A “leap second” is being added to tonight at 23:59:60.

This is being done because a group of super-nerds have too much time on their hands. I think it has something to do with fixing the sun.

More info here.

Bathrooms in Suzhou, now serving tea.

Photo credit: our engrish correspondent Z.

Space Ghost: Hey Conan, look at my hand:

Taken at around 2pm, December 26th, 2008, upon diving for a frisbee during an ultimate frisbee game, my arm managed to get stuck underneath my body and I crushed it under my own body weight without even realizing it. In fact, it wasn’t until we were ready to start the next play that I looked down and saw what looked like a golf ball attached to my hand. My entire hand was completely numb… I showed my hand to all the guys at the game, and they were all about 100% disgusted as well as certain that it was broken. Thank you Eric Navoke for the lovely picture of my hand when it was at its swelling peak. If that wasn’t a total buzzkill in itself… Continue reading this post…

There’s a lot of social networks out there for food lovers, and I haven’t tried very many of them.  I have seen Open Source Food, Yummr, and Foodbuzz so far.  I’ve been thinking about some features I’d like to see on a culinary-oriented social network, and I thought I’d jot them down here in case anybody is listening.

Recipe Swapping

A directory of creative commons recipes is always important for a food social network.  They should be able to be ranked by votes and/or comments.  The way yongfook’s Open Source Food does simple recipe sharing is nice, and the emphasis on a drool-worthy photos is really great.  But OSF just leaves me wishing there was more emphasis on the community.  There is no other discussion going on other than within the recipes themselves.  OSF has a great design, but it lacks in substance. 

Another thing I’d like to see is a space to bookmark and tag recipes that you find on blogs.  Combining recipes in the network and recipes you find around the net, your profile can then become your one-stop page for your personal cookbook. 

Ingredient Wiki

This is something I haven’t seen anywhere.  Imagine a wiki for ingredients, so that when you click on an ingredient in a recipe, it takes you to a page with info about suggested complements, regional varieties, current trends, and culinary history of that specific ingredient.  Maybe even a way to locate hard-to-find ingredients by suggestions from friends you’re connected with in the network.  And of course, a query of the top-rated items in the recipe section containing the specified ingredient.  I mean, the possibilities are endless.  You could even extend the wikis  to include kitchen devices and tools (and thats an ad sales opportunity as well).  An important aspect of my network would be for experienced food lovers to help new foodies to decrease their fears about cooking.  You could even have a videojug style how-to section on the wiki pages. 

Groups

Food is a broad topic.  I think user-created groups would be an important feature for discussion in a food social netowrk.   Bakers can congregate in one place and have their own threaded topics.  As could Italian chefs, sushi lovers, fans of “Top Chef,” graduates of a specific culinary school, or local foodies in the Baltimore area for example.  This would be much more effective than the very general forums like yummr has.  Especially for something like restaurant discussions, it is really pointless unless the groups can be made by users around specific geographic locales. 

There are so many ways you could extend a social network about food.  I tend to emphasize cooking above, but you could also emphasize restaurant reviewing, diet watching, cupboard inventroy, food blogging, etc.  The above three items I think would make an excellent core to a culinary social network, but trying to do it all is overkill.  Simplicity is a good thing, but something too simple like OSF leaves me wanting more.

Up until now, I’ve been stuck in the past when it comes to AIM clients.  I’ve been using Aim 5.9 for years now, and I’ve tried replacing it with everything from Trillian to Pidgin to Miranda, but none of them ever delivered what I was looking for.  Then along came digsby.  I’ve only been using it for a day now, but I think I’ve found the one.  Not only does it combine several IM services, it also lets you check your e-mail, facebook, and twitter all in one desktop package.  On top of that, its still in development but it already has most of the features I look for in an IM client.  Its got chat logging, tabbed windows, multiple accounts in one buddy list, and its ad-free except for during installation.

One of the best things about Digsby is that it emphasizes personalization.  The program and chat formats are skinnable, and you can turn on/off most of the buttons and move around the elements of your buddy list to suit your needs.  I have my chat lines skinned to look exactly like the red and blue of AIM that I’m used to. 

You can see all of Digsby’s feautures here and screen shots here.  And yes, digsby is completely free.

I hate to even say anything bad about this guy.  He doesn’t deserve it.  As far as I can tell, he’s good to everyone, and he loves his fans more than any musician evar.  However, I’ve got to say one negative (there were many positives) about last night’s Andrew WK concert:  he needs his band!

Don’t get me wrong; the solo act is pretty energetic.  On his solo tour, Andrew just has a synthesizer and some pre-recorded backup with him.  Its still one huge party, and Andrew WK’s attitude and personality are really what make the show.  But I’ve seen him twice now, and the sound and the energy were really much more powerful when he had a band behind him.  He lets as many people that will fit on stage with him and everyone feels like they’re part of the show.  The last time I saw  him, I remember I could barely keep from knocking into the fretboard of the guitar player, and this time I wished that he was still there.

Don’t let this stop you from seeing Andrew WK.  These shows are really an experience.  Everyone should go at least once.  He draws a variety of age groups and he captivates the crowd with his many words of encouragement.  He is so dogmatic about postivity and freedom, it gets to be almost preachy.  Even if you’re not into all the feel-good PMA, his music makes you feel good, and you can’t help but enjoy being a part of an uber awesome party super party.

…Khalid will party hard.

Smooth moves Khalid…I think you’re doing a variation of the Heisman up there. Bravo.

And another video:
Continue reading this post…

Went with Dennis last night to see him play a couple of songs in a sports-bar-disguised-as-planet-fitness event called “The Haunt” in Yonkers, NY.  I got a short clip of him playing a bass solo; I finally got to use the video mode on my new camera.

I also got a video of them playing “School’s Out,” but I had the video on the wrong stting and it came out really poopy.  Mr. Dunaway is formerly of the original Alice Cooper and currently of the Dennis Dunaway project, check ‘em out:

Web site.

Myspace