Friday, July 29, 2011

Jumping the Shark

from my friend Sam


 

Local Man Jumps From Boat, Rides Shark

Wildlife Officials Say Ride Dangerous


[Whatever would we do without "Wildlife Officials"?]

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Science Humor by Dr. LOLcat, Ph.D.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Australia is the 'dumbest continent' according to Indian call centres

The instructions come straight from the classroom curriculum for trainee employees at India-based call centre giant, Delhi Call Centre.


The teacher told the class: "Australia is known as the dumbest continent. Literally, college was unknown there until recently, so speak slowly."


"Technologically speaking, they're somewhat backward, as well. The average person's mobile would be no better than, say, a Nokia 3110 classic."


The class was then told "Australians drink constantly". "If you call on a Friday night, they'll be smashed," the teacher continued.


full @

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Creating Opportunities for Private Sector Growth

This week Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz introduced bipartisan legislation to provide tax incentives for small and mid-sized businesses to invest in life sciences research and development on a targeted basis.


.

Dear Friend,

As our economy continues to recover, it is important that we create opportunities that promote private sector economic growth. In Pennsylvania, biotechnology is a vital sector of our innovation economy and is ripe for growth and job creation. 
In Philadelphia alone, the life sciences sector is responsible for creating one out of every six jobs, and generates 15 percent of all economic activity. By investing in the life sciences field, we are providing universities, research centers, and private companies with the tools they need to create good paying jobs and be on the cutting edge of medical advances.
That is why I have been working hard to promote opportunity in this critical economic field. This week I introduced bipartisan legislation to provide tax incentives for small and mid-sized businesses to invest in life sciences research and development on a targeted basis. This bill will grow our economy and increase America's global competitiveness by enhancing medical innovation, life sciences education, and job creation here in the U.S. 
The Life Sciences Jobs and Investment Act encourages investment in the United States by reducing the tax burden on the mostly small and medium sized companies responsible for life science research today. The bill allows companies engaged in life sciences research to either double their Research and Development tax credit on the first $150 million invested or repatriate foreign earnings tax free up to that same limit when used exclusively for job creation and research in the United States.  

Investing in life sciences means:
Hiring more scientists, researchers, and personnel to engage in new and ground-breaking research;
• Allowing American universities and post-graduate institutions to allocate more time and support for research and development; and
• Investing in new laboratory and life science research facilities and equipment.
We must continue to invest in major medical innovation for the future and ensure that America remains on the cutting edge of innovation and scientific research. 

The new legislation builds on my earlier success with the therapeutic tax credit, which invested $1 billion in nearly 3,000 small biotech and bioscience companies in 2009. This program created high-skilled, high-wage jobs in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States. 
The Life Sciences Jobs and Investment Act will expand these efforts and continue to propel job growth in the Commonwealth. Both of these bills were introduced with strong bipartisan support. 
Click here for more information on the Life Sciences Jobs and Investment Act
Click here for more information on the Therapeutic Tax Credit Extension

If you would like more information on the tax credit, please call Brandon Casey in my Washington, DC office at 202-225-6111. 

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz

Contact Information

Washington Office
1227 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
phone: 202/225-6111
fax: 202/226-0611

Montgomery County Office
706 West Avenue
Jenkintown, PA 19046
phone: 215/517-6572
fax: 215/517-6575

Philadelphia Office
7219 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19135
phone: 215/335-3355
fax: 215/333-4508

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Monday, July 25, 2011

TMI

from my friend Paul:


 

New Details Emerge In Case of Woman Charged with Severing Husband's Penis


A less-than-enticing headline for some of us

 

Thursday, July 21, 2011

He seems like a nice guy...

 

Monday, July 18, 2011

Brilliant thought for the day


When the space shuttle lands, everyone wear ape suits. Pass it on.  

         - Seth Green







David Sedaris: Chicken toenails, anyone?

  David Sedaris would eat Chinese food – but only as an alternative to starving.
   So a visit to China was always going to be tricky...

Friday, July 15, 2011

xkcd on 3-D printers

 

FW: A letter from camp (just in case you haven't seen it before)


 Dear Mum,

Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and got worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened.

