Geek in Heels - Page 186

Jul 23, 2009 • In Movies

2 Comments

Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” Teaser Video (Updated)

All I can say is:

Oh…my…GAWD…..

I can’t wait for this movie!

(Thanks to @Willpower101 for the correct link!)

Memo Clock

Today’s product of the day comes courtesy of Engadget – the Memo Clock by DesignOne:

With a rewritable ceramic surface, you can leave notes for yourself and others on an attrative and functional object that is sure to be noticed by all.

Check out the other featured items on the TheHaki blog – they’re outright adorable! I love Korean design aesthetics!

The Etymologies of Video Game Characters

Ever wonder how Mario and Luigi got their names? Now you can find out thanks to Back of the Cereal Box‘s aptly-titled piece, It’s a Secret to Everybody.

My favorite part had to be the Koopalings (Bowser’s ill-behaved children) and their similarities to the famous musicians to which they were named after:

Iggy, Morton, Lemmy, Ludwig, Roy, Wendy, Larry, and Bowser

And after reading the section about Malboro, a recurring monster in the Final Fantasy series, you can’t help but wonder if Philip Morris intentionally named their most popular brand of cigarettes “bad breath” (Latin mal meaning “bad,” and boros, allegedly meaning “breath” in Latin or Greek).

It’s a bit of a long read, but if you have the time (and like me, can remember when Princess Peach was called “Princess Toadstool”) and a genuine interest in video games as well as etymology, I highly recommend you check out this article.

Via the mental_floss Blog.

Ink Bleed Calendar

The Geek in Heels’ cool design product of the day is Oscar Diaz‘s “Ink Calendar”:

“Ink Calendar” make use the timed pace of the ink spreading on the paper to indicate time.

The ink is absorbed slowly, and the numbers in the calendar are “printed” daily. One a day, they are filled with ink until the end of the month. A calendar self-updated, which enhances the perception of time passing and not only signaling it.

The ink colors are based on a spectrum, which relate to a “color temperature scale”, each month having a color related to our perception of the whether on that month. The colors range from dark blue in December to, three shades of green in spring or oranges, red in the summer.

The scale for measuring the “color temperature” that I have used is a standard called ‘D65’ and corresponds roughly to a midday sun in Western / Northern Europe.

The “Ink Calendar” was developed for “Gradual “, an exhibition featuring works, which were evolving during the exhibition time at the London Design Festival 2007.

Via Design Milk.

Added: Avatars!

One of the very few complaints I have about Squarespace is the lack of robust user profiles. While free platforms such as WordPress and vBulletin offer numerous methods for registered users of the hosted website to personalize their profiles and interact each other, Squarespace is very limited in this area.

This is when hacks come in handy.

I always thought that the “Comments” section of each post looked a bit drab, so I decided to add avatars:

Unfortunately, individual users will not be able to upload the avatars themselves…only I am able to do so.

So if you visit this site often, have an account, and want a custom avatar, shoot me an email at j e n n y [a t] g e e k i n h e e l s . c o m with your desired image and I will happy to do so for you!

Dorm in a Box

I probably spent thousands of dollars in dorm/apt essentials and deco over my college career. And all for what? Stuff I threw away, donated, or sold for less than 30% of their market value. I mean, who the heck buys twin extra long beds for their own house?

Looking back, I regret the ridiculous amount of money I spent on the material objects which supplemented my college life. Because the things you buy for college are meant to be disposable, like newly developed skills (perfecting the trajectory required to dunk that ping pong ball into a plastic cup of beer), certain types of relationships (the “frenemy”), and $100,000 worth of knowledge (I honestly can’t for the life of me name even one of the five models of international trade…and international relations was my major!).

It is exactly for this reason that I was delighted to read of Dorm in a Box, which packages high-quality dorm essentials and ships them directly to your university…at a fraction of the cost.

Take a look at their Dorm 101, their basic package:

Now, I know most of the items on this list – I’ve owned some of them – and they are by no means flimsy items that will fall apart after just one week. They are things you will use again and again, and they are things you will need as a college student living in a dorm.

The Dorm 101 package sells for a mere $199.

Go tell all your friends, family, and neighbors – even your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate’s daughter who will be starting college in the fall – about this website.

Via Core77.

The True Cost of Meetings

One thing I do not miss about having a full-time job are the meetings. The endless meetings.

And the meetings to prepare for meetings…

And the meetings to discuss what just happened at the last meeting…

Suggestion: go to the Meeting Ticker at the start of the meeting, fill in the fields, and prominently display the real-time web app for everyone (especially the managers) to see.

I guarantee your next meeting will be more efficient and less time-consuming.

Via Brand Infection.

Site Re-Design

I worked on a new layout over the weekend…what do you think?

The only major difference is the location of my Private Posts. Upon login, the link is now located at the top navigation bar:

This is what the site used to look like before, with the Private Posts link circled on the left:

A huge thanks to Squarespace – it would’ve taken me at least twice as long to redesign the site without it!

Do you think the new design is an improvement over the last one? I welcome your comments!

My Awesome HP6 Experience (No Spoilers)

Last night, as a true geek, I attended the 12:01am show for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I loved the movie – I think it was the best Harry Potter movie yet, although most of my friends disagree. There was a perfect balance of variations from the book vs keeping true to the overall feel of the story. Many have complained that the Half Blood Prince was slow-moving and lacked the excitement and action of the previous five movies, but I think that the screenwriter, director, and producers did a fantastic adaptation of an exposition-heavy story that is ultimately a set-up for the next and final book of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

But I digress.

Apart from the movie itself, here are the reasons my HP6 experience was such a memorable one:

As is usual with other big movie openings, this movie debuted a new trailer another highly-anticipated film: the second movie in the Twilight series, New Moon. As soon as the opening screen flashed on screen, my auditory senses exploded as the majority of the girls in the theater let out a collective scream. The screams repeated – with the addition of wolf whistles, no less – when Taylor Lautner made his debut appearance as the werewolf character Jacob, shirtless and looking absolutely yummy.

I have never been a Twilight fan, but the trailer actually looks promising!

Another trailer that positively put my senses in overdrive was 9. A dark, thought-provoking CG-film with hints of sci-fi and massive action sequences? Add producer Tim Burton to the mix and I say you got a hit!

Right before the actual movie started, some jackass shouted, “Dumbledore dies!” I already knew this from reading the book (and yes, I cried when I read this) so I inappropriately let out a laugh along with the rest of the crowd.

As the familiar Harry Potter theme started, signaling the commencement of the movie, a group of girls shouted, “Dumbledore’s Army!” Needless to say I was happy to be part of such a devoted crowd.

Walking out of the theater to the car, we witnessed a car accident in the parking lot. Some r-tard proceeded to drive right into a parked car, and it happened just as we were walking past. True story. It certainly made for an entertaining end to the evening.