Treme is a new show on HBO created by David Simon (who also created The Wire). It’s focused on life in New Orleans, three months after the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

It’s definitely enjoyable, and in only three episodes, it’s become one of my favorite shows that I’m currently watching.

Incredible footage from Eyjafjallajökull.

Amusing app for messing around with our pets.

Cat Piano via iTunes.

“David is a whore…” 

That’s not something you expect to hear at a family party, let alone come out of your grandfather’s mouth. 

I’m in Southern California for the weekend to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday with family and friends. Since I’m traveling light and with my new toy, I decided to bring along my iPad. 

After arriving and saying our hellos, I gave the iPad to my Grandpa, who was sitting at a table with a number of his friends. He briefly looked at it and passed it around. After getting it back, he opened up the Notes application and read something off the screen. 

“David is a whore…”

What?! 

Everyone started laughing, and I did too. I knew my Grandpa was a funny person, but I’d never heard him make a joke like that before. I was pretty confused and wondered if we’ve crossed some new line of humor with my family. He looked at me and said, “No, really. That’s what it says!”

He handed the iPad to me. And sure enough, I saw this on the screen:

It turns out that my sister had apparently used my iPad without my knowledge and decided to leave me a special message that I might find at a later time. 

Well played, Sister. Well played.  

Don’t mess with Mother Nature! Or an octopus!

(See previous posts on crazy octopi here and here.)

Incredible video of a jökulhlaup (volcanic induced flood by melting of a glacier) from the eruption beneath the Eyjafjallajökull glacier in Iceland.

[Via Brian Romans]

Hah! Apparently, the American Museum of Natural History gets a lot of unhappy letters from children, unhappy that Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

As my friend Chris Town pointed out, Eris is actually larger than Pluto. If people are adamant that Pluto is a planet, they should be fighting even more for Eris to be included.

Interestingly enough, the IAU has had a definition for what should be considered a planet that has been used since 2006:

The definition of “planet” set in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) states that in the Solar System a planet is a celestial body that:

1. is in orbit around the Sun,
2. has sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium (a nearly round shape), and
3. has “cleared the neighborhood” around its orbit.

[Via Kottke]

I’ll admit, walking into the living room and seeing this is enough to melt my cold, dog-loving heart.

Word cloud featuring things that gdgt users most want to see in iPhone OS 4, based on responses from this thread.

I woke up extra early yesterday to line up for the iPad launch at an Apple Store in San Francisco. It was a pretty festive atmosphere, and after the doors opened at 9AM, I finally made my way inside.

A number of journalists and photographers were inside, interviewing and shooting excited customers. I decided to pick up an iPad and start play with it for the first time. An AP photographer caught this photo and now it’s running all over the place!