Seven Awesome Patents

Steve Jobs passed away today. He has certainly left his mark on the world in many ways.  He was too young to leave this earth but just imagine how futuristic the afterlife is going to be by the time the rest of us get there!!!  Exciting.  Things have to be much more affordable up there too, right?

I am not going to turn this blog into an obituary for the man, there are enough all over the interwebs.  I waned to make everyone aware of this really cool piece put together by the New York Times. This Story shows you all of the patents that have Steven P. Jobs on them.  There are 317 of them.  Three hundred and seventeen different patents.  They span the spectrum from desktop computers, laptop computers, media devices(ipods and apple tv), telephones, all the way to the packaging that all of Apple's most innovative products have arrived in and then back to keyboards, mice, displays, operating systems, and even clear glass staircases. 

Its amazing for me to read about what this man was a part of in his too-short lifetime.  317 patents in his 56 year life.  What would happen if he hadn't gotten sick and lived to be 85.  Almost 30 more years, I bet he'd have 1000 patents to his name. 

Its a really strange way to remember somebody's life, in the patents they are credited to.  That's just how I roll here at 7w/D. 

Seven Awesome Patents That List Mr. Jobs As One Of The Inventors

1. The iPad.  Yep.
2. Every iPod ever.  Nobody ever enjoyed themselves like they enjoy themselves with an iPod in their pocket and headphones in their ears.  At least I never did.  
3. The glass staircases at the Apple stores.  He has several patents for these and its just amazing to me.
4. The iMacs from back in the day that everyone in my generation lusted after.  The ones that were kinda clear and had a bright color accent.  I wanted teal or orange.  
5. The awesome plastic packages that iPhones and iPods come in these days.  So. Freaking. Cool.
6. The power adapters that we all have at our homes.  The white square ones where the power prongs fold out and the cord detaches.  Neat.
7. The iTunes interface.  Sleek, sophisticated, cool, sexy.  Yes I said it.

A bit of a simple entry, not unlike apples home page devoted to Mr. Jobs today with this photo(borrowed from apple.com):

Seven Freeway Driving Tips

What is today's date? 
10-4.

Does that mean anything to you, out there? 

To me, its the greatest day of the year to flaunt my ridiculous love of Citizens Band(CB) radio jargon.  You heard me. 

Affirmitive, I enjoy this lingo more than I should.

I have put together some tips for driving on the freeway, with a very stong CB jargon influence.  Enjoy!


Or at least, don't laugh at me. 

Seven Freeway Driving Tips (heavily influenced by CB lingo)

1. Don't be a four wheel phone booth.  You know what this means, right?  Don't talk on the phone while you are driving.  To use the phrase in a sentence, try this:  "roger we've got a four wheel phone booth just past the choke and puke on the big 10, steer clear good neighbor"
2. Look out for gators in the road and be careful around the gator guts.  This is the most used CB phrase in my world, outside of the classic "10-4".  A gator is the tread of  a blown out tire in the road.  Gator guts are the shredded remains of a blown out tire.  Guts are mostly harmless and the gators are generally large pieces.  They are truly dangerous, so be careful around gators!
3. Don't be bear bait.  You know what a bear is?  Police.  You know like:  couny mounty, astronaut, blue lights, boy scouts, city kitty, evil knivel, honey bear, kojack with a kodak, paper hangers, and tijuana taxis.  I've had my fair share of bear bites and strongly suggest you avoid getting speeding tickets.   This is coming from a retired jet pilot. 
4. Respect the hammer lane and the granny lanes.  If you feel the need to put the hammer down, ride in the hammer lane - otherwise stick to the granny lane.  Nothing annoys your fellow drivers more than disrespecting these conventions.
5. When you start checking your eyes for pinholes, take a cue and stop at the local nap trap.  Driving when you're tired is never a good plan, stop at a roadside motel and catch a few z's.  
6. Keep your tank full of that go-go juice.  Nobody should run out of gas, if the sign says 50+miles to the next stop, evaluate and maybe refill the tank.  Walking several miles just for some motion lotion is completely preventable.
7.  Don't be a bumper sticker.  Bears will get ya for this, if you don't get yourself into a bit of an ooooops first.  Tailgating is very dangerous especially on the big road where you are often doing the double nickel or more!  Be safe out there!

