I thought we could post links to news items in one thread. Here's a start:

Giant rat caught in China

Honethst thsson, he wath thith big ::motioning with hands for effects::

I like how the url ends with "?inconceivable" in tribute to The Princess Bride.

Certainly this was a Rodent of Unusual Size.

On the more positive side, here is one to show why I always have high praise for the Coast Guard. it was a bit of luck that they were only an hour from this ship in distress but still, nice to know they are out there.

21 Fisherman Rescued




.

Yes, this is wonderfull news. Now they can be sent back home to get another ship, and come back to steal more of our fish while our fisherman sit on the dock waiting for fish stocks to recover.

Wow!! That’s a little nasty Adrian. Where're talking about people’s lives.

Big grin for big dinner!

Not implying they should have let them die at all, I just think they shouldn't have been there in the first place, that's all.

I saw this yesterday....


Hamsters In Jackets Containing Nanogenerators Create Electricity

It takes only 1,000 little hamsters to power your cell phone!

Cool, now we just need to create some sort of virtual reality world for the hamsters so that they wont complain ... oh wait!

I wonder how many Watts one can get out of beer-fueled squirrels?

"Energy" is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of creatures drinking Guinness at a bar.

Depends on the squirrel...

Nice.

And this year's first Darwin Award goes to ...

Well, he definitely did hold his breath the longest.

Perhaps you know more about marine etiquette than I do and can enlighten me on something....

I read this yesterday.

"A British couple have been rescued from their 13-meter yacht in the Atlantic Ocean after they drifted for weeks with a broken rudder. ... Armstrong alerted the U.S. Coastguard of their problems, however, the Coastguard told the couple they were too far out to be rescued."

Emphasis added by me.

I don't know anything about maritime etiquette. But I find it very strange that the Coast Guard would receive an SOS but say, 'nope, sorry, you're too far away.' I understand that one could be too far away to be rescued by helicopter, but why wouldn't they attempt to rescue them by ship? If the disabled ship had a radio, and was in contact with the authorities, why wouldn't other ships have come to their aid sooner? I thought that it was sort of a maritime rule that ships would come to the aid of others if needed?

Anyone offer any insights?

Here is some info from the Canadian "Safe Boating Guide". It is intended for recreational boaters but I think this is rather universal;

The Canada Shipping Act
establishes a framework of rules and regulations and incorporates international conventions that shape the behaviour of mariners and boaters alike. One such provision calls for every pleasure craft operator to render assistance, insofar as the operator can do so without serious danger to their own craft or persons on board, to every person on the water who is in danger.

This is geared toward the recreational boater, I'm sure the Coast Guard is somewhat similar but are much better equipt and trained for more adverse/extreme circumstances.

If you insist on going out in wild, wild places I would think, to some extent, you are taking your life in your own hands.

Agreed, Fred. Does anyone remember the incident a couple of years ago where a chopper went down in the Northwest trying to help some skiers who were away in the back mountains? To see rescuers pay for other people's risks is very sad.

There is inherent risk in being a rescuer, as well. I agree that it's sad when rescuers die -- especially when the people they're trying to help got into the situation by making poor decisions.

I didn't read the article closely yet and I certainly can't comment on US policy but the Canadian Coast Guard goes well out into International waters for rescues.

Now, my first thought is that they were out of range of the type coast guard vessels in the area (capacity wise). However, I would have thought they would have made arrangements with other vessels (coast guard or other) a lot sooner, not letting them drift along left to chance. I wouldn't expect them to sail days out to the middle of the Atlantic but satellite surveillance could allow them to divert another ocean going vessel in the area.

In contrast,
I recall a story when I was younger about a Canadian Coast Guard cutter that ran out of fuel because it rescued some fishermen on the far east side of the Grand Banks when they knew they were too low on fuel to get back to port so they arranged for a refueling from another vessel.

Some of you may have read/heard this tragic news story already. A case of poor decisions made by the individuals involved all around. tragic rescue

I saw that. The tragic part is that the radio this morning reported that there were actually three reported sightings of three different SOS markings in the snow before authorities decided to do more than just check hotel registers and rental lists.

Edited to add a funny story:
A few years ago in February, I got a cell call from a friend who recently moved to Alberta but used to run a kayak outfitting company nearby. He had gotten a call from some people he knew who were visiting to do some winter kayaking around the ocean ice off of Rustico when they got forced to shore on Robinson's Island by the ice. They were fine as they had food for a day or so and there is an old campground where there were shelters for them to lay up in. They used their last minute of cell batteries to call my friend rather than for a rescue because they wanted to wait for the projected wind change rather than declare an emergency. The call was lost because they spent so much time bragging about how well prepared they were even though they were just doing day-trips and my buddy never got the chance to explain something rather important to them. It was then that he called me from Alberta to go check on them.

Long set up but here is the funny part. I live on the bay that is protected by this particular Island that covers most of the bay's mouth. So, I simply, filled a pack with hot chocolate and snacks, threw on my cross country skis and skied over to them. Yup, despite being prepared to be stuck somewhere for a bit, they failed to wander the 10 minutes to the south side of the Island to realize that the inside bay was totally frozen over and it was barely a 20 minute walk to the nearest houses, maybe a half hour to mine on the far side.

Eventually, I found them on the north side on ocean side of the island, poured them some hot chocolate and invited them to my home until the ocean ice cleared out. They said "you mean we could have just walked across the ice on the other side?"

I said, "Yup, either that or we can walk across the paved causeway to the mainland on the east side.

Here is something interesting.
Maybe or maybe not the lost city of Atlantis, but undoubtedly something huge and man made and almost assuredly a town/city found under 1000' of water by Google Earth images.

Our local link pusher (every office has one) is actually sending interesting stuff today instead of humorous time wasters.

Underwater City found in Google Earth images.

Already explained by Google, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/atlantis-no-it-atlant-isnt.html

It's just an artifact of combination of two different mapping methods.

How about the mythical DTS/80 civilization.

Equally interesting.

Although I'm never posting anything again until the obligingly 24 hour debunking time period passes. LOL!

Woo-Hoo!! Caledon is the safest city in Canada for the second yr in a row according to MacLeans Magazine.

It used to be Guelph. Did the Mafia bosses move?

Ironically, nearly all the "most dangerous" cities are out west according to the report.

Thats 'cause they don't have enough guns yet.

<- runs quickly for exit...

After getting 170 billion $$ from the US Fed, AIG has decided it's necessary to reward it's management with 165 million $$ in bonuses........nice.

Wow, I can't believe Letterman actually got married. Way to go, Letterman, finally marrying your Regina. Now if only I could follow in his footsteps.

