Ice Ice, Baby

There's really no topic today interesting enough to devote an entire paragraph to. So instead, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite pictures that I took today from all the ice that has accumulated from our "winter storm." Fortunately, classes are back on tomorrow at 11AM and so our cabin fever can cease (plus I can finally get a decent workout in). Sadly, I don't think it'll be warm enough to go to Copa. Anyway, on to the pictures.

Frozen grass!

The trees got pretty cold, too

Look how thick the layer of ice was on our stairs!

I've probably mentioned this before, but just a reminder: it's always a good idea to try buying your books online before going to your college's official book store because they have rip-off prices. This article is just more along the lines of that with regard to a site called Chegg that provides a free online marketplace for students to buy/sell their textbooks. I'm curious as to how they manage to stay in business like this though. Remember how I reported that IE 7 reached 100 million downloads? It turns out that this didn't correspond to a jump in market share but rather virtually all the downloads were upgrades from IE 6. Guess they didn't really dent Firefox's share after all. Ouch. Apparently, there's a new application called Joost coming out using P2P technology to show you TV, though I'm not sure if it's real TV or just video podcasts (I have a feeling that it's a little of both). Anyway, I signed up for the beta and will give you guys the scoop if I get in. One of the largest search engines for torrents, isoHunt, has been shut down by its primary ISP. They promise to be back online tomorrow though, and are unabashed in their efforts to provide its aggregating services. That's the spirit! Don't let The Man get you down, isoHunt! I reported on Sunday that Cingular was becoming AT&T, though my explanation wasn't very extensive. If you didn't catch Monday's Colbert Report, then you'll want to see this for the full explanation of the name change. Lastly, if you're a web developer, then you'll foam at the mouth when you see this.

Let me start you out with some trailers here. The first is for a Korean monster movie called The Host, and word on the grapevine is that it's one of the best films of its genre. The trailer gets me interested in it because it seems like a slightly different kind of plot line and I genuinely am curious as to what happens in the end. The other trailer is for Sunshine, and it looks really intense, but I can't see myself really getting into it. It does have a semi-realistic premise though, and it is Danny Boyle (of 28 Days Later fame). There are rumors floating around that Robert Rodriguez is getting tired of waiting on Angelina Jolie for Sin City 2 and has decided to try to vie for Rachel Weisz (who I think would be a much hotter choice) instead. I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking for another actress, the question is who. Lastly, I found a pretty crazy spoiler for Spider-man 3, but I want to caution you that it's an extremely bad idea to read this as it pretty much reveals the end of the movie. I decided to read it to see if it would improve my opinion of the movie, and I think it has in a way. It provides an interesting enough ending to properly conclude a Raimi-directed trilogy of Spider-man movies, though I'm not sure how believable it would be.

Now for a scientific Wednesday Mind Hump (science has never been so humptastic):

1. Ben Franklin conducted many experiments with electricity. What is your favorite gadget or appliance that uses electricity?
Probably my computer =P Even though I've been iced in for two days it's still kept me plenty entertained.

2. Ben also invented Bifocals. They help your eyes see better as they age. What sense or part of your body do you wish could be improved?
My eyesight sucks, so probably that. Or maybe my hair. My hair grows too fast and I haven't found a better hairstyle than the one I currently maintain. I'm ready to go for a change in my hair, if it's possible.

3. Ben Franklin lived in Philadelphia. What comes to mind when you think of Philadelphia?
Other than cheese steaks? Um, well I think it was our nation's first capital? Or so Haley Joel Osment claims.