In 1988 was was involved in a head-on car crash. It was a bad deal, I was driving a 1982 VW Rabbit and it held up pretty well.
I was lucky, VW’s are a solid car. It crumpled where it should and held up where I was sitting.
Anyway – I saw this video a while back and was talking to some people about it this weekend and couldn’t find it. But I did. Pretty wild how far we’ve come.
Posted in Featured Post, just because, misc 
Tags: Autos, Makes and Models, Traffic collision, Volkswagen 
Comments OffThe ‘telepathy’ chip that lets you control computers using power of thought | Mail Online.
I’ll take one of these and a usb plug too. That way I can backup my brain.
How do you clear your mind?
The best place for me is the shower – that is where I am the most creative and can usually solve problems. There must be something with the sound of the water and concept that nobody can really disrupt you. I should try an artificial water sound track, see if I can replicate.
I have also found that a nice motorcycle ride will do that for me. Not quite as well because you have to pay attention – but good.
Here is an article I found on about.com:
Like many things in life, letting go of negative emotions and clearing your mind is easier said than done. With these tips and some practice, however, you’ll learn how to clear your mind in a way that works for you, and enjoy what life has to offer right now.
- Try Meditation.
- Cultivate Mindfulness.
- Try Expressive Writing.
- Distract Yourself.
These are some ideas – what do you use?
Hackers delight — A history of MIT pranks – Boston.com.
Some of these are truly a classic!
Posted in Quick Post, just because, misc Tags: April Fool, April Fools Day, Humor, Prank Comments Off
So, my buddy Jason gives me crap everyday for my multiple twitter names: @vwtom and @tomaltman He gives me this round of balony becuase I am a knuclehead. How was I to know you could change usernames on twitter. I’ve been a web programmer for 10 years – I’ve never built a system where you could change usernames. But Twitter did.
All I was trying to do was “unify” my “social media profiles”. I have been using tomaltman as my handle for most things – and thought it would be good to have that on Twitter too. So, it was a good as time as any to change. I searched and secured the new name, walked though my Twitter friends list and got it all moved over…and boom. Jason and @WagsTV are like – yea, you can just change it.
I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe it. How could I be so stupid – it remind me of some of the “old media” types I work with. I assumed I knew you couldn’t change the username. But I didn’t know what I didn’t know. All I would have had to do was ask some people around me – and they would have told me. But I assumed I knew better – because I was the WEB guy.
How stupid and narrow minded was that? I acted like a jerk – mostly because I wasn’t open minded enough to ask – hell, I talk to Jason multiple times a day, but I didn’t ask…and now I’m a knuclehead.
I think newspapers need to realize they are acting like knucleheads. Admit we’re not sure what to do. Listen to the people on the front lines, yup – managers you’ll have to allow and empower those people to do what they think is right. And most of all – gather all the young,hip, cool kids in the company and ask them what they would do. Trust me, the information and just plain seat of the pants feelings they have is money – and if we don’t listen, we’re not going to make it.
Posted in just because, religion & philosophy, tom's journey Tags: Online Communities, programmer, social media, twitter, Web Comments Off10 Harsh Truths About Corporate Websites | How-To | Smashing Magazine.
Sometimes you read something and think…yea, that is cool. Then there is an article like this. It puts you in a groove. It gets you excited. It makes you want to write an email to your boss, and his boss and even his boss! (OK, got to go.)
Posted in community, just because, web concepts, wedia Tags: Smashing Magazine, web development department Comments OffThis is just cool.
Wait for the API – I can see how this could be very useful.
Posted in Quick Post, innovation, just because, misc, wedia Tags: Clocks and Timers, flash, Timer Comments Off