Oh yes, please call Adam's mother and tell her he is okay. He can't write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the search and rescue Jeeps. It was great. We never would have found Adam in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning.

Scoutmaster Ted got mad at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will blow up?

The wet wood didn't burn, but one of the tents did and also some of our clothes.

Matthew is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Ted gets the bus fixed. It wasn't his fault about the crash. The brakes worked okay when we left. Scoutmaster Ted said that with a bus that old, you have to expect something to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance.

We think it's a super bus. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the bumpers. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in a bus made for 24. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the policeman stopped and talked to us.

Scoutmaster Ted is a neat guy. Don't worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Horace how to drive on the mountain roads where there aren't any cops. All we ever see up there are huge logging trucks.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out to the rapids. Scoutmaster Ted wouldn't let me because I can't swim, and Adam was afraid he would sink because of his cast (it's concrete because we didn't have any plaster), so he let us take the canoe out. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood.

Scoutmaster Ted isn't crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn't even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the bus so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Andrew dived into the lake and cut his arm, we all got to see how a tourniquet works.

Steve and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Ted said it was probably just food poisoning from the left-over chicken. He said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. By the way, what is a pedal-file?

I have to go now. We are going to town to post our letters and
 buy some more beer and ammo. Don't worry about anything. We are fine and tonight it's my turn to sleep in the Scoutmaster's tent. 

 

   

 

 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Hungry?


Two GIANT cheeseburgers, wrapped around ONE POUND of bacon. Oh yeah, it's sandwiched between two sausage & pepperoni pizzas.

Carmageddon Is Coming!

from Huffington Post

I'm sure most of you around the country, hell, even in the rest of the state haven't heard about this coming weekend's impending disaster.


For those of you not living in our over-packed bubble, Los Angeles is shutting down 10 miles of one the nation's busiest freeways for a massive overhaul and upgrade from 10 pm on Friday July 15th through 5am Monday July 18th.

 

full at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/one-for-the-table/carmageddon-is-coming_b_896285.html



... cue the Missing Person's song "Walking in LA."

Good thing the rest of the quote didn't fit on the license plate.

 see attached

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Happy Embrace Your Geekness Day


Embrace Your Geekness Day

When : July 13th


 Embrace Your Geekness Day is a great day to be a Geek. Or, to know a Geek.

A geek is an individual who is highly intelligent (brainy) and technically oriented. They are most often associated with the computer, and computer systems world. A geek is usually formal, studious and into his technical world, often to the exclusion of all else. A geek is closely related to a "Nerd". A nerd however, may or may not possess technical expertise.

Some people view the term "Geek" with a negative connotation. Are they jealous of your knowledge and skills, perhaps? We certainly think so.

Enjoy Embrace Your Geekness Day to the fullest. Spend plenty of time with your computer. Talk computer lingo and jargon. If you are a geek, stand tall and proud. Isn't it great to be so brilliant and gifted!?





Q.  What's the difference between a Nerd and a Geek ?

A.  A Nerd doesn't realize he's a social outcast, whereas a Geek says, "Who am I kidding? I speak Klingon."


 

Moaning Mouth-Bot Learns to Croon, Is Even Creepier Than Ever


Moaning Mouth-Bot Learns to Croon, Is Even Creepier Than Ever


Headphones on, everyone. The
moaning mouth 'bot is back, this time to sing you a Japanese nursery rhyme. (Freaking you out is a side effect, not the main goal.)

Hideyuki Sawada of Kagawa University in Japan brought the mouthbot to Robotech 2011 to demonstrate its new powers. You can watch it below singing "Kagome Kagome," a children's song.


The robot, which first started freaking us out last spring, is designed to help hearing-impaired people improve their speech. It's the most mechanically accurate robot mouth ever, with an air pump to simulate lungs, artificial vocal chords, a resonance tube, a nasal cavity, and a microphone attached to a sound analyzer. It listens to itself and uses a learning algorithm to better mimic the sounds of human speech.


For those of you who did not grow up with Japanese nursery rhymes, you can hear what "Kagome Kagome" is supposed to sound like here, so you can judge the robot's vocal skills.
 

