Image courtesy of ThinkGeek.

So, in honor of the festivities that doubtless are going on in at least one geek’s parents’ basement, here is my favorite towel tip.

Sorry if this is too much info, but when I work out I sweat buckets. I keep a towel handy to mop my face, my arms, and to wipe off my gym equipment. It doesn’t take long for the towel to become so icky that I prefer letting the sweat drip off my brow rather than using it to dry my mug.

Midway through a grueling workout you may feel a little hesitant using your nasty gym towel to wipe your sweaty brow.

Don’t Panic!

The best way I’ve found to keep my towel drier and/or more hygienic is to designate one side to be used only with my face. For simplicity’s sake I always look for the tag and then turn over the towel—that side is designated for my face only. The opposite side is for my arms and the flip side is for gym equipment.

This is a simple towel hack, but I’ve found that it keeps things from getting yucky.

Gym rats, Steelers fans, and interstellar hitchhikers the galaxy over can all agree on one thing—the towel is about the most massively useful thing ever invented.

Do you have any geeky tips for today? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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The Ramones’ 1976 debut album. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What is it about punk rock that continues to attract legions of young, middle class, American WASP fans? That’s a blog theme for another day. Today, I’m only interested in the best fake names in one of my favorite musical genres.

For reasons totally unbeknownst to me, punk rock has a plethora of colorful (usually black and blue) characters who decided that their given names weren’t hardcore enough for their edgy onstage personas. Here are the seven best fake names in all of punk rock.

1) Johnny Rotten

Image via HiLobrow.

Johnny Rotten brought Anarchy back to the UK. He is mostly recognized as lead singer of The Sex Pistols, arguably the best punk group ever.

2) Rat Scabies

Image via Last.fm.

Maybe a name like Christopher Millar wasn’t dark enough to be a member of early British punk pioneers The Damned. I don’t really know if Rat Scabies was an attempt at humor or some disgusting ailment suffered by the former Millar.

3) Pat Smear

Image via Billboard.

Before he was fighting Foo or touring with Nirvana, Smear was a member of highly influential Germs. Say what you will about Smear, but he had a great sense of humor. I can’t think of his name without thinking of Leslie Nielsen’s classic Naked Gun movies. “I must kill Pat Smear … ”

4) Sid Vicious

Image via Coolspotters.

Sid was bandmates with the aforementioned Johnny Rotten in the Sex Pistols. The story of Sid’s life and mutually destructive relationship with Nancy Spungen is a cautionary rock and roll fable. Drugs and humans—especially psychotic humans—don’t mix.

5) Lee Ving

Image via Avelyman.

Not only was Ving the front man of the hardcore punk band Fear, but he was also the first guy to get whacked in my favorite movie based on a board game; 1985′s Clue.

6) Jello Biafra

Image via ipass.net.

I remember drawing Dead Kennedys logos on my Pee Chee folders long before I knew anything about the band or their outrageous lead singer. This guy’s name is just plain whacky. I’m not sure what he was sniffing when he came up with it, but any guy who can pens lyrics about Star-Bellied Sneetches and rails against the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge is alright in my book.

7) Every Single Member of The Ramones

Image via Max’s Kansas City.

Consisting of Dee Dee, Joey, Johnny and a revolving cast of other guys (Tommy, Marky, Richie, Elvis, and CJ) whose last name was not really Ramone, the Ramones are often credited as the first punk rock group.

They proved that you don’t need to master more than three chords, write songs lasting longer than two minutes, or use your real name to be punk.

In the words of Cheech Marin:

“[it's] just punk rock. You don’t have to know how to play. All you just got to do is be a punk.”

Are there any other great punk rock pseudonyms out there? Sound off in the comments below.

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Sorry Spider-Man and Batman Begins; I’ve got a new favorite superhero movie. Today I saw the Avengers. Again. And guess what? It’s … still … awesome! This time I took Bongo & Lulabelle and they loved it, too.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Avengers. To me the team was always just the big three—Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor (none of whom were particular favorites of mine, but whose recent movies were all very, very good)—and a rotating cast of B-list superheroes who couldn’t hold their own titles.

