Great post from MakeUseOf.com

on Wednesday, November 30, 2011

5 Cool Gadget Buying Help Tools You Can Go To For Geek Gift Ideas

Posted: 29 Nov 2011 11:01 AM PST

geek gift ideasJust what do you gift a geek? He may not have everything but he is certainly isn’t the guy who will appreciate a toaster when all he wants is to go hands on with the latest Kindle. When it comes to gifting a geek something for the season, be ultra-careful because these guys can be totally finicky.

How you select a gift for the geek in your life of course shows how much you care for him (or her). You can go trawling across the shops in your neibourhood or sit back in your armchair and let these (and many more) online shopping and recommendation sites help you out.

Presented below are five sites that offer a mixed bag of ways to search for the perfect geeky gift. From a Q&A site to a ‘crazy gifts’ one.

gdgt

geek gift ideas

gdgt takes the question-answer route to help you get to the best reviewed products out there. Gdgt uses crowd-wisdom to give you the inside dope from people who actually own and use the gadget you are searching for. The site follows the Wikipedia principle – that is, all products are reviewed and rated by its community. On gdgt, you can make lists where you can organize all the gadgets you have, want, used to have, or just want to keep an eye on. You can use gdgt lists as a starting point for asking question and triggering discussions. Gdgt has more than 8000 gadgets in its database. (Directory mention)

Uncrate

gadget gifts

It’s a mix of geeky, cool, and offbeat…a digital magazine for guys who love stuff. Uncrate posts five “awesome” things each day and you can use them as hints to buy things. Expect to get stuff like the $13 ‘Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale’ (listed under Vices) to the $75,000 Orvis Timeless Airstream trailer for the guy who likes to hit the road. Uncrate is styled as a blog, and it’s a fun read if you are shopping for really offbeat ideas.

Giftmeister

gadget gifts

If you are searching for technology gifts Giftmeister is a must-use tool. The search tool gives you two ways to search for the perfect tech gift – select age, gender, lifestyle, and budget; alternatively, search by keyword—brand, product number or type of device. Try out the turns on the lifestyle wheel – you get all sorts of options like the ‘Game Nut’, ‘Techno-Geek’, ‘Fotog’ etc. Giftmeister showcases featured gifts as well as deals for the day. The Price Drop Notification alert is really useful especially when discounts and deals start going out around the holiday season.

ReviewGist

gadget gifts

ReviewGist touts itself as a comprehensive gadget review website. It helps you avoid going to multiple gadget sites in search of the best products as it scans the best review sources like (CNET, PC World etc.) across the internet and aggregates them together under the ReviewGist Score and ReviewGist Ranking. ReviewGist also helps you decide the best by giving you a face-off comparison tool to look at two products and their features. The ‘Find The Best’ lists are straight shortcuts to look at the best from the rest if you are running short of time. (Directory mention)

Genie Gadgets

geek gift ideas

Well, I just had to include this U.K. website because it features some of the crazy stuff geeks just might love. If the Appblaster iPhone gun is your idea of a gift or the clock that goes backwards, do give this site a browse. I could do with something more useful like the USB cup warmer or the Find It Keyfinder. You can use the Gift Genie to filter gifts for ‘Him’ or ‘Her’ according to budget and lifestyle. Then there’s the ‘Who Are You Shopping For’ gift selector tool to get just the right gift for the kid bro or the super mum.

Then again, you can leave these five sites alone and go through the gadget and gift ideas we have regularly posted at MakeUseOf.com. Here’s a selection which starts with the

Get a Spotify account without an invite

on Thursday, July 14, 2011

This is an awesome tip from our friends at Lifehacker.com.

How to Get Spotify Free Without an Invite

How to Get Spotify Free Without an InviteSpotify just launched in the US, but if you want an account now, you either need an invite or have to start paying for the service. Fortunately, if you want to skip the queue and get a free account right now there's a pretty simple loophole.

