Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category:
Check Out This Dad’s LEGO Chess Set Kickstarter
Roger Sinasohn is a writer (we both wrote for AOL ParentDish before it became part HuffPo) and a dad and he had a great idea for a Kickstarter project — a LEGO Chess Set. I’ll let him explain.
I backed it. (I like t-shirts, and I like helping people with stuff like this when I can.) If you’d like to contribute, hit the link below.
LEGO My Chess Set by Roger Sinasohn — Kickstarter.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
More Cool Space News
Ready for more cool space news? This Gizmodo headline had me at “hello world” — NASA Will Reformat Mars Rover’s Flash Memory From 125 Million Miles Away.
How neat is that? According to Gizmodo, “NASA’s Opportunity rover is still trundling across the surface of Mars… But its software is getting bogged down, so NASA’s doing a full system backup, memory wipe, and reboot. It’s just like your routine computer cleanup, just from the next planet over.”
The Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity (note to future Geek Gold Gard parents — good names for twins!) have 256MB of flash memory each.
Imagine it this way. It is the Dark Times, the days of Windows 95, 98, and (Lords of Cobol help us all) Windows ME. Eventually the computer running said operating systems becomes so filled with cruft that it is unusable. (To be fair, this happened to me recently with Windows 7, although that was more about the bloatware that came pre-installed on the laptop. But I digress.) You reformat the hard drive and re-install the OS. (In my case, after several years of this, you give up, buy a Mac, and become an iHole.)
Now imagine that you are doing something similar, but remotely. REALLY remotely. Like, you’re on Earth and the computer is on frickin’ MARS.
Remember, we promised to get more excited about space travel.
This XKCD comic was in the comments section on Gizmodo, but I’m reposting it here because (a) I can (XKCD is cool that way) and (b) it’s funny.
NASA Will Reformat Mars Rover’s Flash Memory From 125 Million Miles Away – Gizmodo
Image via Wikipedia
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Grumpy Pants Tries To Shut Down Kid’s Lemonade Stand
This of course happened in Florida. Because, you know. Florida.
“Lemonade with straws” by newleaf01 – Lemonade-009375. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Gawker points us towards an article on from the Tampa Bay Times about a 12-year-old boy with a lemonade stand. Apparently the boy’s neighbor is not happy and is trying to get the stand shut down.
(Note: We removed the embedded video because it was auto-playing and we think that’s annoying.)
This quote from Gawker was my favorite:
The Times reports that his most recent email to City Hall complained that T.J.’s lemonade stand was back for the summer, “AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!”
h/t Florida Man Asks Police to Shut Down Kid’s “Illegal” Lemonade Stand (Gawker)
via Tampa Bay Times
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
The Six Dollar Man – Sesame Street Video
How I found this is too complicated/boring to explain. But finding the video of this vintage Sesame Street sketch, The Six Dollar Man, made me smile. Hope it does the same for you.
This is, of course, a parody of The Six Million Dollar Man, a show I also look back upon fondly.
h/t The Six Dollar Man – Muppet Wiki.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
A Nice Broadway Tribute to Robin Williams
From Theatermania.com, a video of a nice Broadway tribute to Robin Williams, courtesy of Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart, who plays The Genie in the stage version of the Disney musical; Williams, of course, played the part in the animated feature film.
Here’s Robin Williams in the movie (animated, obviously, both literally and figuratively). RIP, condolences to the man’s family and friends.
Broadway’s Aladdin Pays Tribute to Robin Williams With “Friend Like Me” Sing-Along – Video Flash – Aug 13, 2014 – Theatermania.com
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Comics And Robin Williams Collide (Links)
There’s a series of panels in the graphic novel ‘The Watchmen’ in which Rorschach (probably my favorite character in the book) delivers the following ‘joke’:
Man goes to doctor. Says he’s depressed. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says he feels all alone in a threatening world where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain. Doctor says, “Treatment is simple. Great clown, Pagliacci, is in town tonight. Go and see him. That should pick you up.” Man bursts into tears. Says, “But doctor, I am Pagliacci.”