Devyn out in the Sticker patch - over and out, come back(in the comments)!

I'm not as awesome as you may think, I had to look up a lot of this lingo and was completely helped by this site. 

Seven Devo Songs

Its the first Monday of October! 

You know what that means, right?

Good.  Glad I don't have to explain that to you.  I hope you make it count.

I'm fond of my name, did you know that?!

I keep it pretty well under wraps and would never do something so foolish as name a blog after myself.  Not to mention have my car's license plate be my name.  I would never dream of starting a business using my name and I absolutely wouldn't fantasize about naming all of my children after myself.  Oh wait...I guess that is me completely to a T. 


I'm very fond of things that are reminiscent of my name too, kinda like the band Devo.  Herc is back and gonna tell you about 7 awesome songs of theirs today for Music Monday!


7 Devo Songs
[part of ongoing series 7 Song Playlists]

Devo was seen by many as a novelty, a cartoon-ish band with only one song, “Whip It”. But those of us who are into their music know that they actually have more than a few good songs. They crashed onto the scene with a punky, robotic reading of the Rolling Stones classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”. Their look and sound evolved with each release until they finally broke up in 1990. Rediscovered by nerds and hardcore geeks in the dawning of the cyber-age, the band has reunited several times, most recently last year, when they released their first new album in 20 years, with band member in their sixties, but still sounding the same musically, lyrically and vocally. And if you ever watched Rugrats (don’t lie), all the music was written and performed by Devo’s chief songwriter and lead singer, Mark Mothersbaugh. His original music has been featured in hundreds of other movies and television shows as well.

Devo-tify!

“Girl U Want” [1980]
A quirkier rewrite of The Knack’s “My Sharona”, “Girl U Want” was actually the first single off the Freedom Of Choice album. It has been covered several times in varying tempos, cementing the song’s lyrics as universal truths.

“Whip It” [1980]
The second single from Freedom Of Choice, this is the group’s biggest hit and therefore the one Devo song almost everyone knows leading to its inclusion on several One-Hit Wonder lists. Combining a guitar riff cribbed from Roy Orbison’s classic “Oh, Pretty Woman” with a fully mechanized rhythm track, “Whip It” should not be taken at the face value of it’s lyrics. It is not about kinky stuff. It is a positive song about overcoming adversity and challenge.

“Beautiful World” [1981]
Although it failed to crack the Hot 100, “Beautiful World” and its accompanying video of wonderfully sequenced film archive footage are beloved by fans who enjoy the cold, detached vocals ironically singing about “a sweet, romantic place”. The lyrics paint a pretty picture but the ultimate meaning is revealed in one of the final lines.

“Through Being Cool” [1981]
After the success of “Whip It”, Devo gained many pop music fans who were unaware of the band’s “de-evolution” beliefs. They wrote this song in direct response to all these trendy band wagoneers, alerting these fairweather fans that the band was indeed “through being cool” and they planned on eliminating the “ninnies and twits”.

“Jerkin’ Back And Forth” [1981]
This was the song that hooked Herc on the band. He witnessed their glorious performance on an episode of the late night comedy show Fridays as an impressionable youth. Those wild Devo dudes were performing live on treadmills DECADES BEFORE OK Go even attempted their flashy choreography in a video.

“Going Under” [1981]
Released on a special three song 12” to club DJs along with the above two songs, the herky jerky “Going Under” actually made the Disco Charts. But it wasn’t until the song was featured in the second episode of Miami Vice that it was permanently placed in Herc’s rotation. There are some sweet, rumbling bass notes so beware.

“That’s Good” [1982]
A single from the spudniks fifth album, “That’s Good” found the boys completely immersed in electronic music making. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker, who is best known for producing Queen and creating the ultra-clean sound of The Cars, the song was featured on an episode of Sarah Jessica Parker’s first (and best) series, Square Pegs. The video for this song actually was banned from MTV for a time thanks to a “suggestive” french fry, donut and naked lady.

Devo-tify!





I love Devo.  I love this playlist and Spotify is so very cool.  I really hope you are on that bandwagon guys, its pretty awesome.  Tell us what you think!

Seven Peanuts Characters

Today is October 2nd.

Also known as the day that the Peanuts comic strip was first published.

Yesterday I wrote about peanut butter.  That is not to be confused with Peanuts the comic strip.  

