Silent 3's medicated musings

Ode to a Twinkie: Pay Tribute With a Haiku

2012-01-26T01:23:00.001-05:00

Whether you like them, love them, or loathe them, Twinkies are one of the most identifiable food brands in history. This week's news that Hostess will be filing for a second bankruptcy, has put their future in jeopardy. So how better to pay homage to the Twinkie than with a haiku?

Lunch. Twinkies abound.

But never in my lunchbox.

Thanks mom. Jealousy.

- PBS Food Senior Editor Matt Schoch

You won't call, won't write;

You challenge my heart's shelf life -

love won't decompose.

- PBS Food Web Producer Ashley Carufel

Submit your "ode to a Twinkie" in the comments.

http://www.pbs.org/food/features/pay-tribute-to-the-twinkie-with-a-haiku

This Sunday: The 59th Annual Washington Crossing the Delaware Reenactment

2011-12-07T19:38:00.001-05:00

The 59th Annual Washington Crossing the Delaware Reenactment [Dress Rehearsal] on Sunday, December 11th.

Not only do General Washington and his troops cross the Delaware River in uniform just as they do on Christmas day, but additional activities and demonstrations take place throughout the historic village. The event/village activities will occur from 11am to 3pm, with the crossing time occurring around 1:00 pm.

Washington Crossing Historic Park • Rt. 532 and River Road, Washington Crossing, PA 18977 • Phone: 215-493-4076 •

http://www.ushistory.org/washingtoncrossing/reenactment/index.htm

=====

Days before the Crossing, Thomas Paine penned the following words in his pamphlet "The Crisis":

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.

full @ http://www.ushistory.org/paine/crisis/c-01.htm

Need any Cheat Sheets ?

2011-12-02T11:09:00.001-05:00

MakeUseOf's website has a collection of "Cheat Sheets and Keyboard Shortcuts" for a variety of popular programs, such as Outlook, iPhone, iTunes, Facebook, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Google Search and many others

The cheat sheets are PDF files, formatted to print the entire sheet on a single page.

Go to
http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/downloads

the download password is makeuseof

... shhh, it's our secret...

Shoot 'n' Scoot !

2011-11-30T13:42:00.000-05:00

For years, military live fire exercises have relied on either stationary or pop-out targets but they don't really simulate enemy movements—they just sit there, waiting to be shot. These targets, newly developed for the U.S. Marine Corps don't; they move, behave, and react just like real combatants.

Well, combatants who ride Segway scooters.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/marines-dummies-ride-segways/

Software to Rate How Drastically Photos Are Retouched

2011-11-30T10:54:00.001-05:00

A proposed software tool is intended to address concerns about the prevalence of highly idealized and digitally edited images in advertising and fashion magazines.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/technology/software-to-rate-how-drastically-photos-are-retouched.html

Well, kids, this is a fine mess you've gotten us into.

2011-11-29T15:05:00.000-05:00

from The Register

(excerpt)

Exoplanet ranking suggests INTERSTELLAR WAR imminent

Too late to recall idiotic message beamed at alien star

An international team of boffins has ranked the various extra-terrestrial planets and moons known to humanity in order of ability to sustain life. It's bad news for the human race, as the planets of the Gliese 581 star system are near the top of the list: and if an intelligent race is present there, we have already mortally offended it.

Should there be intelligent aliens at Gliese 581 they will soon have an intense and well-justified grievance against us.

This is because back in 2008 the management of the doomed teenybopper social-networking portal Bebo, for reasons which seemed good to them at the time, collected a huge and infamous compilation of web-2.0 content from their site's users, addressed at possible aliens resident at Gliese 581. They then hired the unscrupulous Russian astronomer Alexander Zaitsev to beam this horrendous guff-blast at the red star from a powerful Ukraininan radar telescope.

Sample comments offered as humanity's possible first messages to a powerful and sophisticated alien culture:

Our bodies are made of bones ... We have senses. Smell, Taste, Sight and Touch. Without any of these things, we wouldn't live.

I love Television. We watch animated cartoons and real-life drama on it. I could sit and watch Television all day.

Hi im nicole ... someday i would love to appear on the west end stage, in a hit show.i also wouldnt mind doing a few television programs whether it is as a extra or a main part i dont mind i would love to appear on doctor who as i love it. anyway laters.Nicole x

All these, and many other foulnesses such as pictures of cats, boy crooners, amusing vegetables etc, are on their way unstoppably towards Gliese 581 and will arrive at that star system in March 2029. Even if the aliens have not yet developed star travel, planet- or sun-smasher missiles, world-volatilizing krenon rays etc, this will surely be a powerful spur to the development and instant employment of such weapons against the civilisation which could, unprovoked, commit such an interstellar solecism.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/24/exoplanet_habitability_rankings/

Peter Wentz Farmstead Candlelight Tour : Saturday, December 3, 2011

2011-11-29T11:43:00.000-05:00

Peter Wentz Farmstead Candlelight Tour

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Candlelight Tours 2:00 - 8:00pm (Last tour begins at 7:30pm)

The soft glow of candlelight will guide you throughout the decorated Farmstead for tours showcasing period music, seasonal decorations, holiday foodways, and a visit from Belsnickel, a Pennsylvania German St. Nicholas in furs.

The 6th Pennsylvania Regiment will be in attendance to insure the safety of His Excellency General George Washington, who will be visiting the site.

The Farmstead is located on Shearer Road in Worcester, PA, near the intersection of Routes 73 and 363 in Montgomery County.

All ages ; $2 per person suggested donation.

(the attached picture shows a scene from a couple years ago, when a dusting of snow added some magic to the glow of the lanterns).

http://www.peterwentzfarmsteadsociety.org/

Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

2011-11-29T07:49:00.001-05:00

From Robert Bendesky

Research Associate at Cephalon

Greater Philadelphia Area

Bob,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

- Robert

Confirm that you know Robert

You are receiving Invitation to Connect emails. Unsubscribe

Want a Traditional Thanksgiving Feast ?

2011-11-21T12:31:00.000-05:00

from Wired.com

This Thanksgiving, millions of Americans will sit down to a traditional meal in celebration of all that the New World has given us.

In memory of our ancestors — or the ancestors of the people who bought our ancestors, or the ancestors of the people who decided our ancestors didn't really deserve land if they weren't going to properly exploit it, or the ancestors of the people who resented our ancestors for coming over here and taking all the jobs they didn't want — we'll sit down to a table loaded with the same traditional foods they had at the first Thanksgiving.

First, Mother will bring out the eels and cod. Who doesn't have fond memories of seeing a huge plate of grilled eels and cod set down on the dinner table? Make sure Grandpa gets the eyes! Of course, nobody would expect to eat just one type of seafood on Thanksgiving. Mussels and clams are in abundance, although some poor families make do with lobster.

Naturally, the centerpiece of any Thanksgiving meal is the birds. Turkey is a popular choice, but to many people Thanksgiving just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without at least a couple roasted ducks and a swan or two.

The kids would just as soon eat nothing but birds and shellfish, and maybe a few wild berries, but the grown-ups are there to make sure they eat their vegetables. No dessert until you eat your dried corn, beetroot and beans.

Yeah, OK, swan and eel are pretty much off the Thanksgiving menu these days. Instead we eat various traditional foods that weren't at what's widely considered the ur-Thanksgiving, at least in the United States.

Candied yams — actually sweet potatoes, but "yam" is a fun word — wouldn't be invented for almost 200 years. If anyone thought to mash potatoes with butter and milk before the 1700s, they kept it to themselves. And as for green beans with fried onions and condensed cream of mushroom soup … I'll let you ponder that one.

from Wikipedia:

The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.

Want a Traditional Thanksgiving Feast ?

2011-11-21T12:24:00.001-05:00

from Wired.com

This Thanksgiving, millions of Americans will sit down to a traditional meal in celebration of all that the New World has given us.

In memory of our ancestors — or the ancestors of the people who bought our ancestors, or the ancestors of the people who decided our ancestors didn't really deserve land if they weren't going to properly exploit it, or the ancestors of the people who resented our ancestors for coming over here and taking all the jobs they didn't want — we'll sit down to a table loaded with the same traditional foods they had at the first Thanksgiving.

First, Mother will bring out the eels and cod. Who doesn't have fond memories of seeing a huge plate of grilled eels and cod set down on the dinner table? Make sure Grandpa gets the eyes! Of course, nobody would expect to eat just one type of seafood on Thanksgiving. Mussels and clams are in abundance, although some poor families make do with lobster.

Naturally, the centerpiece of any Thanksgiving meal is the birds. Turkey is a popular choice, but to many people Thanksgiving just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without at least a couple roasted ducks and a swan or two.

The kids would just as soon eat nothing but birds and shellfish, and maybe a few wild berries, but the grown-ups are there to make sure they eat their vegetables. No dessert until you eat your dried corn, beetroot and beans.

Yeah, OK, swan and eel are pretty much off the Thanksgiving menu these days. Instead we eat various traditional foods that weren't at what's widely considered the ur-Thanksgiving, at least in the United States.

