Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions IN A TORTILLA?  What is this nonsense I saw on a commercial recently?

Apparently McDonalds is rolling out a downsized version of its classic Big Mac, with a twist: IT’S A WRAP!

I recently saw a commercial for it, but unfortunately none of the McDonalds in Ithaca carry these strange treat just yet.  I’m excited to give it a try, but I’m not expecting to like it.

I mean, the Big Mac is a classic and this is just another ploy to jump on the bandwagon of wraps and mini-burgers everyone else is doing.

On the other hand, I love Big Macs, so it could be fantastic.

Anyways, it’s going to sell for $1.49 and if you’re lucky enough to have a McDonalds in your area selling this, give it a try and let me know what you think.

Allegedly they’re only rolling it out in 1400 stores.

I guess I’m probably also a little late to ride the hype of the Motorola Droid, but I was so excited by the commercials that I got myself one of my very own, and I have to say, it’s pretty cool!  My biggest surprise, is that it took me this long to get a phone with the internet.

Motorola has actually always been my favorite phone manufacturer.  My first phone was a Motorola.  God knows what model.  It was an extremely basic, grey phone.  I was actually on the Cricket network at the time.  It didn’t even have a camera, but it worked nicely.  The coolest thing about it was that it had red and blue lights along the sides that would go crazy whenever it rang.  If it was sitting on a table, unobstructed, the lights would dance around the entire room in a circular pattern.  That was something really spectacular.

Also, it had a monochrome display, but you could change the backlight color, red, blue, orange, I believe.  Every now and then, I’d change it and it would feel like a whole new phone.

Times have sure changed since then.  I’d probably still have that phone had I not dropped it in a glass of Kool Aid.  The screen flipped upside down and the keys stopped working one-by-one.

After that, I got a temporary replacement Kyocera phone.  Are they even still a company?  God was that phone terrible.

My next phone was another Motorola, the must-have phone of 2007, the god-damn RAZR.  Man was that phone sexy.  It was also a tank, made of solid metal.  You could use that phone as a weapon, and then collect it and still use it to make phone calls.  Nothing really special feature-wise, but it was my first phone with a camera.

Then I switched networks and stuck with the Samsung Alias (formerly the U-740), which was a decent phone.  The QWERTY keyboard spolied me, I could never go back.

So then there was the iPhone, a phone everyone in the world wanted.  Even I wanted it a little, though I typically didn’t admit it.  I really hate Apple.  Besides, it wasn’t on my network.

Imagine my glee when I start seeing commercials for the Droid.  Here’s what happens, giant metal vessels from space smash into the ground in various locations across the world to release a phone, so cool it made my cry a little.  And to make it even better, it’s not just the Droid, it’s the Droid WITH GOOGLE.  I love Google!

Sure, what the hell does that mean, having Google?  Wouldn’t any phone with the internet have Google?  I thought it was lame they said that, but it didn’t stop me from wanting one desperately.

I’ve heard a lot about the Google Android App platform, and was very happy that Apple was seeing some serious competition.  Especially happy that Android developers could write in Java, which is another thing I love.

The more I read about the Droid, the more I wanted it.  Oh my god, a physical keyboard… that’s the thing lacking in the iPhone I hated the most!  Like hell I could use a touch-screen keyboard.

Speaking of touchscreen difficulties, I had always thought touchscreens were going to be the piece of technology that lost me.  You see, I’m aware that as you age, you become less likely to develop neurological pathways that are required to perform well on a new technological paradigm.  It’s the reason our parents, for the most part, can’t use a computer to save their lives.  Of course, some people that age can, but there’s even less competence in the preceding generation!

I’m sure at some point there were old folks saying something like, “You youngsters with your dishwashers, I’ll never figure those out!”  It just happens.  So I’m always on the lookout for the technology that’s going to lose me; the thing I just can’t learn.  Sure, I’m still plenty young, plenty hip, and I’m especially tech-savvy, but I wasn’t so sure about touchscreens when they first started proliferating.

The problem, as I found out, wasn’t the paradigm itself, but the early implementations were just so awful. I’ve used the iPhone before, and I’ve been using the Droid for about a week now, so I’m now well-aware they’re usable. Honestly, the various touchscreen features of the iPhone do outpace the Droid (which lacks multi-touch gestures) but only by a little.