How to Get Spotify Free Without an InviteBefore you try this method, you may first want to see if you can get an invite via this link. Apparently @amanda has an in at Spotify and is making invites available faster than the normal route. But if that doesn't work for you, here's how to sneak in without an invite at all:

  1. You need to start with a UK account. To do that, you'll need to be in the UK—or, at least, appear to be. To do that, visit DaveProxy (or another free, UK-based proxy service) and go to spotify.com. (Note: if you're using DaveProxy, be prepared to contend with a lot of pop-up ads. Just close them as they come up. They're harmless.)
  2. Sign up for an account on the UK site. You'll need a UK zip code, but just search for McDonald's in London and you'll find one without issue.
  3. Once you have an account, sign out and go to spotify.com like you normally would in the US. You won't see a place to log in because that's hidden behind the signup page. Pretend you're signing up for a premium account and you'll see a message asking you already have an account and want to log in. You do, so click the associated link and log in.
  4. Go back to spotify.com and you'll now see a black box up at the top of the site. It'll read "continue to spotify.com." Click on it.
  5. You're in, but your account is still UK-based. You'll see your username displayed up on the top right. Click it and choose "Edit Profile."
  6. In the "Country" menu, change "United Kingdom" to "United States" and set your zip code to whatever it actually is. Save your profile when you're done.

Estimate Temperature from Crickets!

on Wednesday, July 6, 2011


Estimate the Temperature from a Cricket’s Chirp

Curious about the temperature outside but don't have a thermometer or weather app on hand? You can roughly calculate the temperature outside using cricket chirps and a formula from the Old Farmer's Almanac.

As myth-busting site Snopes explains it, a physicist by the name of Amos Dolbear discovered that the temperature outside determined the number of times a cricket would rub its legs together to create its mating sound. By taking the inverse of this, folks figured out they could use it to cleverly calculate the temperature.

There are a few different schools of thought as to what the exact formula is, but the most reliable seems to come from The Old Farmer's Almanac. It states the following method:

To convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count number of chirps in 14 seconds then add 40 to get temperature. For example: 30 chirps + 40 = 70° F

To convert cricket chirps to degrees Celsius, count number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get temperature. For example: 48 chirps / 3 + 4 = 20° C

The main difficulty with this method: You've got to be able to single out one cricket from many. Photo by me'nthedogs. Photo by Mark Robinson.

Estimate the Temperature from a Cricket’s Chirp Cricket Chirps: Nature's Thermometer | Old Farmer's Almanac

The irony is staggering

on Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Bareheaded motorcyclist dies in helmet protest

By Nina Raja, CNN
July 4, 2011 10:20 p.m. EDT
Motorcycle helmet use dropped from 67% in 2009 to 54% in 2010, according to a national highway safety organization.

(CNN)
-- A bareheaded motorcyclist participating in a ride to protest mandatory helmet laws was killed when he was thrown over the handlebars in Onondaga, New York.

Philip A. Contos, 55, of Parish, New York, was on a ride organized by the Onondaga chapter of American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE), state police said Sunday.

Contos hit his brakes, began fishtailing and lost control of his 1983 Harley Davidson. He shot over the handlebars, hit his head on the pavement and was taken to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, New York, where he was pronounced dead.

State police say evidence at the scene plus information from the attending medical expert indicated Contos would have survived had he been wearing a helmet as required by state law.

Asked about the apparent irony of Contos' death, the statewide president of ABATE, Thomas Alton, said, "We are riding at an increased risk and accept that. ... This individual was a seasoned rider, not a newbie. He made an adult decision. A full decision to ride in the manner he rode in."

Another New Yorker who has been a motorcyclist for over 50 years, Joseph Costantini, said, "I would never ride without a helmet -- even in a state that says you don't have to. I understand where the protesters are coming from because ultimately it's a matter of choice. For me, I would wear a helmet no matter what. ... Must feel great to ride without a helmet because sometimes it's uncomfortable. ... I'm sure his family isn't going to be happy."

Motorcycle helmet use dropped from 67% in 2009 to 54% in 2010, according to a press release issued by the Governors Highway Safety Association.

"This is another sad and tragic example where we have lost someone due to the lack of wearing a helmet," said Jonathan Adkins, communications director for the association.

According to Alton, a large percentage of motorcycle fatalities are due to inexperience and drivers not seeing motorcyclists when switching lanes or making turns.

ABATE of NY Inc. is organizing a memorial "to honor an individual who rode for freedom and risked his all for freedom," he said. A formal date is still to be determined.

Annual motorcycle deaths have more than doubled since the late 1990s with 5,290 in 2008, based on a report issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

When I am old I will wear purple

on Friday, July 1, 2011

Warning - When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple

By Jenny Joseph




When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple

with a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired

and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

and run my stick along the public railings

and make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

and pick the flowers in other people's gardens

and learn to spit.



You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

and eat three pounds of sausages at a go

or only bread and pickles for a week

and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.



