flippin Frappuccino

I learned that most of the product names the great star of bucks displays and then trains their customers to use are made up. However according to the wizard wikipedia site - not so with Frappuccino (not made up by them).

no waffle house nearby, I put Starbucks in my cup at home

From the wikipedia site -
Frappuccino is a portmanteau of frappé and cappuccino, an espresso coffee with frothed milk. The word was coined and trademarked in Boston, Massachusetts.  In the Boston area, a "frappe" is a term for a thick milkshake with ice cream, derived from the French word frappé. The original Frappuccino beverage was developed, named, trademarked and sold by George Howell's Eastern Massachusetts coffee shop chain, The Coffee Connection. When Starbucks purchased The Coffee Connection in 1994, they also gained the rights to use, make, market, and sell the Frappuccino beverage.

Boston? I would have never guessed.

I do enjoy Starbucks coffee but most often at home, poured out of my french press. I drink my hot coffee black. However, if the coffee is iced then the creme and sweetness of their coffee Frappuccino makes a great blend of taste.

Did you know it’s a better deal to drink the coffee at their coffee shop. Not only do you get the free wi-fi, you can get free refills on coffee (don’t think the fancy drinks are included in this).

After getting my engineering degree, I thought all college graduates would be coffee drinkers. Those crazy energy drinks didn’t exist when I was in school.

The mention of caffeine reminds of my caffeinated little gadget. (an excuse to show you a youtube clip I made years ago)





Please note this post was not sponsored by Starbucks. However, if the nice people there would like to pass a few gift cards my way that would be flippin Frappuccino!

my recycled collection

I suspect most of my repeat offenders visitors here pay little attention to my collection of odd things I have assembled. With these wondrous moving objects consisting of mostly recycled garbage rubber banded together I have produced youtube clips. If you are interested please take a look on my Playing Around page.

Even if you not interesting or don't have the time to check out the youtube clips, you’ll still notice the pile of recycled pieces I electrified with a few LEDs below. Don’t you love the cassette tape styling I spent long minutes working on?

Myself I'm happier on days I can let the morning newspaper age a bit on the driveway before venturing out.

 

now a word from our sponsors

Interested in other Lisleman clips?  Take a look at the "Playing around" page.

 

sometimes late

Garbage on youtube?

I take garbage and make things.  Then I record it and upload the clip to youtube.  Well it's not like rotten type of garbage but odd plastic lids and corks.  To make moving objects I use motors from old CD and Tape players.  The biggest expense is time and batteries.

I typically don't get much of a reaction from the videos but that's OK because I enjoy making them.  I put a few of my past creations on one page called Playing Around.

Sometimes late when things are real and people share the gift of gab between themselves - you get this.




another circus 

not a super bowl ad

Great Super Bowl tonight. I like a close finish. I've posted about how social media has influenced the release of the ads this year more than ever.

However, did you notice the word "not" in the post title?  This short post is about an "ad" I created for my A Few Clowns Short blog.  If you take time to watch it (2 min.) please let me know what you think.  I consider some of my other youtube clips to be better.

Oh did you know I had a few more youtube clips.  You can find most of them here.

This past week, Barbara over at Long Hollow posted a question/answer on the topic of "electrifying emotions".  Being an electrical engineer my training kicked off ideas about real electricity in addition to invigorated inspiration.  

My answer contains both electricity and creativity.  I like to create odd "toys" from pieces out of the recycle bin.  Combine an old CD player motor, plastic lids and a very fresh batteries and you get junk in motion.  LED lights from old cellphones add to the display.  Here's one such creation: 

Oh if I still have your attention, I occasionally post my blogging thoughts over on I Can't Blog (It's the eye ball blog)

funky sneak preview

Do you know there are youtube clips being shown on cable channels?  I've seen it.

Are they hard up for content?  Too deeply stuck in the reality crap, I think.

Well, if this youtube clip is ever shown on a cable show you can say you watched it here first at A Few Clowns Short.  (don't hold your breath unless you just ate garlic)

Enjoy and take me to funkytown

Oh by the odd chance you would like to watch other Lisleman creations click over to the "playing around" page.

New toy tri-bristle

Been here before? Maybe you remember my first post on a modified toy.

After that, my wife happened to find this old toy with a clown head. That lead to the next modification (2.0 ??) check this if you like

Well putting it up on youtube and looking around the net, I discovered bristle bots. Do some searching you'll find many variations - here's a fairly large one. (quad bristle?)

Basically it's a fun way to reuse your toothbrush vs. cleaning toilets or whatever.

My first bristle bot attempt was not too stable. It moved a few inches and fell on its side. Then the idea of using a paper clip and a couple of brushes to form the TRI-BRISTLE. (like the outrigger idea for canoes)

So now I have combined the clown head and the bristle bot.

hex bug at hexadecimal level

I have posted about the hex bug before. Most recently I found a new use for an old cellphone battery. Just crude modifications with a battery and LED. Here's that post.

I just found a site that takes hacking the hex bug to another whole level - say hexadecimal.

Now this looks more professional - but I still like my clown head.

Applied Inspirations offers the details of an extensive hex bug hack. So if you want more from your $10 hexbug take a look.

Now here's an idea - thinking of my last post about GPS - add GPS to the hex bug and map something. Of course the hexbug doesn't travel over uneven or soft surfaces.

spare parts waste not

(update 5/2011 - If you clicked over from youtube you might be interested in my latest video clips)


It started as a hex bug. These inexpensive toys are great except they have limited batteries. So instead of replacing the small watch type batteries, I decided to attach a rechargeable battery to it. Sometime ago I posted the first modification to this hex bug.

The other day the Chicago Tribune had this informative article about recycling cell phones. One of the big reseller/ recycler, Recellular, is reported to expect processing over 6 million phones this years. The recellular.com site has a great list of donation and recycling programs.

Here's another idea or two.

I recently updated my Verizon phone. Instead of using one of these programs I recycled my old one by selling it on E-bay.

Another old phone around the house that didn't work (dead screen) was used for spare parts. When you take it apart be sure to keep the battery holder part intact. The best parts were the battery and holder and the vibrate motor. These parts were then connected to the hex bug.




Using the battery and vibrate motor with the hex bug turned out great. The power of the battery is a little too much for the hex bug if directly connected to the bug's power. So by putting the vibrate motor in series with the bug works and then you get a this extra vibrating thing going for it.

Here's the new hex bug toy in action.