Why do I like the movie so much more than I ever did the comics? There’s one major reason and he’s the “ enormous green rage monster” who stole every scene he appears in. The physical humor that played through in his fight with Loki and later in his sucker punch to teammate Thor were priceless! I can’t remember laughing so hard during an action movie ever.

Nothing against Eric Bana or Edward Norton, they’re both fine actors in their own right, but Mark Ruffalo played a better Bruce Banner than either of them ever were. I believed that he was equal parts genius and monster.

Have you seen the Avengers, yet? What did What did you think about Marvel’s not-so jolly, green giant? Sound off in the comments below.

All images via Cover Browser unless otherwise noted.

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Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972). Cover art by John Romita, Sr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We’re going to see the Avengers tonight, so to commemorate the occasion I thought now would be the perfect time for me to post my all-time favorite super hero catchphrases.

I’ll be restricting this post to only characters from the Marvel Comics pantheon of heroes. So without further ado …

1)

What the Hulk lacked in the speech and brains department he more than made up for in brute strength and rage. Unable to eloquently express what he intends to do the simple “Hulk Smash” sums it all up.

2)

Aunt Petunia’s favorite nephew, the everlovin’ blue-eyed Thing was the main muscle of Marvel’s First Family of Comics—the Fantastic Four. This is the comic book equivalent of Popeye’s “That’s all I can stand, and I can’t stand no more!”

3)

Luke Cage (AKA Power Man) was the first African-American super hero I remember that didn’t have the word black in his name—I’m looking at you Black Lightning, Black Panther, Black Goliath, etc. Obviously, he was written by guys who were neither African-American, nor had actually spoken to an African-American themselves or else they never would have made this poor excuse for a jive turkey of a catchphrase.

4)

I’m at a loss for what this actually means. I know what a host is, but I’ve never seen a hoary host. And don’t get me started on Hoggoth! It’s only memorable to me because it’s the only thing I remember Dr. Strange every saying.

5)

One of the best things about Spider-Man was that Peter Parker was an equally great character in his own right. At the heart of it all, he’s just a kid. He’s got amazing, spectacular, and sensational powers mind you, but he’s still just a nerdy, wisecracking kid. When he said that his senses were tingling you knew something was gonna happen.

6)

Captain America may have said it first, but it’s been used by every other chairperson of the Marvel’s premier super squad.

7)

Stan, the Man, Lee is a comic book legend. He penned nearly every single of the above idioms. What else can you say when you’ve said it all?

Well, true believers, there you have it—my list of the best catchphrases in all of Marvel Comicsdom. What are your favorite super hero quotes? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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PlugBug Dual Charger (Photo credit: Photo Giddy)

Now, I’d been a good boy, so despite his initial misgivings Santa obliged and Christmas morning had a shiny, red PlugBug waiting for me in my stocking. Since then, it’s earned a spot amidst my favorite things.

The PlugBug is a small device that slips on your standard MacBook Air/Pro power adapter to give it a turbo-powered USB charger. It provides a full 10 watts of power via the USB slot, so your iPad or iPhone charge much (much, much, much) quicker than leaving it plugged into your Mac’s standard USB slots.

Small enough to toss into your laptop bag, the PlugBug is great for those occasions when you don’t have enough outlets to go around for all your gadgets whether you’re at home, in the office, or on the road.

If none of this is making any sense to you, check out this video from the Twelve South.

It’s a little bitty, teeny weeny, thing they call the PlugBug…

When I first saw the PlugBug I knew I wanted one. The concept is so simple that I’m surprised Apple hadn’t thought of it themselves. If they don’t buy the company, they should at least license the idea from them. After using it (all the time) for the past few months I love it just as much as when I first received it.

If you’ve got a MacBook, an iPad (or iPhone), and $35 then you owe it to yourself to pick up a PlugBug. You won’t regret it.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Last Saturday we went to see the Houston Aeros take on the San Antonio Rampage—two teams in the AHL, professional hockey’s minor league—and I loved … every … minute … of … it!