But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

and pay our rent and not swear in the street

and set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

how to install Flash on an iOS device

on Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Here are the step by step instructions on how to download and install Flash on your iPad.

  1. The first step is to make sure that you have a jailbroken iPad. This process varies depending on the version you have, so we'll just assume you have done that.
  2. The next step is to install SSH on your iPad. You can follow our step by step guide posted here to do so.
  3. Now connect your iPad to your computer and make sure that iTunes is not running.
  4. Now install WinSCP on your Windows OS [ CyberDuck for Mac] and enter the IP address of your iPad in server field. You can check your iPad IP address by going to Settings> Wi-Fi> IP Address.
  5. The username and password are by default root and alpine respectively and also set the protocol to SFTP.
  6. Now download Frash.deb file from here [ Please do let us know if the link stops working, we will update it with a copy exclusively hosted on our servers].
  7. Now Open WinSCP on windows [CyberDuck on Mac] and navigate to /var/root/media and create a new folder by the name of “Cydia”. Now open the newly created “Cydia” folder and create another folder inside named as “AutoInstall”.
  8. Now copy the Frash-001.deb file you just downloaded and paste it in the AutoInstall folder.
  9. After this reboot your iPad and you are all set to use Flash! Please note that this release isn’t final yet and some flash content including Flash videos won’t be playing. It is advised to wait for a final release in case you are looking for a more stable version.

I'm getting slow in my old age...

on Monday, June 27, 2011

http://www.typingtest.com/

I'd like to see you do better. ;)


Great anti-theft stickers

anti-theft-devices

After I lost my only high-end phone, my mom gave me another one which was used by my folks for almost a decade for she believed that it would deter thieves from eyeing my phone….same with these stickers.

anti-car-theft-sticker-1

anti-car-theft-sticker-3

The moment I read through this Anti-Car-theft Sticker Designs, the only expression I had on myself was ” My Good Lord” a sticker that makes your look worn-out and something that you care a darn about is what I am talking about. The makers believe this will discourage the bad guys to even consider stealing your car. But sale of scrap also fetches a decent amount, so you never know.

anti-theft-devices1

anti-car-theft-sticker-2

This is what I call backward integration when amid heavy-duty stuff, makers resort to simple concepts to change things around. It can be be put on both bikes and cars. Each sticker costs for as much as $5.8. But I am still wondering that putting these on a shiny new car doesn’t defeat the actual purpose of buying a new car? Well, never mind, check the fake car stereo and Telsa coil Car Alarm as other anti-car-theft devices.

anti-car-theft-sticker-4

Via Coated

Clocks!!

A clock is something that is a must in every household. This is one thing that people choose according to their taste and style rather than what suites their walls. If you are one of those geeky types, who love to know their time is a creative, unique, and complex way, then the geekiest clocks mentioned in the article are the right things for you. It can’t get geekier than this, for sure!

Wave Clock

For those who don’t want to know the exact time, but just something close to it or those who love interesting clocks which doesn’t look like one then this “Wave Clock” is perfect for them. The Wave Clock is part timepiece and part kinetic sculpture which uses ball bearings. The ball bearing are moved by unseen magnets below the clock’s surface, with the only marking being a dimple signifying 12 o’clock.

Source 1

Poetry Reading Rolling Clock

Poetry Reading Rolling Clock” – This innovative clock reveals the passing of the time by rolling around your desk and telling time in one long continuous sentence. Designer Buro Vormkrijgers has designed this clock in reaction to our stressed lives, where we tend to plan our daily activities to the minute. This clock simply tells you “It’s about six o’clock” or “It’s almost seven now.” While rolling around your table, the slow but constant, almost meditative motion allows you to relax and maybe even forget about the time for a few minutes.

The Gear Clock

A fascinating and novel wall clock “The Gear Clock” uses gears to work. The gears all spin around slowly and quietly creating a very eye catching unique clock and make a real center piece in one’s room. The clock is ideal for the modern home wherein something a bit different is required. The Gear Clock is made of high quality black plastic with some metal components.

Source 1

Gear Crank Wall Clock

This “Gear Crank Wall Clock” is made using a recycled bicycle gear crank and a new quarts drive movement. It would make a great piece on your wall or a great gift for that biker you know who is so hard to shop for. Since these clocks are made from actual recycled bike parts, there will be imperfections consistent with age, etc. This gear was sandblasted, primed, and repainted.

