Category Archives: Book

An even better list of possible baby names

By web gangsta | Published: December 20, 2010


The Name Thang Baby Name Book: 15,000 Names with English, Spanish and French Translations
The Name Thang Baby Name Book: 15,000 Names with English, Spanish and French Translations

So the other day, Web Watch mentioned the TOP BABY NAMES FOR 2010.

One of Web Watch’s readers pointed us out to an baby naming book entitled BETTER NAMES FOR BABY, available for purchase on the linked website.

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Old Photobooth Photos, Animated

By web gangsta | Published: October 25, 2010



Who We Were: A Snapshot Picture of America
Who We Were: A Snapshot Picture of America

As you go about cleaning out your house, Web Watch is sure that the question of “What shoul I do with all these old photos that we have lying around?” comes up on occasion.

Some photos, you naturally would keep.  Perhaps in a frame, perhaps in a shoebox tucked under the bed.

But there are also novelty photos that really aren’t meaningful enough to keep, but aren’t so bad that you want to throw them away.

That’s where MOVING PICTURES comes in, as they’ve taken dozens of photobooth film strips  and other photos that they’ve found scattered around across America and digitized them.

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Zombie Fun: How to “Eat Your Face” for Halloween

By web gangsta | Published: October 5, 2010



Special Effects Cookbook
Special Effects Cookbook

Mike Samonek wants you to play with your food.

That’s part of the reason he came up with the SPECIAL EFFECTS COOKBOOK and Special Effects cooking website, as a way to encourage experimentation in the kitchen and having fun while you eat.

Some of the recipes that are featured include:

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Read “Cast Member Confidential” for behind-the-scenes Disney fun

By web gangsta | Published: August 20, 2010



Cast Member Confidential
Cast Member Confidential -a Disney Employee Memoir

If you’re a Disney park fan, then one thing that you’re probably interested in is some of the behind-the-scenes stories about what it’s REALLY like to work at the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Sure, you could read KEVIN YEE’s book MOUSETRAP: MEMOIR OF A DISNEYLAND CAST MEMBER, or maybe even Inside the Mouse: Work and Play at Disney World, The Project on Disney, based on interviews with former Disney employees.  Both are excellent books for what they cover, and Web Watch recommends them highly.

But sometimes works like those can offer some views of life at Walt Disney World or Disneyland that are a bit more whitewashed than how things actually were.  Looking at working at the Mouse with rose-colored glasses, if you will.

Sometimes we want to see a truth that’s a bit more unadulterated and unfiltered.

Sometimes we want to really pull back the curtain and see what life really is like to work as a cast member at one of the World’s Busiest Theme Parks.

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Drink This, Not That: Lose weight through smarter drinking habits

By web gangsta | Published: August 15, 2010



Drink This, Not That
Drink This, Not That!

Web Watch has always been a fan of the EAT THIS, NOT THAT series of books from Men’s Health, which boil down dieting and weight-loss to one simple task:  you may not be exercising as much as you want to, and you may not be eating as healthy as you would like to — but making the right choices in eating can help offset the lack of exercise.

Remember, gaining and losing weight is paritally to do with the number and type of calories and fat that you take in.  So change your meals, and even if you do nothing else – you should lose some weight simply by eating better.

The premise of their latest book, DRINK THIS, NOT THAT concentrates specifically on beverages, and what you should substitute when you go out for a drink.  Not a lot has changed between the 2009 DRINKS YOU SHOULD DRINK, AND DRINKS THAT YOU SHOULDN’T and the 2010 LIST OF DRINK THIS, NOT THAT CONTENDERS, so let’s take a look at some of what’s listed in their HALL OF SHAME:

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We write like Stephen King. Who do you write like?

By web gangsta | Published: July 23, 2010



Stephen King - A Memoir on the Craft of Writing
On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

Writing Web Watch is not often easy.

It’s not the finding cool stuff to write about.  Web Watch has a stack of things in our To Do pile to address at some point, and the Internet is always growing.  We’ll never have a topic shortage here.

No, it’s the actual writing that can be problematic.  Finding the right words to say, putting them into their proper order. Making sure words are formed into phrases, that timing and spacing is correct.  Whoever said that writing wasn’t work was lying.  (Yes, we’re looking at you… every English teacher who ever taught.)

So when Web Watch stumbled upon the site I WRITE LIKE, we jumped at the chance to see if all the effort we poured into Web Watch was paying off.

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According to the AP Stylebook, they are spelled “website” and “e-mail”

By web gangsta | Published: June 2, 2010



The Elements of Style
The Elements of Style

Proper spelling and pronounciation is a long-standing debate amongst techno-nerds.  For example, is a GIF image pronounced “JIF” (like the peanut butter) or “GIF” (rhymes with “gift”)?   We usually settle it by saying it both ways in the course of a graphic-related conversation so that nobody feels superior to another.

Spelling, however, can be dictated by a central authority.  Most of us are familiar with Merriam Webster, or at least the Scrabble Players Dictionary (where you may not get the definition you’re looking for, but at least you’ll have the word spelled correctly for that triple-word score).

