Late but too good to miss -- world class 3D pumpkin carvings

Yes, I know it's December. Really a bit late to put up a link about Haloween, right. Sure. But look at it this way - if these carvings are so good that I'll blog them in Dec then they must be worth a look.

More pics on the original page. Click thru to see them all. Merry Xmas!

clipped from blogthememachine.com All of the credit to these marvelous pieces of art go to Scott Cummins from PumpkinGutter.com and Ray Villafane from Villafanestudios.com Please be sure to check out their websites for more amazing artwork with pumpkins as well as more traditional artwork (Ray is a sculpture artist for DC Comics which you can see here and Scott has a vast amount of illustration and watercolor skill displayed on Outside the Lines) Follow this link as Ray Villafane shows you exactly how to carve a crazy 3D Pumpkin on his website. (on a side note, a big congratulations to Ray for winning the Food Network Challenge with his amazing pumpkin carving abilities. $10K is a nice chunk of change and he definitely deserved to win).

Dude, Is That a SemiColon on Your Back?

Always proofread!

clipped from ittybiz.com “Dude, is that a fucking semicolon on your back?” Yes, it would seem that in our haste, nobody took the semicolon from the dictionary entry out of the design and it now lives for eternity on my skin. Moral of the Story: Always Proofread.

clipped from blog.wired.com Auction Websites Hang in Legal Limbo Heavyweights in the online world are weighing in on a lawsuit that threatens to derail internet retailing. The case is being brought by Tiffany against online auction site, eBay. The lawsuit, before the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, claims eBay is liable for contributory trademark infringement because it refuses to police its site for infringing materials. Viacom is making the same argument in a pending copyright lawsuit against Google's YouTube. A New York federal judge in July ruled against Tiffany, the high-end jeweler. The judge said eBay, the world's largest online auction site, was acting within the law because it removed auctions from the jeweler's counterfeited goods when notified by Tiffany. "The law demands more specific knowledge as to which items are infringing and which seller is listing those items before requiring eBay to take action," U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan wrote in July.

Walk While You Work - Build Your Own Treadmill Desk

more exercise, more productivity, less stress, less fat, less flab

clipped from www.treadmill-desk.com Treadmill Desk: Lose 57 lbs in One Year...Really! Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic came up with the idea of a "Treadmill Desk". The idea is to slowly walk on a treadmill while working at a desk built around the treadmill...a Treadmill Desk. Dr Levine's research revealed that on the average his subjects burned 100 extra calories every hour while walking slowly -- at 1 mile per hour -- than while sitting in a chair. Dr. Levine believes that if individuals were to replace 8 hours a day of sitting at their "normal" desk with a Treadmill Desk, and if other components of energy balance were constant, a weight loss of 57 pounds a year could occur. This website is designed to provide everything you need to know if you want to become a member of the Treadmill Desk revolution. Don't miss the movies and slide shows over on your left. After just four months of working/walking at my office Treadmill Desk, I lost 16 lbs clipped from www.treadmill-desk.com

New Low 4 Black Fri Shopping - Worker DIES in STAMPEDE of SHOPPERS

Are you kidding me?? Anyone who doesn't think materialism is getting out of hand should have to stand in front of that mob of idiots too self indulgent to help someone in need.

clipped from www.iht.com Wal-Mart worker dies in apparent shopping stampede By Jack Healy and Angela Macropoulos Published: November 28, 2008 A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York was trampled to death by a crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the store early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain hunting into a Hobbesian frenzy. At 4:55 a.m., just five minutes before the doors were set to open, a crowd of 2,000 anxious shoppers started pushing, shoving and piling against the locked sliding glass doors of the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, Nassau County police said. The shoppers broke the doors off their hinges and surged in, toppling a 34-year-old temporary employee who had been waiting with other workers in the store's entryway. "They were like a stampede," said Nassau Det. Lieutenant Michael Fleming. "Hundreds of people walked past him, over him or around him."

Quick, Easy, Cute and Cheap -- Make Your Own Modular Bookcase

simple, easy, cute and useful - what more could you ask for?

clipped from www.craftynest.com I picked up these drawers on Freecycle. They were salvaged from the kitchen of a 1940s house that was demolished—quelle horreur! (Have I mentioned that I adore homes built before 1950?) My original plan was to put the drawers on wheels and use them as under-bed storage. Turns out, no two drawers are the same height, which would look janky. So I tried stacking them vertically instead. You could also hang these drawers on the wall as individual shadowboxes. You could even add shelves inside each drawer. Salvaged drawers = modular bookcase

What pets do when we're at work.....

laugh out loud funny -- some of the best pet pics I've seen

clipped from www.jibjab.com

Google Quicker than CDC in Tracking Flu Outbreaks

I love seeing a company with as much information, power and potential for exponentially increasing power choosing to contribute to society in meaningful ways.

clipped from www.pandia.com Google Flu Trends Google Flu Trends, based on Internet search activity, predicts new outbreaks of flu in the US. A steady stream of new mutated flu viruses reach Europe and Northern America from Asia, leading to sore throats, runny noses and feverish days and nights, and there seems to be nothing we can do about it. Normally you would look to the medical field for a solution (there is not one yet), but now Google wants to use web search to help out. New Scientist reports that Google Flu Trends, created by the company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, provides daily estimates of the number of flu cases in the US. Google uses its database of internet search queries to do this. In short Google counts the number of queries related to flu symptoms and look for changes in the number of such searches. A surge in searches indicates that there is a new outbreak.

Voice; If You Have One, You May Be Eligible

Voices… If You Have One, You May Be Eligible

Whether you’re a voice actor looking for work, or you’re on the other side of the divide and seeking someone to play a vocal role for your brand, script, etc., Voices.com may serve you well.

Today it gets even better. The marketplace for spoken word has been refashioned to play a broader role still for (most) all things audible.

Myth of the Season - Can Turkey Make You Tired?

clipped from nprfanboy.wordpress.com A Myth Examined: Can Turkey Make You Tired? Though we often blame the turkey, nutritionists say virtually all meats, tofu, dairy products and nuts have tryptophan. The Thanksgiving Day snooze may have more to do with other things, like overeating, wine and dealing with social interactions.