hello windows live local- (i'm cheating on google)

with all my google blogs, it must seem like i'm dating google (or at least sleeping with it). well, i've been seeing someone new, google. you should know.

i found windows live local today (probably everyone has already seen it, but i was a wll virgin until just now).

when you search for an address, you can zoom in farther than with google, you can still see street names even at the zoomed-in-iest level, you can make notes on the map and you can create a permalink, so you can show people exactly how you saw/marked it.

then, for some areas, you can get a bird's eye view- which means you can see it close up from any direction.

here is an amusement park bird's eye view.















check out this 'birds eye tourist' site to see all the possible sites for this magic.

damn, this is cool.

democrat to republican? today's the day!

aaron says that since we're buying a house and owning property, that now we have to be republicans. i say that since we're buying a house in urban american, instead of suburbia, that we can be democrats a little longer.

aaron cooked us our last apartment dinner last night- halibut.

i wonder what he will cook us for our first dinner in our new house.

wish us luck on signing our lives away today!! think of us around 2pm and send good happy energy our way, we're bound to be flying high.

housing maps- google mashup with craigslist

so awhile ago, i blogged about zillow, which is a map tool that estimates the value of properties in any given area.

today i found a cool google maps/craigslist mashup (http://www.housingmaps.com/) that shows craigslist entries on a map with all information displayed for all properties in a sortable list on the side of the page. this is pretty darn cool.









sniffing around on this site reaffirmed that we have bought THE best house that is currently available in minneapolis (nothing can convince us otherwise).

google map- make your own map

google lets you create your own map, with your own locations on it here.

this would be really cool for kat and scott mcgerik. they could put all their favorite restaurants on a map, even give notes and rank them by color or something. wouldn't that be cool?

fastr- a game with flickr

http://www.randomchaos.com/games/fastr/

warning: this is a bit addicting.







you play against other people. it gives you pictures one by one, and you have to figure out what they all have in common (a common flickr tag, specifically)

my highest score was 93.

mastercard ads- new life

ya know, i was starting to think that mastercard needed to leave its brilliant (but old) 'priceless' campaign behind (there are somethings money can't buy, for everything else...).

yes, it has become a part of pop culture and is so great (it's in the realm of 'got milk', i would say, even), but it's starting to get a little old (in my opinion).

however, they have added a little more life to it, by creating some ads for users to 'fill in the blanks' and allowing the community at large to become a part of the ad creation process (they've even done a really nice job getting the commercials ready with placeholder voice over, so users can visualize).

not only have they enlivened the campaign by allowing people to contribute, they are tag-teaming between tv and internet (brilliant) and also collecting data from users to potentially begin a customer relationship (Brilliant- with a capital B).

i'm impressed. they have extended the life of the campaign smartly, into a new frontier.

check it out here.











those advertising people are priceless.

truck for sale- 2000 nissan frontier

if you know anyone who's looking to buy a truck, this one is awesome (car soup ad- all the details).

my brother owned it and maintained it flawlessly (perhaps one could say even obsessively).

it's a texas truck so no snow/salt damage. new tires, has been detailed inside and out by my vehicle body expert brother-in-law, john.

113,000 miles
$8,800 or best offer.














we'd love to sell it soon, so if you know anyone who might be interested, please let me know.

SOLD- we sold the truck yesterday to a cool kat named Pablo. if you see him riding around in it, say hi.

sopranos- google map mashup

this site ads a whole new dimension to the hbo series sopranos. messes with my mind, makes it seem like what i know to be fiction actually happens.

http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/map/ (click on take the tour)













i think this is brilliant. they should have done this for sex in the city!!

i have more friends now

http://ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=54



















i'm steve and i'm a super villian.

mcdonalds too?

all the fast food places are throwing their interactive hat in the ring lately, i guess.

here is mcdonalds latest:

http://www.filetofish.com/GCM/index.html










i think this is weak, personally. almost worse than pizza hut's latest.