Candied yams — actually sweet potatoes, but "yam" is a fun word — wouldn't be invented for almost 200 years. If anyone thought to mash potatoes with butter and milk before the 1700s, they kept it to themselves. And as for green beans with fried onions and condensed cream of mushroom soup … I'll let you ponder that one.

from Wikipedia:

The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 13 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.[3] The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.

PETA slams Mario video game over use of a fur suit

2011-11-16T10:41:00.001-05:00

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals might be barking up the wrong mushroom. On Monday, the controversial organization issued a press release attacking iconic Nintendo mascot Mario for wearing a 'Tanooki' suit in his latest adventure, the Nintendo 3DS game Super Mario 3D Land, which hit shelves on Sunday.

"Tanooki may be just a "suit" in Mario games, but by wearing the skin of an animal, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur," PETA says.

The raccoon-like suit, which grants Mario the ability to glide across the screen, has been a part of the franchise since first appearing as a power-up in 1988's Super Mario Bros. 3. In the new game, Mario acquires the suit not by doing something lousy to a Tanooki, but by snagging a Super Leaf.

full @
http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/plugged-in/peta-slams-mario-over-fur-suit-211025773.html

Herman Cain ... for President of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan

2011-11-15T12:40:00.001-05:00

"Okay, Libya," said Cain, glancing up. "President Obama supported the uprising, correct? President Obama called for the removal of Gaddafi. Just wanted to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say, 'Yes, I agreed. No, I didn't agree,'" said Cain.

"I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason," Cain started, before cutting himself off. "Nope, that's a different one." Cain shifted in his chair, adjusted his jacket and looked up again.

"I got all this stuff twirling around in my head," he added.

"Who Wrote Shakespeare's plays?"

2011-11-15T12:27:00.001-05:00

Eric Idle on "Who Wrote Shakespeare's plays?"

excerpt:

While it is perfectly obvious to everyone that Ben Jonson wrote all of Shakespeare's plays, it is less known that Ben Jonson's plays were written by a teen-age girl in Sunderland, who mysteriously disappeared, leaving no trace of her existence, which is clear proof that she wrote them. The plays of Marlowe were actually written by a chambermaid named Marlene, who faked her own orgasm, and then her own death in a Deptford tavern brawl. Queen Elizabeth, who was obviously a man, conspired to have Shakespeare named as the author of his plays, because how could a man who had only a grammar-school education and spoke Latin and a little Greek possibly have written something as bad as "All's Well That Ends Well"? It makes no sense. It was obviously an upper-class twit who wished to disguise his identity so that Vanessa Redgrave could get a job in her old age.

Mere lack of evidence, of course, is no reason to denounce a theory. Look at intelligent design. The fact that it is bollocks hasn't stopped a good many people from believing in it. Darwinism itself is only supported by tons of evidence, which is a clear indication that Darwin didn't write his books himself. They were most likely written by Jack the Ripper, who was probably King Edward VII, since all evidence concerning this has been destroyed.

Paranoia? Of course not. It's alternative scholarship. What's wrong with teaching alternative theories in our schools? What are liberals so afraid of? Can't children make up their own minds about things like killing and carrying automatic weapons on the playground? Bush was right: no child left unarmed. Why this dictatorial approach to learning, anyway? What gives teachers the right to say what things are? Who's to say that flat-earthers are wrong? Or that the Church wasn't right to silence Galileo, with his absurd theory (actually written by his proctologist) that the earth moves around the sun. Citing "evidence" is so snobbish and élitist. I think we all know what lawyers can do with evidence. Look at Shakespeare. Poor bloke. Wrote thirty-seven plays, none of them his. ♦

full @
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2011/11/21/111121sh_shouts_idle

Great Description !

2011-11-15T11:58:00.001-05:00

NY Times article on Persian Gulf country Qatar contained this evocative description:

The skyline of Qatar's capital, Doha, suggests medieval Baghdad crossed with "Blade Runner."
(picture attached)

One of the best known poems of WW1

2011-11-11T13:24:00.001-05:00

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Brilliantly Crummy Pop Songs

2011-11-11T11:26:00.001-05:00

Ishtar, the notorious 1987 flop starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as bumbling songwriters, had one undeniably redeeming feature. The tunes sprinkled throughout the picture—"Portable Picnic," "Wardrobe of Love," "That a Lawnmower Can Do All That"—are a daffy delight.

Consummate pop craftsman Paul Williams wrote most of them, and he made sure they sounded competent for the first couple of bars. Then they hit a brick wall. For instance:

"Telling the truth can be dangerous business. / Honest and popular don't go hand in hand.
If you admit you can play the accordion / No one will hire you in a rock-and-roll band."

A soundtrack album was promised in the closing credits, but release was canceled after the movie did a face-plant. "If I live to be 100, maybe the world will embrace it," Williams says.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/08/ff_lost_basementtapes/2/

The Kitten Covers: 20 Albums re-imagined with cats!

2011-11-11T11:21:00.001-05:00

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504784_162-10010160-2.html?tag=page

The Kitten Covers: 20 Albums re-imagined with cats!

2011-11-10T12:29:00.000-05:00

http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-504784_162-10010160-2.html?tag=page

The Borowitz Report : Wedding news

2011-11-07T10:10:00.001-05:00

Borowitz Report Email

November 7, 2011

In Money-making Scheme, Greece to Wed Kim Kardashian for 72 Days

EU Nations Serve as Bridesmaids

ATHENS (The Borowitz Report) – The Greek debt crisis that has roiled world markets for weeks was resolved today when Greece agreed to marry TV reality star Kim Kardashian for 72 days.

The marriage, believed to be the first ever between a sovereign nation and a television personality, is expected to net billions of dollars for Greece's debt-strapped economy.

The wedding between Ms. Kardashian and Greece will generate cash via a People magazine pictorial, an E! Entertainment reality series, and a bond offering backed by the International Monetary Fund.

Ms. Kardashian, attired in a Vera Wang wedding gown with a full tulle skirt, Basque waist and Chantilly lace appliqué, wed Greece in a formal ceremony that included all the EU nations as bridesmaids.

But even as the nuptials concluded, there were rumors that there was already "trouble in paradise," a friend of Ms. Kardashian said.

"Kim was annoyed that Greece didn't pay for the rehearsal dinner and left her with the bill," she said. "Europe's used to that kind of thing, but Kim was pissed."

The friend said that she had her "fingers crossed" that the marriage between Ms. Kardashian and Greece would last 72 days.

"I don't want to spread rumors about Kim," she said, "but I've heard she's seeing Italy."

The Borowitz Report: Waste Someone's Time: Forward to a Friend.


Sign up today for your own Borowitz Reports.

UK bomb plot mask becomes Occupy symbol

2011-11-04T13:53:00.001-04:00

Demonstrators wearing V for Vendetta masks

Look at a photo or news clip from around the world of Occupy protesters and you'll likely spot a handful of people wearing masks of a cartoon-like man with a pointy beard, closed-mouth smile and mysterious eyes.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45162958/ns/today-today_news/t/uk-bomb-plot-mask-becomes-occupy-symbol/

Well, tomorrow *is* the 5th of November.

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should e'er be forgot...

FW: Origin of WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get)

2011-11-04T11:31:00.001-04:00

from A Phrase A Week

A Phrase A Week - What you see is what you get

What you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)

Meaning

A computer screen display which appears on screen as it will be seen when printed on paper.

Origin

'Wysiwyg', pronounced 'whizzywig', is one of the best-known of all acronyms. It is generally supposed that the phrase 'what you see is what you get', the acronym 'wysiwyg' and the computer interface that they referred to emerged in close succession. This isn't the case; each of those elements has its own independent genesis.

Firstly, the phrase. 'What you see is what you get' is widely reported as being coined by Flip Wilson in performances as his drag character Geraldine in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In in the late 1960s and then later on The Flip Wilson Show. Wilson certainly popularized the expression but it was already in general use before he adopted it as a catchphrase. A form of the phrase had been used by advertisers in the USA since at least the 1940s to indicate a straightforward, no-fuss form of trading. An advert for a Filmo Sportster camera in The Charleston Gazette came close to 'what you see is what you get' in November 1949:

You just sight, press a button and what you see, you get!

The precise phrase came into print some years later. For instance, this text from an advert for a house sale, in The Oakland Tribune, May 1966:

"So with the exception of landscaping and decorator furnishings, what you see is what you get."

Next comes the acronym 'wysiwyg'. This is generally thought to have been coined from the phrase and in reference to the graphical computer user interfaces that were emerging from Xerox PARC in the 1970s, but it isn't known who first used the acronym in that context. The first such reference that I can find comes surprisingly late, in Byte magazine, April 1982:

'What you see is what you get' (or WYSIWYG) refers to the situation in which the display screen portrays an accurate rendition of the printed page.