Now his top ten list will be full of. chores.

Not really news persay, but there is a rumour I saw on one of the Rush Forums that they may be interested in working with Steven Spielberg doing some instrumental work on a project he is apparently working on...'The Adventures of Tin Tin'.

Tin Tin? Really?? I guess he didn't want to tackle an English version of Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.

Tin Tin...

Sounds a little odd doesn't it. Maybe he'll do a Scifi version of Tin Tin, lol.

Jaws, Close Encounters, ET, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park and ...

Tin Tin ...

Must've made the deal during the writer's strike.

<runs away crying>

I wonder if he'll use Harrison Ford as Tin Tin?

George Lucas will have him change Tin Tin's dog to be an Ewok or something. Maybe a mini wookie.

And there'll be a special guest appearance by Babar the Elephant. Maybe they'll keep that in their back pocket for the sequel.

And maybe "Jabba" could star as the elephant?

I'd offer more, but I've blocked out Tin Tin memories as much as possible. My limited storage means that crap has to be removed in favour of good content.

Hey, let's have Geddy as Tin Tin! Ok....nevermind.

Woo-hoo!

USPS to issue Simpsons postage spamps

More stuff to collect! My basement runneth over with Simpsons paraphernalia.

Scottish Police claim their religion as "Jedi".

I had no idea that Jedi is the choice for over a third of a million people in the UK.

Baptist pastor beaten + tazed by Border patrol - 11 stitches

Bren R.

Wow, I can't believe Cameron Diaz was party to that.

I can sympathize a little with him for taking a stand for what he believes, but I can even more sympathize with people who use common sense and show better judgment than this schmo.

Dude, the main injury was to your narcissism. In that situation, law enforcement is in control, and if you challenge them, what do you think is going to happen? Let them search your car for a few minutes rather than escalate with them and be on your way. Grumble about it later - at least you'd be taser-free and without need for stitches.

I don't mind him being principled, but I wish his storytelling wasn't so exaggerated.

I dunno. I see both sides.

I do work for lots of attorneys, and more than a couple have told me to NEVER let your car be searched or say anything...even if you have nothing to hide.

Of course, in the heat of the moment, and you knowing you have nothing to hide, it still would take stones to say "no" and maintain silence.

Me? I'd probably be that guy on "Cops" who tells you his life story BECAUDE I have nothing to hide!

Yes welcome to Winnipeg where at any one time we hold the claim to fame for being the murder captial, arson capital and car theft capital of Canada in any given month, week, year.

Just last month we apparently had one day, the first day in years, to NOT have any cars stolen.

That's the day every month that the crooks get together to auction off all their cars and parts.

Proud Emma Thompson poses with adopted refugee son at graduation six years later

Awww, I love Emma Thompson. I'm glad she got a husband who seems genuinely decent and makes her happy, and very cool of them to adopt that refugee.

Pop princess is a precious gem

Preview of Rodrigo y Gabriela's upcoming album, 11:11

Because they liked Regina Spektor's 11:11 so much. Let's pretend.

I love how it repeatedly refers to them as flamenco, when in the liner notes for their first album, they clearly state that they don't play flamenco.

90 percent of U.S. bills carry traces of cocaine

"Cocaine is a helluva Drug" :-)

Canada has 85% traces, must be the exchange rate or something.

Funny.

I'm not sure if this is "news worthy" but because it was in the news and because I know it's a question you all struggle with daily...... here is the PDF file the news article pointed to.

MATHEMATICAL
MODELLING OF AN OUTBREAK OF ZOMBIE
INFECTION

Warning, requires some advanced math skills to interpret and an innate fear of zombies to make you even try.

I'm glad the Universities are finally taking the Zombie threat seriously.

Car guys might be interested of the new Nurburgring lap record set recently. If this keeps up, they'll be going under 7 min/lap in the near future.

Well, that record lasted all of 24 hrs. The Radical SR8LM easily beat that time by running well under 7 min (6 min. 48 sec) though you have to wonder what actually constitutes a production car when you look at these vehicles. I wonder what my Silverado would run....it's got a new battery afterall.

Yeesh. I'd think you'd want to class production as "runs of ~500/yr" or something like, not runs of 10 or whatever. Maybe even "runs of ~500/yr by a company that also builds other cars that sell more." These things look like LM prototypes. Only the LM prototypes are much better looking.

I think the Radical is only street legal in a handfull of countries, I know it wouldn't pass in North America, and yeah, some of these cars look like kit cars or LM prototype rejects. I wonder if Ultima(GTR), which IS legal in North America and HAS sold hundreds of complete(and kit form) cars, will ever run at the Nurb'. It's already smashed a few other race track records.

Laser-Accurate microphone proves once and for all that everything is better with lasers [Engadget]

Especially 'Sharks with Fricken lazzzer beams attached to their heads.'

Postal Worker Steals $30,000 worth of Netflix DVD's.

Sounds like at least he was taking outbound ones.

I was really disappointed on my last trip to Germany, when I found that Nurburgring was in Nurnberg, not Nuremberg. Apparently they are different cities, and quite some distance apart ;(

That would have been something to see those cars whipping around the 'ring, and the sounds!!!

Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh....eeeeyyaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.....eeeeyyaaahhhh....

::sound of me driving a Carrera GT pulling away from the carousel::

(yeah...I'll just keep dreaming)

What is the world coming too?
Teen gets shot in head after getting off the school bus in Tulsa, OK

I remember when the worst thing that would happen is some name calling and a fist fight at the most.

I dunno. I suspect that a lot of this is driven by more reporting, more instant reporting, and wider awareness of what happens in other communities.

That is a good point...

You want a "feel good" story?" Try this one on for size. Nevermind the written story. Watch the video (4:30) in the upper right corner (last thing to load on the page). Sorry about the 10 second commercial at the start of the video.

I know this won't be everybody's cup-o'-tea so humble apologies to those who don't care for it.

Amazing child, very inspiring.

Man, I wish I had over-developed determination.

She sorta makes me feel guilty for every time I've ever felt sorry for myself (doesn't happen often, fortunately). She, obviously, doesn't waste time on that. So bright! So positive! So indomitable!!!

And so damn cute!

Yeah, well there IS that.

I Can Has 1 Billion Pageviews? (DigitalBeat)

I think it's safe to say JP accounts for half of those.



And, I think he will mark this day an international holiday.

I thought this was funny...

Somali pirates accidentally attack French military flagship

Those pirates will never live down being defeated by the French military.

We just had a good laugh over this. My son is in his third year of NJROTC and plans to share this with the Captain tomorrow. They like stories like this. Darn near qualifies for a Darwin award.

