I previously wrote about “Thanks, No” (previous post link), the very useful service for letting people know they’re sending you useless emails. Now comes Fuck Off, I’m Busy, a website to (not so) gently let someone know he/she is annoying you with instant messaging. (via Digg)
James Randi
James Randi used to be a magician and went by the name of The Amazing Randi. He was a “trickster”. Later on, however, he devoted his life to demystifying those who claim they have psychic powers. He is well known for challenging Uri Geller’s and Peter Popoff’s powers (video link), Homeopathy healing (video link) and many many more.
I recall seeing a show about James Randi’s offer to pay 1 million dollar to whoever proves the powers of Homeopathy, and judging by the James Randi Educational Foundation website, that prize is still up for grabs.
James Randi is like a modern Mr. Spock. He pursues logical explanations and is willing to challenge anyone who claims to have abilities that negate logic. A very interesting man, to say the least. You can see more videos of James Randi here.
Shoot Paintballs At Some Iraqi Dude
This Iraqi artist, Wafaa Bilal, decided to make a statement or something artistic like that. What’s great about this is the way he decided to do it: he set himself in a room for six weeks and by logging on to a website you can shoot paintballs at him (aim the gun with the right/left arrows and click the gun icon to shoot). Good luck!
Oh, and if you’re interested in the artistic part of the whole thing, you can see his video diary and read some article about it. But really… who cares? You get to shoot an Iraqi guy. (via Download Squad)
HugeURL – Bigger, Therfore Better URLs
Following the footsteps of TinyURL, a service that let’s you shrink big URLs (web addresses) into small ones, for the purpose of not breaking them when sending an email (for eample), comes HugeURL, the place to get your URL enlarged. I guess it’s good for those who feel their “address” is too small, if you know what I mean.
Why Mathematicians Now Care About Their Hat Color
I wasn’t very good at math when I studied it, but despite the difficulties I did enjoy it when complex math met seemingly simple problems. This article about a pretty old riddle that gets a new life is a perfect example. (via Digg)
Using Google Earth To Find Animal Photos Video
Google Earth is an amazing (and free) application. I love playing around with it sometimes just to see what’s out there. Here’s one example of using Google Earth: finding animals. And if you think you’ve seen all the interesting stuff, you must check out Google Earth Showcase.
Google Calendar – I Use It For Birthday Reminders
Usually I don’t need birthday reminders, but it did happen before that I forgot a friend’s birthday date. Currently I use Google Calendar for birthday reminders. The best thing about Google Calendar is that you get SMS reminders to your cellphone (all major Israely cellphone service providers are supported), so you don’t have to login to get your reminders every day.
There is one small caveat, though. Initially I set birthdays to be all-day events, but then I started getting the reminders for them around 5am. So what I do now is set the birthdays as zero time calendar events around noon, therefore getting the reminders at sane hours.
A New Way To Look At Networking Video
A New Way To Look At Networking is a video recorded for Google Tech Talks. It features Van Jacobson and he shows, in a very fascinating point of view, how the Internet evolved and where he thinks it should evolve to. (via Digg)
Lifehacker Top 10 Body Hacks
Lifehacker (main website link), one of my favorite blogs in my RSS reading list, posted a top 10 list of body hacks. A body hack is something nice or useful to do with your body. Finally I know what I can do when I get an ice cream headache.
The JavaScript Programming Language Videos
I love learning about programming languages. Every language has something unique about it that makes me think: “That’s a nice feature”. While just getting acquainted with a language doesn’t mean that you know how to write code using it, it’s still nice to see what’s out there.
JavaScript is a very misunderstood language. Being “the language of browsers” by perception makes us (wrongfully) think it’s a lesser language than C++ or Java. It also makes JavaScript a very popular language these days, as almost all interactive website include some JavaScript code.
If you want to learn about JavaScript, here are very educating four videos of Douglas Crockford of Yahoo!, including the interesting history of the language:
The JavaScript Programming Language 1/4
The JavaScript Programming Language 2/4
The JavaScript Programming Language 3/4
The JavaScript Programming Language 4/4