However, he first citation I have found of the acronym in print comes several years earlier in a non-computer related context. In January 1972, a student business competition was organised in Victoria, Texas and an account of it published in the local newspaper the Victoria Advocate on the 23rd January. Each team of students chose a name for the dummy businesses that they were going to manage. They were clearly encouraged to use acronyms, as the names they chose were:

SPOT - Selling Products of Tomorrow
LIFE - Lets Insure Future Existence
WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get

So, unless earlier computer related citations are found - which would that seem unlikely as the first wysiwyg software didn't emerge until after 1972 - the prize for coining 'wysiwyg' goes to a bunch of Texan high school kids, not to the boffins of Palo Alto.

'What you see is what you get' later came to be used in a general context, often by individuals - like Flip Wilson's Geraldine - to describe themselves. It is shorthand for 'I may be a plain-speaking rough diamond, but I have no hidden agenda - let my reputation precede me', in the same way that people used to say 'take me as you find me'. The British entrepreneur Sir Alan Sugar is known for such an attitude and used 'What You See Is What You Get' as the title of his autobiography.

The Phrase A Week newsletter goes to 124,000 subscribers (93,000 by e-mail, 31,000 by RSS feed).

Like or Tweet this message via www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/what-you-see-is-what-you-get.html

6th Pennsylvania Regiment of Revolutionary War Re-enactors

2011-11-01T11:44:00.001-04:00

6th Pennsylvania Regiment of Revolutionary War Re-enactors

http://www.facebook.com/6thPA

General Information:
The 6th Pennsylvania Regiment ... Membership in the 6th PA is open to men and women from all walks of life

With over 30 years of experience in "Living History" the 6th Pennsylvania is the standard in today's reenacting community. We are at the forefront of the latest research and discoveries made available today. With this and our love for history, we are able to bring to you an informative, as well as, entertaining program that can be tailored to fit your needs and budget.

6th Pennsylvania Regiment
PO BOX 781.
Montgomeryville, PA, 18936.
United States

Won't get fooled again

2011-11-01T11:27:00.001-04:00

Private equity firms are investing in chains of used-car lots, and auto loans are being packaged into securities much like subprime mortgages.

http://www.latimes.com/business/buy-here-pay-here/la-fi-buyhere-payhere-day-two-20111101%2c0%2c3779131.story

Oh no, not again.
Or as George W. Bush so eloquently put it:

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

FW: Nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System on Nov 9th.

2011-10-25T16:37:00.001-04:00

On Nov 9^th Homeland Security and the FCC will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), A.K.A. Emergency Broadcast System. This will be the first time the entire system has been tested at one time.

When the alert is activated a disclaimer is supposed to announce that this is a test, on the radio and electronic message boards this will should not be an issue. However on TV some of the older equipment will not display video announcing that this is a test. Lastly the test will last about 3 minutes which is longer than normal.

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-alert-system-nationwide-test

Halloween Humor

2011-10-25T11:55:00.001-04:00

Air Force’s ‘Not Science Fiction’ Commercial Totally Is

2011-10-25T11:30:00.001-04:00

from Wired.com

If you're like me, you watched in disbelief as the lowly Carolina Panthers trounced the Washington Redskins on Sunday, but you were even more bewildered by an Air Force commercial during a gamebreak. In that ad, Air Force C-17 cargo planes do a number of impossible things — like stuff out of a Michael Bay movie — while the onscreen text promises, "It's not science fiction. It's what we do every day."

For the uninitiated, in the ad — which you can view above — the C-17s swoop over a breaking bridge to evacuate some poor souls in the middle of an emergency. So far, so good. But then the C-17 engines rotate into a vertical position. (Nope.) The behemoth of a plane — which is 174 feet long and can weigh up to 585,000 lbs. — lands on the bridge without collapsing it further. (Would never happen.) And when the C-17's aircrew loads up the wounded and flies off the bridge, the plane physically transforms into a different aircraft. (Um, what?)

I called up the Air Force Recruiting Service to find out how this could possibly not be science fiction. If there's a squadron out there flying Autobot C-17s, then I must embed with it. Noah Shachtman would fire me if I somehow missed that story.

"This one was definitely more cinematic in the beginning," concedes Christa D'Andrea, public affairs chief for the Air Force recruitment arm. "It's a very cinematic, sci-fi sort of campaign."

OK, it's not exactly a Pulitzer-level scoop that commercials exaggerate the truth. But shouldn't an ad promising not to be science fiction contain, y'know, less science fiction?

full @ http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/air-force-sci-fi

9 Essential Geek Books You Must Read Right Now

2011-10-21T14:09:00.001-04:00

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/10/9-essential-geek-books

details on the "Wasabi Alarm"

2011-10-19T09:39:00.001-04:00

Popular Mechanics was so intrigued by the Ig Nobel-winning wasabi fire alarm, it wrote about it.
Here's more from the magazine's Oct. 5 article:

As anyone who's ever put too much of the pungent green paste on a sushi roll knows, wasabi is hard to ignore. A taste of the stinging stuff sets off alarm bells on your tongue. And a Japanese team has now taken advantage of that fact for their real but really crazy-sounding invention: the wasabi fire alarm.

The research team was trying to come up with a solution to the fact that most people who are killed in building fires are asleep or elderly—either way, they don't hear the alarm. But it's hard to ignore the eye-watering burn of wasabi, so the researchers tried to use that to their advantage. First, they isolated the compound in wasabi responsible for the characteristic stinging sensation, allyl isothiocyanate. This chemical isn't an odor, it's a "somatosensation." The nervous system perceives it as a painful, stinging feeling. "In contrast to olfactory processing, somatosensory processing persists during sleep," team member Makoto Imai tells PM. "That's why subjects can wake up after inhalation of air-diluted wasabi." Their invention is now registered under a patent called "Odor Generation Alarm and Method for Informing Unusual Situation."

For their tests, Imai and colleagues filled canisters of the compound, waited until their test subjects were deeply asleep, and then filled the room with wasabi gas. Of the 14 test subjects—including four who were deaf—13 woke within 2 minutes. (It turned out that the fourteenth person had a blocked nose). The team actually tested about 100 odors, including rotten eggs. Wasabi stood alone as the premier waker-upper.

Last week, their innovation earned them an Ig Nobel prize, an award handed out by the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research, which every year spoofs the Nobel Prizes awarded a week later. "At first, we wondered what happened," Imai says of the odd honor. "But then, we were very delighted with this prize."

Seems, Inc., a Tokyo-based company, used the team's research to develop the alarm, which has been available since April 2009 for about $600. The company is working to create a less expensive model.

http://www.securitysystemsnews.com/blog/wasabi-makes-one-hot-fire-alarm

Here are the 2011 Ig Nobel Prize winners.

2011-10-19T09:23:00.001-04:00

Here are the 2011 Ig Nobel Prize winners.

The prizes were awarded at the 21st First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, on September 29, at Harvard University. See ceremony details — and video of the ceremony — at <http://improbable.com/ig/2011/>

PHYSIOLOGY PRIZE: Anna Wilkinson (of the UK), Natalie Sebanz (of THE NETHERLANDS, HUNGARY, and AUSTRIA), Isabella Mandl (of AUSTRIA) and Ludwig Huber (of AUSTRIA) for their study "No Evidence of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise."

CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Makoto Imai, Naoki Urushihata, Hideki Tanemura, Yukinobu Tajima, Hideaki Goto, Koichiro Mizoguchi and Junichi Murakami of JAPAN, for determining the ideal density of airborne wasabi (pungent horseradish) to awaken sleeping people in case of a fire or other emergency, and for applying this knowledge to invent the wasabi alarm.

MEDICINE PRIZE: Mirjam Tuk (of THE NETHERLANDS and the UK), Debra Trampe (of THE NETHERLANDS) and Luk Warlop (of BELGIUM). and jointly to Matthew Lewis, Peter Snyder and Robert Feldman (of the USA), Robert Pietrzak, David Darby, and Paul Maruff (of AUSTRALIA) for demonstrating that people make better decisions about some kinds of things — but worse decisions about other kinds of things‚ when they have a strong urge to urinate.

PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: Karl Halvor Teigen of the University of Oslo, NORWAY, for trying to understand why, in everyday life, people sigh.

LITERATURE PRIZE: John Perry of Stanford University, USA, for his Theory of Structured Procrastination, which says: To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that's even more important.

BIOLOGY PRIZE: Darryl Gwynne (of CANADA and AUSTRALIA and the UK and the USA) and David Rentz (of AUSTRALIA and the USA) for discovering that a certain kind of beetle mates with a certain kind of Australian beer bottle.

PHYSICS PRIZE: Philippe Perrin, Cyril Perrot, Dominique Deviterne and Bruno Ragaru (of FRANCE), and Herman Kingma (of THE NETHERLANDS), for determining why discus throwers become dizzy, and why hammer throwers don't.

MATHEMATICS PRIZE: Dorothy Martin of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1954), Pat Robertson of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1982), Elizabeth Clare Prophet of the USA (who predicted the world would end in 1990), Lee Jang Rim of KOREA (who predicted the world would end in 1992), Credonia Mwerinde of UGANDA (who predicted the world would end in 1999), and Harold Camping of the USA (who predicted the world would end on September 6, 1994 and later predicted that the world will end on October 21, 2011), for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations. [NOTE: See next section, below, for further details.]

