It’s not quite as good a title as Transmorphers, but seriously: look at that logo! It’s a dead ringer for Transformers: Armada, down to the extra capital letter…though in this case the placement makes absolutely no sense!

I’m still trying to figure out what to make of the slogan, “Super Transform Ultimate End General Mobilization.”

• Too many alarms can be as bad as none, if people learn to ignore them. Aesop knew it, but modern society keeps forgetting. (NY Times via @NNgroup)
• Then and now: Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov blends World War II photos with images of the same locations today. I’m a member of a Flickr group that does this with more general timeframes, Looking Into the Past, though I’ve only contributed one myself. It blends the 1997 and 2007 views of the UCI Student Center.
• The Internet Storm Center offers tips on protecting computers from lightning.
• CNN asks: Why are food allergies on the rise? Short answer: we still don’t know. (To preserve your sanity, don’t read the comments.)

And not so serious:

• Fantastic image: Firefly crew as the Enterprise crew. Classic Star Trek, of course. One thing that really struck me was the reminder that there’s really only one woman among the regular classic Trek cast: Uhura. Nurse Chapel and Yeoman Rand are there, but neither of them would really have had the kind of focus that Kaylee, Zoe, Inara and River have here.
• Incredible custom action figure maker Sillof collaborated with Glorbes on a Star Wars in World War II series.
• The webcomic SMBC presents: The Logogeneplex! I’m pretty sure I’ve read stuff that this was used on. (Warning: archives are NSFW.)

The “perfectly cromulent gifts” is my favorite of the bunch. The Simpsons display was found at a Borders bookstore, probably the one at The Block at Orange.

I love the fact that the “Bah Humbug” hat is actually labeled as a “Santa Hat.” I think someone’s got their wires crossed. Found in the clearance aisle at the grocery store.

These bars of tomato soap (not a typo!) were at the World Market at The Village (the one that used to be Orange Mall, not the apartments across from the Spectrum — though I think they use the same font for their logos, which is kind of strange. Better than the apartments that use nearly the same font as the logo for The Prisoner, though!)

I think the reason I get such a kick out of this toy is that laptop computers didn’t exist when I was in preschool (or if they did, they certainly weren’t affordable to anyone who didn’t absolutely need one for business). A laptop meant the top of someone’s lap. And now, in the grand tradition of transforming the everyday objects of the adult world into toys for infants (cars, telephones, bubble pipes), we now have something that vaguely looks like a folding keyboard and screen.

But who comes up with these names? I mean, “Party Weapon?” By actually calling it a weapon, you’re suggesting it’s something I don’t want at a kid’s party. Well, unless I’m raising Klingons or something.

Random Addendum

Completely unrelated: while typing this, the “w” key on my keyboard got stuck. Or rather, my computer was somehow convinced that it was stuck, because it kept filling in Ws even after I unplugged the keyboard. After unplugging it and plugging it back in a couple of times, I moved my hand away from the connector and knocked over the top 3 or 4 jewel cases in a stack of CDs on my desk. They landed on the keyboard. After I put them back, the problem was fixed.