YouTube Tuesday: Seven fold

It's a proven fact that you can't fold a regular sheet of 8x10 paper in half more than seven times. In fact, you can't fold most paper in half more than seven times (unless it's a huge sheet of paper).

This video purports to demonstrate this phenomenon, though for the life of me I can't see any paper whatsoever in this video.

Can you?


tagged: movie, YouTube, video, humor, breasts, chest, fold, cleavage

escape

tagged: keyboard, escape, humor, computer

Genius Bar? I don't think so.

"Hi Mr. Emawkc, this is Aaron at the Genius Bar. I was just calling to let you know your computer is ready and you can pick it up any time at the Apple Store."

"I picked it up yesterday."

"Oh?! Well... er... Ooh I see. We had an Internet outage yesterday, so it must have gotten lost in the shuffle. Okay, I guess you're all set."

The call I received this morning was just the latest example of how the Genius Bar at the Apple Store isn't restricted only to genii.

It all started two weeks ago when my iMac shot craps. I was getting ready to sync my iPod before heading out on some errands when Apple HQ sent out a message that I needed to do a security software update. No problem, it's a pretty standard deal. I click the "install" button to do the security patch.

A few seconds later, I get a message that the install is finished and I need to restart my computer. Kind of annoying, since all I wanted to do is sync my iPod, but okay. I restart. I get a message that I need to restart my computer. I restart and get the same message that I need to restart my computer. I do, same message.

Clearly something is wrong. The "geniuses" have bricked my computer. So I call and get an appointment at the so-called genius bar to have this fixed.

When in get there a couple of days later, I explain to the genius on duty that the software update they sent ruined my computer and I would like it fixed if you please. After a few minutes of triage, the young genius tells me that the motherboard on my computer is fried and will need to be replaced.

"That sounds expensive," I say.

"It is," she replies. "It's about a $900 repair and you are no longer covered by your warranty."

Luckily, this genius then does the most genuis-like thing of this whole experience.

"Don't worry, " she said in a bad news/good news voice. "This model qualifies for an extended warranty Apple Quality program. So there won't be a charge to you for the repair."

I told her that would be just fabulous.

Fast forward a few days and I get another call from a genius.

"Well, we replaced the mother board and power source and your computer still doesn't work. The issue is with your hard drive. We can replace it but we weren't able to get any data off your old one."

The genius tells me that a third party data recovery company might be able to save the 3,000 or so family pictures saved on the drive. Of course, it will cost me $250 if they succeed, but I won't have to pay anything if they fail.

Fast forward again, no data is recovered. Apple says they'll need $150 to replace the hard drive, plus they will keep the old drive to send back "to corporate" wherever that is.

So I get to pay $150 for a new drive and I lose my old drive (which has my passwords to all the porn sites I go to). Or I can pay $75 to by a new drive that I install myself, get three times the disc capacity for half the cost and I keep the old damaged drive and my secret plans for taking over the world.

The geniuses at the genius bar had a hard time understanding why I didn't want them to do the work.

But, in the end, I get a new mother board, new power supply and a hard drive upgrade all for a total out-of-pocket expense of $75. Not bad.

The bonus is that when I got everything going again, I found that I had backed up all of my photos onto an external hard drive, so I didn't lose any irreplaceable data.

No thanks to the Apple geniuses.

tagged: Apple, computer, iMac, Genius Bar, crash, data recovery, hard drive

Friday Blogthing: Tie good. You like shirt?

You're Thailand!
Calmer and more staunchly independent than almost all those around you, you have a long history of rising above adversity. Recent adversity has led to questions about your sexual promiscuity and the threat of disease, but you still manage to attract a number of tourists and admirers. And despite any setbacks, you can really cook a good meal whenever it's called for. Good enough to make people cry.

Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

tagged: Friday, test, country, Thailand, Thai, meme, blog

KC Blogger Meetup: Short Notice Edition

Faith at F.U.S. has the details, but I'll post them here, too

What: Monthly Blogger Meetup
When: Tuesday, August 21st - 5 p.m. till whenever you wanna leave!
Where: Charlie Hooper's in Brookside (12 W. 63rd Street, KC, MO 64113)
Goodies: $1 domestic draws & $1, $2, and $3 appetizers from 3 - 7 p.m. (Stuff like pizzas, spin dip, and jalapeno poppers...yum!)

Tell you friends, Romans and countrymen. Since it's short notice, it might be an intimate crowd. I'll definitely be there. I know Faith will and probably Dan, since he lives close to the venue.

Charlie Hooper's is at the corner of Main and 63rd in Brookside. I'll try to get there as close to 5:30 as possible.

ALSO,

Wichita blogstress Shea from A California Girl in Kansas is meeting with whoever shows up Sunday afternoon at 3 pm at Fred P. Otts at the Plaza. Not sure whether I'll make it (the Magic 8 Ball says "Ask again later."), but I know she'd love to meet everyone.

tagged: Kansas, Kansas City, blogger, meet up, blog, Charlie Hooper's, Fred P Ott's

3 A.M. Poll: How hot is it

We all know it's been hot. Damn hot. But simple empirical numbers don't really describe just how beastly hot its been.

So now we turn to you to tell us just how hot is it in KC these days.


tagged: hot, heat, weather, Kansas City, poll, vote

Even with the worst head cold in history...

This shit is funny.