Here’s the “joke” as portrayed in the movie version of ‘Watchmen’.
Personally I prefer the original, which you can see at ComicBook.com, or right here.
For anyone wondering what the hell this has to do with Robin Williams, here is the explanation from ComicBook.com:
Echoing the series’ central question of “who watches the watchmen?” the joke poses the question of “who makes the clown laugh?” It’s a question many fans find themselves asking with Williams’ passing. So many fans turned to him and his work for cheering up when they were down, but who was there to do the same for him?
If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with depression, remember that the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s is open 24/7, and that the number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
I appreciate that they put in the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s phone number. If there is anything we can learn from Williams’ untimely demise, it’s that suicide is not a joke and not limited to those whose lives appear to be crappy. Depression is very real and should be taken seriously.
Our condolences to Robin Williams’ family, friends, and loved ones.
Watchmen Joke Goes Viral After Robin Williams’ Death | Comicbook.com.
Related articles (Note: These are offsite links; DaddyTips takes no responsibility for outside content.)
Male CEO Opts Out
Via the New York Times, a story (really a personal blog post) from Max Schireson, the current CEO of MongoDB, who decided to step down from the position in order to spend more time with his family. In other words, he opted out.
The blog post is fairly straightforward and worth reading, but this is the line I decided to share:
Friends and colleagues often ask my wife how she balances her job and motherhood. Somehow, the same people don’t ask me.
I’ll take it a step further. People don’t ask women who are married to successful men “what do you do?” Men, at least this man (I’m referring to me), are always asked what they do. “Father” isn’t enough. SAHD WAHD is the real answer, but it requires explaining. I usually answer “writer”, “primary caregiver”, or both, depending on the situation.
At the risk of tooting my own horn (note: I don’t even own a horn), this is a topic I’ve been talking about for years. I wrote about it on ForbesWoman, AOL ParentDish, and anyplace else I had the opportunity. It’s a very important thing to point out. Every parent makes choices. The expectations, however, are drastically different for men and women. I’ll quote myself again: there is a magazine called ‘Working Mother’, but there will never be a magazine called ‘Working Father.’
In an ideal world, Schireson’s tale wouldn’t be a major story. He’s making a choice that working women (a really annoying term that we really should be past but we’re not) are expected to make every single day. Women are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Men, on the other hand, tend to receive praise for opting out.
Obviously not everyone feels the same way. There were some seriously negative comments posted on the AOL article I wrote in 2009. A lot of people believe that men should go to work and women should stay home and focus on raising the kids. That is still the way things work in the majority of households in the United States, at least as far as I know.
To clarify, my points on this matter are the following:
– Men do not have to be the primary bread-winner. They can be primary caregivers. I don’t know if that’s what Max Schireson’s role will be in his family; his children aren’t babies. Still, he made a choice, and it’s a valid one.
– This should not be such a big deal. Think about the story for a moment. As you can see below, every media outlet from The Today Show on down covered what is essentially a personal decision made by a parent who happens to have a job. Why does this matter? Why, in the 21st century, are we still so stuck on traditional gender roles?
– None of what I say here should be construed as being disparaging to Mr. Schireson in any way. This should go without saying, but since the Interwebs is where nuance goes to die, I want to make it clear that I respect what this particular parent decided to do. I would also respect him if he stayed on as CEO because he saw it as a way to make a lot of money and secure his family’s future. In fact, I would feel the same way if a woman were to make either decision. These are personal matters. Not everything works for everybody else.
– Not everyone has the luxury of being able to make this choice. This is important. Single parents generally need to work full-time (unless they have a lot of money socked away; if so, good for them). Again — nuance. Not all situations are the same.
Personally, I think it’s great that Mr. Schireson decided to pull back from what sounds like a hectic work schedule in order to be around for his kids. I think it’s great that he is in a financial position to do so. I wish him and his family nothing but the best.
And I really, truly wish that we didn’t have to talk about this topic any more. Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in.
via Why I am leaving the best job I ever had | Max Schireson’s blog, h/t the New York Times