Doctor Who Dalek Illuminating Wall Clock

Maybe you have always wanted to release the inner geek within and start collecting Doctor Who toys and gadgets. Well what is stopping you? Well when you come up against one of the most dangerous creatures in the universe you will have nothing to fear as it is just a wall clock. This “Doctor Who Wall Clock” has the minute and hour hands of the front of the body. It is designed so that when the lights go out it will illuminate, telling you the time.

Sushi Wall Clock

Don’t look at the time when you are hungry, it will make you more hungry. This “Sushi Clock” as the name suggests looks like a traditional Japanese dish sushi. It is a 21 cm diameter wall clock made of hard plastic with high quality imitation sushi that looks realistic and the hands of the clock are made from wooden chopsticks.

Movie Time Clock

Time just flies by watching a nice interesting movie, but now, the same movies might help you keep a tab on the time passing by. This innovative and beautiful “Movie Time Clocks” are made from movie reels. These time tellers are just perfect to give new life to your walls. The Movie Time Clocks are handmade clocks created by using a vintage recycled 16-mm film and reels. Each design is inspired by the reel’s color, design, and pattern of holes, making each clock unique and exquisite.

Social Media Clock

Social Media Clock” by Geek Cook is something that anybody would love to have. This web timer has got various social networking sites logos and start ups instead of numbers. You would see the logo of Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, and other such online companies, instead of numbers. Cool right?

The Chaotic Shattered Clock

Wait a minute, your eyesight is perfectly normal, and it is the clock that is playing the tricks. The “Shattered Clock” which has been designed by Igor Barbashin and Daria Volokhova, is an interesting and unique clock, which, people will definitely take a longer look at before turning their heads away. One simple glance is not enough, to make sense out of chaotic such figures. All you have to do is look at the least broken number which will be the hours and minutes are shown by the minutes hand like any other clock. Interesting right?

Apple iBook G4 Clock

Apple notebooks are now seeing a new after-life and are being recycled into wall clocks. It may sound weird to have a wall clock shaped like an Apple notebook, but then again, it looks cool! Made from a recycled iBook G4 case, the “Apple iBook G4 Clock” uses a mouse for a pendulum. If you truly are an Apple fan or just a gadget freak, this clock will sure find a place in your apartment.

Star Trek Wall Clock

If you’re one who’s caught by the Star Trek mania, this timepiece is made for your walls. Spectacular design and an incredible geek touch makes this beautiful chrome sterling and noble “Star Trek Wall Clock” look truly hip and hit. The Star Trek Clock features 12 hand-crafted vintage classic starships to represent the 12 digits of a clock. You may also get it custom designed with more wild Star Trek ideas.

Atmos 556 Clock

Designed by Marc Newson, this “Atmos 556 Clock” is made from clear or blue Baccarat crystal and apart from telling the time, it also displays a current sky map of your area. Almost like some weird kind of Alchemical energy might be the driving force for this particular clock. Surprisingly it works on a completely different phenomenon- Temperature Change! Yes, the sole driving force for this clock is the usual temperature changes throughout the day. Sounds interesting right?

LED Analog Clock

Using LEDs to simulate an analog clock is kind of cool. This clock mimics the hands of a traditional clock using rows upon rows of LEDs that are all wired together. This clever piece of design by Dave combines LED technology with the comfort of a plain old analog style clock.

Math Clock

The “Math Clock” is cool, albeit nerdy way to tell time around your home. Keeping your math skills in check, but more likely than not, most people will just know what number each position is. You will surely like the chalkboard look of this clock which will remind you of being back in school.

The Incomplete Clock

Guaranteed to draw attention to your mantelpiece, the “Unfinished Clock” creates the illusion of an incomplete clock ticking away. However, the hands fully rotate, even though only the top half of the clock is visible. Made from steel with aluminum hands, the Unfinished Clock is different and will surely enhance the décor of your house.

Aspiral Clocks

The “Aspiral Clock” is quite cool and self-spinning timepiece which uses a ball rather than clocks hands to tell the time and which rotates its face with each passing moment, while the ball remains on the spiral ledge to tell the time. You can tell the time at looking at the position of the ball. If it’s at the center point between 2 and 3, for instance, then its 2:30. As soon as the ball reaches the twelfth hour, the ball drops through a hole at the center to resume the same process for the next 12 hours.