PEACE PRIZE: Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, LITHUANIA, for demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank. [NOTE: be sure to see the video.]

PUBLIC SAFETY PRIZE: John Senders of the University of Toronto, CANADA, for conducting a series of safety experiments in which a person drives an automobile on a major highway while a visor repeatedly flaps down over his face, blinding him. [NOTE: be very sure to see the video.]

Details, with citations and links: <http://www.improbable.com/ig/winners/#ig2011>

The Perfect Costume

2011-10-15T22:24:00.001-04:00

A bald man with a wooden leg gets invited to a Halloween Party. He doesn't know what costume to wear to hide his head and his leg, So he writes to a costume company to explain his problem.

A few days later he received a parcel with the following note:

Dear Sir,

Please find enclosed a pirate's outfit. The spotted handkerchief will cover your bald head and with your wooden leg, you will be just right as a pirate.

Very truly yours,

Acme Costume Co.

The man thinks this is terrible because they have emphasized his wooden leg, so he writes a letter of complaint. A week goes by and he receives another parcel and a note, which says:

Dear Sir,

Please find enclosed a monk's costume. The long robe will cover your wooden leg and with your bald head, you should really look the part.

Very truly yours,

Acme Costume Co.

Now the man is really upset since they have gone from emphasizing his wooden leg to emphasizing his bald head, so again he writes the Company another nasty letter of complaint.

The next day he gets a small parcel and a note, which reads:

Dear Sir,

We have TRIED our very BEST.

Please find enclosed a bottle of molasses and a bag of crushed nuts.

Pour the molasses over your bald head, sprinkle on the crushed nuts, stick your wooden leg up your ass and go as a Caramel Apple.

Very truly yours,

Acme Costume Co.

Science can be FUN !

2011-10-14T09:36:00.001-04:00

from Wired:

I didn't know this two weeks ago, but it turns out the problem with science is that there aren't enough theories involving prehistoric narcissistic psychopathic art mollusks.

Here's the background: A paleontologist recently gave a presentation in which he posited that there once existed a type of giant sea squid that preyed on ichthyosaurs. Ichthyosaurs, by way of explanation, are ancient aquatic reptiles that look like a cross between a dolphin and a prison shiv.

The paleontologist's theory was that this killer calamari would capture its prey, drag it down and eat it. So far so good — standard giant death squid behavior. Where it gets weird is that this beastie then carefully arranged the bones of the deceased ichthyosaur on the ocean floor. Where it gets weird and eerie is that it arranged the bones to resemble its own tentacle suckers. (By the way, I took a moment to look up the proper scientific term for tentacle suckers. Turns out it's "tentacle suckers." Ten points to House Nomenclature!)

Now, I understand that we can't necessarily apply our modern sensibilities and morality to the culture of million-year-old purely theoretical invertebrates, but at the same time, that's some serious serial killer activity right there.

Imagine a child, playing with chicken bones after the family meal, absorbed in his task. The pattern made by the neatly laid-out bones looks a bit familiar, but you can't place it. So you ask, "What's that you're making there?"

The child looks at you and says, in a calm, quiet voice, "It's me."

Speaking for myself, at that point I go online and check to see if Amazon delivers exorcisms.

continues @ http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/10/alt-text-ichthyosaurs/

Sobering thoughts

2011-10-13T12:53:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine saw Roger Daltrey in concert singing the entire "Tommy" album & hits of The Who.

Some of his interesting observations;

1.    95% of the crowd was over 50.

2.    For those in the audience who saw Daltrey when The Who was in its hey-day (30+ years ago) & took drugs, the drugs they took were to get high or "expand one's consciousness" . Today, I'd venture to say that the majority of the crowd was on drugs to just keep themselves alive (heart meds, blood pressure meds, meds to prevent depression or anxiety... you know, keep the "mood" even).

3.    When he sang "My Generation" you realize that the song has a different meaning now that he -- and the majority of the audience -- are pensioners (or nearly there).

4.    Pete Townshend is "nearly deaf' & has to wear hearing aids (talk about sobering mortality).

5.    The beverage of choice for the band on stage was bottled water (of course it could have been alcohol, but I doubt it)..

6.    The drummer now sits behind a plexiglass screen from the rest of the band, incl. Daltrey, who stands right in front of the drum kit – hearing protection?

7.    The keyboards could accurately mimic the orchestral parts of the Tommy album (esp. the overture).

Uh-Oh...

2011-10-13T11:34:00.001-04:00

The U.S. Air Force revealed new details Wednesday about the virus that's been infecting the remote cockpits of its drone fleet — and insisted, despite reports from their own personnel, that the infection was properly and easily contained.

In a statement — the military's first official, on-the-record acknowledgment of the virus — the Air Force insisted that the malware was "more of a nuisance than an operational threat.

"The ability of drone pilots to remotely fly the aircraft from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada "remained secure throughout the incident."

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/drone-virus-nuisance/

Reports that SkyNet-operated computers were heard laughing in the background remain unconfirmed, as nobody in the control room is answering the phones...

"No beer is needed here" - Agent Rogersz in "Repo Man"

2011-10-12T11:17:00.001-04:00

Alabama town's dry Oktoberfest finally goes wet

CULLMAN, Ala. (AP) - With German roots and Bible Belt values, the north Alabama town of Cullman marked Oktoberfest for decades with oompah music, lederhosen and bratwurst, but no beer. Now the party long billed as the world's only dry Oktoberfest is finally going wet.

Organizers tapped a keg for the first time Monday at Cullman's Oktoberfest, ending an autumn prohibition in a town of 14,000 that had banned alcohol sales outright until church leaders lost that fight last fall.

Hundreds of people sipped beer and cheered at a stein-hoisting contest Monday night. A blocked-off downtown street was full of people enjoying $4 drafts; a few men wore traditional German pants and socks; couples washed down brats and spicy pretzels with brew.

In a compromise aimed partly at helping ease the concerns of townspeople who worried about adding booze to the party, there was still an alcohol-free side to the celebration located about 50 yards away under a big, open shed. There, children did "The Chicken Dance" and cans of Pepsi sat on mostly empty tables; the crowd on the dry side was less than half as large as the crowd on the wet side.

http://www.fox19.com/story/15619285/alabama-towns-dry-oktoberfest-finally-goes-wet

FW: A Phrase A Week - May you live in interesting times

2011-09-23T09:45:00.001-04:00

May you live in interesting times

Meaning

May you experience much disorder and trouble in your life.

Origin

While purporting to be a blessing, this is in fact a curse. The expression is always used ironically, with the clear implication that 'uninteresting times', of peace and tranquillity, are more life-enhancing than interesting ones.

'May you live in interesting times' is widely reported as being of ancient Chinese origin but is neither Chinese nor ancient, being recent and western. It certainly seems to have been intended to sound oriental, in the faux-Chinese 'Confucius he say' style, but that's as near to China as it actually gets. Confucius's actual sayings are as elusive as those of his western counterpart Aesop - we have no written records from either of them.

The phrase was introduced in the 20th century in the form 'interesting age' rather than 'interesting times' and appears that way in the opening remarks made by Frederic R. Coudert at the Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 1939,

Some years ago, in 1936, I had to write to a very dear and honored friend of mine, who has since died, Sir Austen Chamberlain, brother of the present Prime Minister, and I concluded my letter with a rather banal remark, "that we were living in an interesting age." Evidently he read the whole letter, because by return mail he wrote to me and concluded as follows: "Many years ago, I learned from one of our diplomats in China that one of the principal Chinese curses heaped upon an enemy is, 'May you live in an interesting age.'" "Surely", he said, "no age has been more fraught with insecurity than our own present time." That was three years ago.

This citation has to be treated with caution as Chamberlain didn't speak Chinese and never visited China, although he was in contact with diplomats stationed there during his time as British Foreign Secretary, that is, 1924-1929. We have the 1939 citation in print, so the 'interesting age' form must be at least that old. If we are to believe Coulson's assertion, the phrase dates from before 1936 and, if we trust in Chamberlain's recollection, we can push the origin back to pre-1929.

As to the currently used 'interesting times' version, we can only date that to post WWII. In a speech to the 2nd session of the US Congress in August 1946, Senator Robert Byrd addressed a remark to Harry S. Truman:

Mr. President, there is an old Chinese curse that says, 'May you live in interesting times.'

Most generations think their times are especially troubling - now as ever. Senator Byrd probably had a better reason than many to call 1940s USA 'interesting', as it was less than a year after the US's use of atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan and Germany in WWII and only a month or two after Winston Churchill's 'Iron Curtain' speech, made in Fulton, Missouri, warning of the rise of Soviet power.

I hope you found that interesting.

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Q&A: Connecting the Gmail Dots

2011-09-22T15:37:00.001-04:00

By J.D. BIERSDORFER

Q. In my Gmail address, I have a period in there to separate my first and last names for easier reading. When I was logging in the other day, I mistyped my user name into the Gmail Web site without the period but my password still worked. How is that?

A. Although the period in the first part of your e-mail address may make it easier for humans to process at glance, the Gmail service ignores it. In other words, the system sees honey.badger@gmail.com and honeybadger@gmail.com as the same address and your password works with either variation.

