From the monthly archives:

February 2009

Fish Pedicures?

by Joey deVilla on February 26, 2009

Woman's foot with painted toenails, with little fish nibbling on it

I had no idea that fish pedicures – where you stick your feet in a tank of carp, who then eat the dead skin – existed, never mind that they’ve also been banned in some U.S. states. Here’s an Associated Press video report on the practice and its ban.

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“Beatle Juice”: Gorgeous Package Design

by Joey deVilla on February 26, 2009

I love this design concept created by Marc Valega: Beatle Juice!

"Beatle Juice": Juice boxes featuring the Beatles as they appeared in "Yellow Submarine", with the flavours "Apple McCartney", "John Lemo", "George Pearrison" and "Mango Starr".

Here are the juice box layouts:

"Apple McCartney" package in flat form

"John Lemon" package in flat form

"George Pearrison" package in flat form

"Mango Starr" package in flat form

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The Truth About the Jonas “Brothers”

by Joey deVilla on February 26, 2009

Rolling Stone cover featuring the Jonas Brothers, featuring one of them morphing into a woman quite seamlessly

I suspected as much. [Photo courtesy of Merricat]

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M.C. Escher, Economist

by Joey deVilla on February 25, 2009

I like Mark McHugh’s theory that M.C. Escher’s art was in fact his representations of economic theories. For example, here’s trickle-down economics (the very mention of which always causes me to say “Laffer? You brought her!”):

escher-economy1a

This one’s for sustained growth:

escher-economy2

And this is deficit financing:

mcq-escher-hands2

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Ouch!

by Joey deVilla on February 25, 2009

Sometimes the combination of drinking and darts doesn’t seem like a good idea:

Shirtless guy with a dart down his buttcrack does a sexy dance by the dartboard and gets a dart int he side of his head

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Yesterday’s “Coffee and Code” at Le Gourmand

February 25, 2009

Yesterday’s Coffee and Code – the weekly gathering where I leave the home and Microsoft offices and work in a cafe where I’m very accessible – was held at Le Gourmand in the Queen/Spadina neighbourhood. We were 13 people all told, not including the passers-by who wondered about a large gathering of people with laptops [...]

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“Everything is Amazing Right Now, and Nobody’s Happy”

February 25, 2009

This article originally appeared on Global Nerdy.
Over at Kevin Kelly’s blog, The Technium, there’s a video of an amusing interview on Conan O’Brien where comedian Louis CK talks about how we take today’s technology and the way it improves our lives for granted. Kelly describes it as "a cartoon version of a more serious argument [...]

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Today: Coffee and Code, and Other Geeky get-Togethers

February 24, 2009

This article originally appeared in Coffee and Code.

Coffee and Code is happening today, Tuesday, February 24th, from about 1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m. at Le Gourmand, (152 Spadina, on the west side, south of Queen and north of Richmond).
It’s not the only geeky get-together in Toronto today:

The Developer Lunch (the 10th so far!) [...]

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And on the Third Day, He Carved Some Serious Powder

February 23, 2009

Gotta love Jesus – not only could they fail to kill him, they couldn’t even ruin his vacation! Jayme sent me this photo, which she took on College near Dovercourt.

Personally, I think Jesus would’ve preferred a snowboard.

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Future Man Tried to Warn Us

February 23, 2009

This article originally appeared in Global Nerdy.
Click the photo to see its source.

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Coffee and Code: This Tuesday Afternoon at Le Gourmand

February 23, 2009

This article was originally posted on the Coffee and Code blog.
Here’s a picture of where this week’s Coffee and Code will take place:

On Tuesday, February 24th, from about 1:30 p.m to 5:30 p.m., I’ll be at Le Gourmand, which is located at 152 Spadina (on the west side, south of Queen and north of Richmond). [...]

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The Crisis of Credit, Visualized

February 22, 2009

Last year, I posted an article titled The Credit Crisis, Illustrated, which attempted to provide an easier-to-understand explanation of how we got into this mess in the first place. I now present to you a much slicker graphic explanation called The Crisis of Credit Visualized, a gorgeously-designed video by Jonathan Jarvis that does a great [...]

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The First “Coffee and Code” Day

February 21, 2009

My first Coffee and Code day – a day when I work at a wifi-equipped cafe rather than my home office or the Microsoft offices in order to be very accessible – was a success. For more, check out my article on the Coffee and Code blog.

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How Bailouts Work: A Photo Editorial

February 20, 2009

My friend Eldon sent me the following photo editorial, which illustrates its author’s view of TARP:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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“Coffee and Code” Today in Toronto

February 20, 2009

Coffee and Code is an idea I’ve been meaning to try out for some time. Every so often – perhaps once a week – I plan to work somewhere other than my home office or Microsoft’s offices but instead spend the day working in one of Toronto’s wifi-equipped cafe.
The idea is to make myself available [...]

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