So when the new AP STYLEGUIDE was announced with new words and spellings, you can imagine how excited wordsmiths must feel, as if they received a new toy at Christmastime.

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Need another laugh for the day? Read John Lindsay’s “Emails from an Asshole”

By web gangsta | Published: April 9, 2010



Emails from an Asshole
Emails from an Asshole

Everybody needs a good laugh once in a while, even if the laugh ends up coming at someone else’s expense.

This is why Web Watch occasionally wanders over to EMAILS FROM AN ASSHOLE to take a gander on what John Lindsay has cooked up.

Yes, this is another blog-to-book deal, and just like the others, this one is pretty funny.

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Winnie The Pooh gets the ALIEN treatment, and Tigger finds out what Tiggers do best

By web gangsta | Published: March 27, 2010



The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh (and Tigger, Too)
The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh

Winnie The Pooh and his pals have had many adventures over the years, and even though Pooh gets top billing most of the time, Web Watch knows that Tigger is the real star of the show.

Others seem to appreciate the timeless Pooh and Tigger stories as well, and every occasionally we will run across some Tigger and Pooh fan fiction – you know, those fan-created stories featuring their favorite characters.  Heck, in 2000, the Canadian Medical Association published their own fan fiction featuring the characters in the 100-Acre Wood entitled PATHOLOGY IN THE HUNDRED ACRE WOOD: A NEURODEVELOPENTAL PERSPECTIVE ON A.A. MILNE that the Pooh characters suffered from various mental and psychological illnesses:

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Flash Fun: an Alice in Wonderland-based audio/mouse-control game

By web gangsta | Published: February 23, 2010



Alice in Wonderland audio book

By now, Web Watch is sure that you’ve seen the trailers for Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s new Disney film ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

The fact that a film is pending to be released hasn’t stopped game developers from not releasing games that are based on Lewis Carroll’s classic. 

Take RECORD TRIPPING, for example – aside from being based on the familar tale of Alice chasing the White Rabbit around Wonderland and encountering the Mad Hatter and other interesting characters, it’s the game mechanics that really set RECORD TRIPPING apart from other online games.

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Proven Stereotypes: How What You Read Says Who You Are

By web gangsta | Published: January 25, 2010



Catcher in the Rye

Lauren Leto has written about many things, and even has one of those blog-to-book deals that Web Watch is fond of pointing out every occasionally – so when it comes to books and their authors, and what that all means to us, the reader - Web Watch believes that Lauren knows what she is talking about.

Which is why Web Watch would like to point you to a recent posting Lauren made entitled READERS BY AUTHOR, a look at what proclaiming who your favorite author is says about you.   And after reading the list, Web Watch can confidentally say that Lauren speaks the truth.

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Have a question about poop? Just ask Dr Stool…

By web gangsta | Published: January 5, 2010


Web Watch would like to introduce Web Watch readers to Josh Richman and Anish Sheth, MD, who collectively are known as DR STOOL.  (Web Watch will refrain from making any jokes about the two authors meeting while at Brown University, even if it is true.)

Josh and Anish have taken a practical approach to answering all manner of poo-related questions and have released a book entitled WHAT’S YOUR POO TELLING YOU? and a companion piece WHAT’S MY PEE TELLING ME?.

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Do the math: Warren Beatty slept with a woman every 1.17 days

By web gangsta | Published: January 4, 2010


STAR: How Warren Beatty Seduced America

In Peter Biskind’s new book about Warren Beatty, STAR: HOW WARREN BEATTY SEDUCED AMERICA, we learn that Warren Beatty has allegedly slept with over 12,000 different women.

Approximately 12,775 - if you believe what the book says.

While there may be some Web Watch readers who will applaud Warren for coming anywhere close to even 1/4 of that number, there will be a large number of folks who will believe that Warren has completed all those conquests… and more… without question.

And that is where Web Watch can step in.  Because bedding 12,775 partners seems a bit over-achieving to us.

And apparently, we’re not alone in this thinking.

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Read This Book: William Poundstone’s PRICELESS – THE MYTH OF FAIR VALUE

By web gangsta | Published: January 1, 2010


Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value

William Poundstone is one of Web Watch’s favorite writers, having written many books around the same theme of exposing various ways that professionals (magicians, street crooks, carnies, casinos, etc) lie, cheat, and steal their way into your wallet.  

Some of Mr Poundstone’s books that you may already be aware of include:

All are great reads and lots of fun.

And now Mr Poundstone adds to his roster with PRICELESS – THE MYTH OF FAIR VALUE AND HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.  

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Cramming in Year-End Healthcare, and other Stuff that Unemployed People Like

By web gangsta | Published: November 13, 2009


Bitter is the New Black : Confessions of a Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smartass,Or, Why You Should Never Carry A Prada Bag to the Unemployment OfficePreviously, Web Watch has pointed you in the direction of STUFF WHITE PEOPLE LIKE and similar sites that point a satirical finger at stereotypes… and in the process, getting a book deal out of it.

STUFF UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE LIKE is yet another one of those sites, looking to cash in on other people’s misery, using the stereotype of the unemployed to find their humor.

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