I used to think I did’t like hockey. It turns out though, that I just don’t like NHL hockey. Growing up, my Czech aunt took me to more than my fair share of LA Kings games. I always enjoyed the experience, but I never really cared about the actual game.

Despite the fact that I attended games regularly and even got to see the Great One play, I never became fan. After the game on Saturday, however, I’m convinced that it’s just the NHL I don’t like and not hockey itself.

My major gripes with NHL hockey games are that

1. The games are too low scoring. Every game I’ve ever seen to was like 1-0 or 2, 0. I want to see goals!
2. The NHL has legislated fighting out of the sport. Hockey without fights is just Men’s team figure skating.
3. I always had trouble following the game. It doesn’t help that at NHL games good seats are so expensive. I can never see the puck from up in the nosebleeds.

So, how did the Aeros game change my opinion about hockey? The score was 5-3, there were a couple of decent fights, and we sat ten rows behind the goal without breaking the bank.

I don’t care that I don’t know the rules of the game, consider me sold on AHL hockey. I’ll be back for more.

Do you prefer professional or minor league sports? Who’s your favorite team? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Fortunately, the Internet is full of places to get free music. Some of them even let you download it legally, too!

Apple has a whole section devoted to music (and movies, and apps, etc.) that are Free on iTunes. Not to be outdone, Amazon lets you browse their MP3 Store for free downloads. Now Google is getting in on the game.

Enter: Google Play

If you haven’t checked it out already, be sure to head over to Google Play. Their interface is nothing special and the selection of music is no better than iTunes or Amazon MP3. However, they’ve got a much, much better selection of free music.

Head over to the Free Song Archive at the Google Play Magnifier Blog. Currently, they’ve got over 200 fantastic songs from the likes of Train, Social Distortion, “Weird Al” Yankovic, System of a Down, Mariah Carey, Shakira, Johnny Cash, Carrie Underwood, Whitney Houston, John Mayer, etc.

Image via freebee360

As a bonus, be sure to check out this playlist full of quality tracks from Radiohead, Snoop Dogg, Gorillaz, Daft Punk, and more Coachella Music Festival All-Stars.

What’s your favorite source for great, free MP3 downloads? Sound off in the comments below.

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1. Anthony Davis

Image via Business Insider.

This past March, I wasn’t so much obsessed with NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament as I was with fierce-looking unibrow of University of Kentucky basketball phenom, Anthony Davis. Don’t worry about him though. He’s getting ready to count the millions he’ll be getting when he is drafted into the NBA later this year.

2. Gerald Samson

Image via Simpsons Wiki.

Gerald, AKA “The Monobrow”, Samson is the arch-nemesis of Maggie Simpson. How could a baby possibly have any enemies you may ask? She probably didn’t like the way he was looking at her.

3. Frida Kahlo

Image via Wikipedia.

I’ll say this for Frida, at least she was honest. She painted how she looked. I mean, if I had her talent as a painter I’d have been tempted to not fill in the space above and to the center of my eyes.

4. The Red Bird

Image via Rovio.

It’s no coincidence that the angriest looking of the Angry Birds is the one with one big, honkin’ eyebrow. Known only as the Red Bird, this avian antagonist flings himself at anything shielding his sworn porcine adversaries.

5. George Harrison

Image via ZTams.

George Harrison was my favorite Beatle not named John or Paul. Amazingly, he also wrote all of the best Beatles’ songs not written by John or Paul. What George lacked in the not being John or Paul department he more than made up for in the having a giant caterpillar over his eyes department.

6. Bert

Image via Muppet Wiki.

Oh, Bert! He’s the nerdy half of my favorite Sesame Street duo. From his pigeon obsession to his love of checkers and the letter W, everything about him reeks of lameness. Not being able to grow a mustache under his nose he decided to grow one over his eyes instead.

7. Wally Moon

Image via Frank Kelsey’s flickr.

I’d never heard of Wally Moon until I stumbled across this blog post about the worst baseball cards of all time in which Moon’s brows are prominently featured. Wally Moon is to unibrows what Tom Selleck is to mustaches—in a word, epic.

“Eyebrows. There should be two.”

