Dani's Corner of the Internet

Surrogates: A Short Review

2009-10-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my sisters birthday and we wanted to see some movie, so we practically picked Surrogates out of a hat. Actually, it was the only decent looking one in the theater that night. Before seeing this movie I had read no reviews and only saw the last third of the trailer so I walked into the theater blind, with mild expectations. I was not disappointed. Surrogates is an entertaining action flick with an interesting concept (and I'm sure I'm not the first to say it's a little reminiscent of I, Robot).
In this film humanity can live their lives from home thanks to incredibly advanced technology that makes it possible for one to control their own humanoid robotic puppet (surrogate) from a chair. In this world there is no disease, no pain, and crime rates have dropped drastically. FBI agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) investigates the first murder in 15 years: a young man who was killed along with his surrogate. He then discovers the existence of a dangerous weapon and has to discontinue the use of his own surrogate to try to figure out what is going on, risking his life while being the only human roaming the streets.
The action in his movie was pretty good, the acting and dialogue were okay. All and all a good and entertaining science fiction film that made me feel glad to be human whilst walking out of the theater.

Amazing Optical Illusion!

2009-10-15T08:55:00.000-07:00

Stare long enough and this spinning girl will switch the direction that she is spinning. It takes a while at first, but it helps to look at her feet/shadow or blink rapidly. Taken from my favorite blog, Mighty Optical Illusions.

My adorable new shoes =)

2009-10-05T16:29:00.001-07:00

My adorable new shoes =)
Originally uploaded by [username_here]

I love my new shoes. Got them at Target yesterday for $25. I also got some new jeans from Kohls.

Cutest Commercial Ever!

2009-10-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

Bunnies!! lol too cute to resist!

Epic Constuction Fails

2009-09-15T06:04:00.000-07:00

A YouTube vid I put together. Enjoy!

2009 Deaths

2009-09-14T19:24:00.001-07:00

3/18/09: Natasha Richardson, aged 45
6/25/09: Michael Jackson, aged 50
6/25/09: Farrah Fawcett, aged 62
6/28/09: Billy Mays, aged 50
8/25/09: Ted Kennedy, aged 77
9/14/09: Patrick Swayze, aged 57

This is annoying.

blog....

2009-08-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've changed my mind about what I said this blog would be about it the first post. I decided to put whatever the heck I want up here. As if anyone were reading it. Anyway.

Foosball: Barbie style!

2009-08-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

Barbie Foosball Table

Introducing the "Barbie Foot", a foosball table with Barbie dolls as players (sans the arms and feet). This cute (in a creepy way) contraption sits in the window of the Colette boutique in Paris, with a whopping price tag of 10,000 Euros. (!!!)
Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday this year, and she's still looking fabulous, unlike certain equally plastic folks in Hollywood.

Most Epic: Waterfall

2009-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is the tallest waterfall on the planet, Angel Falls. It soars at a height of 3,212 ft with a clear drop of 2,647ft. It is located in the country of Venezuela in South America. The water doesn't stand a chance of getting to the bottom without turning into mist. So go ahead, play the video full-screen in HQ at full blast and experience the raw power. (The best part is 0:39 to 0:50. I practically peed my pants! [metaphorically speaking])

I sure hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. And if you didn't, you're nuts!
God sure is amazing, isn't he?

True Story

2009-06-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

there was

nothing
zero dimensions
no existence
of anything
a vast blackness
darker than the deepest of pits

but then
there was
a light
shining forth in dazzling radiance
coming from
not even
thin air

a triumph
over the darkness that had once ruled
and
enveloped
all
of nothing

then

He

saw that the light was good
separated it from the darkness
called it day
the dark, night

He then resumed
to mold
to build
to craft

the universe
the life
we see today

all that we know

is not ours

it
we
belong to The Creator
the one with the lack of a beginning
and an end

the one with a love
deeper and more profound than can ever be measured
for me
and you

the question is

after hearing this
true story
of the vast enormity
of His creation
and His love

are you going to get back to your little life

without Him?

The beauty of math

2009-06-15T15:59:00.000-07:00

I received this in a forwarded e-mail and liked it so much I thought I would share it here!