Scott

Thought I should pass this along for those who haven't already heard. Hackers are busy at work trying to obtain passwords for email accounts from Hotmail and Yahoo. A friend of mine was contacted by "Yahoo" about one of her accounts and wanted some personal info or else they would delete the account. It sounded odd to me so I advised her to do nothing, let "them" delete it, just open another account if it was indeed legit.

Just a heads up.

Little do they know I hid a steaming bag of doodoo in my hotmail!!

*evil laugh*

Shouldn't that be a streaming bag of doodoo?

Good advice Adrian.
An ISP or a service like Hotmail will NEVER call you and ask for personal information. These phishers are looking to get into your web mail accounts so they can turn them into mass spamming tools. Somtimes they are used to spam further phishing emails, similar to the call she got, or to send illicit advertisement or spam in general. Worst case is that it is used to mass mail as part of a over simplistic denial of service attack on someone/something.

Depending on your ISP's rules and it's ability to watch it's traffic, your entire Internet account could get locked down when they identify you as a mass spammer. They have to do this to protect their entire network from being being blocked as a big spamming network. Usually a call in to their help desks can help you get your web-mail back in your control and you might also have to prove your PC(s) have not been infected with a spamming virus as well.

And your right, this sort of thing is way too common right now. It's a world wide issue.

Ah, good one, Fred!

(local news)Lol, I just got back from my bikeride down in the ravine along the Etobicoke Creek, I had to keep stopping....there's loads of tiny, baby snapping turtles(about 1" shell) along the path. Every few feet I kept picking them up and moving them off to the side so nobody would step or ride over them. I guess they're enjoying the fall sunshine for now. You could put about 9-10 of the little critters in your hand, and there'd still be room left for more, lol.

In the news
First snowfall of the year

I heard we might get flurries this weekend, that is crazy. I want to enjoy the Fall first.....arggggg

We're still a few days away from snow flurries, it's been in the mid 90's all week so far ... the no-driving, arrogant, old-ass, cheap, constantly bitching and complaining etc, etc... nice older snowbirds are in the midst of their migration south, maybe they'll bring some cooler weather.

Better get the sweater out, Rick. You must be getting chilly .

I got an e-mail from a friend. It said "Help, I am stuck in England with no money". It went on to describe how she got into this predicament. Her bag was left in a cab - etc. etc. The problem was the English and grammar were not right. So.. I did not reply to the e-mail, I sent one separately asking her if she was really stuck in England. I got a reply in the same questionable English/grammar that went into even more sad detail about the situation.
So I called her and when she answered, I said "thank god you are back safe and sound". She immediately asked if I had gotten an e-mail. Her account had been hacked into and the hacker was sending e-mails pleading for money to everyone in her address book. She suspected that the hacker was in Africa because of some back tracing that the ISP did. It took several phone calls to the ISP to convince them that she had been victimized and was a huge headache for her. So......Beware is a good watch word.

Thanks for the reminder. I actually just decided it was time to re-change my email password.

My wife got an email from one of her friends saying she was having a party and was sending out invitations. The email asked for our address, which was not suspicious. My wife provided the house and street number. When a reply came asking for the city and state, as well, we know something fishy was going on. My wife called the friend to let her know her email account had been compromised.

Did it ( breath - breath ) ask her what ( breath - breath ) she was wearing?

Interesting.
I've never heard that one before. Asking for the state does certainly tip one off.
Soft password to gmail?
Personally i use "Fluffy[ittlebunnEEEwent2themarket@SolsburgonOctober32nd1999!!".
I would love to see someone crack that pass!!

I may have mentioned it before but the one time I reallllly got in trouble with my wife was when a heavy breather called our house late one night so I rolled over, handed her the phone and said "It's for you."

But seriously, isn't it very likely that it was?

On a more serious note, if you know how to extract the headers from the email, do so and send them along with the originals to "abuse@(whatever your ISP's name is)". It's likely originating from some uncooperative country in Asia or South America but if it never hurts to report these things.

Sorry, that was before I knew you from this board. Feel free to call again.

LOL!

Check this out... A Monster of a lawsuit that doesn't involve our friends (sic) in the cable business, but DOES involve our best friend, "Beer":
Monster-maker to Vt. brewer: No 'Vermonster' beer

First black hole for light created on Earth (NewScientist)

Cool Stuff!

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It's an incident so unusual that when one local heard about it, she couldn't stop laughing. "If you want to put a wild animal in your britches, that's your personal business," local Michelle Klock said. "Who would want to steal a ferret, bottom line. I've heard of people stealing snakes, but stuffing a ferret down your britches? Hello."

Even police had a hard time keeping a straight face.

"Stuffing a ferret down your pants in order to steal it is not only stupid, but it's a little dangerous," Sgt. Thom Bingham said. Investigators said Rodney Bolton went into the Pet Supermarket store in Jacksonville Beach Tuesday afternoon and stuck a ferret down the front of his pants before walking out. A 17-year-old shopper told police he saw him abduct the ferret, and he tried to rescue him. "They fought over the ferret and he squeezed the ferret until it was angry and agitated, and it bit the victim in the ear," Bingham said. The teen wasn't seriously injured, and now Bolton, who is homeless, is charged with shoplifting and battery. The ferret involved in the incident is recovering from the trauma.
"It would be an interesting little thing to steal a ferret because they are so bouncy and kind of bitey, I kind of feel bad for the person that put it down their pants leg," pet store owner Stephen Brezil said. "I'm not sure if he'd be the same person after all."
Police said Bolton tried to tell the officers later that somebody gave him the ferret while he was standing outside the pet store. Police aren't buying his story, and they said Bolton won't say why he wanted a ferret. "Strange, weird, unusual, never heard of this quite before," Klock said. "That guy's a knucklehead."
Police said the ferret was safely returned to the store.

News 4 Jax

"The ferret involved in the incident is recovering from the trauma."

Ferrets are pretty cool. Don't think I'd want one as a pet, though, since I hear they're like 2 year-olds who never do what they're told.

When my son was a teen-ager, he and his girlfriend and her pet ferret visited my place in New York and spent the night. The ferret raced around the living room and then settled down. I was surprised it behaved it as well as it did.

I agree; kind of cute but I don't think I'd want one as a pet.

Alan

Nice Marmot.

Vermin, though.

Are you REEAALlly happy to see me......or is that a ferret in your pants?

Ferret Biter's day off.



One of my neighbours pet ferret is still loose in the 'hood after a month, it's been seen a number of times. I guess they adapt pretty quick to their environment, but he better keep his eyes open...lots of hungry hawks, owls, foxes and coyotes 'round here.