While leaving the period out when logging into your Gmail account will not save you much time, you can play around with different versions of your address to save time elsewhere — like sorting through marketing offers or mailing lists.

You can insert a "+" or additional periods in the first part of your Gmail address (up to the @ sign). Then you can use that modified address when buying things online, posting online or joining a discussion group by e-mail. Later, you can filter messages based on the version of the address that was used. A post on the Gmail blog explains how it all works here.

http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/qa-connecting-the-gmail-dots/

Man, it's getting like you just can't trust the internet anymore...

2011-09-21T13:54:00.001-04:00

Gordon Ramsay's Badger-Eaten Porn Dwarf: Just a Myth

http://gawker.com/5842001/gordon-ramsays-badger+eaten-porn-dwarf-just-a-myth

Welcome our new Silicon Overlords !

2011-09-21T10:35:00.001-04:00

Robot nominated to carry Olympic flame

Carrying the Olympic Flame gives budding athletes the chance to be a part of the biggest sports competition in the world, but why should humans have all the glory? James Law, a computer scientist at Aberystwyth University has nominated a robot to be part of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay.

Law has suggested that the iCub robot, which is designed to learn from the world like a human toddler, should be given a chance to take part in the event as a tribute to legendary computer scientist Alan Turing. "2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan Turing, the founder of computer science and a figurehead for the code breaking efforts of WWII," he said. "A robot torch bearer would be a fitting tribute to Alan Turing, and an inspiration to future generations of scientists and engineers."

The robot has been nominated through a scheme sponsored by Lloyds TSB, which has over 800 torch bearer slots available, but it seems that iCub fails to meet the minimum requirements as nominees must live in the UK and be aged 12 or over. As a toddler, iCub clearly fails the age requirement. And while the robot does indeed reside in the UK, it's not actually alive. That makes any robot a long shot for inclusion, at least for now. Maybe by the next time the Olympics come to London, it'll be a different story.

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/09/robot-nominated-to-carry-olymp.html

Humor article in the New Yorker: "Alarm Bells" by Andy Borowitz

2011-09-20T15:08:00.001-04:00

excerpt:

If a woman invites me to her place for dinner, I'll ask if she wants me to bring anything. I do this for two reasons: (a) to be polite, and (b) to see if her answer sets off any bells of the alarm-like variety. One time I asked this question and the woman e-mailed me back the following list: (1) duct tape, (2) large "contractor style" garbage bags, (3) shovel, (4) chainsaw.

Whoa! Do I need to spell out what that ring-a-ding-ding sound I started hearing was? Not only did I not bring those items but I bailed on dinner and blocked her on Facebook. Maybe I'm too uptight, but I think a first date is a little early in a relationship to expect someone to bring such nice gifts.

full @ http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2011/09/26/110926sh_shouts_borowitz

I’m Under Arrest for WHAT ?

2011-09-19T15:16:00.001-04:00

Every state in this country has at least one wacky legal stipulation that could land residents in hot water if they don't comply.

The article lists a strange law associated with each of the 50 states.
Here's a sample:

Alaska
Whispering in someone's ear while he's moose hunting is prohibited.

California
You may not eat an orange in your bathtub.

Florida
If you tie an elephant to a parking meter, you must pay the same parking fee as you would for a vehicle.

Massachusetts
No gorilla is allowed in the backseat of any car.

New Jersey
It's against the law for a man to knit during the fishing season.

Pennsylvania
It's illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors.

Texas
You may not shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel.

All fifty at http://www.divinecaroline.com/22323/99603-

You need this Beer poster

2011-09-09T15:46:00.001-04:00

http://popchartlab.com/collections/prints/products/the-very-many-varieties-of-beer

The Fantastic Four, directed by Roger "One Shot" Corman

2011-09-09T14:01:00.001-04:00

The 1994 film version of The Fantastic Four has never been released, probably by design. The producer, Constantin Film, was in jeopardy of losing the rights to the comic book franchise unless it exercised its option and made a movie.

It wasn't prepared to mount a blockbuster, so instead it brought in producer Roger Corman, who cranked out a film for around $1.5 million.

The low-budget nature of the project is clear from the first frame: Special effects are not special, and the Thing looks more like a pineapple than a monster with rocklike skin. And then there's Mister Fantastic's elastic limbs. "It was little more than a mannequin arm with a piston attached to it," says Alex Hyde-White, who portrayed the character.

Heartbreakingly, none of the actors knew that the film was only meant to fulfill a contractual obligation. "I thought it could help me break through as a dramatic action star," Hyde-White says. Jay Underwood, who played the Human Torch, remembers that the picture generated some buzz during production. "Magazines were already wanting interviews," he says wistfully. He's now a pastor at a Baptist church in Northern California.

The movie has become a Plan 9 From Outer Space for comic book geeks, and bootlegs are often screened at conventions. Meanwhile, Constantin Film held on to the rights, and its big-budget 2005 Fantastic Four film grossed $330 million.

New patent granted for building a “snow man/woman”

2011-09-09T10:40:00.001-04:00

New patent granted for building a "snow man/woman"

On Sept. 6th 2011, Mr. Ignacio Marc Asperas was granted US patent 8,011,991 B2. ' Apparatus for facilitating the construction of a snow man/woman.'

The patent document is written in unusually conversational style. "The history of the snow man or snow woman is unknown. But, I have to say this. Whoever the first person was to think to form snow into a human figure was a genius." explains inventor Asperas, of Melville, NY, (US).

He gives some background :

"Compacted snow is virtually like ice! And you have to lift the darn thing a good four feet. Now this is really back breaking. Not to mention that now you have to put the head on top. All of this is pretty difficult even for an adult (or big kid) like myself."

"Another thing has always bothered me when I have built snow people. You can never make a perfect snow man. The snow balls are never, and I mean never, perfectly round. They are always lop-sided and look sort of doofy."

The patent not only provides methods for creating a spherically-shaped body that provides an interior structure of the snow man/woman, but also describes how a generator can provide a sufficient electric charge to attract and adhere snow to the outer surface. And for those who might doubt of the seriousness of such an application, there is a cautionary note:

"The following is not a joke patent. Its completely serious and is a serious undertaking to obtain a patent."

To sum up :

"It is said that the most ingenius [sic] ideas are the most simple in design. The Wheel. The Toaster oven. And, yes, now the ultimate Snow Man."

Monkeys and Shakespeare

2011-09-07T14:20:00.001-04:00

This weekend, a million monkeys will recreate a work of Shakespeare, claims programmer and technology enthusiast Jesse Anderson.

Virtual monkeys, that is.

Anderson, a development manager and senior software developer in Nevada, is on the cusp of proving the "infinite monkey" theorem — which loosely states that given an infinite amount of time, even a monkey tapping away at a typewriter could produce the works of Shakespeare.

It's a milestone Anderson hopes to reach in a little over a week.

"I think the monkeys will have completed their first work by this Sunday and the rest over the course of the week after that," he told FoxNews.com.

Without access to real monkeys on typewriters, Anderson instead turned to the virtual jungle, creating an army of computerized monkeys with Amazon's EC2 cloud service. The e-monkeys are programmed to produce gibberish, mimicking a monkey mashing keys on a keyboard, whereby special software then compares these strings of keystrokes with a given bit of text, Anderson explained to FoxNews.com.

Those mashed keys have combined to create almost the entire of works of Shakespeare. Anderson, who began running the project August 21, believes the first work will be completed Sunday, Sept. 11, while his monkeys will have the whole shebang done and dusted the week after -- probably.

"I can't say for certain since it's purely random," he told said.

Anderson's project could lend credence to the age-old theory, which has seen less success in the real world.

In 2003, scientists at the Paignton Zoo and the University of Plymouth, in Devon, England, reportedly left six Sulawesi Crested Macaque monkeys with a computer keyboard for a month. Not only did the monkeys produce nothing but five pages consisting largely of the letter S, they began by attacking the keyboard with a stone, then proceeded to urinate and defecate on it.

Anderson, who has had more than a few angry letters from the more mathematically inclined, maintains that this is simply a fun side project.

"I think I have a sense of humor about it," he told FoxNews.com. "It's kind of a tongue in cheek thing."

With the finish line in site, Anderson already has his sights set on his next project.

"I thought it would be cool to produce as many works of mankind as possible for the next iteration," Anderson told FoxNews.com.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/07/works-shakespeare-produced-by-millions-monkeys/

Geek Humor

2011-09-06T14:37:00.001-04:00

LESSER KNOWN LAWS OF PHYSICS AND MATHEMATICS

By Ryan McDermott

The Einstenian Hillbilly Theory of Marriage: It's all relative.

Fermat's First Theorem: The one he made in pre-school that showed why bullies are idiots.

The High School Uncertainty Principle: You can never simultaneously tell how fast you should be moving in a relationship or at what position you are currently in.

Central Limit Theorem as Applied To Dancing: In large populations, the drunkest people tend to congregate in the middle of the dance floor.

