Year: 2008

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Moving your wallpapers

Microsoft, in all its blessed wisdom, decided to keep Windows wallpapers in the system directory. This can lead to stability and\or security issues (“I was trying to install a wallpaper of my kids at the lake, and I saw this folder called SYSTEM32 taking up a bunch of space, so I tried to delete it, and now my computer won’t boot!”). It can also make disk images needlessly large: because Windows does such a crappy job of using JPG images as wallpaper, I keep around 125MB of wallpapers in my own WINDOWS folder, along with a 300MB archive file of wallpapers not currently in use.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could change the location that Windows looks in when you right-click on the desktop and choose Properties > Desktop? Well you can! Just fire up Regedit and go to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Look for a string called WallPaperDir. The value will probably be at the default location – %SystemRoot%\Web\Wallpaper. Simply change this to whatever directory you want to use (perhaps F:\Wallpaper) and close Regedit. No reboot is needed – the next time you open the applet, Windows will look in the directory of your choosing!

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How Tina Fey Got Her Scar

Comedienne Tina Fey has a prominent scar on her face. She’s never revealed how she got that scar, and that’s caused a flurry of speculation on the Interwebs. Hell, there’s even a whole website – the Tina Fey Scar Detective – dedicated to finding out what happened.

Obsessive Internet geeks will no longer have to guess what happened. In the January issue of Vanity Fair magazine, Jeff Richmond (Fey’s husband), says that “a stranger slashed Fey’s face when she was 5 years old… in the front yard of her house”. Richmond further states that “[the] scar was fascinating to me. This is somebody who, no matter what it was, has gone through something. And I think it really informs the way she thinks about her life”. For her part, Fey always felt that talking about the attack would feel like exploiting it, and that’s why she’s kept quiet about it all these years. Well, that, and it bothers her parents, who feel somewhat responsible for the attack.

Oh, and Fey is on the cover, too. Yowza!!!

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The USB lunch bag!

Asians have this “thing” for USB gadgets. Sometimes these gadgets are useless, like the USB Fragrance Oil Burner, the USB Humping Dog (no, it’s not a flash drive, it’s just a toy that looks like it’s humping your USB port when plugged in), a USB fridge that only holds one can at at time, or the USB-powered Hamster Wheel (it’s a toy hamster, by the way).

Even when a USB gadget is actually useful, Asians like dressing it up. Take the USB thumb drive that looks like sushi, for example. Even the Brits have gotten in on it with the USB mincemeat pie flash drive!

I’ve never been interested in actually owning any of these USB devices… until now! Behold the USB-powered lunch bag:

The manufacturers claim that the bag will hold the contents at 140F as long as the device is plugged in to a USB port on your computer. Engadget doesn’t know when (or even if) the bags will make it to the US.

All I know is that I want one!

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Eva Amurri: Butterface

By now, everyone on the planet – even your grandma – has heard the word “butterface”, a not-so-nice slang term for a woman with an attractive body but less than attractive face (hence, “but her face!” = “butterface”). Pointless aside: such women are sometimes referred to as BOBFOCs in the UK, which stands for “Body Off Baywatch, face off Crimewatch” (Britain’s version of Cops).

There’s no better example of a butterface than Eva Amurri, the daughter of Italian director Franco Amurri and American actress Susan Sarandon. Her face isn’t horrible, but it’s nothing to write home about, either. Her body, on the other hand, is slammin’:

(click to enlarge)
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HAHAHA!!! AP Top 25 is out!

The final AP Top 25 poll of the regular season is out… and just look at the standings!

1. Alabama (62) 12-0 1,620
2. Florida (3) 11-1 1,516
3. Texas 11-1 1,488
4. Oklahoma 11-1 1,480
5. USC 10-1 1,355
6. Penn State 11-1 1,257
7. Utah 12-0 1,216
8. Texas Tech 11-1 1,197
9. Boise State 12-0 1,103
10. Ohio State 10-2 1,069
11. TCU 10-2 885
12. Ball State 12-0 834
13. Cincinnati 10-2 824
14. Oklahoma State 9-3 798
15. Georgia Tech 9-3 708
16. Oregon 9-3 630
17. Georgia 9-3 495
18. Boston College 9-3 482
19. Missouri 9-3 479
20. Brigham Young 10-2 385
21. Michigan State 9-3 312
22. Mississippi 8-4 280
23. Pittsburgh 8-3 241
24. Northwestern 9-3 190
25. Oregon State 8-4 122

Go Jackets!!!!

