clear.your.mind

This may happen sometimes when we do repetitive tasks (any tasks). I found myself designing in my head, with my eyes closed when I’m late in bed at night, I can still move shapes around and create forms, apply gradients and export to PNG. I had to look about it, thinking I was going crazy or I was working too much: it is the Tetris Effect!

The Tetris effect is the ability of any activity to which people devote sufficient time and attention to begin to dominate their thoughts, mental images, and dreams. It is named after the video game Tetris. In the game a player rotates and moves different falling shapes made up of blocks. If the player can arrange the shapes so there are complete horizontal lines of blocks without any gaps, those lines are eliminated. The object of the game is to eliminate as many lines as possible before the shapes fill the screen.
People who play Tetris for a long time might then find themselves thinking about ways different shapes in the real world can fit together, such as the boxes on a supermarket shelf or the buildings on a street.[1] In this sense, the Tetris effect is a form of habit.

So, if you catch yourself walking down the street and mentally, you are still doing what you where doing for the last 72hs, don’t panic! it’s just the Tetris Effect. It happens to designers A LOT for what I heard.

Hey! Good start for 2008!

When geeks use technology to create something like this, it makes me proud. Tears, oh may, look at my tears!
This guys know what they are doing, they know they field, they know what to do with the knowledge, simply amazing. They built up a fridge that launches your cold beer through the air and right to your hand, automatically. The best of all, they cought it on tape for us!

Simply amazing, well done gentelmen!

This is really something, I love the small moleskine, it is one of the best notepads I actually ever got, thanks Lojadoarco.com! I will enjoy many mores. But I have to say something about it, something negative. Not to Loja do Arco, but to the Argentinean post office. They opened my package, they always does. They open every package to see if it’s something they will actually like to keep, and nobody on my country does nothing. They have stolen (and it’s reported) credit cards, gadgets, computers and even memory sticks, anything they can fit on their pocket, they actually do. Shame. Adults stealing and putting their freedom and job on the line just for a $100, $200 pesos gadget.

They opened my package, and of course, they sent me a letter saying the package came opened from Portugal, where Loja do Arco is located, and that’s an absolute lie. Loja do Arco made a really good tight package in order to prevent the custom/post office guys steal my Moleskine (we are talking about a Moleskine people! but even then, they will steal it, they tried!) so the argentinean post office went through my order, through my private mail. They wanted to see if the content of my package was of their interest…

Here is the package, it came wrapped on plastic by the argentinean post office, so I said “mmm interesting…”

What’s that? it has been opened! omg!

But it came with a letter from the argentinean post office attached…

What the post office letter said

Dear Client:
This package we just deliver to you it has been damaged by a third party, not by us. The package was received damaged from the sender’s country. We are aware that your mail is important to you and you need to get it in good conditions, for that, we have sealed your package in plastic, to preserve the original content.

Thank for your support and good will, Customer Care, bla bla bla, yada-yada-yada

What a nervs! this is really something stupid! a lot of my colleges and friends from Argentina had gotten the exact same letter, it’s printed like if they were doing it all the time! Even people who works as SEO or in the marketing industry here on my country have problems getting paycheks from Google or Yahoo, because at the post office they steal them and then exchange them (don’t ask me how) It’s obvious they do it, and everyone knows they are doing it. The whole country knows they are stealing packages and mail, and the government doesn’t do anything because of course, the post office belongs to them.

Thanks god Loja do Arco has an excellent service and they took a good care of my package, they wrap it really tight! the damn apes from the post office didn’t put their dirty claws on my Moleskine
Here’s what I got!

Thanks!

The Babel Fish is a fictional device on the The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book, it is actually a fish that translate any form of spoken language to anyone who stick one in the ear. On the book, Ford Perfect stick a Babel Fish into Arthur Dent’s ear; that allows him to understand any kind of spoken language in the galaxy and the universe. But that’s not all, the Babel Fish also is a living proof of the non existence of God:

“I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”
“But,” says Man, “the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves that you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. Q.E.D.”
“Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that,” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.”
“Oh, that was easy,” says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

Can’t deny those arguments, and can’t deny The Guide, can’t we? ;)

Updated: thanks Rachel for this video link where it explains it better, on youtube, taken from the old BBC broadcast of the series. It is really interesting the way the animation is done, anyone who likes “retro” animation should see this video.