A neighbor of mine had 2 pet ferrets. He was in the habbit of leaving the vent covers for the floor HVAC ducts off b/c he said it helped cool the house faster... The ferrets would run through the duct work to get from room to room.

Interesting story about the African continent splitting up.

I'll be sure to warn my great great great great grandchildren.

Cryogenics?

Here's an odd one...

Man gets 3 years in prison for buggery

The horse was asking for it. Just look at what it was wearing....

But seriously, talk about desperate.

Perhaps this guy needs to be placed in a stall with an amorous stallion next time.

Bull.

ow ow ow ow ow

just Googled buggery, no results. good candidate for googlewhack.

ah, nevermind

"Google SafeSearch is ON
The word "buggery" has been filtered from the search because Google SafeSearch is active.
"

Rolling in the hay suddenly takes on a new meaning.

Marina Diamandis is #4 on this list of the 50 sexiest women in Wales, right ahead of Catherine Zeta-Jones. Take that, Michael Douglas.

Did Marina bump Michael off the list?

It was her folding origami legs from her last video that bumped her up there.

Her real legs make me smile, too, though.

I see a white dress and I want it painted black.

At least it gives her a story.

I wonder how the honeymoon went?

Weezer 12/06/09 TOUR BUS CRASH NEWS

Wow, pretty scary.

Glad everyone is relatively alright.

Today I saw 4 SUV's driving down Hwy 10 in a line in what appeared to be a funky white base colour and hundreds of small black elongated spots all over them. They were followed by a Ford "Edge" SUV and they were most definately Ford Edge's also...test driving a future model, maybe? or perhaps some company was getting their vehicles customized for show?

Anyway, over the years I've seen a few test vehicles around S. Ont. most notably a very narrow longish looking "Smart" type vehicle as well as a couple of right-hand drive bubble type cars.

Are you sure they didn't hold up a pen in front of your eyes, there was a bright flash and then you conveniently forgot that it was actually a convoy of black Escalades with tinted windows escorting a flatbad of shiny silver metal fragments from the shooting star turned big crash that you saw last night?

What??? I'm just sayin.......

Irony often creates the most satisfying justice.

Music Industry are thier own worst Pirates.

Come to think of it.......I thought I saw Will Smith at Tim Horton's the other day............Naaaaaahhh!!!

Not surprising. The industry heavys have been screwing artists for years and years.

Last year a story broke where Sony heaquarters in Europe was raided by a European software association for suspicion of software piracy. It was found that 60+% of the software in the building was pirated.

Want to find the biggest crooks? Look at who is hollering the loudest about the 'crime' at hand.

This little guy is a long way from home. Story is from one of our local papers.

Halladay just got traded to Philly.

Sports Illustrated

Keeping plasma alive

Thank goodness for Panasonic.

Plasma, LCD/LED, DLP.....it's best that all these technologies thrive, competition improves the product AND the price.

I'll have to turn in my man card, but I wish they made smaller plasmas, in the 32" range. I hate to sacrifice quality because I'm looking at a smaller display.

I say you get to keep it, because you're looking for quality!

It must be time to move Ken, 32" is just too small, no way to get a 42" plasma to work?

Um... no.

I'm a bit surprised.
I thought plasma was starting to disappear. There are so many more options and models of LCD now that plasmas look like a small afterthought in the stores (went looking to help friends buy a LCD before xmas).

I'm holding out for OLED.
Could be a few years yet.
But damn would it ever be nice to roll up that 60" screen like a newspaper and carry it outside onto the patio to hook up for 'night' game.
Wishful dreaming.

Marina and the Diamonds comes in at #2 on the BBC Sound of 2010

CES: ASUS Will Ship "U3S6" USB 3.0, 6Gbps SATA PCIe Adapter Next Week For $30 (DailyTech)

I apologize for this, but couldn't resist posting this news article I just found. Worlds first sex robot

'That's nice ... I like.'

You would

Reminiscent of "Artificial Intelligence" movie. "I'm gigalo Joe. What do you know."

I ordered 5 of them already.

'10,000 tons of molten steel and jet fuel ... that gets me really hot.'

She looks utterly horrified. Can't say I disagree with her.

So, if you like to watch, I assume the inbuilt artificial intelligence will allow the male version and the female version of these robots to get it on?

Well, I guess we know what is missing in Douglass "Stepford" Hines' life?

Mark McGuire finally admitted what everyone already new, today...used roids for 10 years.

I'd hate to be the guy who paid $$$$ for the homerun ball right now.

Maybe, many years from now, that bit of nostalgia will make the ball worth even more.

I doubt it

Jackie Chan: The Musical

The following story happened on the weekend. Found out yesterday it was the husband and daughter of a woman who works at our plant. Tragic story.
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/...ub=EdmontonHome

Tragic indeed and sadly preventable.

NASA's blow is out of this world ... Blast Off

They're giving the aliens their first taste for free.

Cat called for jury duty

Let's hope a dog isn't the accused, he won't get a fair trial IMO.

LMAO!

Ya'll's crazy...

Rick's EP600 isn't the only big bass in Florida.

How would you do the crawl with this one? Maybe I shouldn't ask.

Probably more of a wiggle.

NASA finds cocaine in Space Shuttle Hanger

CNN reported that a small bag of cocaine was found near a bathroom in a restricted area inside the hanger.
I would love to get blasted into space in a shuttle that was repaired up by some coke head running on no sleep...

Might want to remember the screening is even less rigorous for those repairing the next airplane you’re likely flying in. Not to mention those who are flying it.

At least it was a small bag of cocaine, right?

I bet that guy is freaking pissed that he left his bag of coke in the bathroom... talk about a major idiot!

Holy Crap, DisplayPort

Aperion Home Audio Link promises to let you go wireless with ease (Engadget)

I'll be interested in seeing how the powered sub application works out.

Today's sports news....

Woman sets fastest split time ever in bobsled race.

Incredible!

Guess she wasn't an engineering student, or else she failed the sections on stress, strain, and load capacity.

She canned her clothing designer.

Her name's not Phyl McCracken, is it?

No. It's Wilma Pantsripp.

Cat dentures

This is old news, but stumbled across it while I was browsing about cat teeth problems. My cat has a broken lower fang and the other teeth seem too small. Kitty is not getting dentures, but I put this here just for fun.

If you really loved Kitty, you'd give him some "Teeth Bling".

Wow! I thought J-Lo had a big a$$!

Read this story to learn how a girl got pregnant in a nearly miraculous way. You can't make this stuff up.

Jeeesh, hide that before some women see it!

Sexpresso, anyone?

Don't worry, the link is safe for work - just an article - but the activities it describes would not be.

Tom, now I see why all you upper left-coasters are so big into coffee.