"Here's the story... of a man named Sherwood..."

Sherwood Schwartz: Why TV Addicts Mourn Him

Yesterday's passing of Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch creator Sherwood Schwartz at the age of 94 certainly doesn't qualify as a tragedy: He lived a long, rich life filled with success and the love of family, friends, and fans (as he notes here).

And yet, when the news of his death broke (over Twitter, of course), there was a palpable and somewhat surprising sense of loss for pop-culture junkies who count themselves as Gen X-ers or baby-boomers. And that's because, while Schwartz wasn't a beloved actor or legendary director, for many of us he was the original "showrunner" — before we even knew what that word meant.

Like Sid and Marty Krofft or the Children's Television Workshop, his name was seared onto our kiddie eyeballs as evidence that the characters we loved on the small screen were the products of one person's imagination. After all, besides the Brady clan looking up and down at each other from within their tic-tac-toe prison cells, what's the one image you remember from each episode of the show? "Created and Produced By Sherwood Schwartz," plastered over a still picture of the Bradys' A-frame mid-century abode at 4222 Clinton Way.

full @ http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/07/sherwood_schwartz_brady_bunch.html

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mmmmmm. Watermelon. Nom nom nom.

   see attached photo

This is the story behind the Clash song, "Julie's been working for the Drug Squad."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14052153


Now I've got a hankerin' for a Crabby Patty...


Newly Discovered Mushroom Named after SpongeBob

A new species of mushroom discovered in Borneo has been named SpongeBob SquarePants by researchers.

The fungus, Spongiforma squarepantsii, was found by biologists from San Francisco State University during an expedition to Borneo's forests. They were inspired to give it the name SpongeBob because of its sea-sponge shape.

Also, when viewed under an electron microscope, parts of the fungus look like a seafloor carpeted in tube sponges, "reminiscent of the fictitious home of SpongeBob," according to biology professor Dennis Desjardin, who has discovered more than 200 fungi species.

http://earthsky.org/biodiversity/dennis-desjardin-a-fungus-named-after-spongebob

 

 

Now I've got a hankerin' for a Crabby Patty...

 Newly Discovered Mushroom Named after SpongeBob

A new species of mushroom discovered in Borneo has been named SpongeBob SquarePants by researchers.

The fungus, Spongiforma squarepantsii, was found by biologists from San Francisco State University during an expedition to Borneo's forests. They were inspired to give it the name SpongeBob because of its sea-sponge shape.

Also, when viewed under an electron microscope, parts of the fungus look like a seafloor carpeted in tube sponges, "reminiscent of the fictitious home of SpongeBob," according to biology professor Dennis Desjardin, who has discovered more than 200 fungi species.

http://earthsky.org/biodiversity/dennis-desjardin-a-fungus-named-after-spongebob

 

 

Monday, July 11, 2011

Not exactly Lean Cuisine

Deep fried Twinkies, Deep fried Snickers,
Deep fried Klondike bar, Deep fried Hamburger.

Pork Chop on a stick, Cream Cheese on a stick.

Chocolate-covered corn dog, chocolate-covered bacon

Beef Sundae.

Yes, these are some of the items offered at the 2011 San Diego Country Fair.
http://www.sdfair.com/pdf/11food_type.pdf


Oh wait, they do have some healthy foods.
Three "Healthy Food" booths at the fair that serve items like salad and fruit bowls.
Then again, there are eleven places that serve nothing but ice cream.


Friday, July 08, 2011

Secret to a Long Life

from Star Tribune TV critic's picks:


"Torchwood: Miracle Day" (9 p.m. Friday, BBC).
In this new series, the world reacts to the fact that nobody appears to be dying. Scientists must have discovered the Abe Vigoda Diet.

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/tv/125162364.html

=====

Are you sure Abe is still alive?
Find out here: 
http://www.abevigoda.com/

He has joined the Dark Side.