Absolutely amazing!
> >
> >     Beauty of Math!
> >
> >1 x 8 + 1 = 9
> >12 x 8 + 2 = 98
> >123 x 8 + 3 = 987
> >1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
> >12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
> >123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
> >1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
> >12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
> >123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321
> >
> >1 x 9 + 2 = 11
> >12 x 9 + 3 = 111
> >123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
> >1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
> >12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
> >123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
> >1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
> >12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
> >123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111
> >
> >9 x 9 + 7 = 88
> >98 x 9 + 6 = 888
> >987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
> >9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
> >98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
> >987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
> >9876543 x 9 + 1 =
88888888
> >98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888
> >
> >Brilliant, isn't it?
> >
> >And look at this symmetry:
> >
> >1 x 1 = 1
> >11 x 11 = 121
> >111 x 111 = 12321
> >1111 x 1111 = 1234321
> >11111 x 11111 = 123454321
> >111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
> >1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
> >11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
> >111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321
> >
> >Now, take a look at this...
> >
> >101%
> >
> > >From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:
> >
> >What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than
> 100%?
> >
> >Ever wonder about those people who say they are
giving
> more than 100%?
> >
> >We have all been in situations where someone wants you
> to GIVE OVER
> >100%.
> >
> >How about ACHIEVING 101%?
> >
> >What equals 100% in life?
> >
> >Here's a little mathematical formula that might
> help answer these
> >questions:
> >
> >If:
> >
> >A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
> >
> >Is represented as:
> >
> >1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
> 22 23 24 25 26.
> >
> >If:
> >
> >H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
> >
> >8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 =
98%
> >
> >And:
> >
> >K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
> >
> >11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7 +5 = 96%
> >
> >But:
> >
> >A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
> >
> >1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
> >
> >THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:
> >
> >L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
> >
> >12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%
> >
> >Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty
> that:
> >
> >While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and
> Attitude will
> >get you there, It's the Love of God that will put
> you over the top!
> >
> >It's up to you if you share this with your friends
> & loved ones just
>
>the way I did.
> >
> >Have a nice day & God bless!!!

DIY Stereophotography

2009-06-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some stereograms I created. View them in three dimensions by crossing your eyes so there is three pictures. Look at the middle one. Relax your eyes and the picture will come slowly into focus. (Click on the pictures to view them full size)

You can make 3d pictures by taking two pictures about as far apart as your eyes. Put them side-by-side on the computer, but don't do it the wrong way. Put the picture you took more to the left on the left, and the one more right to the right.

Here's a bonus picture of my little brother jumping over the water sprinkler. He looks like he is running in the distance, so he looks huge.

Fun with words

2009-06-13T05:33:00.000-07:00

PALINDROMES
Now these are fun. A palindrome is spelled the same both ways, forwards and backwards. They can be as short as three letters, or as long as (but not limited to) an entire paragraph! Here are some:

Mom
Hannah
Race car
I did, did I?
Madam, I'm Adam.
A man, a plan, a canal --- Panama!

The Panama one is quite famous, and there have been some crazy parodies of it, for example. It starts out "a man, a plan," goes on forever then ends with "a canal, Panama!" Palindromes don't always have to have the same letters go both ways, sometimes just words, like:

First Ladies rule the State and state the rule: ladies first.

More info at the beloved Wikipedia. (This isn't a palindrome)

ANAGRAMS
For those of you that don't know, if you re-arrange the letters in a word or phrase to make another word or phrase, you get an anagram of the first one. Here's a little piece of trivia: did you know that the titles of the movie about Homer Hickham, October Sky, and his book, Rocket Boys, are anagrams of each other? There are online anagram generators, but the anagrams usually don't make too much sense. Occasionally there's the really fitting celebrity anagram (Clint Eastwood = Old West Action) but only a skilled anagramatist (yes, some people do this all day) can make one that matches the celebrity in some way. More celebrity anagrams:

Elvis = Lives
George Bush = He bugs Gore
Madam Curie = Radium came

Instead of me listing them here, you can see all sorts of cool anagrams on this site.

Here's an anagram of my name: Danielle = I need all. Hmm... my Dad did call me high maintenance when I was a kid... hahaha.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had writing it. Have a great day!