This has made it's rounds recently:

Couple caught in act at concert

Apparently it's on Youtube but I wouldn't know....

CV, I warned you of the consequences of Growacet abuse, but NOOOOOOO, you went and did it anyway. Poor Marina won't walk right for a week.

Growacet = Grow-asset?

It was a Crue concert. How is anyone surprised?

They have enough brain cells left (collectively) to tour?!

Got me. I'm guessing it's something like the Stones or Aerosmith, where they've just hung their skin over animatronics.

That's funny.

My lunch reading of the Carlat Psychiatry blog led me to this paper. In the words of Dr. Carlat, it "shows how various drug companies, particularly Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca, manipulated science and lied to doctors in order to sell their drugs. While this is not exactly news, the intriguing aspect of this article is that the authors reproduce e-mails and slides that are the smoking guns of deceptive sales practices. And let me tell you, these gun barrels are hot and you can still smell the gun powder."

P.S. Figure 8 is the best.

Yeah, that's cute.

So, about those drug lunches you get...

Nobody down here brings Olive Garden for lunch. Haven't had it in months. So sad.

Tragic, really.

I know, right? Weds it was chicken fingers and wings, which can only get you so far.

That's not a good bribe! They should be getting you drumsticks, at least.

I mean, unless it was wings at a specific location, of which I have heard there are many in the South.

JP... there's an OG 3 miles from me. Be nice and PM me your cell number, and I'll send you cell phone pics of my meal....

They were from Zaxby's, which is a pretty good place.

Done! I know where Mark's eating tonight!

Well, I'm not eating there at the moment, but I'll go this weekend if it really means that much to you!

C'mon, Ken, we both know there is only one part of the chicken JP gets. . .and he giggles every time he orders it.

Hey, guess what.

Ok! I'll bite. What?

Chicken butt.

Why'd you actually make me say it? I hope I didn't hurt your teeth.

That depends. Was it a boneless chicken butt?

*whew*

I'm glad someone bit!

Adrian, you are a valuable team member!

How come we say rump, back, leg, breast ect when talking about cuts of chicken or meat but we just say fillet or steak reg fish? Nobody ever says "I'll have a salmon rump roast" or "give me 4lbs of tuna breasts". Fish....no respect.


:::waiting for a bite:::

"I'll have the bass ass, please."

Sunny side up? that bass is mooning you.

Now you're making me think of the South Park episode with fishsticks, or something similar.

Do you like fishsticks in your mouth?

I like to see how many I can fit in at once!

Not a good start to the Olympics, a Georgian luge competitor was killed in practice crashing at 140+kmh. Poor guy.

Holy moses! I wonder if they're going to revamp the track. Quickly. I just can't see them cancelling all of the sliding events.

I don't know, these guys keep going faster and faster....I think they need to slow the track down somehow, these guys are barely able to maintain control and obviously a few have not, tragically.

What a terrible accident, that's a shame ... 95 mph is freaking hauling the mail, I would have never guessed they were going that fast nowadays.

Yeah, I thought they were topping out at around 80 some odd last time around.

On another note, the news just reported there is currently snow on the ground in 49 of the 50 states ... that's a lot of cold people.

Which one's the straggler....

Yeah, I saw that the East Coast looked like that pic of the UK about a month ago--solid white from satellite. Lemme guess, Hawaii is the exception, right?

According to the news, Ken you are absolutely correct sir!

Can't imagine how that might have happened.

Miracles do happen.

Mmmmm, Mama mia. Dis is goot airbol sandwich.

I never knew that a skinned, headless cat is a dead ringer for a rabbit. And now I do.

(turns to camera)

"Thanks, Axiom Message Boards!"

* wink *

My pleasure.

I'm already thinking about new Thanksgiving holiday traditions.

No need to wait until Thanksgiving. Just make a reservation at the Wicked Wok:

LOL, is that for real??

If you hurry, you might still catch their lunch special by a whisker.

No idea. I just found it on the net one day. It's traveled pretty far and wide by now.

It certainly could be Photoshopped. Maybe there is even a Chinese Restaurant Sign Generator, like the Church Sign Generator:

lol

JP, that deserves a

I can't imagine that most predators taste very good. I could be wrong, though. It is said that free range chickens taste better because they eat bugs.

Nearly all seafood are predators, Me Likee!!

Mmmmmm! tastes like cat chicken...

Ah, you have a point, there Adrian.

Cows prey on plants, too.

Aren't lobsters, crabs, shrimps, etc. scavengers?

As in "vultures of the sea"? Lobsters and crabs will scavenge, but they mostly eat live food if it's available. Most shimp are scavengers, though -- with the notable exception of the Pistol Shrimp (video link).

Now back to National Geographic, brought to you by Axiom ...

Come to Axiom forums, so much more than just great audio advice

If you ever study the unclean foods in Leviticus 11 (I think), it is the scavengers that were unclean.

I'd like to see a Hatfield-McCoy showdown between a couple of those pistol shrimp!!

If we're going to do that Adrian I say let's go ahead and get a group of them together for a good ol' pistol shrimp shootout .... OK Corral style.

Shrimp E. Hatfield: "You McCoys give the prawn family a bad name"

Scallop "Two guns" McCoy: " Yeah? your mother's got crabs you sorry excuse for a lobster!"

::: Ka-POW :::

What?! Where's my picture??

Somebody call 9-1-1!

I'll be the Huckleberry.

You meant OK "Coral" right?

Classic!

This one's for our Aussie friends:

Ants vs. Toads

If they ever figure out anything for kudzu, let me know.

Wonder if this Hybrid Car will cost more than a Prius?

In a victory for the concept album, Britain's High Court on Thursday ordered record company EMI Group Ltd. to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band's original records. Yahoo! News story

I was just noticing the battle yesterday, glad to hear Pink Floyd is winning that battle.

I also noticed that PF and Queen are looking to drop EMI and go else where as it sounds like the new owners of EMI are making some big mistakes and EMI, if things do not turn around, may end up merging/disappearing anyway.

USB storage support for 360? (MCV)

I'm all for this if it's true. I really wish the 360 allowed for switching out the hard drive like the PS3 does. Maybe we'll get lucky in the next generation and have support for external USB 3.0 storage.

Meet the new King of Kong (Joystiq)

This mainly just links to another page, but I liked:

Verizon winds down expensive FiOS expansion (Associated Press)

Nooooooooooo.

A little closer...

That's pretty cool. . .but really creepy, too.

Slightly used Pagani Zonda available.

StreamTV with glasses-free 3D

Somali pirates at it again ... Bringing a knife to a gun fight.

"Stupid is as stupid does."