They made me sign up for the unlimited internet plan, and I’m glad they did, because having the internet on-the-go has proven extremely useful.  If for no other reason, the internet radio apps like Pandora and Last.fm are fantastic.  Also, the thing packs a 16 gb standard SD memory.  That’s 4 times what my old ipod had, so I’ve essentially replaced that as an mp3 player, though I’m not sure I’d want to run with something this heavy in my pockets…

Haven’t really had a chance to use it much, but the GPS navigation feature seems really nice.  Google Maps in general is pleasant to use.  There also seem to be some interesting social uses for the GPS, but I’m not sure I want to be involved in something like that.  There’s apparently an MMORPG that uses your GPS position to connect you with players in your area, so maybe some of theses nerds will be able to meet people in real life (doubt it) with similar interests.

Obviously, the biggest thing functionally is the App Market.  The Android App market is open, anybody can put an App up, and Google doesn’t have anything to say unless there are problems.  Apple’s App Store has an application process.  They can reject apps for any reason, for example, Google Voice!  That’s the odd thing about Apple, everybody always gives Bill Gates a hassle for being Mr. Proprietary, but it’s always been easier to write software for windows than Apple.  By heading towards Apple, you’re really entering a world that’s more proprietary, closed-off and controlled by the powers-that-be.

There’s some pretty cool Apps I’ve added, like the Flashlight app which takes advantage of the bright LED light for the Camera on the front, the online radio apps, a simple notepad app, and an app for posting to my blog on-the-go.  So far I’ve only installed free apps, but there are tons out there in the paid and free realms I have yet to discover.  Maybe I’ll even develop my own app some day, something to integrate Fitlia perhaps.

Anyways, I’m going on and on and this blog post has entered the realm of too-long-to-be-interesting, so that’s enough about the Droid.

I know, I know, raving about how awesome Netflix is… that’s so 2007.  It’s a new decade, man!  Well I’m sorry; I can’t help it– it’s just fantastic!

I’ve been using Netflix for about a month now.  I initially signed up to get $8 for free on Campus Food, by signing up for a free trial  one-dvd-out-at-a-time, but just as they had expected, I was immediately hooked.

I’ve since upgraded to the three-dvd-out-at-a-time plan, which would theoretically allow me to have a new DVD every day (excluding Sunday, of course).  This is the case, because when I ship a DVD out it is typically received in two days, but then I get a new one back the next day.

Unfortunately, I’m a little lazy and I don’t get them out immediately after I watch them; plus I’m scared to put my outgoing mail in my mailbox for some reason.

So the Netflix feature I’ve been using serially, the ability to watch instantly.  Oh my god is that amazing!

It got me into Dexter, since I was able to watch the first two season right on Netflix.  Then it was 30 Rock, another fantastic show.  Then I moved on to British sitcoms, Coupling which was hilarious (Britain’s response to Friends, with a greater emphasis on sex!), and finally The IT Crowd, which was only mildly entertaining, but somehow serially watchable.

So then I only recently started heavily watching movies instantly.  Sure, most of the movies you’ve heard of and wanted to see aren’t available, but there are tons and tons of indie and foreign movies.  I’ve been averaging 2-3 movies a day, as of late.  Thank god I’m not doing anything useful!

Anyways, use Netflix.

At 408, we watch a whole lot of television.  Maybe I should speak for myself, I watch a lot of television.  Recently, I’ve been seeing so many commercials for AMC’s new mini-series, The Prisoner.  It’s a remake of the 1968 BBC classic, and from the first two episodes, I’d have to say it’s worth a look or two.

The basic premise of the show was pretty obvious from the commercials.  It’s your usual, man wakes up in the desert and doesn’t know how he got there.  Man finds himself in a village where everyone’s name is a number and they only eat wraps.  Creepy old dude keeps showing up and fucking with your head.  Also there’s big white bubbles that eat people; we’ve seen it all before.

So when I sat down to watch a little TV after my run today, I was surprised to finally find out that the show was actually playing, so I watched.

I’m not going to sit here and critique it, because what the hell do I know about TV show making.  Ultimately, it seems pretty cool.  They’re probably trying to be a little too surreal with the confusing memory sequences, the random mysterious cuts of #2, and the dialogue is a little over-the-top.