Yes, I know I totally just quoted Miss Congeniality right there. However, truth is truth regardless of the source. Remember—tweezers—they’re not just for splinters.

Am I missing anyone from the list of epic eyebrows? Sound off in the comments below.

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In a PC world when you use the familiar Alt-Tab keystroke it cycles through all open windows. The OS X equivalent, Command-Tab, switches from one app to another, however—not all windows in all apps.

This can be frustrating if you’re trying to navigate between multiple open Finder windows for example …

… or if you’re using an app with a multi-window user interface like MarsEdit.

To quickly switch from one window to another in the same application use the keyboard combo Command and ` (the key just above Tab on the left side of your Mac’s keyboard).

This little shortcut should save you some frustration. I wish I’d known about it much earlier.

What are your favorite OS X shortcuts? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Don’t let April Fools Day catch you off guard this year—be prepared! I’ve got the perfect prank for you to play on your family, friends, and co-workers.

Chances are really good that everyone you know has at least one of the following: an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or PC. I’ve got a prank for you that you can use on all of those devices.

The AutoCorrect or text substitution feature built into OS X, iOS, and Microsoft Office can be an amazing productivity boost. But, it can also be used to freak out your unsuspecting family, friends and co-workers this April Fools Day.

On a Mac

In this example I’m using a Mac running OS X 10.7.3 (Lion), but it should also work on 10.6 (Snow Leopard). First, open the System Preferences app.

Launch the Language & Text Preference Pane.

Click on the plus sign (+) to create a new symbol or text substitution.

If I were your victim, you’d want to think of something I type all the time, My Name (where My Name is the persons name or whatever text you want to have AutoCorrect change), for example. Enter that in the Replace column.

Now, here’s the best part—in the With column enter the text you want to be replaced when your prankee types My Name. Because I’m so cool and sophisticated I would go with something like Poop.

Be sure to close the System Preferences app to cover your tracks. After you’ve added your entry to AutoCorrect it will be available in most of the apps on the Mac: Mail, iCal, TextEdit, Pages, Keynote, Numbers, etc.

Now, imagine the following scenario. I, your hapless target am completing a moving letter in TextEdit and have just typed My Name.

Bang, I’ve just been pranked!

Now, let’s see how to do this on a PC.

In Microsoft Office 2010

For this example I used a PC running Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010. To my knowledge it should also work on Windows XP or Vista using Office 2003 or greater.

Go to the File menu in an Office 2010 application, like Excel in this example. Click on Options.

Click on Proofing.

Then, click on the AutoCorrect Options button.

Similar to what you did on a Mac above, enter the text you want to change in the Replace column and what you want the substitution in the With column.

To keep things consistent we’ll go with My Name and Poop again. Click on OK to save your changes and then close out of the Options window.

Even though you added the AutoCorrect in Excel, it will be accessible on all Office 2010 programs including Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

So, when My Name is typed …

You get Poop.

On an iPad or iPhone

Lastly, let’s see how to add AutoCorrect entries to an iOS device—an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch.

Open the Settings app and tap on General

Tap on Keyboard.

Then, tap on Shortcuts.

To add an entry tap on the plus sign (+) in the upper right hand corner.

Entering AutoCorrect shortcuts is a little different in iOS. First, type in the Phrase or word you want to substitute. Again, we’ll go with our old standby, Poop.

Next, type in the Shortcut you want substituted. Please note that it must be one word only. So instead of My Name you’ll have to just use Name in this example.

Tap Save and close out of the Settings app.

The next time the recipient of your pranking prowess prepares a message in Mail.app and enters their Name they’ll get, you guessed it, Poop.

One quirk with iOS devices is that before the AutoCorrect occurs they may actually see a little popup before the text substitution happens. This would give them the option of tapping the little ‘x’ next to the substitution to cancel it. Given the proliferation of humorous AutoCorrect sites on the Internet, it’s a safe bet that your target will fall victim to your prank.

Now you’re all set for April Fools Day. Go forth and prank merrily.

What pranks do you plan on pulling this year? Or what are the best pranks you’ve pulled on April Fools Days past? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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