 
George Lucas shuts down 'Star Wars' movie marathon -




 

This is a country that takes its beer seriously



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From: bob_bendesky@hotmail.com
To: taciej@yahoo.com; anthony.volpe@lraworldwide.com; maribeth.clark@sungardhe.com
Subject: This is a country that takes its beer seriously
Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 09:42:28 -0400

from my friend John
 
How about a beer with your iPhone?
 
thanks to two Australian entrepreneurs, you will be able use it to open a bottle of beer by way of the "Opena," a hard plastic case that fits over the iPhone and is equipped with a slide-out bottle opener.
 
"Basically, Australians are fairly heavy drinkers, as you may or may not know," said Melbourne-based Chris Peters, an industrial designer who developed the product with Rob Ward, a former toolmaker.
 
"We're always out at friends' houses and so on, and in some cases you may not have your keys on you... So we thought, why don't we attach a bottle opener to an iPhone case? We always have our phones on us."
 
Working from three basic rules -- the case had to be slim, there had to be no chance of the opener scratching the iPhone, and the opener had to work without putting any pressure on the phone -- the two developed a prototype.
 
Testing including running through what a promotional video termed "the worst case scenario" in which a friend has shaken up the beer and it foams over. The case -- and the iPhone -- came through unscathed every time.
 
Aside from a few initial glitches because the first prototypes were too weak, development went smoothly. Start-up funding via an internet site that allows anybody to pitch in, has also gone well, enabling a sales launch within weeks.
 
"The strangest thing that happened was when we were doing the filming for the video and we had a courier drop off a parcel," Peters said.
"He gave us some very unusual looks when we had about 20 open beers at seven in the morning."
 
Though some who posted on the pair's Facebook page expressed doubt about the wisdom of putting a phone that close to a foaming beverage, the response was mainly positive.
 
"Finally I can combine my love of drinking and tech," one said.

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/07/australia-phone-beer-idUSL3E7I70GW20110707 

Thursday, July 07, 2011

It's a nutritionist's nightmare: America's hot new snack, deep fried Kool-Aid balls!

Calorie counts on virtually every product you can buy, constant warnings about sodium levels and sugar - it's an age of constant reminders of healthy eating.
 
America's latest food craze, however, sets the clock back a thousand years: deep fried Kool-Aid balls.

The drink beloved by generations of Americans now comes in snack form in the shape of crispy little balls that resemble tiny creatures from a Fifties horror B-movie.
 
The Kool-Aid balls were created by chef Charlie Boghosian who quickly found his diabetes and obesity bombs are a massive hit.
 
He simply drops spoonfuls of the batter, made up of the famous drink mix, flour and water, into the burning fat, lets it sizzle for a minute and bang, the latest contribution to the culinary arts is born.
 
The 'treat' has been selling like crazy at county fairs throughout the South and after making its first appearance at the San Diego County Fair the snack went viral.
 
At the San Diego fair, he was selling up to 600 orders a day from a mobile vendor, with five balls in an order.

Mr Boghosian describes the taste as being 'like donut holes.'
 
So far he has concentrated on cherry flavour, but as millions of children know, there are many other flavours to explore in the future.
 
Be warned - they maybe coming to a fair near you.
 
However, the Kool-Aid balls are not Mr Boghosian's first foray into extreme deep fat frying, Gawker reports.

His previous inventions include deep-fried Klondike bars and deep-fried Thin Mints.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2005694/Americas-hot-new-snack-deep-fried-Kool-Aid-balls.html
 

6th PA Rev War encampment at National Constitution Center July 4, 2011


see attached photo.

in the background is the Liberty Bell Pavilion, and Independence Hall.

Venn Diagram

 see attached image

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

WTF ?

see attached picture.

Is it me, or does Michele Bachmann have a 'chubby' ?


http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chubby

No longer a *Boy* Wonder.

 
Burt Ward celebrates a birthday today with 66 candles on his cake.  Holy Forest Fire!


Sunday, July 03, 2011

Action News report from lawn of NCC showing 6th PA encampment

Action News reporter Kenneth Moton:

"I'm standing right in front of the National Constitution Center, and talk about a Living History lesson. Here's what tents during the Revolutionary times would have looked like. It's a nice introduction before people head into the Center for the new George Washington exhibit. This place, and the rest of the mall, have been busy today as people celebrate this nation's birth."

full video link from 6ABC:
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=8229314


6th PA site:  http://6pahome.com