But it also doesn’t take itself too seriously, given little oddities like the fact that they only eat wraps.  There is a sequence in the second episode in which a little girl explains the plot of a village soap-opera, full of references to characters’ number names.

I looked into it a little further and found that it was a remake of a 1968 BBC miniseries.  I’ve never heard of it, so I just found a torrent of it to check it out.  I need a new TV show to waste my time watching!

Oh, right, one thing I’d suggest to AMC as a fan, would be to lay off the lame commercial interruptions.  I don’t need to know stupid little non-factoids every commercial break and I don’t really care that it’s coming back in exactly 1 minute… by the way I timed it and it wasn’t exactly 1 minute.

Are you sick of wasting all your money on water?  Are you concerned about the environmental impact of plastic water bottles?  Well I was too.  That was until I did some research, and found out that you can make your very own water at home, for pennies on the dollar!

Making your own water is easier than you think.  The whole process hinges on the scientific principle of melting, the transition from a solid to a liquid.  I know, I know, science is scary… but it’s easy!

For this recipe, you will need the following:

• One ice
• One cup

1. Preheat your oven to room temperature.

2. Gently place the ice in the cup.  Be careful not to damage the ice, as it may cause impurities in your water.

3. Bake the ice at room temperature for approximately 20 minutes or until completely water.

Your welcome, readers.

Once upon a time, several years ago, I discovered a fundamental flaw in the policy of the United States Postal Service return-to-sender policy.  Recently though, I took it one step further and discovered something amazing.

The scam goes as follows: place a letter in a USPS mailbox, but instead of placing the destination address in the center of the letter, place it in the return address space.

The center of the letter can contain any address; in fact, it doesn’t even need to be a properly formatted address, as you can see in the picture.

Now, you don’t need to apply any postage and the letter will be delivered to the Return Address, due to insufficient postage.

I think this constitutes fraud…

This is the story of how me and Dave captured the coolest bug in the world.

After our social event Saturday, Dave discovered a rather immobile insect on his wall.  Over the next couple of days, he discovered the bug would occasionally appear in different areas of the room, but would never be seen actually moving.

He later brought this bug to mine and Jordan’s attention.  It was then that we discovered that this bug was pretty awesome, based on the markings on its back.

We captured the bug in a POM glass to study it in further detail.

We then discovered, after a long but silent conversation, that he had traveled all the way from coastal Africa in a girl’s hair.

Simply amazing.  His diet is grass.

I just wanted to let the whole world know how much I love Google’s new service, Google Voice!

I’d like to make an announcement, in full view of the public eye: Google is taking over my life, and I’m totally cool with that.

I just signed up for Google Voice and now Google has opened yet another port directly into my brain.

For those of you who don’t know, Google Voice is Google’s newest service.  It seems that the utility was purchased from a company called Grand Central, but I did little-to-no research into that.

Google Voice gives you all kinds of great features to organize your telephone-related life.

You begin by getting a new phone number.  This phone number can be searched and customized to be from a particular area, or contain a particular word/letter combination.  For instance, my new Google Voice number is: 3303-KEVIN-1.

Google then latches on to your real phone accounts, and you can link it to up to three phones, your home, your business, and your mobile.  I only have one phone, but who knows, maybe someday I’ll have a house phone or maybe at least an office phone.

From there, you can organize your contacts into various groups, and forward calls from people in different groups to different sets of phones.  You can customize the voicemail greetings received by groups, or by individuals.  You can block calls from certain people, you can send certain people straight to voicemail.  You can set a do-not-disturb mode.  I keep discovering features.

The coolest thing is that Google keeps a log of everything that goes on.  You have an archived report of every call, text or voicemail.  You can turn on call recording when you get a call, and save it to your Google Voice.  Well on our way to a searchable call database.

Voicemails can be recorded and transcripted (though the voice recognition is not perfect) and the transcript can be texted to you, in case you don’t want to have to go through your annoying phone company’s voicemail system (Verizon…)

No faxing yet, but that would be nice.  I’m sure there are many many more features to discover.  I’ve heard about things like advanced conference calling, etc.  There’s a call-me widget you can add to your blog so that people enter their number and it will automatically connect you.  Man, life is great in the 21st, ain’t it?

