Web Stuff Friday: Best-of-Craigslist Favorites, Volume 7

Here is another installment.

Wanted: Husband--The best part is the last line
Woman Seeks Man for Manly Duties--I know the guy for her.
Dear Best Buy #305--Really gross. Funny, but gross.

Web Stuff Friday: Bathtub Riding Mykonos

Here are some really cool videos.

Keith Loutit is amazing. His videos look like stop action with little figurines, but they are actually put together with real photos of real people.

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Tomas Nilsson needs to do more videos like Little Red Riding Hood Revamp. I want to see him do the Three Little Pigs and other stories.

Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Sean Pecknold did this and other music videos for the band Fleet Foxes.

Mykonos from Grandchildren on Vimeo.

Music Monday: My Favorite Carts from WGMU

When I was a college radio DJ, we used to keep lots of music on carts. Each cart was a tape in a case that looked like an 8-track tape, but each cart was simply a continuous loop of a single song, announcement, commercial, or other sound bite.

To play a cart, all you had to do was grab a cart off the wall of the studio, jam the cart into one of the cart players, and hit the big, white button. No need to cue up a needle on a record. No need to be gentle with the vinyl. Carts were fun and easy.

We created our own carts from albums and singles we had lying around the station. To record a cart, all you had to remember was "Moo-Bang." This helped with the timing for starting the turntable and hitting the Record button on the cart recording deck.

Anyway, I can't remember most of the carts we had, but here are a few:

• King Crimson: Sleepless
• The Dream Academy: Life in a Northern Town
• Psychedelic Furs: Love My Way

Carts have been replaced by CDs and computers in most radio stations, but I have fond memories of them from my time at WGMU.

If anyone reads this who worked at WGMU between 1985 and 1987, drop me a line or post a comment with your memories of carts.

Web Stuff Friday: Frog Debt Fantasy

Frog Leap Test took me pretty close to the two-minute time limit.

The U.S. Treasury Department keeps us informed about The Debt to the Penny and Who Holds It.

Sand Fantasy: These are sand art videos. I hate the music, but the art is impressive.

• 2009: You've Got a Friend
• 2008: Love
• Let's Get Together

Taking Working From Home Seriously

The Post had an article a bit ago As Cuts Loom, Will Working From Home Lead to a Layoff? and parts of the article bothered me.

"That's what it feels like we're returning to. Work as many hours as you possibly can. Make yourself indispensable. Don't ever complain. Don't ever ask for anything," she said. "I'm just horrified we may as well just forget the last 20 years."

One little sentence in this bothers me: "Make yourself indispensable." Umm... This seems like what everyone should be doing. She probably didn't mean it, but the article read to me like "We've had a sweet deal for a while, but now it's time to start working hard."

Two of the hardest-working, most indispensable people I know are women with flexible work schedules. To me, the article seemed to imply that now is the time for women who have flexible work schedules to start making themselves valuable. This attitude is an insult to people (especially women) who work hard even if they have flexible work arrangements.

The Budget Problem

FederalBudget.com is really simple, but still quite effective for me. The bar graphs make it pretty clear that DoD, HHS, Social Security, and servicing the debt are the biggies.

Huge entitlements + Aging population = Impending budget catastrophe

Now, you can take your pick. Read a short, medium, or long article about the problem:

• Short: The Brookings Institution (from 2006)--Domestic Entitlements and the Federal Budget
• Medium: Concord Coalition--Entitlements
• Long: If you want to wallow in the numbers and really geek out, read this 2005 article from the Heritage Foundation: Entitlement-Driven Long-Term Budget Substantially Worse Than Previously Projected.

My fear is that the government is going to keep kicking these problems down the road. How will it end? Whenever and however it ends, it will be very ugly.

TED Talks, Volume 3: Climate and Energy

Climate change and energy are two of our biggest challenges. We need to have smart, creative people working on solutions for these problems.

David Keith: A surprising idea for "solving" climate change
I like that he starts by talking about how we have done so little so far. Frankly, the discussion goes downhill after that first minute or so, but the beginning is worth watching.

Juan Enriquez: Why can't we grow new energy?
Interesting perspective.

Saul Griffith: Inventing a super-kite to tap the energy of high-altitude wind
Wow. This dude is amazing. I'm glad there are people out there who think and create like he does.