Last week the outlet that powers our dishwasher just up and died.  Chalk another one up to the fucktarded wiring in my house.  Thankfully the wiring demon decided to save the actual dishwasher.  Being the DIY guy that I am, I decided to try and tackle this one myself.  Not knowing my ass from an electrical socket, I decided to call one of The Girl's family friends for advice (said friend is a master electrician).  The advice he gave me was fairly obvious:  Replace the outlet.  Der.  So we run to The Depot, pick up the outlet and install it just like Mr. Vila told me to.  Power the fuse back on and .... nothing.  KHAN!  Any suggestions beyond, "Call an electrician?"

  As replacing an electrical socket is one of the 25 things every man should be able to do, I don't think the editors of Popular Mechanics would not be very proud of me.  Of course, PM also lists such manly man activities as retouching digital photos and extending the range of your wireless network so maybe I can rest comfortable in my manhood.  Then again they also list the ability to strip and clean a bolt action rifle as one of their man qualifiers.  I should probably just leave the whole subject alone.

Does anyone want to buy a nice house with shitty wiring.  I will throw in a brand new Nintendo Wii with purchase.

• Big Huge Labs (not to be confused with Microsoft game studio Big Huge Games) has a handful of cool Flickr aps.  My favorite is the Pantone Color Paletteizer thingie.
• Video Games are mainstream.  Exhibit A:  Halo 3 themed NASCAR to run at Dover on 9.23
• Some Chicago hotels are getting those super fancy Japanese toilets that have been all the buzz lately.  Here's a video review of one.
• I like this light switch / clothes hook design concept, but I've got a better idea.  Instead of turning the switch off when something is placed on the hook, the switch should be spring loaded so the light turns on when you hang something on it, but snaps to the off position once that object is removed.  I get a cut of any sort of patent.  Thanks for your time.
• Just some strange comic mash ups
• I mentioned the EW Fall TV Preview issue the other day.  I finally found one at work.  One of the things that I love about the print edition of EW is their fantastic photography.  It just doesn't translate to the web.  That and 300x400 shots of anything is going to be totally underwhelming in any media.