That story also belongs in the Joke thread. WTF were they thinking.

Mad bees

Maybe if we had bees inside our cars we'd all be better drivers.

Some interesting lunch reading.

First Human infected with a Computer Virus.

Well more like a computer in a human to be exact. Still, make you wonder if you want those bionic body parts after all?

Bah, whom am I kidding. Resistance is futile!

Suspects Caught on video.

I kinda wish that video had sound. Crows get pretty raucous when they're mad.

Everyone's probably seen this on the news already... almost unbelieveable.

Holy crap! I had read about it earlier today, but that's the first good picture I've seen.

Looks like photo-shop news.

Its not.

WOW Amazing that nobody got hurt!

It looks like the proverbial Buffy Hell-Mouth.


That one was just for Charles!

That sinkhole is amazing. I haven't read much about it, but was thinking this morning how I wonder what the heck they are going to do to deal with that thing. I imagine it is an interesting question for some civil engineers.

If they figure out how to plug it, maybe they can do the same in the Gulf....

Just fill it with the old CRT TV's.

I still think it looks too perfect of a hole to be a real hole.

CNN confirmed that the sinkhole is real...therefore it must be true.

Hey! maybe they could plug it with Larry King's ego!

I think that many major news outlets reporting on it should indicate that it's real.

Maybe they are all just looking at the same picture.

"Likely world disaster has been averted due to discovering that the sink-hole to be a photoshop fake. Sorry, our bad." - CNN

Some more pics of sinkhole.

Muad'Dib!

Why do I cry out to the hero of Dune? Because I know the secret as to how the hole truly appeared!!!
.

More sinkhole pics from National Geographic.

Oh oh. Dunecat is starting to shake!

Ha ha. That's great, Murph.

Video of Hayabusa capsule reentry

Why?

Typical politician's response to the above "Why?" link. Does this mean it is ok to let criminals go free as long as they apologize?

Actions speak louder than words. His response is canned and inadequate.

His angry wrist grab brought me back to old hours of practicing wrist grab defenses and a one particularly funny occasion. We had a student who was stoutly built mechanic with arms and hands of steel. If he decided to pick on you with his full strength, he could make all but the most senior students look very silly when trying to practice these techniques.

One day, he was showing off his strong grip a bit too much with the newer students and so our Sensei reappeared from somewhere (no one noticed him sneak off for a moment,) stopped the class and announced he was going to demonstrate a method that absolutely anyone in the class, boy, girl, young or old could use to break out of this guys wrist grab.

The student was asked to come grab our Sensei's wrist, which he did, looking rather defiantly. Then our Sensei reached into his gi for a second, held his hand under the student's bare forearm and flicked on a Bic lighter. The student let go instantly with a rather 'less than manly' yell.

Our instructor then explained how 'self defense' is not about overpowering your opponent. It's about out maneuvering your opponent. Sometimes you do that with your body but first and foremost you must always use your mind.

That's good! Think outside the box!

In the local news today,
A unidentified fireball, described as about the size of a football, landed in a farmers field around noon yesterday and set the remains of some cut straw on fire. The fire department had to be called.
Meanwhile,
The Ripley's Beleive It Or Not people are currently out searching a beach for a whale they buried there back in the eighties. Apparently there was some law at the time that if you pay to have a stranded whale buried, you owned the resulting skeleton.

Shaping up to be an interesting week here.

I'll add a third bit of interesting news. An Ohio church's giant statue of Jesus -- "affectionately" known by locals as Touchdown Jesus -- was struck by lightning and completely destroyed by the resulting fire yesterday during severe thunderstorms.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_lightning_strikes_jesus_statue

They say it will be restored in three days...

Using new, patented Insta-Jesus.

Available for a limited time!

Here are some better pictures. I like the url.

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/06/15/4512925-holy-smoke

Or the Big Butter Jesus.

And God looked, and God said, "Dude, that thing is ooo-glay."

Well, I wondered how in the world would it have been come to be known as "Touchdown Jesus"? Well, at least until I saw the picture.

In hind sight, it was kind of a 'taunting the sky' look.

Probably a few gearheads here.... Lexus LFA test driver killed *near Nurburgring.

On a happier note, I saw this on facebook today:

---

Billy Corgan, vocalist, lead guitarist and songwriter for The Smashing Pumpkins, will pay tribute to the band Rush as they accept their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Billy joins Donna Halper, former radio personality at WMMS Cleveland where Rush received their first radio airplay with Working Man participate as well.

The ceremony will take place in front of the Musician's Institute at
6752 Hollywood Boulevard at 11:30 AM in Los Angeles this Friday, June 25th.

Mann Chinese 6 in Hollywood is going to have special screenings of 'Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage' at their theatre this Friday in honor of Rush getting their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame just blocks away. They're giving special screenings at 2pm, 5pm and 8pm in their biggest auditorium.

Rush is the one argument I ever have with my youngest brother. He is one of those 2 guys in the world who don't like Rush.

I normally win the argument by quoting his buddy, the other of the two guys, who tried to help one day buy saying "How can you listen to a band who sing about tampons?"

When I asked him WTF he was talking about, he said, "You know, in the song New World Man.... Where they say
'He's a radio receiver,
Tuning factory tampons.'

This is why I love Emma Thompson

"Looks like So-dee-pop! watch it Fee-yazz!"

The ultimate honeymoon suite. Sleeping with the fishes.

I wouldn't be able to sleep in that.

Somehow, I don't think it's about sleeping.

Wouldn't be able to do anything else in there either. Too many fish watching: that's just creepy.

Not if you're an exhibitionist.

Now we know why fish don't blink.

Student suing teacher, school district, and city for inadequate warning about the dangers of electricity.

I'll let you read the article to find out just how he learned of those dangers.

To quote a friend - The stupid shall be punished.

If you make it to high school without learning that electricity is dangerous, then you would not have listened to the teacher anyway.

The only thing that was really shocking about this is that there were not one, or even two, but three of these brainiacs involved in the same Jackass-inspired (had to be) stunt.

Makes you wonder if crowd psychology is active even in small groups, or if it's just typically stupid peer pressure at play. JP?

"The New Hampshire Union Leader says Dubois' suit contends he suffered permanent brain damage."

I'm guessing the plaintiff argument was that this was obviously a pre-existing condition.

Darwin missed this one.

Our local news.

http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x4...of-local-doctor

Hopefully this news will not make it to the trapped miners in Chile.

Hey I'm from your neck of the woods Michael, I was born in the Kern County General Hospital ... quite some time ago.

They had hospitals then?

My Grandparents lived in Bodfish near Lake Isabella. Learned to waterski there... good memories.

