Cool things

Wikipedia

chris — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:48:58 -0800

I spend way too much time hitting this link. But its great when you have a few minutes and want to read something interesting. I have a book mark for it that I just hit over and over until I find something interesting. Never takes many hits!

It takes you to a random article out of the more than 1.5 million articles in the English version of Wikipedia, the online, user-edited encyclopedia.

Pixar

chris — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:18:39 -0800

What can I say - some of the best movies out there come from Pixar - and its not just my bias because I work there - ask my niece Bethany!

Geocaching

chris — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 22:13:43 -0800

Geocaching is about the only thing I've every done with my old-style GPS receiver.

Enter your location at this website (zip code, city/state, coordinates...) and it will show you all of the "caches" you might be able to find nearby.

A cache is (usually) a small waterproof container, camoflaged and/or hidden somewhere interesting. You are given the coordinates of the cache, and perhaps a clue or two, and off you go on a treasure hunt. Often there are little toys and trinkets inside (if you take one, leave one) or other odd things like 'Travel Bugs'. Its not always as easy as it sounds. Check out the website to learn more.

East Bay WebCam

chris — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:44:22 -0800

Want to see what the weather's like here in the San Francisco Bay Area?

This page shows a nearly-live photo taken from the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Located well over 1000 feet up, in the Berkeley hills, the camera faces west across San Francisco Bay towards the Golden Gate and shows all or part of the cities of Berkeley, Oakland, Emeryville, and Albany immediately below, and the skyline of San Francisco in the distance.

It has links to all sorts of local weather-related info, and a time-lapse movie from the day before (one frame taken every minute.)

Couch Surfing

chris — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 21:23:57 -0800

Couchsurfing.com aims to create a better world, one couch at a time. Meet people from interesting places, meet people IN interesting places!

A 'social networking' site that links travellers with hosts. Sick of being just another tourist? If you're going somewhere and would like to meet a 'local' and get an insiders view of your destination, check out couchsurfing.com. You can sign up to offer your couch to a passing surfer, or look for available couches in distant lands. A site with a pretty active community, it offers plenty of wise and useful info about the concept, including issues of safety and trust with regard to opening your home to, or staying in the homes of, strangers.

In my many travels I've crashed on plenty of couches offered by total strangers out of pure kindness and hospitality. This is a wondefully karmic way to 'give back to the world'

Sonic Living

chris — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 19:23:03 -0800

Ever hear about a concert, show, or performance that you'd be psyched to see only to find out it happened last night? Then Sonic Living may be for you! A very cool website started up by my friend and co-worker Gabe, Sonic Living invites you to tell it about all the bands, groups, and artists you might be interested in, and will tell you whenever they have shows in your chosen city(s).

But that simple description doesn't begin to do it justice. Don't feel like typing in the hundreds of artists you might like to hear? Just upload them from your extensive iTunes Library, or your last.fm account! Don't want to go to a show alone? Easily find others who might be interested in the same show.

Browse upcoming events for your chosen artists, add them to you calendar, get email reminders. Also get email notifications when a show appears t that you might be into.

And hey, buy your tickets too!

Sonic Living is Social Zen.