Every now and then they actually come up with something that doesn't involve celebrity sex scandals or Paris Hilton's boobs.

Important Things.

Classy Things.

Like a Hermit Crab Beauty Pageant

Sexy.

As is usually the case following the death of a loved one, I've been recently preoccupied with legacies and generally "what's left behind". This rather morbid fixation has lead me onto the path of reading tales of body-snatching, cremation, embalming, and all the rather bizarre rituals that accompany death.

After having a morning conversation with Jon on funerals and what we'd like have (cremation? , open-casket?, New-Orleans-esq parade through main street?) we both came to the conclusion that we'd like something to represent us that wasn't necessarily a body propped up in a box. That's a tough one. I understand the use of cemetery headstones – the permanence and the knowledge that, at least for a few hundred years, it'll be there – but, it still means taking up a plot of usable land that will be rarely visited.

Jon's answer was a website.

Now to be fair this is nothing new. Most of Jon's answers to EVERYTHING involve a website or bit of programming. I immediately dismissed it from my mind. How could a bit of server space and a URL properly express the complexity and mystery (admit it – at one point, most of us have looked a headstone and wondered about the person buried underneath) that comes when someone is no longer with us. To me Jon's idea seemed a bit cheap, like a MySpace or Facebook for the dead.

Definitely not an appropriate place for the "superpoke" application.

This morning I saw something that changed that idea, and gave me the hope the maybe there is a way to express a persons life in that intangible/tangible way that comes from memory and wonder. The kind of experience where you have no idea about this person's life, but you feel that connection that I previously thought that could only be found by touching a bit of carved marble.

The Daily Photos of Jamie Livingston show one Polaroid a day, every day, from 1979 until the artist's death in 1997. There are no explanations or captions that explain what is happening. Many of the photos are blurry and most are of abstract subjects but as you flip through, you feel the connection.

Sigh. I guess this means Jon was right. Dang it.

Dance puppets! Dance!

Cute Kittens Bop Their Head - Watch more free videos

Yes it's back.....with boobies.....HD boobies.....and yoda?

Of course this is a great time to mention the findings from a recent 2007 study from Harvard that found that Kid's who Don't Play Video Games are at Risk [Kotaku]

Vader would be pleased.

Impressed? This video shows 21 members of the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe (all members are deaf) performing what is known Thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance.

While yes it did end up in Jon and I arguing over what types of products will spring from this technology, this is an undoubtedly cool machine.

For more multitouch goodies, look no further than the works of Jeff Han. Now a consultant for NYU's Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, he also runs his start up company "Perceptive Pixal" - www.perceptivepixal.com

Apple never fails to amaze me. Haven't been watching the news? Let me give you a summary of the iPhone.

June 29, 2007 - The Apple iPhone goes on sale. Despite a hefty $499 price tag for the 4GB model ($599 for 8GB) and a rather crappy plan from only AT&T, the phone sells wildly. During the first 30 hours of the launch weekend 270,000 are sold.

Sept 5, 2007 - The iPhone is projected to sell it's 1 millionth unit by the end of the month. Steve Jobs announces the release of the iTouch (think iPhone without the phone) and a dramatic $200 price cut on the iPhone.

So in two months the price of the iPhone has dropped drastically, a new non-phone-nifty-as-heck product (as well as others) has come out, and all before the holiday spending spees kick in.

So who's not happy with that? Oh yeah, the folks who paid 200 bucks more for their iPhones two months ago. While yes this happens in technology all the time, and yes you probably think it was still worth the money I don't blame anyone for being a little angry about it.

But wait....this may peak your interest.

It has to be the first time I've EVER seen something like this.

Yes I've finally done what my husband has feared and purchased my very first Apple computer. I've purchased (thanks to a 0% APR credit card) one of the mid-range MacBooks, and slapped on an extra gig of RAM for good measure. I'm currently on week 3 of the one-mouse buttoned wonder and I have to say......I like it.

Sure there was the inevitable learning curve associated with a childhood exposure to nothing but Windows machines, but the more I learned the more I realized just how much EASIER the Apple machines are to use. The labtop came ready to go (like the iPods even the battery is fully charged for you), and immediately connected to our WiFi in the house starting the registration programming. Within five minutes the computer was ready to go, without the 20 extra pieces of demo software that would normally drive me insane uninstalling. Want to save a picture from a website? Click and drag it onto the desktop. Want to upload your photos from a digital camera? Plug in the camera and hit the 'Import' button from iPhoto, which by the way is an AWSOME program to use. The entire design of the OS is to make doing the things you do every day (Internet, Photos, Music, ect) as easy as possible. The Help screen, which is mostly a search bar, give you the answers you're actually looking for. When I'm learning how to do things with this laptop, I'm realizing every day how much easier it is compared to a Windows PC.

The inevitable problems? Price (duh) - although now that I have one I understand how Apple can get away with it. Availibility of Programming - biggest problem is the price of available softare, because I'm not a "power user": a software (nonMac) developer, gamer, or tweaker of all things open source this hasn't been a huge problem...yet.

Week Three has left me in a deep infatuation. Week 300? We'll see.

Yesterday marks the opening of Virgin America, a low cost inter-US airline service. After readingBoingBoing's first review of Virgin America" I so want to buy a ticket. My first thought is that this has to be the same feeling folks got back in the days when taking a plane trip was more a luxury experience and less a nessesary (and often awful) experience. The planes include features such as: 2 electric outlets per 3 seats, USB connections, and planewide WiFi everywhere, and (my favorite) white leather seats with a massage feature in first class

Participating cities are still few and far between, but the prices seem to be comparable to other airlines. You can reach the offical site here.

Available with or without flies.

Hilary Wiezbenski:Melting Wall Clocks"