update: so i noticed that someone from the filetofish url visited my blog recently. as someone in the interactive industry, i have mixed feelings about that. it's good that they are checking how people are getting to the site, and it's sorta good that they will see my feedback, but i also feel a little guilty that i raked them so hard, since they probably worked hard to make filetofish. i guess that is the industry, right? you make it- some people love it, some people hate it.

buddy, i'm sorry but you got owned

http://aaron.dewitt.justgotowned.com/
















(actually, buddy did just got owned by the bank for a 30 year mortgage)

moving party

we're having a moving party and we're feeding people who come and help us move into our new home. if you're interested in helping (we need all the help we can get), and if you haven't received your very own evite already, let me know and i'll send you one.

crazy snow

so my boss gave me the option to take a snow day today- cuz it snowed like 5 feet overnight (okay, slight exaggeration). i decided to work from home, but first i slept in (mmmm) and then i walked around the neighborhood taking pictures of the pretty snow.


















snow makes me happy.

contingencies lifted- it's ours!!

the offer was accepted
the inspection was immaculate
the appraisal came in just where we needed it to be

the house is ours!!

(there's actually a few tears of relief going on here)

instructables

how fun is this site? http://www.instructables.com/

if you keep refreshing the home page, you get an endless flow of project pictures.

i found instructions for making a marshmallow gun!














you've got to ask yourself one question- do i feel luck?

ethan winer- madman, or genius?

you decide: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6627904867875032821

















he talks about his efforts here: http://www.ethanwiner.com/rondo.html

(this part is a little scary for me to post because it might set high expectations for me, but...)
this guy uses an electric guitar to play one of the peices i'm considering playing for my cello recital- http://www.ethanwiner.com/romberg.mp3
what do you think?

anyone got kids?

tickleu is a cute site- http://www.tickleu.com/

i like kids.


i had this weird dream recently that i was a young teenager, but not myself (makes sense, right?). i was some brunette with a small round mouth (i know cause i looked in the mirror and thought to myself- what a strange small mouth i have) and i was taking care of these kids and trying to keep my mom from abusing them. they were cute and i had a lot of fun with them.


i have weird dreams when i sleep in past 8am.

cuppycake?

i want to meet the person that decided to post this. they are awesome.






http://cuppycake.ytmnd.com/

Richard Harter- a bachelor?

not likely...

not if he can write something like this: http://www.bioteach.ubc.ca/quarterly/?p=108

"...Marsha performs toilet operations #1 and #2 with the seat in the down position. John performs toilet operation #1 with the seat in the up position and toilet operation #2 with the seat in the down position.

If the seat is in the wrong position before performing the toilet operation the position must be changed at an average cost C. Optionally the position may be changed after performing the toilet operation, also at an average cost C.

[Here's my favorite part]

(Changing the position of the seat during the performance of a toilet operation is beyond the scope of this note and is definitely not recommended.)"

poetry to a woman's heart, i tell ya!

pizza hut- keep trying

http://www.pizzahut.com/cheesybites/

apparently- jessica simpson can't even lip sync online...























she looks good, though. wonder if pizza huts main audience is boys.

inspection

the inspector was gushing about how great the house was. it was all he could do to come up with a half page of notes.

i've added more pictures here.

no, i'm not deeply and hopelessly in love with this place. in fact, i can barely stand to be in it (now please oh please let the appraisal go through).

i tried not to fall in love...

...but i couldn't help it. i'm in love with it already.

i'm still nervous about everything not working out, but i am in love with the house.

so i won't hold back pictures any longer, there's no use. i will already be crushed if it falls through, so why not jump all the way in, right?



http://flickr.com/photos/38401287@N00/sets/72057594075448189/

TMGAIHAA

http://www.thingsmygirlfriendandihavearguedabout.com/

if you wanna get lost in someone elses messed up life for a little while, and laugh a bit, check this site out.

thanks lori!

against my better judgement...

i'm posting this news to my blog...

we put an offer on another house today, and it was accepted (AND SIGNED).

i'm afraid to say anything else about it, much less post pictures, for fear that it will vaporize as quickly as the last one did.

but it's a nice house, and we're (gasp) happy that it might, maybe, sorta, kinda, almost be our new home (please, oh please).

it's only fishies...

eating other fishies...















but it's addictive.

http://www.xgenstudios.com/play/fishyclassic

zillow.com

okay, aaron has huge doubts about the accuracy of the information put forth in this site, but i think it's kind of fun to look around at what other people might maybe sort of be paying for their homes.

http://zillow.com/














they are supposed to be improving on the accuracy of this thing all the time...

we counted our chickens...