Scott

Wow Rick small world, It is now called Kern Medical Center,
http://www.kernmedicalcenter.com/body.cfm?id=14, probably looks a little different now.

My wife is employed by Bakersfield Medical Center, but works at their clinic where we live in Tehachapi. I've been trying unsuccessfully in the last year to try and get her to take a job on the Central Coast. She loves the mountains, I love the water, she works, I stay home, she wins.

I know where that is, funny thing is I had never been to Kern County or even heard of Tehachapi until we moved here 8 years ago from the OC.

See there Mark ... back in the day they were called hospitals, today they're called Medical Centers.

We'll have to ask Jack what they were referred to prior to being called hospitals.

Michael I barely remember California, we moved whenever I was three and about all I remember is snow on the mountaintops and bright oranges in the trees but I'd really like to make a trip out there one of these days just for the heck of it.

If you go back to the middle ages it seems that medical texts were called "leech books" but hospitals were still called hospitals.

I was born in Santa Paula and lived in Bakersfield till I was 6, barely remember much about it other than we lived across from a school and I broke my arm falling off the monkey bars there.

No hospitals. Doctors came to you and bled you into a bowl until you felt better. If you were smart, you felt better quickly.

So, Jack's birth goes back FARTHER than the middle ages, Rick?

::runs away with mind being boggled::

Living in the OC, you didn't need to know about it. You had just about everything you needed. My wife's parents live in Dana Point. If you want rolling hills, that's what Mammoth and Yosemite are for.

Don't know how long you've been there, but if you haven't seen the wild flowers in spring in the Tehachapi area, you are missing an awesome sight. Many a postcard have been printed of those hills.

Scott

Scott

Ya know? Some of you guys oughta remember that I'm going to be within a few inches of you in a couple of weeks. You may remember Teddy Roosevelt's philosophy of walk softly but carry a big stick. Well, he actually got that from me. He was about 5 when he overheard me say it.

How can you walk softly when your joints creak so loudly, though?

The wonder of leech treatments.

Dog survives minor tumble in car: link

Leonard Skinner dead at 77

Nice story. We should all be so lucky as to "having a lot of friends" and die in our sleep after a big bowl of ice cream.

Ya know, until yesterday, I had not realized the band's name was based on a real person.

I heard a piece on the news tonight. Cool story.

The first glasses free 3D TV. (If you wait long enough...)

Old news Cat. You gotta be fast around here.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthre...9846#Post319810

I thought this might have been the case, but wasn't sure. Oh well, can't win them all.

I can't believe they are excited about 12 and 20" screens, can't believe they will be big sellers. I guess the 20" as a computer monitor for 3D PC gaming might do well initially.

Oregon woman arrested after failing to register with sex offender list ... Arrested.


Woman??

Scary.

People seem to think men have a lock on that evil thing. Women are just much more devious in their deviance.

That in itself wasn't the scary part for me Fred, it was the fact that this was the woman...





If Ron Jeremy and Stan Van Gundy had a son, that is what it would look like.

omg..where did u get that picture..scary indeed..lol

She finally took my advice!

She's performing in the buff?

Oh, you mean the concert disc in general, I guess.

Ha ha. Well, it's the best news I've read in a while, even if it doesn't quite reach your standards.

In the VERY local news...

Last night around 2:00am I awoke to hear a bit of commotion in the subdivision, mostly the sound of squealing tires, revving engine ect. I fell back to sleep without really paying it too much attention....

This morning I wake up, look out the front door(I live on an outside corner, pie shaped lot) and see the street light in front of my house has been whacked at the bottom, about 4ft up it is being held together only by rebarr and the entire pole has been pushed over at 10-15%. Some jacka$$, likely drunk, had raced around the corner at high speed, bounced over the curb at the bottom of my driveway, across the grass and whacked the pole. The whiplash effect on the pole, broke the concrete casing to the rebarr about 4 ft up(I wish it had fallen on the dufus) and dislodged the footing of the pole to the afformentioned 10-15%. It was leaning over my neighbours Mitsubishi next door. The culprit was "driving" a Nissan Ultima, around '05 judging by the grill he left behind but we also believe there may have been a bike involved as several neighbours heard one at the same time. Next door neighbours called the cops, yadda, yadda, young cop was more interested in talking about my neighbour's Harley, yadda, yadda....

Gack. Idiots.

So, do you or your insurance have to pay for the repair to the pole, or is it the responsibility of the Homeowners' Association or the City?

The city pays for it, Tom. They've already come around with a utility truck and cut off the top section of the pole and removed it.

Did some neighbors not call the police because they just assumed all the noise was your HT?

The odd thing is, most of the people who live on the corner never really heard the impact, but everyone heard the "racing" behind our houses on the next street. Could be because most of the (master)bedrooms are located on the 2nd floor at the BACK of our homes here.

Well, this might be the first audio industry news in this thread. Mark L. Schifter of (formerly) Av123.com was sentenced today. A few months ago he plead guilty to running a series of fraudulent charity raffles that took place on his own company forum.

First reports surfacing.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showpost.php?p=757606&postcount=29

I think we need to get John to help with the sentencing ....maybe 5 yrs of tour guiding in the Bose plant, John?

Its certainly an interesting sentence.

Dean's probably gonna host a party to celebrate.

Hey! Look Everybody! It's BOB!

JohnK can hopefully fill us in on the fine details of what a "work release" is and how they are usually structured.

DH, I rarely check this thread, but I just happened to do so now. I haven't tried to find details of the Schifter sentence, but the most common type of a work-release provision is that the prisoner will be allowed out for his actual hours of work and will return to prison for the remainder of the day. An alternative sometimes used is that he'll be allowed to remain at large during all of a 5-day work week and will be confined during the weekends.

I believe Mr. Schiffler's sentence is the former. 2 years work release, 20 years probation. He's on the hook for around 100k.

Actually I harbor no Ill will toward MLS since I saw him for what he was from day one. My issue has always been with the true believers who spread his gospel through audio forums and sought to stamp out all heretical speech from the nonbelievers.

I would rather see him get off scot-free an see his fanboys serving the sentence for him because they amplified any small amount of damage MLS himself could have done alone. That’s always the real danger with charismatic leaders, the sheep who blindly follow them.

Usually, there's some type of employment already arranged that'll meet the court's requirements. Haven't been following this closely and have no idea if he's had any sort of appropriate work(e.g., Bose salesman?)while out on bail.

AFAIR he would call himself Santa or something for some of his “sales.” So with that and his love of charities you might see him at the mall in a Santa outfit. Tis approaching the season.

If only I knew legalese better I could make a great joke about that being one of the clauses.