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HELL YES!!!!

The final score from Athens:

Georgia Tech 45
Georgia 42

So then it’s up with the White and Gold
Down with the Red and the Black
Georgia Tech is out for a victory
We’ll drop our battle axe on Georgia’s head
When we meet her our team will surely beat her
Down on old Georgia’s farm there’ll be no sound
When our bow wows rip through the air
When the battle is over Georgia’s team will be found
With the Yellow Jackets swarming around.

What’s the good word?

Enjoy a couple of pictures:

I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech, and a hell of an Engineer
A Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva, Helluva Engineer
Like all the jolly good fellows, I drink my whiskey clear.
I’m a Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an Engineer

Oh, if I had a daughter, sir, I’d dress her in white and gold,
And put her on the campus to cheer the brave and bold.
But if I had a son, sir, I’ll tell you what he’d do–
He would yell: ‘TO HELL WITH GEORGIA!’ Like his daddy used to do.

Oh, I wish I had a barrel of rum, and sugar three thousand pounds
A college bell to put it in, And a clapper to stir it round.
I’d drink to all the good fellows, who come from far and near.
I’m a Ramblin’, Gamblin’, HELL OF AN ENGINEER!

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I *love* Katy Perry

There, I said it: I love Katy Perry. Although it might come as a disappointment to my fans and friends, it probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Katy is cute and sassy. She has her own “kooky” style that reminds me of the girls that worked at Junkman’s Daughter in the 80s (or maybe Zooey Dechanel). She easily wins the “Nicest Rack In Pop Music Since Jewel” award, and (most importantly), she’s brought back good old fashioned, God-fearin’ pop music. Seriously. I challenge anyone to listen to “Hot ‘N Cold” and not think it’s the most infectious piece of pop music since Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping” (and it’s far less annoying, too!). I even like the “Hot ‘N Cold” music video, something I haven’t been able to say about a song for ten years!

Oh, did I mention that she’s cute?

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Random Food Post

In this post, I talked about how I used to make a lot of homemade pizza. Just to show you that I wasn’t making it up, here’s a picture of some pizzas I made a couple of weeks ago:

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On the left, you have a standard pizza with red sauce and onions: Lisa’s favorite! On the right, you have a pizza with white clam sauce, Parmesan and Mozzarella! It was absolutely delicious!

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Above you’ll see a homemade apple crumble with Bird’s custard on top. How British is that? Unfortunately, I totally spaced on taking a picture when the crumble was fresh out of the oven, so this picture is of some microwaved leftovers from a couple of days later.

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SONGS I LOVE: “L’effet Jokari”

My fascination with cute little French girls singing chanson continues. First there was Alizée Jacotey and her brand of French electro-pop. Then there was Mylène Farmer, the French Canadian pop star that discovered Alizée and put her on the map. Then there was Carla Bruni, the first singer I encountered that sang something resembling actual chanson. And now there’s Coralie Clément.

Born in Villefranche-sur-Saône, France in 1982, Clément comes from a long line of musicians. Her father is a professional clarinetist who also plays a mean violin. Her brother is also a singer, songwriter, and record producer. So she has the background… but she also has the looks:

(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)

What man can resist the “lip biting” pose? And her name is Coralie! How sweet is that?

Have a listen to “L’effet Jokari”, the lead track from her new album Toystore, and tell me what you think!

[audio:coralie.mp3]

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Richey Edwards declared dead

Remember the band Manic Street Preachers? Although this Welsh act were mighty popular in the UK, most Americans probably remember them as a “here today, gone tomorrow” act from college radio. Their rhythm guitarist and co-lyricist, Richey Edwards, disappeared back in 1995. According to Wikipedia,

Edwards disappeared on 1 February 1995, on the day that he and [a band member] were due to fly to the U.S. on a promotional tour. In the two weeks before his disappearance, Edwards withdrew £200 a day from his bank account, which totalled £2800 by February 1. He checked out of the Embassy Hotel in Bayswater Road, London at seven in the morning, and it has been proven that he then drove to his apartment in Cardiff, Wales. In the two weeks that followed he was apparently spotted in the Newport passport office, and the Newport bus station. On 7 February, Anthony Hatherhall, a taxi driver from Newport, supposedly picked up Edwards from the King’s Hotel in Newport, and drove him around the valleys, including Blackwood (Edwards’ home as a child). The passenger got off at the Severn View service station and paid the £68 fare in cash.

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