


A Tour of the USA in Vintage Postcards

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to journey across the United States in 1910, traveling through countryside and small towns, craning your neck to look up at the skyscrapers of the cities, stopping to see the current events and sites of this glorious country's history?

Postcards from the Road



Motel Americana - Motel Postcards

This page is designed to celebrate an American phenomenon which reflects an important part of US history and culture: the motel. The word showed up in dictionaries as postwar optimism and cold war pessimism led to the creation of an highway system. Before long, families began to discover bright neon arrows pointing the way to temporary homes dotting those long stretches of tar. Motels offered an inexpensive way to travel the country and expand our horizons. Be sure you check the WHOLE site out, it's fantastic!

The American Sign Museum


The Permanent Collection

A wonderful site with lots and lots of old signs for your viewing pleasure.

Motel Hell


A Photographic Highway To Hell.

Tacky and trashy Motel postcards of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. Forgotten places lost on the roads that time forgot

MyHeritage Face Recognition

Holy Cow! I look like who?!


According to MyHeritage, This photo, says I look like these guys!


Women Feel Safe With Men Who Smoke

BakerKohn


Bad Ads of the 40's and 50's

Terry's father, William Baker, was an illustrator during the 40's & 50's. In his search for visual reference he clipped thousands of pictures from newspapers and magazines. On the backs of those pictures we found the following ads and are posting them for your amusement.

Eco-Tech Design


E Tech 2 Design

Way cool house made out of Shipping crates! This is a two bedroom guest house for a Cal faculty professor utilizing twenty foot containers and green roof design. Forty foot containters are placed vertically to create stair enclosures and to support photovoltaic panels.

6th Annual Tiki Beach Festival


Long Beach Sea Festival.

This year’s Tiki Beach Fest is happening in Long Beach on August 19 & 20th, from sunrise to sunset. It all happens right on the beach, near the Granada St. launch ramp (5101 E Ocean Blvd). This is the festival’s sixth year; Both days are full of vendors and music, and sunshine. Saturday’s focus is traditional Polynesia, with tiki carvers, hula dancers, and a luau (the luau costs $30). Sunday it’s all about Polynesian Pop, with a Tiki Hot Rod show.

Portal:Free software


An even Bigger Free Software List

This portal covers software with the freedoms for users to run, study, modify, and redistribute it. Free means the software is unfettered by technical and legal restrictions which would prevent or prohibit using, understanding, changing or sharing. Alternative terms for free software include "open-source software", "FOSS", "FLOSS", and "libre software". Free software is defined by freedom, not cost; for information on software available at no cost, see freeware.

The Weird Picture Archive


Freak Show

CONTAINED HEREIN are some of the strangest images found in the world. From 8-legged lambs to 2-headed tortoises and more, we collect and display the oddest of the odd. Just how does one find out he can poke his finger through his nose and out his eye?

Thursday, April 20, 2006

The Original 1966 Batmobile


More of the Batmobile.

When the pilot started shooting in October (1965), the car wasn't finished and was delivered to the studio with only the primer coat applied. "In the first shots the car was in the black primer, which really didn't come on so strong," said Barris. "They wanted to get more of a gloss on it. We then airbrushed white highlights around the outside edges, but that didn't come out as strong either. That's when we went into the 3/4 inch red fluorescent glow edges to accentuate the Batface and fins. It made it much more dramatic.

The History of the Batmobile


Batman first appeared in May of 1939 in Detective Comics #27

The Batmobile made its career debut in Batman #5, then appeared on a comic cover for the first time for Batman #20. Because of different artists' interpretations of what the car should be, it changed size, shape, and features frequently. Later, as the car was marketed beyond the comics, more forms appeared based on practical or aesthetic considerations. In the 1960s, the first full size, fully operational Batmobile was built for the TV show Batman, and had to face financial and functional questions. A few years later the design of this car would be modified for use in the Superfriends cartoon series, with the unique considerations of making a car that could be easily drawn repeatedly for animation. Then, nearly three decades after the TV series, Batman returned to live action with Warner Brothers Batman movies. At about the same time, Batman: The Animated series came out, with a whole new take on the design of Batman and his universe. All of this was on top of the natural evolution of the car over 60+ years, taking into account new technological features like the jet engine and the computer.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Humping Dog


I Want One Of Those

Oh yeah, just in case you have allergies or you live in a small place that doesn't allow dogs. Brings back memories.

where are the toons now


where are the toons now - Speedy Gonzalez

What happens when the cute theme songs end? What happens to the toons? The story of Speedy Gonzalez.