...before they hatched.

the bank didn't sign the purchase agreement on behalf of the seller. they will foreclose and try to sell the house for more than we offered (and can really afford).

sad.

=(

ikea- refresh

ikea has refreshed their site that i posted previously.













i like the intro, and i still think the navigation is pretty sweet.

good clean slightly-twisted commercials about obesity

these are psa's about obesity. they're actually kind of thoughtful commercials and interesting. they certainly catch your attention, which most ad council ads do.

http://www.adcouncil.org/campaigns/healthy_lifestyles/












i'm posting them because i like to think that little things will help people (me included) get back in shape too (even if obese doesn't describe me, it still needs to happen), and it's nice to see commercials about obesity that aren't condescending.

the butt one is my favorite- 'leave it...'

kubikfoto- neato 3D interactive concept

kubikfoto- this interactive group is giving a whole new meaning to online interaction. imagine picking up the mp3 player at amazon.com, turning it around, playing with it a little.






























i was a little surprised to find nudity in their portfolio site, but it gets the potency of the product across, i suppose.

















this site was a true treat to play around in.

march 17th

so before i go back to the regularly scheduled blog, i just want to say- we seriously did buy a house.

closing on march 17

keep your fingers crossed that everything goes the way it should.

what the heck?

did we just buy a house?



















we did. they accepted our offer. can you believe it?




















this is aaron in the pantry of our new kitchen. woohoo!!

so when jeff sent us this listing to look at and the description looked so good for such a great price we asked him, jokingly, so where's the body hidden?

aaron thinks it is under the front stoop, but we'll have to wait to find out, i guess.

so when we looked at it, we loved it so much we put in the offer and they accepted and now we're in shock!

see the house for yourself here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38401287@N00/

poor kitty

she wants to go outside.















i love her kitty balls-of-fire eyes.

8 houses- tomorrow

maybe we'll find the 'transitional' house of our dreams right away! =)

dj ditty

have you seen this microsite by dell? this is a good friday morning laugher- check it here.

i wanna give a shout out to my friends gabe, gebbie, and tiff taph!














'semiprofessionals only' is awesome.

aaron wrote a poem

he's asking for feedback...

http://aaronsblogthing.blogspot.com/2006/02/posting-poem.html

=)

ooh gross!

that is nasty! why am i posting a picture of my callus?


































because it's my cello callus and i love it and it helps me make a magical shift from first to fourth position.

stare at it, and love it (if you like me).

kat and scott's party pictures

check 'em if you like: pics at flickr.com

color schemers

i like these sites because they help you see what colors will go with any selected color.

helps for visualizing projects...
















http://stylephreak.frogrun.com/cm.php

http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html

http://quakk.blogspot.com/2005/10/color-blender-cool-for-designers.html

mailinator- i still use it sometimes

you can assign yourself an email address, whatever you want it to be. i usually choose susanq@mailinator.com. use the address on some site where you want to validate you have an email address without actually giving them your address. then go check your email on mailinator:

http://mailinator.com/

and grab the validation link, or whatever information they've emailed you. then you're done with it. they don't have your real address, you have their 'service', mailinator dumps whatever junk mail you get from them on a regular basis.

good, clean, fun.

blaupunkt, my favoritest ad/viral ever

i've recently realized my fav of all times hasn't been posted on my blog. with no further delay...

