davidgagne.net — The personal weblog of David Vincent Gagne

• Declaration 1776 sells Revolutionary t-shirts celebrating the origins of our nation. (*These are badass.)
• I used the free version for about a month and last night finally decided it was time to cough up the $3.00/mo for my Instapaper subscription. “What’s Instapaper, David?” It’s only one of the most brilliant apps EVAH! Basically it lets you save webpages to read later, but it’s so, so much more than that. You really need to try it for yourself. I use this every single day.
• Color me shocked. A new study finds that all plastics are bad for you.
  2019-11-30 Update: It looks like rodale.com is no longer around, so that link is dead.
• Everyone knows that you’re born left-handed or right-handed or ambidextrous. But did you know that you have a dominant eye? (And apparently there’s no such thing as ambidextrous sight.) It’s pretty simple to determine which eye is dominant. (Thanks, Shawn!)
• TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) gave a glowing review of 3D4Medical.com‘s iMuscle, calling it, “a must for exercise aficionados.” Andy Faust wrote a much more in-depth review at AppAdvice, though, and let’s just say that he wasn’t quite as impressed.
• Honestly I had no idea that at some time in the 1930s some Nazis built an elaborate compound in the hills around the Pacific Palisades.

For some reason I have an irrational distaste for tablespoons. I don’t know why this is the case. They just seem too big to me, and there’s something pretentious about them. (Who needs to put that much of anything in his mouth all at once?) I’m a teaspoon man and probably always will be.

• Fun Stuff
  • Nick Holmes posts cute and funny things.
  • I’ve always wondered exactly how potholes are formed. Now I know.
  • Need some cool wrapping paper? Try rapping paper.
  • Thinking about the Monty Hall Paradox always makes my head hurt.
  • Do you feel like you’re too old to start getting into shape? Listen to Charles Eugster, who is a champion weightlifter: “I was already rowing six times a week, and there didn’t seem any harm in pushing myself a bit harder to rebuild my muscles. So in my late-80s I joined a bodybuilding club.”
  • I, for one, am very happy to get to go to Mars. You can go, too.
• Sports
  • I love this photograph of a guy painting the hash marks on Florida Field.
  • Agree +1 with this tweet from @drsaturday: “I like Tim Tebow but I don’t think I can convey in 140 characters the visceral hate I have for this commercial.”
• Parenting
  • The British newspaper The Independent has published a list of 50 books every child should read. YMMV.
  • The website PoshTots has a section devoted to luxury playhouses, which cost upwards of $10,500. Comment unnecessary.
  • Don’t Touch the Screen is a podcast for webnerds with kids. (iTunes)
  • Ten Jaw-Droppingly Awesome Infographics on Education is exactly what it says on the tin.

• The Timeless Beauty of National Geographic is a wonderful article examining the stability of a famous brand aesthetic. (I used to love reading NG in my elementary school library when I was a kid and just last year decided to get my very own subscription. Every article in every issue is fabulous, just as they always have been.)
• “The most well-known use of Spencerian script is, arguably, the Coca-Cola logo. The logo was designed in the 1880s by the company’s bookkeeper, Frank Robinson.”
• Repeat after me: Taking Photos In Public Places Is Not A Crime
• National Public Radio is changing its name to NPR. (I guess that’s better than Dweezil.)
• Finally! More photos of kitties in wigs!
• “Losing friends is inevitable. Making enemies is not.” — from 35 Lessons in 35 Years
• “This year is the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, the Star Wars sequel that many fans consider the pinnacle moment in a franchise that has pulled in $16 billion in box office and merchandising. But 1980 was also the year that Kurtz and Lucas realized the Jedi universe wasn’t big enough for the both of them.”
• Technology is great, for sure, but you’ll never pick up your iPad and find a perfectly preserved, century-old press pass to a World Series game in its digital pages.
• “Resizing my browser window to make sure it fills up my entire screen will not make me focus on your pretty pictures or admire your wicked design.”
• If you’re looking for seriously advanced computer knowledge — like how to determine the size of an image of Robocop riding a unicorn — take a look at Unicorn Tips.