The Other Family


The Other Family

The Family Circus you don't want anyone to see. Mash ups of the Keene cartoon.

Typographic Illustration set to music.


Beatles' Dear Prudence

Typographic Illustration set to music of “Dear Prudence” (Turn up your volume). Beautiful.

The Beatles Story in Comic


...both Spanish/English

The beatles' story in comics" is a comic strip series which I have created which tells the story of THE BEATLES in .JPG format (low compression) full colour 800 * 1075 resolution and about 400k. These pages are drawn in pencil on paper, scanned and coloured in the computer using a graphics package. To obtain more detailed information about the process click here. The size of these pages allows them to be printed without loss of quality.

Santa Monica Pier Photo Gallery


Santa Monica Pier Photo Gallery

Lots of pictures of the Santa Monica Pier and area.

Santa Monica Green Map


Santa Monica Green Map

The Santa Monica Green Map shows green business and related ecological features. This map has been created to help residents and visitors to the region become aware of the abundance of resources that contribute to the making of a more sustainable community. The map will allow users to visualize the breadth and diversity of the local environmental resources and opportunities.

Los Angeles Time Machines


disappearing LA Icons

Los Angeles Metropolitan restaurants and bars from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s (buildings, movie palaces, motel signs, and remnants of Rt. 66 as well) - places like the Brown Derby Restaurant, the Musso and Frank Grill, the Formosa Cafe, Miceli's Restaurant and Canter's Deli - this website concentrates on those bastions of a bygone era. Get ready to take a trip back in time.

Tahiti Webcams


Among other things, Tahiti Webcams.

These dazzling webcams offer the ultimate escape to the exotic and beautiful tropical French Polynesian islands of Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, Manihi and Tahaa. Along with video highlights and photo galleries of the beaches, ports and tourist attractions, these webcams give us a glimpse of paradise.

Pat Says Now


Swiss Mice/mouse's? at Pat Says Now.

Pat Says Now is Switzerland's first manufacturer of individual computer mice. We design and produce mice in all shapes and colors. Pat Says Now combines Swiss quality with innovative ideas and creative designs we bring color into office life and make working truly fun!We do not simply sell a product, but rather see the mouse as a personal accessory that can be changed to match any mood and style. Or, in other words: We do not only create computer mice, we create personalities. Welcome to our world, welcome to Pat Says Now!

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

OS X First Aid


OS X First Aid

Most of the time, your Mac is the picture of health it crunches numbers, plays music, and tackles even the most difficult tasks without even a hiccup. But there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of things that can go wrong with such a complicated system.

Microsoft To Pull Plug On Windows 98, ME In July


Microsoft To Pull Plug On Windows 98, ME In July

Microsoft has begun reminding users of Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Millennium that it will cut off all support for the aging notice posted to its Web site. "We recommend that customers who are still running Windows 98 or Windows Me upgrade to a newer, more secure Microsoft operating system, such as Windows XP, as soon as possible."

scanR


Scan with your camera phone.

Scan, copy and fax with your camera phone or digital camera.
scanR uses advanced imaging processing and data extraction technologies to convert photos into legible, searchable PDF files.
Document tagging
Each document sent to scanR is tagged with the keywords extracted from the text on the page. This enables easy organization of documents scanned with scanR and quick searches using Google™ Desktop or other desktop search tools.
Image processing
Without scanR, your images will contain background noise, soft focus, shadows, and poor alignment. scanR corrects these deficiencies and creates a true copy of your whiteboard or document.

Monday, April 17, 2006

10 Must Have Mac Apps



10MacApps

A little while ago, Laurence Simon came up with the wonderful idea of what are the Ten Blogs I Would Take To A Desert Island. That turned into a huge meme, and well, I though why not take it a step further, and ask Mac Lovers - their ten most favorite apps. Forget, the Microsoft Office, or any of the applications that are bundled with an Apple. Instead, focus on small freeware and shareware applications that have helped you get the most out of your Mac.