Graphs, Cartoons and Words that Rhyme, Oh My! (July top 3)

1) Graph Jam. What a great site.







There are numerous examples of various types of graphs others have made using this website,

































As well as opportunities to create your own. Just pick the type of graph you want to make, plug in your info and, voila, you've got your own graph.


















Here's mine.





















2) Project Cartoon. Here's a site where you can, well, alter a "project cartoon" consisting of pictures of swings and trees.





















In the original cartoon the creators have depicted a breakdown in communication between the individual tasks associated with developing and carrying out a "project."




























And that's boring, but luckily you can at least change the captions, rearrange the order of images and even delete cells you don't need to create your own story line out of them. here's mine:





























3) Write Rhymes. This site helps you to rhyme as you write. I'm not sure who needs this kind of assistance or for what, but if you do, here it is. You just start writing and when you select a word the application provides you with a selection of words that rhyme with it.















Using this feature, I wrote a little poem. You can see how I used it to come up with vulture to rhyme with my name.











I didn't actually need any help with the second rhyme.

I've Just Gotta Say...

Of course you never want to be too critical of others, but sometimes the situation is such that you just have to say something. Fortunately there are a number of web sites out there designed to help you do just that.

First Nice Critic, helps you create and send gentle criticism (who needs that?!) anonymously to your peers via email.


















There are several behavioral categories to choose from...












I just went with "general Behavior" because, in general, everything that my peers do annoys me to no end, and i think I'd like to tell them about it. Actually I usually do by simply saying things like "you suck" and "fuck off you idiot" whenever one of them approaches me, but for the sake of this exercise...















I decided to politely tell one of my associates that her voicemails without fail grate my nerves into a fine dust as they are are loaded with irrelevant information and ramble on and on and on and on with lengthy pauses in between ignorant and useless commentary. She leaves me these daily because she calls me daily and I never pick up because conversing with her in person is even more annoying. Oh my god I hate her!!

But anyway, you just select your complaint from a list of possible criticisms, fill in the name and email details of the intended recipient, and voila. Hopefully they'll take your tactful, yet anonymous, advice.















Along different lines, perhaps you're running with a pack of art aficionados and you, though you've already sent a Nice Criticism about their tendency to speak condescendingly towards you because of your lack of any idea about such things, desperately need help in generating intelligent-sounding statements of art criticism. If so, this site is there to help.












Just follow the easy instructions and this site assists you in pulling together some phrases that make you sound art knowledgeable even if you have no idea what you're looking at or talking about.



































Go ahead and spew these phrases, no one will ever ask you to clarify or expand upon what you've just said. And if they do, just spew more of this crap at them until they just give up and walk away. Which they will, and sooner rather than later I'm guessing.

If by any chance you are really pissed off with and want to send some scathing criticism to Adobe, and who isn't, this site is your way to go. They offer a searchable archive of great past gripes against Adobe,









as well as the opportunity to lodge your own. I took that opportunity because I've had a beef with them I've wanted to get off my chest for a long time.











I hope they hear it good and loud.

To send complaints and criticisms to other people or organizations, I recommend this site. You just fill in a few specifics and it automatically generates a complaint for you that you can then send to the offending party.


















So you can't customize the specific areas of their behavior with which you are dissatisfied, it guarantees a scorching indictment of that person or organizations actions and character, which sometimes is all you need.

What's In A Name?

Everything, that's what. At least according to the people of the Kabalarian persuasion. Their website is all about how important names are and they provide many name-related services.























From analysis of your current name to assistance choosing a better name to change to, or even picking out the kind of name that your baby won't grow up and learn he or she desperately needs to change. I, of course, hoped to see if all along it's been my name that's been holding me back...























But they didn't know.























Well whatever. I'm sure it's not.
Another great and ultra-useful site is that of namemasher. This is great if you and your other half are considering becoming a power couple like "Bennifer," "TomKat" or "Brangelina." Now, Devilboy and I have broken up, but we were soooo close at one point to being seen as a power couple, that I decided to see what our PC name might have been.
















There were a lot to choose from, of course, because the modern power couple needs options.























I think my fave was "culturedrevilboy."



I think that would have distinguished us quite nicely, and been easy for our adoring public to say and remember.

Name Pistol is a great site if you need help either devising a new role-specific name for either yourself or your new band.







I liked some of the band name options it gave me and, if i ever start a band, i will be sure to use one of these, provided some other band hasn't already taken them by then. Which they definitely might.


















Instant Frat Kittens! Who wouldn't pay to see them in concert? I might start a band just so we can call ourselves that. I'll insist that we do.









Along those lines, you can also find some great suggestions if you're a rapper in need of a better name...









or an old school DJ. Even if you're a new school DJ i think you could use something like this.









Maybe you want to join the mob, or start a new one...









or maybe you have a love of all things medieval (or the Khabalarians suggest a more Medieval-sounding name for you).









Yikes!










Ok, the Medieval name generator can also come in handy if you are looking for a new stripper or porn star name...

Finally, if you're a fan of the Elizabethan period and need to come up with a fictitious place name to reflect that, you may want to go here for some great suggestions. This way when you introduce yourself to people you can say you're from a real "Elizabethan-sounding" location that no one will ever have heard of before.


















"Hi, I'm Godiva Starflare. I'm from Northoe."
"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Bona De Blays from Gittenswelly."

Come On Make Some Noise

It's summer, and there's no better time for cranking up the tunes and getting down. there's no worse time either, in fact, any time is a good time to get down, but it's summer now, so go with it.

There are, of course, no shortage of websites that provide interactive musical experiences. Let's look at a few of those, beginning with noisegames.com. This place offers several different interactive "games" that aren't really games so much as they are applications where the user can control how the animation produces "music."





















There are a number of guitar-playing/vocalizing options as well as one for singing in the shower...




















There's also a dog playing drums, but it's not fully interactive just yet. stay tuned though (get it, tuned) `cause they assure you they are working on it for us.






















Next, UCLA web designers have designed a handy web tool that allows you to kind of produce your own electronic musical sound. You just shift the various parts--rhythmic elements, etc.--from their dormant positions onto the circle at various depths to create your own sound.














































And when it gets painfully repetitive, and it does, simply move them to different points within the "circle of sound" to switch things up to a new soon-to-become-painfully-repetitive-sound.

Then there's yet another site, this one's actually kind of cool, I'll admit. It consists of a collection of musical performances--vocal and various instruments--from Youtube that you can play together, in any combination and in any order to create a new (until you have exhausted all possible combinations, which would take a while) and unique piece of music.



















That was a cool idea. But that's not really what we're all about here.

This site features an application where the user clicks these four horses who then harmonize a nice repetitive ditty for you.













Once you've got the music, then you've gotta groove. And if you need some new moves, I suggest you consult this page and its featured pipe cleaner. He dances his ass off, and, of course, it too is interactive meaning the user decides the sequence of hot moves by mousing over the typewriter key pad provided. Naturally.