So you probably want to just sign up, right now.  Well Google Voice is invite only, so you have to request an invite.  I got mine within 24 hours, so maybe it’s the same for everyone.

So please, call me at 3303-KEVIN-1, so I can play with all the cool Google Voice features.  Thanks Google, for my newest toy.

As you are certainly well aware, I made my first top-n list recently.  In the past, I have generally looked down upon making top-n lists as content, but the experience opened my eyes.  I realized how much I actually list top-n lists; they really suck you in.  So here it comes: a list of 11 lists.

Some of these lists are not top-n lists, but rather just lists.  I included them, because I’m cool with that.  I didn’t include more than one list from a single site, because I figured that would be cheating.  This list is actually ordered, but I put the best ones first.  I like breaking traditions.  I’ve also pointed out my favorite, so you can tune your attention to the proper opinion.

1. 100 (Really) Creative Business Cards

Why it’s great:

I found this when I started designing my business cards (I still am) and absolutely fell in love.  I want to steal every single idea, so you know it’s great!

My favorite:

I really like all the transparent ones, and I think that’s what I’m going to end up doing with my cards, but the ones that joke about marriages falling apart; ya those are great too.

2. 60 Really Cool and Creative Error 404 Pages

Why it’s great:

Because the standard 404 error page is not only boring, but confusing.  Regular internet users really need to be spoon-fed what is going on, and that kind-of error makes people think something is wrong with their internets.  I can’t tell you how many people called Geek Squad about 404′s.  These error pages make life a lot better for everyone, even if they don’t explain what is going on.

My favorite:

It didn’t make the list, but I really like our 404 page.

3. Best of Phirebrush (2007)

Why it’s great:

Because art is everywhere, art is amazing, and with the internet, now more than ever, art is able to be proliferated in a very massive way.  This list is the 60 best works of art on the Phirebrush, an art website.

My favorite:

It was really hard to pick from such an awesome list, but I’d have to say New York by Perttu Muro.

4. 40 most beautiful and inspirational websites of 2008

Why it’s great:

I’ve been doing a lot of web design as of late, and I really like where web design is heading these past couple of years.  Though a lot of these designs aren’t exactly usable, they’re plenty beautiful.  I love looking at these big lists of awesome websites, because they’re really something to aspire to.

My favorite:

Toucouleur, apparently a French design company, for their incredible use of awesome in web design.

5. Top 45 Creative Anti-Smoking Advertisements

Why it’s great:

So, some of these aren’t actual in-place anti-smoking ads, but this list has some seriously awesome graphics.  In fact, a lot of these anti-smoking ads actually make me want to light up a big cigarette.

My favorite:

Honestly, I like the first one, but it’s really hard to pick, they’re all pretty cool.  I also like the ones where the smoke forms the gun/noose.

6. 15 Most Bizarre, Exotic and Amazing Houses

Why it’s great:

I always love looking at pictures of houses that make me drool.  One day, when I’m super rich, my house will make a list just like this one. I mean, I can dream, right?

My favorite:

The bubble house of Tourettes-sur-Loup, France.  Clearly made in the 70′s, this house kind-of looks like an acid-trip.

7. The 25 Most Ridiculous Band Names in Rock History

Why it’s great:

Because some band names really are just completely random.  The fact that bands succeed with names like Limp Bizkit proves that it really is about the music, right?  You knew at least one cracked.com list was going to make the list, right?

My favorite:

I agree with the editor’s pick on this one, !!! (pronounced chk chk chk, or any triple repitition of three monosyllabic sounds).  Just try to Google some information on this band.  Great music; bad SEO.

8. Unusual and Creative Staircase Designs

Why it’s great:

Stairs are something you don’t usually enjoy; but if I were to have one of these sets of stairs in my house, I think I would run up and down them forty or fifty times a day.  I like top-n lists with lots of pictures, and this one has just enough.  They could be bigger though…

My favorite:

The stairs at the Longchamp Store.  I find it somewhat unfortunate that they fence off the curvy parts, as I could imagine days of fun with those…

9. Top 100 April Fool’s Hoaxes Of All Time

Why it’s great:

The things people believe on April Fool’s!  This list would have probably made it further down the list if it had more pictures, since I know that’s all the kids are interested in these days.  In fact, the picture I used doesn’t even have anything to do with the list!  All that aside, if you have a little time, read a quick few of these hoaxes, some of them are fairly intricate.