Vertical Wall Clock

Designed by Klaus Rosburg this “Vertical Wall Clock” shows the same time which any other normal clock will show, but in more stylish manner. Instead of a round or rectangular clock, this vertical clock might look different and attractive on your wall. The hour numbers are laser-cut into an anodized Aluminum frame floating above the clock fingers with a front made of back painted acrylic. These clocks are hand assembled and comes in different bright colors.

The Progress Bar Clock

The “Progress Bar Clock” will be loved by those who are familiar with the typical program loading bar. The clock will come with 24 reusable tabs that mark alarms throughout the day and can be turned off by simply turning them 90 degrees. It’s a sleek looking clock and can sit on your table or hang on your wall.

Pong Game Clock

Buro Vromkrijger’s “Pong Clock” is quite an interesting concept for a clock. This Pong Clock works like a game that shows two players scoring time. The player on the left hand side scores the hour, whereas the one on the right scores the minutes.

Clock Clock Concept

Who would’ve thought that one could actually build a clock out of…yes, you’ve guessed it – many other smaller clocks? That’s exactly what the “Clock Clock Concept” is – comprising of two dozen individual clocks alongside 48 electronically-controlled analog clock hands that will always rotate to the right position so that you can tell the current time when looking at the big picture. Designed by a Swedish designer, this is only a prototype at this point of time.

QLOCKTWO Clock

QLOCKTWO” is another clock that hates numbers. Instead, it tells time in full sentences such as “quarter to eleven,” “twenty five past twelve,” etc. The clock might give some people a better grasp of what time it is by telling time in full sentences instead of numbers. If you’re one who hates jumping digits on a clock or hates reading the hour and minute hands of a clock, then the QLOCKTWO should be a better choice.

You and Me Wall Clock

The You & Me Wall Clock” is a lover’s time tracker. When that special somebody lives in a different time zone, use this clock to know when he’s asleep and when he will be awake. There is no better way to know the best times to call just to say hi. When you check the time as the day progresses, you’ll feel closer to that special somebody, even if it’s only in thoughts. It comes with six spare blank hands, so just affix and mark them with names of near and dear ones who are far away geographically.

Simple Icon Clock

It doesn’t get any simpler than this! We are all familiar with the mold of a clock and even without the usual numbers, clock hands and the positioning is all you would need to tell the time. That is basically what the “Simple Icon Clock” is all about. It is made of ABS resin material and surely portrays a minimalistic design which may be a familiar sight on our computers. Simple and elegant, these are the two words that come to mind when we look at these simple icon clock designs.

Classic Kit Cat Clock

You must have seen this clock before, but did you know that it dates all the way back in 1930’s Great Depression when US and other nations were facing economic crisis and unemployment? It was made to offer humor and cheer during a stressful time. Perfect for anyone that loves a retro look, the “Classic Kit Cat Clock” has the familiar swinging tail, rolling eyes, bow tie, and smile.

Things to do as an Evil Overlord

on Friday, June 10, 2011

Credit to: http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html

The Top 100 Things I'd Do
If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

  1. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

  2. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

  3. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

  4. Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

  5. The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

  6. I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

  7. When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

  8. After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

  9. I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.

  10. I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

  11. I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

  12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

  13. All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

  14. The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

  15. I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

  16. I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

  17. When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

  18. I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

  19. I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

  20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

  21. I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

  22. No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

  23. I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

  24. I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)

  25. No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot.

  26. No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber.

  27. I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.

  28. My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

  29. I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

  30. All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

  31. All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.

  32. I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.

  33. I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

  34. I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

  35. I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

  36. I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.

  37. If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.

  38. If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.

  39. If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army.

  40. I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.

  41. Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices.

  42. When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around.

  43. I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans.

  44. I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

  45. I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.

  46. If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

  47. If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.

  48. I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge.

  49. If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper.

  50. My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.

  51. If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position.

  52. I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about.

  53. If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her.

  54. I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.

  55. The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention.

  56. My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.

  57. Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owner's manual.

  58. If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.

  59. I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am.

  60. My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords.

  61. If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them.

  62. I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight.

  63. Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of that nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals.

  64. I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.

  65. If I must have computer systems with publically available terminals, the maps they display of my complex will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment.

  66. My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.

  67. No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.

  68. I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again.

  69. All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.

  70. When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.

  71. If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no.

  72. If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of using my unstoppable superweapon on them.

  73. I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.

  74. When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk.

  75. I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.

  76. If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.)

  77. If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutentant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.

