Someone put a lot of time and effort into creating this map of Springfield (from the Simpsons). It took me a while, but I finally found Moe’s and the Kwik-E-Mart.

The original was found at CrapHound.

The caption is a bit small, but it reads:

<q>Thomas Martello, 6, whose dad died at the World Trade Center, manages a smile as President Bush takes yet another crack at spelling his own name correctly.</q>

Do you miss Myst? Try out this groovy game Kharon4a with a DNA theme, available in English and Norwegian. It’s got a cool soundtrack.

If you’ve ever watched Conan O’Brien, then perhaps you’ve seen Triumph, a hand puppet of a cigar-smoking dog. He’s often hilarious, but I’ve never seen him better than in Triumph at Star Wars (available from ShizNitt). It’s a ten-minute WMV (Windows Media Player movie) file and shows him interviewing, insulting and sadly mocking the “nerds and geeks” that come out to stand in line for Star Wars movies.

If the link above doesn’t work, then try to download from a local copy I made here [Triumph... [More]

I received this through email and thought it was a nice demonstration of the Powers of 10. If you’ve been to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, this will be familiar to you, but it doesn’t go quite as far as that one does. This Java applet lets you navigate from 1023, “10 million light years from the Milky Way Galaxy” to 10-15, “face to face with a proton”. Be patient, sometimes it takes a few seconds to load the next frame once you click an arrow.

USA Patriot Registration on the White House lets you sign up for Ashcroft’s new program. Register now to make sure you’re in the clear.

You probably know one, a pen-spinner. One of those tricks that looks so easy, so cool, so non-chalant. The kind of trick that makes you throw your pen across the room when you try it, so you have to skulk, hunched over and mortified, to pick it back up.

Pentix to the rescue.

This site has detailed, illustrated instructions for the most popular pen-spinning tricks, (like the Normal), usually accompanied by a movie of the technique.

U.S. Treasury predicts September 11!

Take a $20 Bill and fold it 3 times to get hidden warnings from the U.S. government! They knew about it all along!

In an announcement that has simultaneously stunned the auto world and silenced vocal critics, Porsche AG issued a recall yesterday on all 911 models. The recall covers all model years from the 1982 Coupe and Targa to the present day Coupe, Targa, Cabriolet, Carrera, and GT2.

Citing numerous incidents of vigilantism that ended up destroying several vehicles in the New York City area and endangering consumer’s lives, Porsche has determined that the model name’s stigma now “…constitutes a real... [More]”

Cassandra Claire has written the definitive, behind-the-scenes diaries kept by the stars of the the Fellowship of the Ring (Lord of the Rings). The diaries are scattered throughout her(?) online journal, but have been gathered together very nicely here* and, if that site’s not working, here. As both pages mention, the diaries are the most fun when read in order. The diaries are rife with homoerotic humor, but it’s mostly pretty funny. My favorites are Ringwraith #5 and Legolas (still the... [More]

Kodak is hosting a feature called On the Road: American Mile Markers. Matt Frondorf drove across the country from New York City to San Fransisco, taking a picture every mile out the passenger side window of his car. The camera was hooked to the odometer and fired every mile, but every 36 miles, he’d have to change the film he didn’t pull over or stop.

“I would count the miles,“ he says. “As soon as the thirty-sixth came, I would change rolls, put the exposed roll in a canister, enter its number... [More]”

SatireWire published Closed Disinformation Agency Can’t Convince Staff It’s Closed, which does Joseph Heller proud with Rumsfeld playing the role of Major Major and a subordinate filling in for Milo.

““We got ya, sir, we’re ‘closed’,” said a winking Major Chad Brumley when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld found him at his desk again today. “There is no one here spreading misinformation now, and certainly there won’t be anyone here spreading misinformation daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sir.””

Which side of the road do they drive on? explains exactly that. It covers, in fascinating detail, which countries of the world drive on which side of the road. The map to the left is from the site and shows right-driving countries in yellow and left-driving countries in red. Don’t be fooled by the appearance of surface area, though:

“Having often encountered the implicit assumption that everyone but England and some of her colonies drive on the right side of the road, I compiled … a quick... [More]”

This is an actual letter sent to a Bank in the US. The Bank thought it
amusing enough to publish in the New York times.

Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank you for bouncing the cheque with which I endeavored
to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations some three nanoseconds
must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque, and the arrival in
my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the
automatic monthly deposit of my entire salary, an arrangement which, I
admit,... [More]

…as our menu has changed. Try this phone number:

510-809-4466

for a fun look at Enron’s current phone menu. Somehow, it just seems funnier on the phone.