Law of Large Numbers as Applied to Nerds: Just because that girl will go out on a date with you doesn't mean you got skills. That's called luck.

Ohm's Law as Applied to Relationships: You are currently in a relationship if you are getting a lot of action and not a lot of resistance.

Plank's Constant: What pirates believe in.

FW: Exciting new Republican candidate

2011-09-06T11:12:00.001-04:00

Borowitz Report Email

September 6, 2011

Rabid Dog Briefly Mistaken for Tea Party Candidate

Receives Standing Ovation at Missouri Rally

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (The Borowitz Report) - A rabid Doberman Pinscher jumped on stage at a Tea Party rally in Missouri on Labor Day and barked at the crowd for nearly twenty minutes before people realized he was not a candidate.

The dog, later identified by its owner as "Mister Buster," held the crowd spellbound as he barked, growled, and frothed at the mouth, eventually receiving a standing ovation for his exertions.

Gwendolene Thomason, 42, a Tea Party supporter from Jefferson City, was one of the hundreds on hand who were convinced that the Doberman was a Tea Party candidate until he was outed as a dog.

"I liked what he had to say," she said. "He reminded me of Glenn Beck, only furrier."

The Doberman's canine identity finally became clear when he lunged at a man in the front row and wrested a hamburger from his right hand, taking two of the man's fingers with it.

While the discovery that Mister Buster was not a Tea Party candidate disappointed many in attendance, Ms. Thomason held out hope that, dog or no, he might consider running for office at some point.

"I liked the way he bit off that guy's hand, and the way he did his business in the middle of the stage," she said. "We need more of that in Washington."

The Borowitz Report: Waste Someone's Time: Forward to a Friend.


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Survey Finds One-Third of Americans More Willing to Give Up Sex Than Their Mobile Phones

2011-09-02T11:33:00.001-04:00

Sunnyvale, California — August 3, 2011 — Results of a recent national survey* commissioned by TeleNav, Inc. (NASDAQ: TNAV) indicate that Americans are willing to give up some of life's greatest pleasures in order to hang on to their mobile phones.

Not surprisingly, smartphone users were more attached to their devices than were feature phone users, with iPhone users leading the pack. In fact, iPhone users were more likely than their Android or BlackBerry counterparts to spend a week without their significant other, exercise or shoes—rather than go a week without their phone.

While 22 percent of all respondents said they would rather give up their toothbrush than their phone for a week, this number jumped to a whopping 40 percent among iPhone users. Halitosis and other priority quirks aside, 83 percent of iPhone users thought other iPhone users would make the best romantic partners.

http://www.telenav.com/about/pr-summer-travel/report-20110803.html

NY Times: Beware the Bumper Sticker quote

2011-08-31T14:14:00.001-04:00

Falser Words Were Never Spoken

By BRIAN MORTON

excerpt:

Gandhi's words have been tweaked a little too in recent years. Perhaps you've noticed a bumper sticker that purports to quote him: "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

When you first come across it, this does sound like something Gandhi would have said. But when you think about it a little, it starts to sound more like ... a bumper sticker. Displayed brightly on the back of a Prius, it suggests that your responsibilities begin and end with your own behavior. It's apolitical, and a little smug.

Sure enough, it turns out there is no reliable documentary evidence for the quotation. The closest verifiable remark we have from Gandhi is this: "If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do."

Here, Gandhi is telling us that personal and social transformation go hand in hand, but there is no suggestion in his words that personal transformation is enough. In fact, for Gandhi, the struggle to bring about a better world involved not only stringent self-denial and rigorous adherence to the philosophy of nonviolence; it also involved a steady awareness that one person, alone, can't change anything, an awareness that unjust authority can be overturned only by great numbers of people working together with discipline and persistence.

When you start to become aware of these bogus quotations, you can't stop finding them. Henry James, George Eliot, Picasso — all of them are being kept alive in popular culture through pithy, cheery sayings they never actually said.

full @ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/falser-words-were-never-spoken.html

Keepin' it Real

2011-08-31T11:39:00.001-04:00

My Junior High English teacher required each of us to stand in front of the class and deliver a persuasive speech.

This is what I did:

When my name was called, I walked to the front of the class and stood behind the podium.

I said,

"The three key elements of a successful speech are;
* be brief,
* be to-the-point,
* be seated."

Then I walked back to my desk.

Borowitz Report: Guess who loves Cheney's book

2011-08-30T12:46:00.001-04:00

Borowitz Report Email

August 30, 2011

Cheney's Book Features Foreword by Satan

'Couldn't Put it Down,' Says Prince of Darkness

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – Publishing circles were abuzz today with the news that the new memoir by former Vice President Dick Cheney features a foreword by an unusual contributor: Satan.

In his introduction, the Prince of Darkness said he rarely reads political memoirs but made an exception in the case of Mr. Cheney "because we had worked so closely together in the past."

When he began to read the Cheney manuscript, however, the Lord of Misrule said he was "surprised" by what he found.

"Quite honestly, I couldn't put it down," Satan wrote. "It was almost like a book I would have written myself."

In what could be construed as minor criticism of the book, Satan admitted he was "miffed" that Mr. Cheney took total credit for the idea of invading Iraq, but added, "We were such close collaborators at the time, it may be hard for Dick to remember whose idea was whose – half the time we were finishing each other's sentences."

While Satan said he is unlikely to make a habit of writing introductions to books, he said that he could foresee making another exception in the future: "I've heard Rupert Murdoch is working on his memoir."

Elsewhere, after Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) said God created last week's earthquake and hurricane to punish America, God issued this rebuttal: "Actually, that's why I created Michele Bachmann."

The Borowitz Report: Waste Someone's Time: Forward to a Friend.


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Alas, shark in the street photo was fake. Aw Snap!

2011-08-29T14:49:00.001-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/hurricane-irene-photo-of-shark-swimming-in-street-is-fake/2011/08/26/gIQABHAvfJ_blog.html

surprising endorsement

2011-08-29T11:23:00.001-04:00

Bill Clinton Endorses Michelle Bachmann

... and I simply can't understand why ...

Paul Simms: “God’s Blog.”

2011-08-26T16:07:00.001-04:00

Humor from the New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2011/08/08/110808sh_shouts_simms

Philadelphia hurricane : Sept 6, 1775

2011-08-26T14:03:00.001-04:00

from the Peter Wentz Farmstead FB page:

A search of the Virginia Gazette noted a hurricane that produced damage in Philadelphia in mid-September 1775.

a transcription of it is below... enjoy!

"PHILADELPHIA. September 6, All last week we had squally weather and rain, but on Saturday evening it began to blow hard at N.E. and S.E. and by midnight increased to a hurricane, attended with heavy floods of rain, which raised the tide in our river higher than has been known these several years, and has occasioned much damage in the stores on the wharves, among sugar, salt, and other perishable articles; wood, staves, plank, &c. was washed off the wharves, and many boats and small craft were sunk or beat to pieces. We hear the above storm has done considerable damage along the river, by breaking the banks of the meadows, drowning cattle, &c. We hear that no less than 30 sail of vessels are ashore in our river, among which are the ship Caesar, capt. Miller; brig Rachel, capt. Clay, at Reedy Island, the brig Betsy, capt. Douglass, at Rombay Hook, the others were chiefly river craft, many of which are drove so high on the shore that they will be hardly worth the expence of launching."

Humor : The Angry Birds Deal With Post-Traumatic Stress

2011-08-26T10:28:00.001-04:00

Humor : The Angry Birds Deal With Post-Traumatic Stress

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jilly-gagnon/the-angry-birds-deal-with_b_915135.html

excerpt:

Blue Bird: Bartender! Another three drinks!

Bartender: Don't you think you've had enough, Blue Bird?

Blue Bird: Goddammit, I'm drinking for three birds. THREE BIRDS.

Bartender: [quietly] I know it feels that way, Blue Bird, but they're all just you.

Blue Bird: [slightly frantic] Bring me another three drinks, or so help me god, I will divide in mid air and explode this bar in several places at once! Every single bottle will shatter, even if the wooden portions of the bar stay intact, dammit!

Bartender: They're all. Just. You.

Blue Bird: [weakly] Dammit, Jim, you don't know what it was like over there. The weird mustaches some of those pigs would wear.

Stupid robots take to the stage

2011-08-25T14:10:00.001-04:00

Ever worry that robots are getting a little too smart? If science fiction has taught us anything, it's that it won't be long until the machines take over. Thankfully, some people are dedicated to keeping our metal friends dumb.

Bacarobo, the Stupid Robot Championship, is a showcase for just such robots. The event takes place on 30 October in Budapest, Hungary, and has three main rules: the robots must operate automatically, they must be useless and they must be funny.

The contest originated in Japan - "baka" means "stupid" in Japanese - running in 2007 and 2008 before moving to Hungary in 2010. Entries last year included the Binbot, which attempts to follow a model fly where ever it goes, a hula-hooping bot powered by an electric drill, and a pair of shivering robots that live in a fridge.

While Bacarobo may not be as high-tech as other robotics contests such as the Robocup, which aims to develop robot football players good enough to defeat a human team by 2050, the organisers do hope the event will raise the profile of robotics in Budapest and Europe.