  78. I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."

  79. If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins.

  80. If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress.

  81. If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.

  82. I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.

  83. If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him.

  84. I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.

  85. I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."

  86. I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.

  87. My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

  88. If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to try the task again.

  89. After I captures the hero's superweapon, I will not immediately disband my legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him.

  90. I will not design my Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.

  91. I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.

  92. If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)

  93. If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and an underling who failed or betrayed me, I will see to it that the hero is scheduled to go first.

  94. When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value.

  95. My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look.

  96. My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.

  97. My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled.

  98. If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.

  99. Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size.

  100. Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.

Of course, these are merely the Top 100 Things I'd do. Other suggestions have been sent to me which didn't quite make the Top 100 List. But they are still so good that I couldn't bear to throw them out. Therefore, as an expression of gratitude, I have tossed them into...

Cellblock A

and

Cellblock B

Disney Subliminal Messages

on Thursday, June 9, 2011

donald_duck_subliminal_ride

This article gives an overview of the various disney subliminal messages but first of all it is important to have a basic understanding of subliminal messaging, so:

The word subliminal literally means “below threshold”. to elaborate on this it means that you are not aware of the message – it is below the threshold of your cocnscious perception. However you will still take the message in on some level as your subconscious mind processes it and stores this information still. Subliminal messaging therefore refers to the action of sending a suggestion directly into the subconscious mind.

Are there subliminal messages in Disney movies?

Yes, absoloutely!

Disney is notorious for using subliminal messages across its short animations, Tv series and movies. In fact it’s a tradition of studio and they use both subliminal and consciously visable subtle suggestions. it has got to just the point that when a new Disney films come out, subliminal message hunters compete to find the messages in these movies and post them on youtube and various blogs around the internet.

So Which Disney films use subliminal messages?

Lol, almost all of them!

The practice of including hidden messages goes right back to the early mickey mouse goofy short movie animations. it stated decades ago, and nearly all of their movies contain subliminal references to adult words, and even images. Here is a quick run down of some of the more popular subliminal suggestions which have been found across Disney’s portfolio:

Here’s a quick run-down:

The Little Mermaid

At the start of the movie when King Triton swoops down over the people, you can see Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy among the crowd.

There is also some suggestion that in the scene where Eric and Ursula are about to get married, the priest has an erection. However, there is equally as much suggestion that in fact what can be seen is merely his knee (this too has been edited out for modern DVD release):

little-mermaid-priest-subliminal-messages

On the subject of disney hidden messages and hidden erotica in Disney movies, we should mention the cover art for The Little Mermaid. Many people have commented that the tower looks rather phallic! The artist apparently fully intended for the tower to look like a penis, although when he had finished the cover, he realised that it was actually a bit too obvious. The artwork was sent for approval with the assumption that some changes would be required, but no such request was ever made and so the cover was released with a not-very-hidden phallus on it:

little-mermaid-subliminal-messages

little-mermaid-subliminal-poster

For a video on all of the little mermaid subliminal messages then follow our link.

The Rescuers

Features two frames of an actual topless model. They are in the scene when Bernard and Bianca fly through the city – you can briefly see her in a window in the background if you freeze the frame:

disney-subliminal-the-rescuers

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

There is a distinctly shot of Jessica Rabbit jumping out of a Taxi -and the subliminal image only lasts a couple of frames – but her skirt is open and it shows a nude womans legs open for just a second:

roger-rabbit-subliminal-message

Also later in the film the home phone number of Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner appears on a wall – but this has apparantly been edited out of modern DVD releases.

Aladdin

On the scene where Aladin is trying to reach Jasmin outside her balcony you can hear Aladdin say “Good teenagers take off your clothes” quite quickly. You can watch these Aladdin subliminal messages here.

The Lion King

In the scene where Simba remembers his father on a cliff top the word “SEX” is formed in the clouds above his head:

lion-king-subliminal-message

This is only the tip of the iceberg though in the Lion king subliminal saga – there are countless examples, hidden in the background, the animation, the word sex appears in nearly every scene – all subliminally of course – but to the trained eye they can be found. View our lion king subliminal messages video for the whole story.

Pocahontas

There are references to the word “Sex” all throughout this movie, it can be seen spelled out in a lot of the background images all throughout the movie.

For a full video review follow our link to the pocahontas subliminal messages post.

Why can’t I find these hidden messages on my DVDs??

Whilst Disney let many hidden messages go unchallenged in the cinema, however as controversy built and the messages were found by the pbulic they had to remove some of them for VHS and DVD releases