SatireWire announces that the FBI to Issue 5-Day Terror Forecasts…, which should add some level of organization to dealing with terror. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft stated:

<q>We in law enforcement are duty-bound to report inherent danger, so we will continue to alert the public to serious threats,“ said Ashcroft. “But we also understand how frustrating it is to organize a family picnic or corporate event, only to have it washed out by the late-breaking specter of impending doom. So... [More]

Mark Fiore of the SF Gate makes cartoons in Flash. He’s got one from February 6, 2002 called Lair that depicts the possible hiding location of the most sought after man in America.

This isn’t really humor, per se, but it’s a sort of game.

In this age of hastily-typed emails, chat messages and online posts, we’re exposed more and more often to the grammatical shortcomings of others as well as common spelling errors. Mindy McAdams has published an excellent spelling test for American English.

<q>I compiled a list from many sources and edited it to 50 commonly misspelled words, making my choices based on my 11 years of experience as a copy editor. … The spellings... [More]

1. You get very annoyed with out-of-towners who think the subway is unsafe.
2. You actively avoid bars that people from the outer boroughs frequent.
3. You figure that a date costs at least $200.
4. You have not seen a bank teller in several years, because your idea of going to the bank is using the ATM at your corner deli.
5. You haven’t smelled grass clippings in over a year.
6. You haven’t “called shotgun” in a long, long time.
7. You think that New Jersey seems really far away.
8. You plot the Barney’s Warehouse... [More]

There’s an email making the rounds that ponders the significance of the number 11. A guy ‘Dave’ posted a very funny response; the kind of response everyone should have to this kind of message.

Original Letter

• The date of the attack: 9/11 − 9 + 1 + 1 = 11
• September 11th is the 254th day of the year: 2 + 5 + 4 = 11
• After September 11th there are 111 days left to the end of the year.
• 119 is the area code to Iraq/Iran. 1 + 1 + 9 = 11
• Twin Towers − standing side by side, looks like the number 11... [More]

<p class=“notes” align=“center”>Received via email.</p><table><tr><td class=“label”>Feudalism</td><td>You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.</td></tr><tr><td class=“label”>Fascism</td><td>You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.</td></tr><tr><td class=“label”>Communism</td><td>You have two cows. Your neighbors help take care of them and you share the milk.</td></tr><tr><td class=“label”>Totalitarianism</td><td>You have... [More]

The Sunday, January 27, 2002 Doonesbury brings back Buttsy at a ‘Sin Lobby’ party and introduces a new character, “Mr. Jay”.

SatireWire has breaking news that Australia Gets Drunk…, which details Australia’s drunken journey from the South Pacific to the North Atlantic.

<q>After what witnesses described as an all night blinder during which it kept droning on about how it was always being bloody ignored by the whole bloody world and would bloody well stand to do something about it, Australia this morning woke up to find itself in the middle of the North Atlantic.</q>

Thinking about getting a Segway, but worried that your friends won’t think it’s cool enough? Is replacing your fat-piped, tinted-windowed, one-foot-high-spoilered, ground-effected, neon-lit, decaled Honda Civic with a vanilla electric scooter that’s good for the environment just too much to take? Worry no more, now you can have the sweetest wheels around and save the planet. Where Are My Pants? offers the Segway − Type R (Don’t worry, it’s got NOS).

Here’s a picture of some alley or back of a house somewhere. In order to get the full effect, you have to really examine the picture. In particular, look at the mattress and the rubber hose on the floor…is this a drug den? Who knows? Is that a person in the doorway, reaching for something on the floor? Who knows? But, if you wait at least 30 seconds, the creepiness will reveal itself.

Sometimes, you just can’t tell. This quiz, called Playboy.com’s Breast Test II was received via email and converted to web format (to avoid sending around an Excel document).

The claimed average number correct is about 12.5, but a small (12 people) sampling of friends averaged much higher at ~17.1. On average, women (10, 17, 19,19,19,19) scored 17.17 and men (16,16,17,17,18,18) scored 17. However, women had a median score of 19 and men still scored 17. Men win for consistency, but women seem... [More]

Some of you may remember the Flash animation of a martial arts movie in 2D (Xiao Xiao I?). The latest in the series is Xiao Xiao 7 and is in 3D with considerably higher production values. The shootout near the end is pretty amazing.

The home page for this Flash artist also has an interactive game that is another, ‘how the heck is that done in Flash?’ kind of game. It’s also in 3D and follows the TimeCop style of gameplay. The whole page is in some non-Western character set, but the game is... [More]

Are you delegating enough? Think again…

Here’s an interesting use of Flash animation to make a new style of digital clock. Check out the Industrious Clock by Yugo Nakamura.