I love Macs. I love them because they’re cool, and because Apple has made it a habit of making well-designed software and beautiful interfaces and intuitive tools. The latest operating system features this thing called Dashboard, which essentially operates as an overlay of your screen, as if someone had dropped a scrim over it with some programs, or widgets, stuck to it.
My Dashboard features some useful things (a widget that shows how much disk space is left on my laptop, for example, and a weather forecaster), and some games (Texas Hold ‘Em and Yahtzee), and some totally useless stuff (a chameleon that pokes out its tongue when you click on it).
Recently, I went out to Apple’s site to see what fun new Dashboard widgets were available for download, and discovered Chi Pet by Novis Design. You install it, click on the little droplet of water every few days to “feed” it, and the grass on its surface grows and fills in over time.
I installed it, hit the droplet a couple of times, and kept that up for a few days. And then I forgot about Chi Pet. Forgot about Dashboard. Hit an abnormally busy week, which also meant I was never able to sit still enough to write a blog post. 
Last night, I opened up the Dashboard, and all my widgets popped up. And there, lying upside down and dead, was my unwatered Chi Pet.
So there it is, folks. I actually killed a computer-based plant by not watering the dang thing. Maybe the cactus and mint killers have nothing on me.
Photo credit: Novis Design
on Dec 10th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
So sad, cha-cha-cha-chia, good-bye.
on Dec 11th, 2006 at 7:26 am
I know. . It truly makes me feel unworthy…
on Dec 14th, 2006 at 8:59 am
i still have one up on you. i have supervised the demise of both chia pets and even of pet rocks. next time, try harder.
with regards,
the mint killer
on Dec 14th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Wow…the demise of the Pet Rock. THAT is a challenge. A true challenge. I must try to rise to it…
:-)
on Jan 2nd, 2007 at 5:09 am
I’ve got the chameleon too, but mine doesn’t poke out its tongue…
It just opens its mouth! What am I doing wrong?
on Jan 2nd, 2007 at 7:21 am
Bebop, you know, I just went back and checked, and now I can’t make the chameleon stick its tongue out either…maybe I was imagining things?
on Oct 7th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Sad. Mine is growing fine and healthy, and it talks, sleeps, and can get haircuts! :)
on Oct 7th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Clive, excellent — if I would ever freaking water mine, I could make mine get hair cuts, too. But not yet…
on Apr 5th, 2008 at 11:36 am
How do you cut its hair? I can’t figure that one out! BTW, How do you kill a pet rock? LOL Good one!
on Apr 5th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
Meme, if anyone could kill a pet rock, it would be me…
on Apr 6th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
LOL That’s funny! :D I figured out how to cut his hair by the way. LOL Thanks! :D
on Apr 6th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Glad to hear it, Meme. How’d you do it?
on Apr 7th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
After it grew so long it showed the little red and white barber’s thing and it just cut his hair to the right length. xD
on Apr 17th, 2008 at 2:29 am
ahahahah that’s funny!
i have another dash that’s like a tamagochi…well…i forgot to put him to sleep…and after 2 days i found a RIP…he died ’cause he was too tired! poor!!!!
on Apr 20th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Meme, one of these days I’ll actually let the thing live long enough to need the scissors. Had no idea that was in store!
Irene, poor dash…