Use by

Hey, McDonald's puts a "use by" date on their breakfast burritos. Weird, but hopefully effective.

tic-tac

Looks like tic-tac has changed their packaging (see pic). In addition to the change in the lid, the bottom of the box is contoured (inset), and the whole box is now made of a more flexible material, rather than the former brittle plastic.

Also, it says, on the wrapping, "product of Ecuador" - so, I may now have eaten a product produced by someone who had cuy for lunch. That is, guinea pig. Cool! I'm one step closer to dining on the wonderful household pet!

(Yes, I know, they're manufactured on an assembly line, not actually hand-produced, and eating this doesn't really get me any closer to eating one myself, but I can pretend, right? All I want for Christmas is roast guinea pig, roast guinea pig, roast guinea pig... OK, I know, they're usually barbecued, and that's how I'd like to try it, but "barbecued" didn't fit the song's meter like "roast" did.)

Get this: Platinum 10ct TDW GIA Certified Diamond Ring (F, VVS2) (Size 6.5) | Overstock.com

Everyone reading this blog who has a wife should get her one of these, but do it soon, because the sell-out risk is very high:

Platinum 10ct TDW GIA Certified Diamond Ring (F, VVS2) (Size 6.5) | Overstock.com

Just imagine the look on her face when the credit card bill... I mean, when the ring comes in! My wife will be TOTALLY not expecting this. Which is fortunate, since I didn't actually get it for her - sorry, dear, if you're reading this - but at least you weren't expecting it! :) Besides, you're worth more than a million, anyway! That would certainly be beneath you!

What I want to know is, how does a $1 million piece of jewelry end up on OVERSTOCK.COM????

Technology

Just thought I'd throw out some techno junk.

Today I helped a virtual friend identify a song's artists - he had some old home movies that had a version of Jingle Bells on it, in the background or something. He didn't know who it was, and I couldn't quite find the right one. Anyway, here's what we did: he was streaming the video off his family's web server to his computer, and then streaming his computer via Justin.TV (note: I do not endorse any activity there, as that is a live site). I listened, but could not identify the artist - I had never before heard the version he was streaming.

So, I downloaded Shazam to my Nokia E71, and had my friend play the clip again. This time, I let my E71 "listen" (using Shazam), which then identified the artist, album, and track, which I then located on YouTube: "Twistin' Bells" by Santo & Johnny (1962); enjojy:

Pretty cool, huh? You, too, can get Shazam, for your iPhone, Blackberry, or Nokia smartphone. Free for a bit, then you have to pay if you want all the premium features (the free version allows you something like 5 identifications per month). But it's more than just the Shazam: it's the whole process by which we, a guy I've never met in person and I, identified a song from an old home video, even though we're roughly 400 miles apart (note: not EXACT directions there, just city to city; privacy, you know).

In other news, T-Mobile is having a "global outage" - which, apparently, really is at least as global as all of Alabama, 'cause we in the south are having trouble and friends up north are, too. No cell calls, no text messages, no logging into their web site (although, interestingly, it appears that their WAP server is still serving). Spent many minutes waiting on their chat support ("you are number 189 in the queue" - and that was good compared to some of my friends who got in after I did), and got a $20 credit ($5 per line on the account). I just hope the services are restored in a timely fashion. Funny, isn't it, that something that we didn't even really have twenty years ago is so "vital" to our existence today. Funny, are we humans.

And, on another note, I still rather enjoy my qik and bambuser accounts, which allow me to broadcast LIVE video from my Nokia E71 phone (as long as I have network coverage). All on T-Mobile's $5.99/month T-Zones plan (you can't get that one anymore, unfortunately - I think their cheapest option now is $9.99/month). So, the other day, when my kids were doing their Christmas concert (combined band/choir concert), and my dad couldn't make it because he was ill, I could broadcast it and he could see it live while it was happening! That's pretty cool.

I'm sure there are other uses for our burgeoning technological world... feel free to share your favorites in the comments!

O Holy Night

The editors of [LAPSE... brain dead] (yes, I know, there is only one of me, but so often I feel like at least two different people) would like to wish all 7.32 readers of this blog the merriest of Christmas with one of the most beautiful Christmas songs, "O Holy Night." This rendition brought goose bumps to my flesh, making my skin crawl in all sorts of ways. You will simply have to listen for yourself to grasp the fullness of the moment, the emotion, the passion, and the candor of the singer. Nothing more can I say, but enjoy: "O Holy Night" (note: the video is mistitled; note: I said "mistitled" - not "mistletoe" - you are not required to kiss the person next to you while standing under this blog)

Qik - Spanish Fort 6th Grade Band by Kingdad

This is the Spanish Fort 6th Grade Band - yes, my youngest is in it, playing sax. Can you believe these kids have only been in band since August? (Yes, some may have been playing before, but probably not many!) I missed the first part of the first song. My bad.

You are viewer #

Thrill "rides" and unexpected prizes

Want to bungee jump without the cord? Skydive without the parachute? Commit suicide by jumping off a building without the death? If you answered "yes" to one or more of those questions, then check this out:

Wisconsin Dells - Extreme World - Terminal Velocity

Check out the Video Preview. The get your $34.95 ready, head to Extreme World in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and hang on to... well, hang on to your hat, maybe, 'cause there's nothing else to hang onto on that "ride"!

Also, I got the following e-mail in my inbox today:

Dear Email-User,
We at Huangshi Dongbei global office likes to officially congratulate you for the draw that just held by our company which featured you as the second place winner of our yearly promotions.
Your email address with MICROS ID ( VDT-37011-XLG-692TM-8WQ ) was luckily
drawn to be this year winner of a Brand New 2008 X5 BMW and a cash prize of $970,000 United States Dollars.
Provide..Full name..Address ...Phone...Sex..Country...
Contact Email..chinaclaimoffice@yahoo.com.hk
Agent Name..Chan Liu
........................................
Phone..+8613710452080
............................
Lottery Cordinator

How awesome is that? I won a 2008 BMW X5 and $970,000 as a SECOND PRIZE in a contest I didn't even have to enter! And, apparently, there were several of us who won second prizes, because that e-mail was addressed to multiple recipients ("agtony@g - m - a - i - l.com", "bftony@g - m - a - i - l.com", etc., all the way down to and through my e-mail address - I added the "-" between the "gmail" part to provide some internet protection from scouring, scraping robots and crawling spiders that might otherwise try to harvest those poor recipients' addresses from my poorly protected blog post).