MrBaconpants.com

on December 28, 2007

. 6 Comments

I know a few of you out there have been going through bacon withdrawal (Matt). I would like to report that I am alive and well. I decided to take a vacation and visit some family out of town. I will be back to updating on a regular basis on New Years Eve. I have a lot of big plans for 2008 and I will be sharing them with you then.

To make sure you don’t miss any updates in 2008 you should subscribe to my RSS feed. That way you will always be in the know.

Lastly, if you find any bacon news that you think I should cover, email me or leave a comment. Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog. I can’t wait to see you all again next year.

The War between MySpace and Facebook

Published

on December 19, 2007

. 21 Comments

There seems to be this war between Facebook users and MySpace users. It’s not as violent as the Mac vs. PC war but people seem to get just as fired up about it. Here is a pro Facebook post from Tech Crunch that says the MySpace vs. Facebook decision is an IQ test. I tried to find a pro MySpace blog post but most of them were too poorly written to post. Most of them just said, “MySpace Rocks! Facebook is Lame”. I found this funny; maybe Tech Crunches post is true. Here is another MySpace rant called, I Hate MySpace.

I really wanted to pick a side in this war. But after reading an article about the comparison of the two, I figured out that the war just needs to end. There is a place for both MySpace and Facebook, you can figure it out by just thinking about what each one was created for. MySpace was originally created to promote bands. Facebook was originally created for a college directory. That means that you could use both in your life, Facebook for personal/directory stuff and MySpace for public/promoting stuff. So there is no need to hate one over the other, both have their strengths and weakness.

If you must know my opinion, I am not a fan of social networking, but I have a Facebook account. I thought it would be nice to keep track of friends. But after using it for a while, nothing useful has come from it. It’s time consuming and I personally don’t have a need for it. But this will soon change. Since I am trying to open an indie art store in February, I will need a MySpace to find and communicate with artists, since MySpace was made to promote. I am going to keep Facebook too, since I am hearing people are having some success promoting with its new pages system.

I feel this video from webware.com sums up this post nicely. [Play Video]

Feel free to leave a comment with your views on the MySpace vs. Facebook.

On a Road Trip, Pack Plenty of Bacon

Published

on December 17, 2007

. 5 Comments

On Friday I posted about a game I found that put a new twist on the classic Missile Command. Well today on Crunch Gear I read a story about someone putting a modern twist on the classic Oregon Trial. It’s nice to know I am not the only one that enjoys this kind of stuff.

The game is called Thule Trail and it’s about a road trip starting in the Windy City and ending in Santa Barbara. The reason your going on the road trip is to enjoy some kind of music festival. The game play is just like the original but everything updated to modern times. You don’t have a covered wagon you drive a car, you shop at mini marts, and you snowboard.

I have yet to play it all the way through, but from what I can see so far it’s enjoyable. I had one of the people in the car roll their arm in the window and I lost an hour on the trip. Someone else got dysentery from drinking too much creek water (Does this happen on road trips?). You can also enter a snowboard competition in the game to make some extra money. It’s really hard to control some if the mini games so be careful. You may lose time and money if you play them. That’s about as far as I got into the game. Once I get some more free time I plan on trying to play this game all the way though.

If you beat the game leave a comment with your score. That way when I get time I can try to beat it. Also if you have any funny road trip stories you can share them too.

[Play Game]

Mutually Assured Destruction

Published

on December 14, 2007

. 0 Comments

I found a game that makes Missile Command look like a fool, it’s called MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction. In the game enemy missiles are attacking your base and you have to see how long you can last the onslaught, which is just like the classic. But there is a twist in this game that takes it to the next level.

Destroying missiles gives you resources to buy shield and gun upgrades. For some reason this is what makes this game even more addictive. Not only do you have to keep firing wildly at the missiles, but you have to also think about what upgrade might help you last a few seconds longer.

I enjoy when people take an old idea and make it better. If you ever find a game that puts a new spin on a classic, let me know about it. I would like post a new game every week.