My favorite:

I’m not going to lie to you and say I read all 100, but my favorite of the ones I did read was #10: Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity.  What I love about this one is the power that academics have over people.  I can totally see having read that story and going out and jumping in the air like an idiot.

10. 10 Impressive JavaScript Animation Frameworks

Why it’s great:

This list wasn’t put together by doing research like other top-n lists, no– that would make too much sense.  Instead, whoever wrote it randomly searched “JavaScript Animation Library” in Google and picked the top 10 results, then pilfered descriptions from the websites to write about them.  It’s great, because they included my library!

My favorite:

Why, jsAnim of course!

11. Top Five Most Awesome Products from Cince, Great Job!

Why it’s great:

We all love Tim and Eric, especially after a couple sandwiches late at night.  One incredible feature of the show is the Cinco product advertisements.  This list compiles some of the highlights, with links to video, if you missed any.

My favorite:

The reason this list is last on the list of lists, is because it is missing my favorite Cinco product: Cinco boy.

After writing this entire list, I have now come to a fuller understanding of what it takes to compile top-n lists.  I no longer consider them a cop-out.

Bloggers are always making lame Top-n lists.  I’ve always thought it was a cop-out to writing actual content, but I decided I’d try my hand at it.  So here goes nothing!  This is the list of my five favorite artists (well, the one’s with nice websites at least).

This list is written in no particular order.  I guess if you want to be technical, it’s more of a set than a list.  Also, I’m no art critic or anything and I’m not trying to be.  I’ll just try and explain why I like each artist as best as I can.

Alex Pardee – EYESUCK INK

I first encountered Alex Pardee when I was in Portland.  After me and Alix were swindled for two dollars by a large black man, we were left with a card advertisement for a gallery Alex Pardee put together titled “Self Portraits of Other People That I Drew by Myself Pretty Much. “  The idea to me seemed interesting, but we had missed the exhibit, so we went to the website instead.

I find his art absolutely exhilarating.  It’s surreal, colorful, and at times a little scary.  A lot of the work he does involves taking those cute little characters you always see graffiti artists working on, and putting them in grotesque situations.   The color choices alone are worth a look.

Eduardo Recife – Misprinted Type

Misprinted Type is the personal portfolio website of Eduardo Recife.   He also has a commercial portfolio, which was actually the original way I found out about his works.  I discovered his art as I discover most things, on StumbleUpon.

Apparently, he originally created the website to publish his fonts, but it has since blossomed into something truly amazing.  Most of his work seems to be these seriously awesome collages, which have a pretty vintage feel to them.  Reminds me of the kind of stuff produced by dada artists, and we all know how much I love dada.

Iwona Stephanczuk

I originally found her work floating around on some other website, with a link to her portfolio at the bottom of the page.  To this day, I can’t remember what the original website was, but I really liked her art, so I checked it out, and was amazed.

Her art is extremely colorful, and I am a fan of colors.  Conceptually, the paintings she does are simply incredible.  She really has a mastery for laying elements together.  She incorporates a lot of faces into her paintings, and even in the paintings without faces, brings life to almost everything.  Her style is something I would really like to pick up on a little in my own painting.

Mary Capan – Mary’s Art Gallery

Mary appears to operate an art gallery as a self-represented artist.  She sells her paintings through the website and also on eBay.  Many of her pieces span multiple canvases.  If I had the money, I feel like I would definitely want one of these pieces hanging in my living room.  It would really set the mood a little better than our current decor.

Anyways, her art is rather abstract, incorporating some pretty mellow color choices.  I think that her main focus is on textures, as the textures in some of the paintings seem really exciting.  Again, she is an artist that I would really like to see influence my work.

Blu

Blu’s identity is rather obscured.  I am not sure exactly who, or what Blu is, but it is my understanding that Blu is some kind of prolific German graffiti artist.  I first encountered Blu a couple years ago, when I saw Muto, which is a video done entirely in graffiti.  It’s something really very awesome.

I recommend exploring the Blu website, and especially take a look at the drawings.  Blu’s style of drawing is very intriguing to me.  It’s a little awkward, but at the same time, the way everything is put together and the conceptual elements of the drawings intrigue me.  Check ‘em out.