The designer of the winning robot will also receive a €2000 prize.

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/onepercent/2011/08/stupid-robots-take-to-the-stag.html

Italian police arrest 'gladiators' by Colosseum

2011-08-25T10:47:00.001-04:00

news item:

Italian police have arrested 20 gladiator impersonators, in an undercover operation outside the Colosseum in Rome.

The suspects are accused of intimidating and attacking their competitors, to win a share in a lucrative business.
The men, who dress up in ancient Roman costume, are a familiar feature of the Rome tourist scene.
They can charge up to 10 euros for having a photo taken with tourists
For the police operation officers dressed up as gladiators themselves to infiltrate the gangs.
Other officers, disguised as dustbin men and members of the public, took part in the raid.

full @ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14503878

=====

OK, so we have on the scene:

1) The "Official" Gladiators
2) The "Impostor" Gladiators
3) The Police dressed at Gladiators
4) Police dressed as trashmen
5) Police dressed as members of the public.

Was there anybody on the scene who WASN'T pretending to be somebody else?

Why the East Coast Earthquake Was Felt So far Away

2011-08-24T13:20:00.001-04:00

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/virginia-earthquake-distance

Philly is a sadder place "witout" him

2011-08-24T10:20:00.000-04:00

South Philly legend Joey Vento, who opened Geno's Steaks at 9th and Passyunk in 1966, died Tuesday of a massive heart attack.

http://m.philly.com/phillycom/pm_21405/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=9ReGjInf

Earthquake - Magnitude 5.9 - in Mineral VA. We felt it here.

2011-08-23T14:30:00.001-04:00

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the east coast of the United States, today. The tremor was felt at least as far north as New York and at least as far south as Virginia.

The United States Geological Survey says the earthquake happened at 1:51 p.m. ET with an epicenter nine miles south of Mineral, Virginia and had a depth of 1 km.

FW: Missing half of lager yeast genome

2011-08-23T13:41:00.001-04:00

from my beer-brewing buddy Sam:

=====

Thought you might find this interesting:

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Yeast-Mated-to-Give-Us-Larger-082311.aspx?et_cid=1984636&et_rid=54648820&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.laboratoryequipment.com%2fnews-Yeast-Mated-to-Give-Us-Larger-082311.aspx

In the 15th century, when Europeans first began moving people and goods across the Atlantic, a microscopic stowaway somehow made its way to the caves and monasteries of Bavaria.

The stowaway, a yeast that may have been transported from a distant shore on a piece of wood or in the stomach of a fruit fly, was destined for great things. In the dank caves and monastery cellars where 15th century brewmeisters stored their product, the newly arrived yeast fused with a distant relative, the domesticated yeast used for millennia to make leavened bread and ferment wine and ale. The resulting hybrid—representing a marriage of species as evolutionarily separated as humans and chickens—would give us lager, the clear, cold-fermented beer first brewed by 15th century Bavarians and that today is among the most popular—if not the most popular—alcoholic beverage in the world.

And while scientists and brewers have long known that the yeast that gives beer the capacity to ferment at cold temperatures was a hybrid, only one player was known: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast used to make leavened bread and ferment wine and ale. Its partner, which conferred on beer the ability to ferment in the cold, remained a puzzle, as scientists were unable to find it among the 1,000 or so species of yeast known to science.

This book should be #2 on your Summer Reading List

2011-08-22T11:27:00.001-04:00

With thousands of business books published annually, it would seem that just about every workplace-related topic has been thoroughly exhausted–many times over–by the armies of experts who churn out these things. Not so. For there's a workplace activity that few dare to speak about but millions engage in every day: Going to the bathroom at work.

Now, thank goodness, two Brits (but of course) have ridden to the rescue: How to Poo at Work is a soon-to-be-published guide on how to avoid flushing one's career away through inadvertent breaches of bathroom etiquette. Seriously, this is an actual book, to be published this December by the Penguin Group, complete with charts, diagrams and bullet points. Topics covered include what to do if you're on your way (urgently) to the restroom and your boss stops you in the hallway to engage in a long-winded discussion about his dog or family, the importance of avoiding eye contact in the restroom, how to deal with the fact that the bathroom is immediately adjacent to the office gossip's desk, etc.

The book (whose authors are "Mats" and "Enzo" and who, according to the press release, "live and poop in France") is clearly humorous, but there's practical career advice lurking within as well. After all, who hasn't had to excuse themselves in the midst of an important presentation to attend to some necessary bodily function? Does your company's intranet have an advice section on topics such as this? I'm guessing not! Think of all the talent in your organization desperately straining to find advice on, say, what to do when they discover their stall is out of toilet paper … looking them in the eye, handing them a copy of How to Poo at Work and muttering "You'll thank me later" just may land HR in that coveted seat at the table … or not.

http://blog.hreonline.com/?p=2608

FW: Always a bridesmaid, never a bride

2011-08-12T10:20:00.001-04:00

from my friend Michael Strieb :

Did you hear what happened when the Apollo 11 astronauts were invited to the White House for the 40th anniversary celebration?

Aldrin and Armstrong went in to meet the President while Michael Collins stayed in the car and circled the block.

Texas Pride

2011-08-09T12:36:00.001-04:00

for fans of Futurama: Dr. Zoidberg's Origins

2011-08-08T10:20:00.001-04:00

Dr. Zoidberg's Origins

Just what should an incompetent space crab physician sound like, anyway? Well, according to Billy West, Zoidberg was inspired by Lou Jacobi's performance in The Diary of Anne Frank.

He imagined Zoidberg to have Yiddish mannerisms because of his last name, and he also admitted he was attracted to the idea of a doctor that was poor!

http://www.ugo.com/tv/futurama-facts-you-never-knew?page=3

You need this

2011-08-05T14:13:00.001-04:00

"It's a Hawaiian shirt!"

"No, it's a Star Wars shirt!"

"Hawaiian!"

"Star Wars!"

Hold it, you two. It's BOTH!

It's International India Pale Ale Day

2011-08-04T12:32:00.000-04:00

http://www.dogfish.com/community/news/press-releases/celebrate-international-ipaday.htm

Founded by two real, life beer bloggers (@TheBeerWench and @RyanARoss), International #IPADay is a grassroots movement created to unite the voices of craft beer enthusiasts, bloggers, and brewers worldwide, using social media as the common arena for connecting the conversation together.

On Thursday August 4th, craft beer drinkers across the social sphere and across the globe will raise pints in a collective toast to one of craft beers most iconic styles: the India Pale Ale.

This celebrated style represents the pinnacle of brewing innovation with its broad spectrum of diverse brands, subcategories, and regional flavor variations making it the perfect style to galvanize the craft beers social voice.

Whew, that was close.

2011-08-03T15:49:00.001-04:00

Would the world be the same if the role of Terminator had gone to O.J. Simpson?

It's impossible to say but fun to ponder.

Take a look back at actors who were almost cast in major roles.

http://www.slate.com/slideshow/arts/almost-cast-who-lost-iconic-roles/

It’s Michelada Time !

2011-08-02T14:02:00.001-04:00

http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/case-study-its-michelada-time/

While it continues to astonish me how the michelada — the Mexican doctored beer that is a godsend in these dog days — remains unknown even to many of my well-traveled drink-hound friends, there's also something about that which I enjoy. Most Mexican restaurants in New York, both high and low on the ladder, pull a puzzled face when you request one.

It remains that magnificent treat you somehow only remember when you cross the border to Mexico, plunking into a cafe seat on that first exhausting afternoon, contemplating what to order. Suddenly it hits that you are back in the land of micheladas. The first sip occasions the same reaction: Why don't I drink these all the time? Some treats are best savored in their natural habit. But when New York becomes synonymous with the Sonoran Desert, bringing Mexican heat-wrangling know-how to one's home glass is a savvy tactical maneuver.

The michelada neatly bridges two unsung categories of drinks I happen to love: savory cocktails and beer cocktails. Nailing down exactly what is in a michelada, or its sibling, the chelada, is like defining Zen; there is a set of acceptable ingredients from which you choose your tastes and proceed. As a loose definition, a michelada has some kind of tomato juice in it, often Clamato, and a chelada doesn't. (I find myself preferring the "without" kind, but it all depends on appetite, disposition, the angle of the sun and what the mariachi band is playing.) It could be considered a cousin of the Bloody Mary, or a spiced-up version of a Midwestern staple, the Red Eye.

In different regions of Mexico, what comes to the table when you order a michelada is what came when you ordered a chelada in other parts, and the ingredients get switched up a good deal, but that's part of the easy charm of this cooler: there's no rigidity. In many recipes — and even a cursory search will turn up hundreds — the same suspects come up time and again: lime juice, salt, Worcestshire sauce, soy sauce, Tabasco or other hot sauce, powdered chilies, tomato juice, ice and beer (emphatically Mexican). There's so much right with this drink that it's hard to quibble with any of it. Even the most slapdash michelada is still worth drinking, specifically because the preparation covers up a host of shortcomings.

