LMAO…

clusterflock

 

 

via I thirst!.

Hubble releases new images…

Oh. My. God.

Hubble’s upgrade was worth every penny.  Every single one.

A Butterfly Nebula 3,800 light years away... IN THE MILKY WAY!!

Click the picture for more info and the official release.  THERE’S TONS MORE WHERE THIS ONE CAME FROM!!!

Seriously, WOW!  We need to (as a planet) get out there and explore.  So fund it now…

LOL and FML

Me (to wife):  “You’re 35!  It’s time that you grow up, get out of school, and get a job!”

Wife: “No.”

Oh boy, oh boy… FML.

WWF Brasil: Tsunami

While I appreciate the message here, I’m not really sure that this is the best way to get the point across.  It’s going to make people mad, if it ever runs, and the whole point will be lost by the “conservatives” that will see this as an advertising “attack” on their beloved country.

Personally, I think the ad is smart… clever… and definitely with merit.  I just don’t think it’s the right way to say it.  In advertising, if you offend even a small portion of your intended audience, you lose.  And the portion of the audience that will take offense to this is, unfortunately, very vocal.

Please click below…

Ads of the World: Creative Advertising Archive & Community

via WWF Brasil: Tsunami.

Edit: I agree with the commenter, werehawk.  This ad is definitely idiotic.  Still though, I feel the need to clarify myself a bit more.  By pointing to conservatives I was not saying that they were the only ones to be offended by such an ad (should it ever reach another medium, aside from the internets), but I was rather saying that the conservatives would be the most vocal… and that the outrage against such an ad would detract from the goal of the WWF.  For one, I am upset with the ad.  Many innocent people lost their lives that day, as well as did the many people when the tsunami struck… but WereHawk rightly clears up what I failed to say; that there is ZERO comparison between a terrorist action and a natural disaster.

Dan Pink on motivation…

I watched a video on TED Talks today that I found really interesting.  I would spoil it all, but I’d like for you to watch it.  It’s about the mismatch between what we know (science/psychology/real-world examples) and what we do.  By “we” I mean business – and we’re all in the business of something.

I found it particularly interesting that the models of incentives simply fail.  And it’s not just in one or two studies…

Anyone have the email address to the White House?  I think it would do our leader some real good to see this video… especially when the banks and auto-makers come crawling back… and you know they will.

I have been thinking a lot about healthcare lately, but I’m not ready to post on that yet.

Comments?  Anyone…?  Anyone…?  Bueller?

The day has come.

Most anyone that reads this will have hardly any idea that this was even coming up for me… or so I think.  That matters not though, because now, the day has arrived.

Tonight I’m staying in Quaker-land with the kids, swimming tomorrow, and generally enjoying one of MY last days of summer.  Tomorrow night I must, regretably, go to sleep wicked early (not sure how I’m going to pull that one off) and then get up even earlier.

What is this leading to, you ask?  I’m going (finally) for my second trip to Canada!  But this time, it’s not all pleasure.  Ok, most of it is…

Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal, QC, Canada

My co-teachers and I have been invited to present at the Canadian Space Agency Educator’s Conference in Montreal next week!  I’m more than excited about this, but that statement alone doesn’t capture it’s coolness.  We are the first, and so far the only, people from outside Canada to EVER be invited to present!  The FIRST foreigners even to be allowed to ATTEND the conference… and we’re presenting.  And let me step back just a moment… I said “invited”, and that is true.  They called us.  Apparently having excellent rapport with Astronauts (and Canadian Astronauts) has it’s benefits.

I am beyond excited.  I am beyond nervous.  I can’t wait.  I CAN’T WAIT!!!

Makes you think…

Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes:
The musician played.  Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.
He collected $32.

1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ….

How many other things are we missing?

Michael Jackson

I’ll admit that I was shocked and saddened to learn of Michael’s death yesterday…

Today what shocks me is the news that it brought down several bits of the internet… including Twitter.

I am not a very heavy user of Twitter, but I like reading what’s going on w/my friends and others.  Great.  Here’s my shock though…  With all of the press coverage over the last few weeks about the blatant theft in Iran and how Iranians were using Twitter to organize, Americans were Tweeting about it, and everything else… yet it takes the death of Michael Jackson, one man, to bring down the site.  How’s that for caring for Humanity?

I hope I never understand.

Very funny ad…

From Mental_Floss

Cancer Patients Aid Association

If you were smoking in a designated smoking area and you saw this ceiling poster, depicting a funeral going on above your grave, do you think you might put out the butt? These morbid reminders, created by the Everest Brand Solutions agency of Mumbai, were meant to do just that. Then again, if you’re so desperate for a smoke that you can’t wait until you get outside, you might need more than a clever poster.

Hilarious video on Chronic Impatience…

Watch this, then get over yourself.  

I love it.

Lewis CK on this spoiled generation