Types of movies that annoy me

2009-06-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

TIME TRAVEL MOVIES

I don't like these because they defy logic. A man goes back in time, then affects the people and things around him causing the future to change. The thing is, THE FUTURE DOESN'T CHANGE. It isn't concrete in the first place. It's nothing. It doesn't exist yet. And the past? It's past! You can NOT travel into the past! I hate to break it to you, but man will always stay in the same place. In the present. Einstein said it himself, you know, maybe we can see the future, maybe we can make some complex technology to view the future. BUT YOU CAN'T LIVE IT! You know, maybe you're thinking right now, "Well, that's the point of movies. You get to live what you can't in real life." And that's true. But I think it bothers me so much because it just makes me think too hard. But one thing is certain. The past is past, the present is present, and the future is future. That's just the way it is.

END OF THE WORLD MOVIES

Gosh darn it, this theme is so oooooold. There's natural disasters, viruses, alien invasions, toxic waste, nuclear annihilation, war, plagues, the list goes on and on. Now I like a good realistic movie, not one where the main character(s) has to go off and save the world. Sure, it's exciting for some people, but not me. See, me, I don't believe in that rapture (don't sue me for saying this) crap. I believe times are going to get really bad, with floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, the whole sh-BANG. And some guy is going to be our hero, our knight in shining armor, and fix everything. Then he's going to stamp 666 on our foreheads, and we're going to let him (not me). You know the rest. The end of the world is so close that you can taste it, but when it does come people won't even recognize it. And that is why end of the world movies are so unrealistic.

**EDIT** I don't HATE these movies, and I watch a lot of them. So it's not like I'm totally mad at them. But I did get a little ticked when I went to the movie theater once, and all the previews of the movies had some end of the world theme. Also, you'll notice that EVERY new movie is based off a book, comic, older movie, or a TV show. And if they're not, they usually aren't worth watching. And another thing. There has not been a genuinely funny movie in my eyes for a long time.

Do Fish Drink Water?

2009-06-10T15:21:00.000-07:00

I got this book for my birthday and recommend it to anyone who likes random bits of knowledge. Or anyone else for that matter. Here is Barns and Noble's synopsis (because I don't feel like writing a whole review):

"Spanning a spectrum from useful to bizarre to downright comical, this amusing, amazing Internet Q & A ranges form a language to geography to medicine to simply off the wall. As the official Webmaster for Xerox, Bill McLain is responsible for handling all mail from Xerox's external Web site. However, he was quickly surprised by the kinds of questions he was receiving, questions like whether people born blind can see in their dreams, where the lowest point on Earth is, and why rabbits are associated with Easter.

In a move that brought national attention from MSNBC, CNN, and People magazine, McLain began to answer each and every question he received. The result -- collected in Do Fish Drink Water? --is a surprising, funny, and informative collection of facts. McLain even explains the origin of the Christmas tree, what caused the Great Depression of 1929, and how to properly eat an Oreo cookie. He can even tell you why cats purr!
McLain's answers -- often as wild as the questions -- prompt entertaining anecdotes about where he found them, and how he's played a role in inventions, long-delayed reunions, and even a marriage or two. He also provides an extensive list of Web sites where he conducts research, offering an informative guide to making the most of the Internet.
*Although fish do drink water, their primary method of obtaining fresh water is through osmosis. The water seeps into their body through tiny holes in their skin."
Note: Although the answers to the questions in the book can easily be found using Google or Wikipedia, many of the questions are ones you wouldn't even think of staring randomly at a search engine, and that is one of the reasons this book is good to have. Plus, there's also the sifting through thousands of webpages!

The first post on the edge of insanity...

2009-06-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well well well. The first blog post! Let's see, what should I tell the reader... whataminute, who is the reader? A friend, my sister, a casual internet wanderer, or maybe, just me? That's a sad thought. But hey, this is the first post! I can't expect a whole following this soon! Anyway, anyway, I give you a warm welcome and deep thanks for getting through the first seven sentences without closing the browser. You know how short peoples attention spans are on the internet these days. Maybe I should start by telling you what this blog is supposed to be about. Quite frankly, I haven't a clue. Just remember that it is NOT about my life or whatever. But it is about whatever. Whatever I want, whatever is really cool but not enough people in this world know about today! Whatever. So, bookmark this page now, and return every so often to see what's new. Why? BECAUSE I SAID SO, THAT'S WHY! Have a wonderful day! (and remember.... Ctrl+D, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+D, Ctrl+D.....)