... here it is- blaupunkt

aaron needs a clocky =)

http://www.clocky.net/

'clocky is an alarm clock for people who have trouble getting out of bed (aaron). if you hit the snooze button, clocky will roll off of your nightstand, fall to the floor, and run around the room searching for a place to hide. minutes later, he'll call out for you to find him.'
















i think this is hilarious! i want one.

meet the mudds

this site has done two things for me-
1. reassured me that even companies like jeep have a hard time doing solid, bug free web development.
2. made me realize that successful viral doesn't have to be a good idea. it can be something rediculously corny (when the idea is suggested, someone probably says 'naw, that's stupid'), but if it even smells of the brand, and it's executed well, it can be 'successful' viral.













when someone said, let's make the 'mudd' family microsite, do you think they got laughed at first?

pee and poo

who knew pee and poo could be so funny? (okay, so maybe it's just me)










http://www.peeandpoo.com/eng/flasheng.asp

these have got to be an appropriate gift for someone! must think...

maybe my brother in law. when my sister farts he likes to say "sounds like you need to go wipe."

susan's note to self

don't get too excited.

it doesn't mean your buying a house yet.

you just talked to the mortgage company.

lots of things still have to happen before you can be said to be 'buying a house'.

just keep calm.

it doesn't mean anything.

calm.

the things you can do with legos...

they're not just for kids anymore.

lego suicides- image set
















i know you were going to, but don't forget about jesus.


















i'll never look at legos the same way...

leave your leaf

seems that a lot of sites are using this 'leave your leaf' approach to inspiring interaction with their site/brand. to see your name appear online, i'm starting to wonder if this application goes further than just mild narcissism. for which entities/brands would this be even more successful?













i tried to leave a leaf and it wouldn't validate my birthday...

here's another site with a similar approach
















i couldn't think of any words of hope to give. i'm not very creative i guess, or maybe too cynical.

look, it's another one!

















i've found three of these today, and i was just surfing, not even looking for them. do they give a sense of community, or are they old already?

aaron's xmas gift- chuck close

aaron got me this print of a chuck close self portrait. i put it on my wall at work and i absolutely love it. it is perfect.


































here is my office. it is perfect too.

hooked on a feeling- david hasselhoff (yummy)

my boss showed me this link: http://www.youtube.com/w/Hooked-on-a-feeling?v=Gi2CfuqcUGE&eurl

he denies having a thing for david, but how can i believe him?

spam singles- interesting navigation

it's all one page. when you click, it takes you down the page.

http://www.spamsingles.com/content/

















does this page make you feel like you've been cheated out of a full site?

wendy's- hip to be square

if you had to theorize about wendy's business problem, as it competes with burger king and mcdonald's, would it be that it's not 'different' enough? if so, then you should like their latest microsite: http://www.goodtobesquare.com/














it's different in a cheeky sort of way.

it must be so hard to work on one of the big huge brands. personally, i don't think wendy's can realistically expect to move up too much in the hierarchy.

it's kind of like coke and pepsi, though. they still have to advertise, right?

so if you have to do ads or you die, then wendy's is doing alright. their latest commercial is kinda catchy, and seems to be at least flirting with cool.

http://www.dowhattastesright.com/














just for the record, i like wendy's.

honda civic- the power of dreams

honda has more than one interesting commercial out there right now...











check it here...

solar cooker- now i'm never getting voted off the island

before today, i was thinking i wouldn't be voted off the island (you know... the island) because i could knit and make clothing. now i know i won't be voted off. i can make a solar cooker!

http://www.solarcooking.org/minimum.htm

put a pot in a cardboard box lined with aluminum foil and let it cook.



















this would be kinda fun to use in the boundary waters. a wilderness crockpot. brilliant!

(let's hope we never run out of our aluminum natural resources)

there is a whole world of resources for solar cooking... amazing.
http://www.solarcooking.org/

photoflavor.com- neat images

sometimes it's just nice to see great photography. if you're ever thinking the same, check out this site: http://photoflavor.com/













yummy...

new library- downtown minneapolis

my boss knows the technical name for the thing sticking out over the street off of the new library in downtown minneapolis. whatever you call it, it's definitely unique.















i think i like it, however i haven't figured out why they added a bunch of white texture to all the windows. if you're going to make a building out of glass, don't you want to see out of it?

this is broken

this site has been around awhile, but it's still fun to scan through once in awhile...

http://www.thisisbroken.com/




















this site reminds me of something i once found broken.