That was back in 1950.  Sixty-one years later, I am presenting you with a list of seven characters that stand out in my memories of the comics.  Share yours in the comments!

Seven Peanuts Characters

• Snoopy - The best beagle around!  Not much of a dog person myself, but this guy is pretty cute.  He's got a sweet crib too, if you know what I mean.  By that, I mean he has a great house.  His fictional birthday is Oct 4, and that's in two days you guys!  Let's bake this little dude a cake!  THOUGHT BUBBLE " Genius".
• Charlie Brown - The best dressed kid on the block.  His signature yellow shirt with the black zig zag is easily recognized and quite stylish.  He tries really hard at all he does, but often doesn't succeed.  Poor Charlie Brown, at least he has good friends and the company of that cute doggie!
• Schroeder - The piano man of Peanuts-land!  He's pretty serious but the kind of guy you gotta watch out for because his brain and smarts will knock you off your game real quick!  I love this guy, don't know why but he was always my second favorite character around!  Glad he always turned Lucy away though, she ain't right for him dude!
• Linus - Lucy's little brother, the resident wise guy in the truest since of the word.  A wise man.  He always had his security blanket too, which is cool.  Upon further research and perfect fact checking, I see that he may have coined the term "security blanket".  Isn't that crazy?  Who knew.
• Woodstock - I have always called this guy Woodchuck.  I do not know why.  Its a running family joke because sometimes I am completely convinced he is called Woodchuck.  Snoopy's yellow sidekick is my favorite character in the entire comic.  "gripe, gripe, gripe"
• Lucy - The grouchiest under ten year old I ever heard of.  She was the bully and we kinda liked her for it.  She's the big sister to Linus(and Rerun) and doesn't let them forget it.  But really, who can forget about that football prank she does to Charlie Brown ALL THE TIME. 
• Pig-Pen - What a dirty little dude!  He has a cloud of dust that follows him around, its that bad!  He can't get clean and why would he want to?  That's where his nickname came from!  He doesn't even have a real name. 

Seven Ways To Enjoy Peanut Butter

Happy October!

Can you believe it is already October?  I can't even.

In my (pretty little) head, its still mid-May...


...of 2009. 


Not that I like to live in the past,but I just can't figure out where all the time has gone!  I've done a lot and when I start to think about it I realize exactly where all my time went.  Its incredible when you stop and look back.  Anyways that's not what I want to write about, just what comes to mind at the beginning of every new month. 

On a very similar note, I'd like to talk about peanut butter. 

I LOVE YOU, PEANUT BUTTER.  You are my very favorite.

Seven Ways to Enjoy Peanut Butter

• Peanut Butter Cups - Reese's or anybody else's.  Homemade with a natural freshly ground peanut butter is sublime.  What if we used that sweet honey roasted peanut butter you can freshly grind at whole foods!  BRAINSTORM. Don't steal my ideas, ya'll. 
• Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Mousse - A STAPLE in the kitchen I work in.  Equal parts peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar with some whipped cream folded in.  Sometimes I prefer to "forget" the whipped cream.  Much more concentrated flavor.  Makes a great cake icing, brownie top, dip for your finger pretzels and a dessert component for sure! 
• Ants On A Log - Celery with peanut butter and raisins.  An after school snack favorite, this is seriously the best texture palooza!  Crunchy celery, creamy peanut butter and chewy raisins!  Yeah buddy!
• Between Crackers - A rediscovered love.  I hadn't had any for so long, and recently I am really digging on them again.  Simple method: two crackers and add about a heaping cup two tablespoons of peanut butter, sandwich and enjoy!  One moment, I need to go get me some real quick before I finish...
• Peanut Butter and Jelly/Honey - My favorite go-to sandwich.  You know this from our 7w/D ode to sandwiches.  Don't mix the honey and the jelly though, that's just sick.
• My Famous Peanut Butter Cookies - Easily the most simple cookies I have ever made in my life.  Easily the single most delicious cookie I have ever made in my life.  The very best baked peanut butter cookie you will ever eat.  Send me a check for $20 and a SASE and I will send you this recipe.  Free Shipping and no Sales Tax!  The best deal I have ever offered, ya'll! 
• Straight Outta The Jar On a Spoon My Fingers.

Got any better ideas?  Doubt it.