Photoshop can make pictures funnier. Sometimes adding something extra works, and sometimes removing something can be even better. There is a collection of images at fwdfish.com where an important piece has been meticulously erased, leaving a jockey hovering in mid-air, a whole group of people on an invisible roller coaster, and a man sleeping on a missing bench. It’s silly, but kind of fun, and the photoshop work required to accomplish this in a believable way is impressive.

A top ten list of famous last known photos of famous people is slightly morbid but also pretty interesting. Listverse.com shares the pictures along with a description giving some context and facts. Included in the list is the last photo of Hitler, shown here, along with the last pictures of Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, and Elvis Presley.

If you work in an office with coworkers around you, then you surely have been in a situation where someone makes a bad joke that just falls flat. Wouldn’t you like to have a sound effect at your fingertips to give the joke teller a hard time and lighten the mood all at the same time? Look no further than instant crickets. This is another website which fills a very narrow niche by doing only one simple task. Turn up your speakers, click on the big green button, and pretend like you’re the funny sound effects guy from your favorite morning radio show.

There is no doubt about the huge influence Wal-Mart plays in the United States today. Some may argue that the retail giant benefits smaller communities by bringing jobs and affordable household goods into the area. Others would say that Wal-Mart stores are spreading across the country like a cancer, gobbling up corner stores and Mom ‘n Pop shops that once defined small towns. Whatever your view, it’s interesting to see the growth, starting with just a few locations in Arkansas in the 1960s to the more than 3,000 stores today.

In the vast world of the internet, it’s a good idea to find a niche. Do one thing, and do it well. That’s exactly what they’ve decided to do at the intentionally simple website How Old Is the Internet. At any given time it reports the current age of the internet, going back to the arbitrary moment in history which they have decided to use as the time of genesis. One can argue whether that time is accurate, but it’s clear that this is a good site to visit if you’d like to know the age of the internet.

If you have a problem with writing email while inebriated, there is a new Google Labs feature in beta which may be able to help you out: Mail Goggles. “When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you’re really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you’re in the right state of mind? By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend as that is the time you’re most likely to need it. Once enabled, you can adjust when it’s active in the General settings.” It’s a clever and funny little plug-in, but it seems like people who really need it have a bigger problem than sending ill-advised emails to coworkers and exes.

A blogger known as Sustainable Dave is saving all of his waste for an entire year to raise awareness about the amount of garbage each of us produces. I’m glad I don’t live in his house with all of the garbage piling up in the basement, but I do think it’s an interesting way to bring notoriety to a good cause. Dave describes the reason he started the project: “If we were all accountable for our waste, if we couldn’t simply make it disappear, we’d have to deal with some pretty ugly truths about the way we live. And in so doing, it would cause us to start making better decisions about what we buy, where we buy, and what’s left over when we are done with that purchase.” Follow his progress on the 365 days of trash blog.

You may have heard that Microsoft suddenly dropped the cryptic Seinfeld commercials. The company line is that they had planned on changing the direction of the campaign all along, but considering the fact that there is at least one Seinfeld commercial that was filmed and hasn’t aired, it seems like this has more with critical reception rather than planning. I do think the new ads make more sense, emphasizing the diversity of PC users by showing sports stars, actors, scientists, and shark divers declaring their Windows preference by saying “I’m a PC.” However, Microsoft may have a credibility issue on their hands. One enterprising internet sleuth looked at the metadata of the images on the web and found that they were created using Adobe CS3 on a Mac. It seems like the first step in getting people to accept that your software is just as creative and capable as the competitor would be to actually use it to create the ad. I guess even Microsoft knows that Macs are better at photo editing.

It’s simple, and it’s silly, but it’s also kind of fun. Put on your virtual artist beret, and head on over to JacksonPollock.org to create your paint dripping masterpiece. Just drag your mouse around, clicking to change the color. As you would expect, quick jerky movements will leave thin lines, while slow movements will leave thick lines and blotches. It makes me want to fire up the movie Pollock with Ed Harris for another viewing, since I now can play along at home. Estimated wasted time: 3 minutes (website only); 122 minutes (movie and website)

Fortunately, I’ve never had a problem with coworkers stealing sandwiches out of my lunch bag, but if you have that problem, then you should think about this solution from skforlee. “Anti-Theft Lunch Bags are regular sandwich bags that have green splotches printed on both sides. After your sandwich is placed inside, no one will want to touch it.”

Thanks to Kris for letting me know about Shelfari. It’s a social networking site which specializes in books and reading. You can track the books you’ve read and make a list of books that you want to read. There are lists of the most popular and highest rated books by other members as well, so it’s a good place to find a new book to read, too. It’s a great idea, but it could use a few more key features. I’d like it to look at the books I’ve read and rated highly and suggest others that I would like based on other users who have similar interests. The database also needs to be cleaned up. Some books I searched for were listed 4 different times because there were paperback and hardcover versions and other print runs. I don’t want to choose a specific version of The DaVinci Code that I read, especially if it’s not going to match my friend’s copy. I hope they continue to improve the site, because it really does have some potential.

Do you need something to take your mind off of work for a little while? The idiot test might be enough to do it. This flash based quiz starts with simple questions, and gets progressively more difficult in an old school Simon kind of way until you finally slip up. You’ll then be ridiculed by the site, and you’ll be compelled to share the site with a couple of friends so you won’t be the only one who feels like an idiot. Estimated time wasted: 12 minutes.

There was a time when college dormitories were imposing and monastic brick buildings, offering sparse accommodations and quiet places to study. The Time photo essay about the evolution of the college dorm shows that they are now becoming big business, with high-tech computer equipment, fitness centers, 24 hour cafeterias, and cable TV. As the cost of going to school goes up, the competition to acquire good students and keep them happy goes up as well. Some would argue that the plush life is detrimental to the learning environment, but the current generation of young people feel that they are entitled to everything life has to offer, and I don’t see this trend reversing any time soon.

Regardless of your political views, this is a clever cartoon. Combining the events of Hurricane Gustav, and the Sarah Palin coming out party at the Republican National Convention is a nice touch. Click on the picture for a larger view.

The time wasting site of the week is Sensible Units, a site of measurements and comparisons. Just type in any measurement to find out some equivalent units. How would you estimate 5 pounds? How about 49 golf balls, 5.5 cans of baked beans, or 3 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in hard cover. 1 mile is equivalent to 15 football fields, 5 Eiffel towers, and 32 Olympic swimming pools. Your 20 gallon fish tank? It holds the same volume as 13 footballs, 12 party balloons, and 4.5 average microwave ovens. As long as you can think of more things that you want to compare you can keep wasting time. I estimate that you can take it for about 10 minutes before getting too bored.