If Chris Packham's Farmer Bob isn't on your daily reading list yet, it should be (unless your one of those stuck up, prissy, no-sense of humor people (some people think they have a sense of humor, but they don't all.)).

Anyway, Packham checks in today with the latest installment of the awesome The Cup and Saucer Action News series. Today's episode "Sexxxy"

Dialling her accountant’s office, she said, “I dunno. Listen, Ira has a temp working at his reception desk this week.” Adopting a confidential whisper, she added, “She’s the stupidest person I’ve ever –” She stopped and looked me up and down. “Well. She’s plenty stupid, believe you me… Wendy! Hi, how are you? This is Jill at the Cup and Saucer. Is Ira there? Oh, he’s having lunch. Do you have his cell phone number? Great. Let me just write that down. Oops! Wendy, I’m all out of blank paper. Do you think you could fax me a blank piece of paper?” She gave me an unnecessarily exaggerated conspiratorial wink. “That way, I can write down Ira’s cell phone number. Great. I’ll call you back as soon as it gets here.” She hung up and looked at the fax machine.

Seriously, go read his stuff. It could be the NyQuil/Sudafed coctail (I call it NyQuaFed) talking, but I laughed so hard great big globs of sticky yellow snot sprayed out of my nose.

tagged: blog, link, humor, comedy, Cup and Saucer Action News

Movie Mini Review: That Thing You Do (Director's Cut)

Title: That Thing You Do

Cast: Tom Hanks, Tom Everett Scott, Steve Zahn, Live Tyler

Plot summary:
Hometown boys from Erie, PA, form a band and make it big with a hit record. They ride the wave of the success with the considerable help of their manager until everything falls apart.

My thoughts:
Okay, this movie has been out there a while. It's a good flick, light-hearted and enjoyable even on repeated viewings.

But what prompted me to add this title to the movie review lineup was this email I received a month or two ago from Nico Del Castillo:

Hi there!

I was just bloghopping and saw that you mentioned Tom Hanks in your blog (yes, strangers do stumble upon others' blogs). I work for a company called M80, which is working with FOX to find out what bloggers think about the recent extended edition of That Thing You Do!. So basically, I'm sending out review copies of That Thing You Do! to people and I was wondering if you would be into this sort of thing and write a review for us since it's related to Tom Hanks? Of course, an honest review is strongly encouraged since it is your blog, after all. Plus you'd get to keep the copy of the DVD for yourself.

If you're interested, please let me know. If not, no worries. And yes, there is a real person behind this email address.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Well, far be if from me to turn down free cyber swag. The disc arrived a week or so later, but it was several weeks before my Supermodel Wife and I could a screening into our busy social calendar.

If you liked the theatrical release of this movie, you'll probably like the director's cut as well. As vanity projects go, this was a far more successful venture for Tom Hanks than Beyond the Sea was for Kevin Spacey. It is more genuine, with music woven in more convincingly.

But I have to agree with the editors who left some scenes on the cutting room floor. The DVD director's cut that we viewed had scenes that didn't seem to advance the plot, or at best tried too hard to drive home minor plot points. For example, there were several extra scenes of Charlene Theron's character's developing affair with her dentist while her boyfriend and drummer, Skitch Patterson, was on the road.

There were other scenes that didn't seem to have any relevance at all to the plot, including an introduction to manager Mr. White's (Tom Hanks) gay lover.

The only other issue I had with the DVD was that the audio didn't seem to agree with our home theater system. I'm not sure it it's a flaw in the disc, or if I had a setting off on our tuner, but I haven't had the same issue with other DVDs so I'm inclined to blame the disc.

My final rating: Good, but the theatrical release was better.

Favorite quote: "Hey, wasn't that our fan?"

tagged: movie, That Thing You Do, film, culture, Tom Hanks, review, Steve Zahn

YouTube Tuesday: Daft hands

When I saw this video, I at first thought it must be about the lamest thing on YouTube.

A couple of bouncing fists? Reminds me of some lonely nights back in junior high... but I digress.

Give it at least 51 seconds, that's when it starts getting interesting.



tagged: movie, YouTube, video, humor, pop culture, work it, daft hands, music

I know I'm not the first to say it, but...

Let me just reiterate how much I think summer colds suck.

I mean, your tired, achy a bit of a fever, then you have to go outside where it's 100 degrees which makes the feverish feeling even worse, then, as if things aren't bad enough, you have to stop at the dry cleaners to pick up some shirts and you get blasted with 150 degree temps and 150 percent humidity so you're sweating all over yourself as you wait in line and when its finally your turn you're sweat is dripping onto the credit card receipt when you're trying to sign your signature, which looks nothing like your name because you're hands are still shaky from the overdose of that NyQuil/Sudafed cocktail that you took at 1:20 a.m. because you've got to get some kind of sleep, even if it's just a drug-induced coma and you feel so shitty you don't even notice the Leawood police cruiser as you pull out of the dry cleaners parking lot and the best you can manage is a contrite wave for cutting him off and hope he doesn't pull you over because you'd never pass a field sobriety test in your condition and when he passes you without taking notice you're just relieved and turn up the air conditioner in you car to full blast to try to dry your perspiration-soaked shirt as much as possible before you get to the parking lot at work and have to trudge through the heat again to get to your cube where you can brain-dump the morning's events onto a cheesy, poorly-written blog post, publish it, then curl up into a fetal position under your desk.

tagged: summer, cold, sick, suck