"It's extraordinarily creepy, especially at night. The deceptive quaintness, hundreds of tall trees without any underbrush, the seriously pot-holed driveway, the dreariness. Honestly, it looks straight out of Silence of the Lambs. You can almost hear the muffled screams of restrained psychotics, the dull thuds of autistic headbutting, the weird gurgling, humming and shrieks of the severely disabled, and the almost palpitable swirling madness. If St. Elizabeth's nuthouse gave you chills, then Chestnut Lodge is what comes next."

[ Chestnut Lodge asylum, Rockville, Maryland ]

Ooooo creepy. There's even more on that page, but they seem to be trying to creep it up. Googling Chestnut Lodge turns up more creepy stories, but ultimately it's just about a sanitarium where creepy and insane things happened. Why do I care? I live about 1 block away, oh and they are going to do this to it:

Oh, now it's fancy schmancy.

The Chestnut Lodge site is located in the center of historic Rockville along West Montgomery Avenue. The main lodge was originally built in the late 19th century and maintained as the summer resort destination, Woodlawn Hotel. Great care will be taken to return the lodge to a more original appearance of circa 1886-1889 while providing necessary improvements and alterations for residential use. The lodge itself will house 7 luxury condominiums, 4 2 story units and 3 single level units with underground parking. The treed front lawn along West Montgomery avenue will be preserved.

[ Chase Communities ]

Odd, no mention of the crazies there, but still it looks like it is going to be very nice. Though what does this remind me of? Oh yeah.

I can't figure out what Twitter is really for. I get the impression that it's where blog meets IM, but I'm still not seeing how the interface is going to get me to Twit ever. However, if you are on this thing, add me and maybe they'll tell me and then I can Twit with you or something. Perhaps I finally know what it feels like to be old...

Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer were 2 classic movies from my teen years. Anyone my age has seen them, and we'll all yell "I want my two dollars!" with glee. But what ever happened to the writer/director Savage Steve Holland? For years I just though he had disappeared or worse was the target of foul play. Now I know better. I have kids, and one is old enough to watch pre-teen comedies on Nickelodeon. One of these shows is called "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide", which I thought was a quirky little show that isn't too painful to watch (like much of kids programming). Then one day I noticed in the credits the name of the genius behind the show: Savage Steve Holland. No it's not Better Off Dead the series, and John Cusack isn't in this one, but it's certainly one of the few shows that I would encourage my daughter to watch due to it actually being enjoyable with good writing and a great sense of wacky and absurd.

And that's all I wanted, however what I found is quite amazing:

AutoHotkey unleashes the full potential of your keyboard, joystick, and mouse. For example, in addition to the typical Control, Alt, and Shift modifiers, you can use the Windows key and the Capslock key as modifiers. In fact, you can make any key or mouse button act as a modifier.

[ AutoHotkey - Free Mouse and Keyboard Macro Program with Hotkeys and AutoText ]

This thing is seriously freakin' powerful. I'm rather certain it can handle most anything you've ever wanted to map to a key.

I highly recommend taking the hour or so and watching the whole thing.

In their rare joint appearance at All Things Digital 5, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates discuss their contributions to the technology industry, the qualities they most respect in one another...

[ VIDEO: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates ]

Grillin' & Lunchin', originally uploaded by cafechimp.

Summer's here, and the time is right, for... Grillin' and Lunchin'

3 days straight! Love that home office.

It's incredible. And I know many of you have the same question I did; when am I going to have one of these in my house?

[ First Look: Microsoft Surfacing Computing! | Larry Larsen | Channel 10 ]

I've been forecasting this type of computing for a while, I expect it will drive the office of the future, so your desk is your computer.

Moving to the Washington, D.C., area, or just interested in different Washington, Maryland and Virginia communities? Try Local Explorer.

[ Crime, Home Sales and Schools in DC, Maryland and Virginia - Local Explorer (washingtonpost.com) ]

Every time I've moved this information would have been handy. Now that my 5 year plan includes home ownership, the recent home prices is information I've been looking for. All round a good job, thanks Washington Post!

Props to R&R

I don't really do any PC gaming. I did once upon a time, but when you work on a PC all day, and are constantly checking email, or even just tinkering, it seems like you may be going overboard to play games on your PC as well. Not to mention owning a gaming PC and a work PC seems expensive, or trying to get an all-in-one can double the price of that machine. All very logical reasons for me to avoid PC gaming at all costs.

What could drag me back? Friggin' Blizzard:

[ StarCraft II ]

Well, maybe I can restrict my PC gaming to just one game, that shouldn't be too hard...