Moe Howard (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), born Harry Moses Horwitz in Bensonhurst, New York, a small Jewish community on the outskirts of Brooklyn, the fourth of five children, was the “leader” of the Three Stooges. The distinctive coiffe came about when he was a boy and cut off his curls with a scissors, producing a ragged shape approximating a helmet.

Moe Howard on the right: several weeks before his death.

Although his parents were not involved in show business, Moe, his older brother Samuel, (who earned the nickname “Shemp” because of his mother’s thick-accented mispronunciation of “Sam”) and younger brother Jerome (Curly) all became world famous as part of the Three Stooges.

I always loved the Three Stooges Show. I always watched, and I always will when I have the chance. What I don’t like are the movies. Man, those things are crap. My favorite Curly sustitute is Shemp and I didn’t watched once he was cut off the air.

Realted Links
The New 3 Stooges - The Littlest Martian Free movie to download with Bitorrent.

Published in 1719 (some time ago) this novel full title actually is: “The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner: who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was at last as strangely deliver’d by Pirates. Written by Himself.”

No kidding, that’s the whole title (kind of large isn’t it?!). It was claimed as the first novel written in English, but other dispute that title as well, so we will just say it is the first interesting novel in English ;)

A little peek on the story: “Crusoe leaves England on a sea voyage in 1652 against the wishes of his parents. The ship is taken over by Salè pirates and Crusoe becomes the slave of a Moor. He manages to escape with a boat and is befriended by the Captain of a Portuguese ship off the western coast of Africa. The ship is en route to Brazil. There with the help of the Captain… well, he ends up in an island alone, and that’s the important part.“

I love this kind of book, with adventures and small portions of excitements. I still didn’t read any “spy fiction” but some guys told me those novels are great as well. This one, gives you the immaculate ability to ask yourself the question: What would you do if you find yourself cast-away alone in an island?

What would I do, being a geek and a freak

First thing, I will train monkeys to serve under my command. No, really, people always think “oh well… I will be sleeping all day long” but there are more to do in an island being cast-away than in society. You need to find a way to:

• Brush tour teeth.
• Wash your ars in the beach without being “molested” by a lobster.
• Find out if there are any locals around.
• If there are locals, try to avoid them until you know they aren’t going to eat you alive for sure (they usually do that).
• Hunt a lobster with a rock, or join the locals for a human meal.
• Light up some fire. Do it like a macho-man; with two rocks or like a Real macho-man; with one rock and your chin.
• If you get a broken leg, you better cut it off because there aren’t any hospitals around. So being careful where you step is a big deal.
• Find something to speak to, and do it regularly. If you stay two years without talking to anyone, you will lost your ability to speak and maybe, to communicate.
• Build an Atari with wood and some rocks. Play with it.
• Build some cartridges if you have time. Don’t ask me how, look around, there are plenty things you can use for that purpose. Like… sand.
• Quickly, build a house, a shelter, or whatever you can make to avoid locals, giant mosquitos, over-sided frogs and lions.
• Plan an escape; of course, build a boat. One that doesn’t sink will be fine.

Well, that isn’t the definitive guide, but close enough. That is what you will have to do if you get yourself casted away. I will start building a shelter and a boat right away, after finding some food; but I know I will enjoy trowing rocks to the sea for a while. Just for fun ;)

I found at Nathan Sawaya’s site this life size LEGO construction of Han Solo in frozen carbonite, sadly, the link has exceeded its bandwidth limit.

Han solo frozen in carbonite made from lego bricks

This beauty has used more than 10,000 bricks! amazingly geek and cool!

Related Links
Han Solo in Carbonite