Viper Duck

I decided to post this because my favorite car is and has been for many years the Dodge Viper.

See what happens when you turn the Viper logo upside down?



You get Daffy Duck!

(Via Presurfer)

How are your results?

Have you recently searched your name on a search engine? I know it kind of seems fairly egocentric and narcissistic but it is important.

Especially since I am currently job hunting, I decided to search my name recently on the big three search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Here are my results as of this post:

Google - 8, 6, 4
Bing - 10, 6, 1
Yahoo - 10, 6, 2

Numbers are specific results about me on each of the first three pages of the results (each out of 10).

As you can see, Bing and Yahoo are much better on the first page. All three are tied on the second page for numbers of results, and the third page varied.

For marketing purposes it is important to show up at the top of the results, which means the first page and the top of that page. Check out this article (via Seth Godin) about eye tracking studies. So this is a good thing for me, in all three of the top search engines.

However, I kind of feel bad for other anyone else named Luke Moritz, cause I'm getting all the play time. So does this mean that these search engines are actually doing their job? They are showing results for Luke Moritz, and for me they are very relevant, but are they the best they can be?

I guess I'm just hoping that nobody else that shares my name comes along and makes more of a web impact.

What does searching your name give you?

Twenty-Twelve or Two Thousand Twelve?

Check out this article on Boing Boing about what we should call the years, especially in this first century of the millennium.

I've thought a lot about this topic, and I think we are on the right track. For the first 10 years of the millennium it is awkward to call the years anything but Two Thousand________. Specifically the year Two Thousand (2000), you wouldn't call it Twenty or Twenty Hundred. Same with a year like 2005, it wouldn't be Twenty-Five, because that is a different number than 2005 as you lose a zero. The year 2012 on the other hand can be said Twenty-Twelve because putting those numbers together doesn't lose any digits.

Another aspect of importance on this subject is things like sports video games. When coming out with new ones every year, the games are distinguished by the year. This intrigued me back in the late 90s when I was trying to guess what the games would be called in the new millennium. Early on the games were, for example, NCAA Football 99, then NCAA Football 2000-2005, then in 2006 and beyond it became NCAA Football 06.

I think that 2010 will be the official start of people getting back into the Twenty-Ten etc. of saying the year. I do think there will be a transition period because of the pattern of the last 10 years. By the time we get to 2011, most people will have stopped saying Two Thousand Eleven because Twenty-Eleven is the path of least resistance.

Facebook Game

I just came up with a time-killing game that you can play on Facebook.

Step 1 - Pick 2 friends on Facebook (preferrably 2 that don't necessarily run in the same circles)
Step 2 - Go to the profile page of 1 of those friends and click on one of their friends that show up in their "Friends" box
Step 3 - Continue to click on friends of these friends until you eventually make your way to the other friend you chose in step 1.

That's all. Can you think of any adjustments or changes that might make this game even more fun and interesting.

Eyeball It

Are you good at telling if a picture frame is hanging crooked or a corner is 90 degrees?

Try the Eyeballing Game to see how good you are at guess proportions and distances.



I got a 9.99 (because I wasn't reading the directions on the Triangle center and royally screwed up). My best "event" was right angle, with my best score a 0.1.

Via Presurfer

Everything Simpsons

If you are a fan of the TV show The Simpsons I would like to share with you a website that will have you more excited than a kid in a candy shop.



The Simpsons Archive is

The Simpsons Archive is the Internet's clearinghouse of Simpsons guides, news, and information, voluntarily maintained by members of alt.tv.simpsons and other fans around the world.

The website address (http://snpp.com/) in itself is interesting (Springfield Nuclear Power Plant). Anything you ever wanted to know about any Simpsons episode, or really anything pertaining to The Simpsons can be found here.

Check it out, but be careful because you might spend too much time browsing.

Sound Waves

Similar to the other speaker trick an experiment consisting of a speaker, a metal sheet, and some salt. Watch as the science is expressed visually.

Warning: At some point in the video, the sound gets so high that it might hurt your ears. Also, make sure your pets are not around while playing this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9GBf8y0lY0

I love watching this and seeing the progression and the relationship between the pitch and the patterns.

Via Presurfer

10 Things You Didn't Know About the Earth

Here is some interesting science mixed with math and a touch of fantasy.

Enjoy!

Via Kottke.org

Geek Clock

If you enjoy math you will probably enjoy this clock. Instead of your regular 1-12 numbers on the front, it features the unit circle with radians and degrees.

It is also fairly inexpensive at $15.99 from Cafe Press.




Via UberReview

Are You Bored?

Just in case you get bored this weekend, go ahead and try this experiment. Just be careful because you might lose track of a couple of hours.

Step 1 - Combine corn starch and water
Step 2 - Place oobleck (corn starch and water mixture) on a thin sheet of metal
Step 3 - Place metal sheet on top of subwoofer
Step 4 - Crank the bass!

Via BoingBoing

One Button to Rule Them All

I came across this video of a guy who did a DIY project that would turn his apartment into a serious party with a push of a button. Watch the video, it's one of the most amazing DIY projects I've seen. So awesome in fact that I am playfully considering making one myself.

His goal was to do the following with his Emergency Party Button.

• Turn off hallway light
• Close the blinds
• Turn on the fog machine
• Turn off the kitchen light
• Turn off the poker light
• Turn off the living room lights
• Start the mp3 (Haddaway - What is Love)
• Turn on the blacklights
• Turn on the laser when the main beat of the song starts
• Turn on the strobe light when the chorus starts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZIfIzNW9xM

(Via UberReview)

Geekery Diversion

I can, at times, be a little geeky or nerdy (depending of course on your definition). I often come across different sites that arouse this side of me, and often I am in danger of spending hours doing whatever it is these websites offer for enjoyment.

Because I want you to share in this joy, I've decided to share some of these sites with you.

(Warning: If you are not careful, you could be caught up in the excitement and end up spending more time than you thought.)

• String Wave - Wave the end of this string, and see what kind of waves and oscillations you get (and yes of course there are variables to modify.)
• Outside In - A 21 minute video describing the science/physics/engineering required to invert a sphere. It's not as easy as it sounds.
• Time Fountain - This is a DIY project where you can make a fountain that seems to operate outside of "time". (Click here for the YouTube video, the one on the page seems to no longer work)
• Blue Ball Machine - An infinitely awesome factory that does something with a bunch of blue balls. Can you figure out what the purpose is?
• Guess-the-Google - Can you guess the Google search from a bunch of pictures?

Hopefully this occupies your time sufficiently today. Watch for more of these types of things in future posts, as I come across them.

And, as a bonus today, I will share with you the Timeline Clock.