[PLAY GAME]

Your Checkbook Goes Web 2.0

Published

on December 13, 2007

. 8 Comments

If you’re thinking about buying QuickBooks for your personal accounting, don’t waste the money. I have found a website that does just about everything you want for personal banking management. The site is called ClearCheckbook.com and it’s a free online check registry. What I like the most about it is you don’t have to enter any of your personal bank information in it for it to work. Like a real check register all you have to do is enter a starting balance and keep up with your transactions. That’s it!

It has a lot of tools to help you manage your account, like a Chatbot that you can use to enter in transactions via instant messaging. Once you get the hang of it you can enter in all your transactions without having to log into the website. This saves you some time and makes it so easy you have no excuse not to be using it. You will find yourself saving more money and you should have no more surprise overdraft fees.

So before you waste your money on expensive accounting software or get charged more overdraft fees, check out ClearCheckbook.com.

Evolution: Keeps on Trucking

Published

on December 11, 2007

. 2 Comments

I was reading an article today on Wired Magazine’s website about human evolution speeding up. The research was headed by Henry C. Harpending, an anthropologist at the University of Utah. He says that with the rapid population growth and social changes there have been new opportunities for adaptation. The article goes into detail about what the noted changes are and what may have caused them. Read the article for all the juicy details.

Also, I hope everyone that pushes to get creationism into the classroom reads this article. Maybe then they will see that evolution is real, so real in fact that we can actually see it happening, thanks to the advances in studying genetic data. Mythology has no place in science and this study shows that.

[Researchers: Human Evolution Speeding Up – Wired]

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Published

on December 10, 2007

. 7 Comments

Over the weekend I got a few emails about a blogger that wrote about a delicious experiment in her kitchen. She added bacon bits in a chocolate chip cookie and topped with a maple cinnamon glaze and a bit of bacon.

She writes: Typically, I would never advocate the addition of meat to a sweet cookie, but I’ve always viewed bacon as “the candybar of meats” so I only felt slightly weird about it.

I have always thought of bacon as the candy of all meats, so I would have not felt weird at all. Also, I like how she tells meat haters not to complain about the bacon in the cookies and to just use fake bacon. Sometimes I feel that the Veggie Eaters think they are at war with us Bacon Lovers, and if that’s true it’s nice to know I have allies.

[Experiments with Delicious Bacon – Muffin]

Independent Shopping Guide

Published

on December 7, 2007

. 4 Comments

This holiday season a lot of people are shopping Indie. If you didn’t get all of your shopping done on “Black Friday” this guide will help you finish up or start your holiday shopping.

There is a collaboration of nine prominent players in the DIY world call the Handmade Consortium. They started a website called, BuyHandMade.org. The purpose of the site is to get shoppers to pledge that will buy handmade goods for the holidays. You can also find a list of online stores selling handmade items on the site.

Here is a list of Indie/DIY stores that I enjoy. I know some of the prices are high but you have to remember, the quality of this stuff is better than what you will find at chain stores.

Kid Pirate - They are a clothing company for the young at heart. A lot of their stuff is too girly for me to wear. If you have a girl on your list then you might want to check this out. I really like their Killer Penguin products.

Kidrobot - If you like limited edition toys, clothing, mini-figures, artwork & books, then this is the site for you. You can find all kinds of unique items here. There is even a toy that you can paint and modify yourself.

Shana Logic – Shana Logic say’s “My goal is to give people an alternative to shopping at chain stores, while exposing people to talented artists and the new modern craft world”! I got a wallet from here and I love it. Every time I buy something and pull it out I get comments. Also they are a supporter of this site so support them for supporting me.

Johnny Cupcakes - These guys are so cool that the big chain stores tried to rip off their designs. This means that you have to be careful, just because it looks handmade doesn’t mean it is. Big companies know this is a growing trend and are trying to figure out how they can get in on it.

Matt Gondek - This guy is a dedicated reader of this blog and he also happens to be an artist that has some stuff for sale. If you’re looking for some nifty artwork for someone on your shopping list, then take a gander at his site.

If you know any artist or stores that are selling this kind of stuff let me know and I will add it to the list. Let’s show the “Big Chain Stores” we are tired of low quality products from China and shop indie this holiday season.

Bacontastic: Even Words Are Better With Bacon

Published

on December 6, 2007