Given that wide margin of error, there are little tweaks you can improve on without getting all Anglo-Saxon geeky and ruining the thing. One of the great things the Mexicans know about that we don't is Maggi Seasoning, an extract of wheat gluten that tastes like soy sauce that's been wrung out of a grilled steak. They put it in almost everything, which is why almost everything they eat tastes great. Maggi is a key player in the better micheladas — just a few drops — and so procuring a bottle amps your game exponentially from mere soy sauce or Worcestershire. As much as people love Tabasco, I find the vinegar base of it jarring in this drink; better Cholula, Tapatìo or any of dozens of others, particularly if you can find the regular yellow-label Valentina salsa picante from Guadalajara.

An elegant option is to relegate the heat part of the drink to a bit of powdered chile piquìn, which is serious stuff, blended into the salt with which you rim the glass, so it creeps up as you sip. And though people are compelled to use only Mexican beers in it, really any light, cheap suds work just fine, and I've gone to pale ambers with great results as well. The operative, once again, is enhancement without worries; when it's 92 degrees and 92 percent humidity, who needs more incentives to sweat?

CHELADA/MICHELADA: A LOOSE GUIDE
Use a pilsner or other tall beer or cocktail glass; a 20-ounce cooler or imperial pint works beautifully in that it allows for the ice, the additives and an entire 12-ounce bottle of beer. Cut a small lime wedge and use it to moisten the rim of the glass, then invert it onto a saucer of kosher salt, or salt mixed with chili powder. Fill the glass with as much or little ice as you wish. Then use whichever of the following ingredients fit your mood, pouring the beer in last. Do experiment with lavish versions compared to more stripped-down ones to see which you like best. Salud!

— Fresh lime juice, about an ounce, or one lime's worth. I like to save the squeezed half-hull to cap the drink, to incorporate the aromatics of the oil into it as well.
— Maggi Seasoning
— Salsa picante (bottled hot sauce)
— Worcestershire sauce
— Soy sauce
— 1-3 ounces tomato juice
— Beer, 12 ounces.

FW: Science Journal article of peculiar interest...

2011-08-01T12:19:00.001-04:00

my friend John D. found this gem:

1. J Forensic Sci. 2009 Nov;54(6):1310-4. Epub 2009 Sep 8.

Blood and tissue spatter associated with chainsaw dismemberment.

Randall B.

Department of Pathology, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine,

Sioux Falls, SD 57103, USA. fornsix@aol.com

In response to the unexpected paucity of blood/tissue spatter at the site where a

body of an adult woman was dismembered by an electric chainsaw, we dismembered

two large pig carcasses with a small electric chainsaw in a controlled

environment. These experiments demonstrated first that a large carcass could be

easily dismembered by a small electric chainsaw. When the chainsaw bar is held

parallel to the ground the majority of the blood and tissue is deposited directly

beneath the saw and bar and very little elsewhere. If the discharge chute of the

saw however is not oriented directly at the ground, larger amounts of blood and

tissue may be sprayed on lateral surfaces or deposited some distance from the

chainsaw. The characteristic striations created on the surface of wood as it is

cut by a chainsaw can also be found on bony surfaces cut by a chainsaw.

PMID: 19737342 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

=====

> we dismembered two large pig carcasses with a small electric chainsaw in a controlled environment

Yeah, sure. Anytime you put a guy, a pig carcass, and a chainsaw into a room, it's gonna be a "controlled environment."

I think this article will be cited in the "Techniques" section of the book, "So You Want To Be A Serial Killer?"

Saving ancient recordings

2011-08-01T11:43:00.001-04:00

Richard Martin and Meagan Hennessey, Archeophone Records: Helping us rethink popular music.

By Forrest Wickman Updated: Jul 26, 06:52 AM

As co-owners and operators of Illinois-based Archeophone Records, husband-and-wife team Richard Martin and Meagan Hennessey are almost singlehandedly rescuing the music of America's earliest recording era from the brink of extinction. By pulling together lost phonograph cylinders and discs from private collections, record shows, and eBay auctions, restoring them, and digitizing them for affordable release, they are bringing to light a vital chapter of our musical heritage that might otherwise be forgotten. These recordings of the acoustic era include everything from the earliest performances by "Red Hot Mama" Sophie Tucker to the dirtiest ditties of the 1890s.

Take Lost Sounds, Archeophone's 2005 retrospective on the role of black Americans in the genesis of the recording industry. The collection's recordings reveal sounds unexpectedly familiar—a bit of the blues, and is that a rock song?—and an unvarnished portrait of the racism (manifest here in minstrelsy and "coon songs") that's not as ancient as we might like to think. Their 2009 Sophie Tucker anthology chronicles a vaudevillian diva that Slate music critic Jody Rosen called a sort of proto-Beyoncé, while a 2010 compilation of Negro spirituals suggests that maybe these so-called "sorrow songs" weren't so sorrowful after all (as there was no standard speed for playback, previous restorations may have been pitched too low).

How do Martin and Hennessey do it? For starters, by staying small. As Archeophone's only full-time employees, Martin and Hennessey handle song selection, research, audio restoration, art direction, distribution, website maintenance, and —as this reporter found out—press inquiries, all themselves. (For Hennessey, this is also in addition to her full-time job: She's the University of Illinois's manager of business Web services.)

The work can be difficult. The earliest recording off the Lost Sounds compilation, African-American phonograph star George W. Johnson's 1891 rendition of "The Whistling Coon," was found in shards in a box at a record sale. "Cylinder Doctor" Michael Khanchalian, a dentist by trade, restored it for Martin and Hennessey, piecing it together as if it were a pair of shattered dentures.

But the work pays off. Lost Sounds snagged a Grammy for best historical album, and Archeophone has gone on to rack up a total of nine Grammy nominations, including for best historical album in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Hennessey told me that when their win was announced on television—it was one of the results announced in the bumper before the commercial break—they were amused to see that their faces happened to appear between megastars Justin Timberlake and Shakira. We're fond of FutureSex/LoveSounds and "Hips Don't Lie," but in our book Martin and Hennessey are a pretty big deal, too.

Jumping the Shark

2011-07-29T08:58:00.001-04:00

from my friend Sam

Local Man Jumps From Boat, Rides Shark

Wildlife Officials Say Ride Dangerous

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

Read more, and see the video at:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/28685786/detail.html#ixzz1TQUqwtNG

=====

I hope Wildlife Officials don't have an opportunity to report someone "Nuking the 'Fridge."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jumping%20the%20shark
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nuking+the+fridge

Science Humor by Dr. LOLcat, Ph.D.

2011-07-28T10:31:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-27T14:00:00.001-04:00

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 @

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/aussies-called-dumb-racist-drinkers/story-fn6bqvxz-1226100480352

Creating Opportunities for Private Sector Growth

2011-07-26T15:11:00.001-04:00

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.

Website | Biography | Services | News | E-mail Allyson

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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TMI

2011-07-25T16:09:00.001-04:00

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

He seems like a nice guy...

2011-07-21T12:34:00.000-04:00

Brilliant thought for the day

2011-07-18T10:55:00.001-04:00

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

- Seth Green

David Sedaris: Chicken toenails, anyone?

2011-07-18T09:29:00.001-04:00

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

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/15/david-sedaris-chinese-food-chicken-toenails

xkcd on 3-D printers

2011-07-15T13:52:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-15T10:17:00.001-04:00

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.

Hungry?

2011-07-14T15:10:00.001-04:00

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

Carmageddon Is Coming!

2011-07-14T10:33:00.001-04:00

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.

2011-07-14T09:49:00.001-04:00

see attached

Happy Embrace Your Geekness Day

2011-07-13T13:04:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-13T12:13:00.001-04:00

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..."

2011-07-13T11:48:00.001-04:00

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

Mmmmmm. Watermelon. Nom nom nom.

2011-07-12T14:16:00.001-04:00

see attached photo

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

2011-07-12T13:33:00.001-04:00

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

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

2011-07-12T12:43:00.001-04:00

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...

2011-07-12T12:42:00.001-04:00

Newly Discovered Mushroom Named after SpongeBob

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

Not exactly Lean Cuisine

2011-07-11T10:36:00.001-04:00

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.

Secret to a Long Life

2011-07-08T16:33:00.001-04:00

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.

2011-07-08T15:09:00.001-04:00

George Lucas shuts down 'Star Wars' movie marathon -

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=657448&gt1=28101

This is a country that takes its beer seriously

2011-07-08T09:53:00.001-04:00

De informatie verzonden met dit E-mail bericht is uitsluitend bestemd voor de geadresseerde. Gebruik van deze informatie door anderen dan de geadresseerde is verboden. Openbaarmaking, vermenigvuldiging, verspreiding en/of verstrekking van deze informatie aan derden is niet toegestaan. So There !

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

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

2011-07-07T15:40:00.001-04:00

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

2011-07-07T15:16:00.001-04:00

see attached photo.

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

Venn Diagram

2011-07-07T09:51:00.001-04:00

see attached image

WTF ?

2011-07-06T15:39:00.001-04:00

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.

2011-07-06T15:15:00.001-04:00

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