Recently in Jimmy's Corner Category

I have my creative hat on tonight in an attempt to design a banner for my own website. Whilst searching for some inspiration, I stumbled upon Symbols.com, an 'Online Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms'. With over 2,500 symbols catalogued, it's an impressive site that gives explanations to the origins and uses of each of its symbols. Symbols.com is right up my ally. I have a great fondness for trivial tidbits of info and this place is stacked with them.

Since my home has had no power since Monday, I've had to go 19th century on some entertainment options: coloring, Parcheesi and reading. I was pretty surprised that I remembered how to work one of those book things. Here's the illustrious list I knocked off this week:

The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime by Robert Whiting

Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Got Game: How the Gamer Generation Is Reshaping Business Forever by by John C. Beck and Mitchell Wade

Although my townhome has no power, I know someone that does. I am alive and well with minor damage to my townhome. My family is safe, but South Florida is a mess. People coming to blows over ice and water. People waiting hours (up to 16) for gas. It's like downtown Baghdad with better landscaping. I have posted some pics on my Flickr account. They really don't do the disaster justice. I'm just happy we weren't plowed like the Gulf Coast. I'm going to count my blessings right now.

Unfortunately, Wilma is not a stripper. She's the 21st named storm for 2005 that just got done vacationing in Cancun. You know this of course. You also know that she's about to plow into southwest Florida as a category 3 hurricane. I live in southern Broward county on the southeast side of the state. Although we won't experience a direct hit, we expect winds of nearly 100 mph as Wilma passes through. Since my townhome was constructed after Andrew, it should be able to withstand a category 5 storm. However, my biggest concern is that Wilma will park my Scion in the cul-de-sac or plant a palm tree in the glove box. As soon as it's safe to venture out tomorrow, I'll get some pics. I may not be able to post them because there's a good chance there will be no power. Wish me luck.

Many of you know I love Google. They totally have it together. Lots of smart, creative peeps are crazily working to provide untouchable services. Whether it's their search engine, maps, email, IM, it almost seems that have it all.

Well, I was reading an article over at Download Squad about a new free email service called Goowy. Now, the last thing any of us need is another free email account. If any of you are like me, you have a Yahoo! account, multiple Hotmail accounts, Gmail (of course), and whatever other free accounts available. But what if something came along that was different enough to peak your interest. Goowy did just that for me. Essentially it's a flash-based online email client that not only provides 2GB of storage (size does matter), but a calendar, RSS reader, online games, and a skinnable interface.

I haven't spent but 10 minutes playing with the site, but I'm impressed. I mean, it does what everyone else does. It sends and receives messages. But the thought and creativity that went into building a unique email experience is pretty cool. I'd highly recommend creating an account even if all you did was poke around and see what's up. You never know. You may have found your new email service.

Mister Nice Hands, it really can't be described. And it's probably not safe for work. I mean, it's not pr0n, but the guy in the next cubicle may look at you funny. And you may want to turn the sound down. That's all I can say.

If you're feeling hungry (I know it's nearly lunch time on the West Side), then point your browsers to The Official Ramen Homepage. Some brilliant fellow has put together 289 recipes for ramen noodles. Yes, RAMEN. You know, the packs of noodles you can get 6 for $0.89 (10 for $1 in some places). Regardless of your locale's ramen economy, the availablility of nearly 300 ramen recipes is not only impressive, but necessary to feed countless people across the world. I mean, when I was a kid, my mom might have thrown an egg in my ramen... maybe some cut-up hot dogs. I don't think she would have thought of Hyperactive Candied Choco-Ramen. That's the bomb! This site is exactly what the originators of the Internet were thinking of when they created the Information Super Highway. God bless you, Matt Fischer. You are a true innovator.

Everyone has seen the footage. Makes me feel a little helpless. Very hopeless. I did the little I could. I hope you do the same.

Donate to the American Red Cross.

A couple of nights ago, I was chillin' on the Inter-nizzle, when I discovered Konfabulator. Konfabulator is a little program that runs widgets on your desktop. What kind of widgets, you ask? Just about any kind under the sun and there are new ones everyday. The default installation comes with some fly widgets like a picture viewer, analog clock, and weather widget. But if you visit the Widget Gallery, you can hit up hundreds of cool things to put on your desktop. What are you waiting for?!?!?!

No relation to a celestial sea-person, but it seems that Google has taken its maps to a new level. Every lunar landing is mapped. However, I was hard-pressed to find a Waffle House or Super Wal-mart.

I know, I know. Google has a mappy feature with satellite views and all that jazz, but I wanted a map of the USA I could print out. So I searched for 'printable maps' and BAM! First link was National Geographic's Xpeditions Atlas site. Exactly what I needed. Not only was a US map available, but a map for just about any place on Earth was there. Pretty sweet. Then I searched for 'high paying jobs with little responsibility'. Not as successful...

Obviously, the peeps at Google have nothing better to do with their free email system. I don't know if the Gmail users out there noticed, but if you open your Spam folder and look below the Google search box at the top of the page, you'll see a link to a spam recipe. To the right of the recipe are arrows you can use to navigate through the selections. Among the yummies you can create: Spam Swiss Pie, Cricket's Spam Quiche, and Spam Vegetable Strudel. My fave, Spicy Spam Kabobs. Looks delicioso!

EDIT: I just discovered Gmail gives you recycling tips when you open your Trash folder. Sweet.

Apple rumor sites are all abuzz. AppleInsider claims that Apple will be releasing a two-button mouse. Many are speculating that Steve Jobs wants to woo more Windows users with the more familiar device. Honestly, adding another button to the Apple mouse won't be sufficient since many third-party pointing devices work very well with Macs. What will they think of next? Perhaps a backspace key. [Link]

Although I live in a state surrounded by water on three sides, I have yet to go diving. During a foray into cyberspace, I stumbled upon Divester, a bomb-ass blog about, you guessed it, diving. A recent entry discusses an article about some sunken U-boat near Norway that is a popular dive spot. Pretty sweet. So now I'm trying to get some co-workers interested in getting scuba certified. Then I'll be on my way to finding One-eyed Willy's treasure.

Judd at TechnoTaste created a Google Maps plugin for Firefox. Now you can use the search bar in Firefox to find places anywhere on the planet. Need some Cuban food in Pembroke Pines? I recommend Padrino's. They have an all you can eat lunch buffet. Tasty. And the next time I'm in San Fran, I need to stop by Sun's Cafe. They claim to be a Korean Teriyaki House. ??? Via The Open Source Weblog.