iPhone users have more sex

iPhone users have more sex, post.

I'm not surprised. I did notice that since getting the iPhone 4, my first iPhone, my life has been a constant maelstrom of steamy sexual encounters, and I've wondered why. I thought it was my new aftershave.

Canon 7D vs. Barbie Video Girl

[Thanks to Michael]

Canon 7D vs. Barbie Video Girl, video.
The latter is actually a Barbie doll with a built-in video camera. No joke. And the battery fits in her inner thigh. No joke.
The video is very nicely produced, and humorous.

It refers to this comparison between Canon 7D video and that from an iPhone 4, which is remarkable in how little quality difference there is, even when seen full screen on a very large monitor. I mean, it's a phone, the video module is the size of a small hazel nut!

Snuggle friends

Track-laying train

[Thanks to Kirk]

A train made for the automatic laying of train tracks. Real kewl.
... Look at the number of tasks these machines do. Thats a real engineering accomplishment.

Once in the middle of the night I saw a train which sucked up the fist-sized rocks which are between the train tracks, and spit down clean ones! The noise it made was absolutely fantastic, it was like an industrial art happening, I loved it. I lived then just fifty meters from the tracks, and this train was only a couple of meters behind a fence.
As to why those rocks would need replacing, beats me. 

Panasonic G1 good deal

Panasonic has introduced the Lumix G2 model, and while it's getting good reviews, it's clear that the only really significant upgrade is that it now does video. So, if you don't need video, right now you can get, in the US at least, the Lumix G1 at a very affordable price. I still use mine as my go-to all-round camera. It's more compact than a DSLR camera (like Canon Rebel), and offers similar image quality and handling. The exception is that the low-light capabilities are limited, compared to bigger cameras. But at this price it's warmly recommended.

The G1's brother, the GF-1 (not yet in a 2.0 version) fits in a large pocket if fit with the excellent compact 20mm 1.7 lens. The G1 does not. But I would say that the G1 is about as compact and light as you'll get, and still get the good handling and flexibility of a full sized, semi-professional camera. It's about the perfect walk-around and vacation camera for the serious amateur.

Blogs and web on Kindle

Blogs are now available on Kindle in the UK too. And nicely, they do come with pictures, although they are B/W of course (and a bit dark, at least on the Kindle 1 and 2).
Also new: the links to web now work, and the Kindle browser is not at all bad. For a long while there, you couldn't web browse on the Kindle outside the US. But actually in some ways the browser on the Kindle is superior, surprisingly giving the technology, to the one in the iPad, because, while on the iPad you can make a text column fill the width of the screen, you can't (in Safari at least) change the text size, and it's often too small for comfortable reading. The Kindle browser on the other hand, reformats the main text to fill the screen in a comfortable reading size, and you can change it too, if need be.
(I believe at least one of the alternative browsers on the iPad has changeable font size. But I don't know of a way to make another browser your default for links from other apps.)
As a tip for article reading, let me once again mention the excellent Instapaper app. It reformats article for easy reading, and saves them for later reading, even on other devices (Kindle,  iPhone, iPad). 

Sculptures of Native American scenes made out of paper

Sculptures of Native American scenes made out of paper, article/gallery.

New technique, I think. I wonder how they keep (they are going for premium prices). All that feathery stuff must be nigh-impossible to clean without ruining it, if it gets very dusty. So I guess a glass box is in order. They are pretty large.

Taking Photos In Public Places Is Not A Crime

Taking Photos In Public Places Is Not A Crime, article.
(And another one.)
Tommy found these, although oddly, his comment disappeared, as did the repost of it that I did.)

Tianmen Mountains and cable cars

Tianmen Mountains (not to be confused with the Tiananmen Square and events) has some of the most spectacular views in the world, in the Hunan province of China (pretty centrally in the huge country).
Video of stunt flights through the opening, which was formed in 263AD. (There are tougher stunts in the world, the opening is not tiny.)

Update:

TCGirl found this video from the cable cars. 

A glossy ad

For the first time, I'm buying a big ad in a glossy magazine, for Domai. This is what is probably the biggest glossy for lesbians, Bound. (I inquired, and it seems it's named for the famous movie with the Susie Bright choreographed sex scene.) It'll appear in the decorating special issue in mid September. It's Australian, but it's in news stands world wide. (It's available on the iPad too, by the way.)
I've been sent a copy, and it's a really handsome and very professional mag. It'll be fun to see how the add does.

Now, for some reason I don't happen to have any close gay friends, male or female, or none I'm aware of*. It may be that some of my lady correspondents who found me via Domai are, but I don't ask.
So, I was just thinking about whether lesbians tend to be attracted to the same women as men? I think, probably so. For sure the girls on The L-Word are dang hot. So.
Except maybe they don't have the same fixation on big boobs as many men? Does anybody know anything about this?

*It's not unlikely that I'm just dense about it. I'm reminded of once in a cafe I used to hang out in all the time. I was a happy member of the Regulars, and we often chatted pleasantly. One of them was a very amiable slightly rotund middle-aged chap named Paul. One he revealed via an anecdote that he was gay. I asked something or other, and he said "Ah, you didn't know?" he held out his hand and said "hi, I'm Paul, I'm gay, pleased to meetcha". I got a bit flustered, but only by the suddenness of it, I don't have any special feelings pro or con this or indeed most sexual orientations. (Was it Twain who said something like 'I don't care, so long as they don't do it in the street and scare the horses'. A very sound slant on it.)

Me, I'm a lesbian trapped a man's body.
I don't think sexuality is quite important enough to define one's life. But when  I do think about it, I sometimes wish I was a lesbian. I'm a little bit envious. For instance, just take lesbian cruises or getaways. Where can you find anything similar as a man? (If you like women, I mean.) Also, if I'm looking for erotica, I much prefer stuff without men in it.

A li'll Cadillac joke

A man and his wife were driving from New York to California.

Looking at his fuel gauge, the man decided he'd better fill up. Exiting the highway and passing through a small southern town, he pulled into the local service station.

"What can I do for y'all?" the attendant asked.

"Fill it up with supreme," the man instructed.

While the attendant was filling the tank, he looked the car up, down and sideways. "What kind of car is this here?" he asked. "I never seen one like it before."

"It's a Cadillac. It's brand new," the driver said proudly. "It has power steering, power seats, power sun roof, power mirrors, AM/FM radio with a CD player, an 8-speaker stereo, rack and pinion steering, disk brakes, leather interior, digital instruments, and a DVD player in the back seat."

"Wow," said the attendant. "That there's the fanciest car I ever did see!"

When the attendant finished, the driver asked him, "How much do I owe you?"

"That'll be $30.25," the attendant replied.

The driver pulled out his money clip, peeled off a $20 and a $10, handed them to the attendant, then went into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change. Mixed in with the change were a few golf tees.

"What're them little things there?" asked the attendant.

"Those are to put my balls on when I'm driving," said the man.

"Wow!" the attendant replied, "Them Cadillac people think of everything!"

Black 'n White and Red All Over

Here's a cool blog with high-rez scans of BW art, including some full issues of some of the great Eerie comics from the fifties. (I was a big fan of those as a kid. The art was often fantastic. I miss comic art like that.)