If he DOES become a mall santa, there's gotta be a bunch of kids from a bedwetter's anonymous group that we can send to his lap....

(Don't know much about him nor care.... I just liked the visualization is all)

I'm surprised people aren't talking about it here, but Happy 10/10/10.

The number thing that was done on my 10/10/10 list to do today was to celebrate the 29 years since my wife and I shared our marriage vows ... and I didn't have to be reminded.

Of course, the shoe thrown at his skull this morning after stating that he planned on watching football all day today helped a little.

Happy Anniversary, Rick, and tell Jan also that Joyce and I said so!

Apparently McDonalds Happy Meals don't decay or grow mold after 6 months:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...sign-mould.html

Oh, I'm not a very good stalker. It was also Marina's birthday on the 10th.

Charles, we had such high hopes for your stalking abilities.

McRib Returns

wow... can't say i care for the mcRib myself

I used to watch "The Osbournes" and whenever I hear of the McRib now, I'm ALWAYS reminded of the episode where Jack excitedly says, "The McRib is back!", and Kelly starts fighting with him about it's importance. It was hilarious!

The Longmont times newspaper is now reporting on the Shifty underbelly of the audio industry.

http://www.timescall.com/news_story.asp?ID=23870

adjusted that for ya

Nooooooooo!

This is too funny!

Amazon adds streaming video to Prime sub... Angeles Times)

Not a ton of content yet, but definitely a nice bonus to something I was already willing to pay for. Maybe I'll actually start watching Doctor Who.

Thanks for the heads up on that Charles. I probably would have logged into Amazon and got the message but since off work until next Monday I’m glad I know about this now to check it out.

I saw that this morning, looked through some of the content and didn't see much. But it would push me towards becoming a prime member if I found some good content. I made a mental note to check back periodically.

With the content available now I don’t imagine it will draw in a lot of new people, but I already have a Prime membership since I order enough from them to make that worthwhile alone. This is just an added bonus for as long as it lasts.

Another feature I had just noticed recently, maybe they’ve had it for a long time and I just didn’t know, is automatic reorder. I’ve started getting most of my vitamins and supplements this way and it saves several dollars per order on top of already saving the 8% sales tax I get hit with here.

I just ordered a Roku box to handle the Amazon streaming (along with the Netflix and Hulu+ of which I am already a member).

I use the automatic reorder for everything where it is offered. But I set my reorder time to 6 months. Then I just manually reorder when I need more, or cancel after I've had enough. That way it keeps surprise shipments from happening, but I still get the nice discount.

I’ll look into that. Don’t they send an email saying that your automatic reorder shipped or are you talking about just having it ship when you don’t really need it?

So far I haven’t had one ship yet only got a couple emails saying the my credit card I’m using is about to expire and that I should update it.

They do send you an email before they ship the next one. I've been saved by that a couple times. And there's no reason you can't cancel right away.

Maybe I was just slow to react, but I seem to recall getting an e-mail, and then going to my account only to find the order being processed and unable to be changed.

The other thing is that, even if you are a Prime member, subsequent orders ship ground or USPS. To counter the slow shipping rate they'll bill you and send them a few days earlier so they arrive on the date. If you ask to be sent a refill right away, it'll ship 2nd day for free for Prime members. Not that is really makes a difference, as it will arrive on approximately the same day. But it's the principle.

Grad rockets fired at Be'er Sheva for first time since Gaza war.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-de...za-war-1.345280

News of the Weird: one woman's personal storage unit

Whoa.

How did she manage to get the last two cents in?

My face now looks like Shaun's avatar.

I always knew "those things" had some sort of value. Great re-purposing!

I think she must have played her "Vag of holding" card.



(Yes, that was a D&D reference…)

Have you ever played D&D in your life?

Only three posts in the last week for Peter? Either he's gravely ill, under a punishing workload, or on vacation.

Hopefully it's option 3.

Maybe he got stuck in the "Vag of Holding?"

Option 2.

He needs a +2 sword and coffee break of mages.

I've buried myself (quite voluntarily and eagerly) in a real programming project at work. It's a learning project -- in other words, I'm constantly looking things up and rewriting parts I've written when I find a better way to do it -- so it's been quite engrossing. I've also been bringing the work home.

Imagine what I could have accomplished over the years if I'd been only an occasional poster…

Or an occasional Poser ???

And speaking of D&D, I admit I played a lot of it in my high school days. This Video is old but still makes me laugh every time. I swear they guy in the kitchen was one of my buddies. EXACT same behavior but thankfully a different voice.

I read an article about a dinosaur that was dug up by Suncor out in the oil fields recently, an ankylosaur. Apparently digging up prehistoric marine species is common in the area since it was the bottom of the sea at one time. The ankylosaur is a rare find in that region since it's a land animal.

Somebody won a new car at the Tim Horton's near my house.

Dang it!! I go there all the time...

:::holds two fingers up...."missed it by that much!!":::

Kind of news. I finally have my first cellular telephone. My parents were already on U.S. Cellular with HTC Desires, so I got the same thing. It's definitely more phone than I need, but I guess I'm treating myself... to a higher monthly bill.

It just seemed like the extra fees kept getting higher on Vonage, then it wasn't emailing me when I had voicemails like it was supposed to (though to be fair, I was too lazy to actually consult with technical support and figure out why), and finally, I've been having network/internet problems lately, and removing the Vonage phone adapter from the chain has seemed to alleviate our woes. Rather than trying to resolve it, I decided to go ahead and take it as a sign I should get a cell phone.

Can someone remind me where the thread is on must-have Android apps? Also, is OtterBox the way to go for protective cover? My cousin seems to like them a lot.

In other news, I got a ButtKicker LFE Kit. I'm going to have work at fine-tuning it, but I do appreciate the extra impact it imparts.

Wait, you just got your first cell phone? Congrats on holding off on an electronic leash for that long! I don't own an android so can't comment on apps specific to their phones. I was looking for the iPhone app post earlier today and couldn't find it...

Yeah, first one. I know what you mean about electronic leash. I have enough friends who are slaves. Ha ha. I'm going to try to leave it at home instead of taking it to work, but it will be handy to have it when I actually go do things. Should be a good way to track my runs when I go run with my coworker, see exactly how far we go. Does anyone have a specific app recommendation for that? My dad was thinking SpeedView would be good for that.

I've had the same old Blackberry POS for 3 years now and want to upgrade for something more modern. But I don't want a big bill either. So, I've taken the easy way out and just live with the problem.

CV, recently I upgraded my phone, as well. I did get an Otterbox protector from Amazon (seemed to be the best price) and it gets the job done. I'm not really hard on my phones, but it is nice to be scratch resistant.

Thanks, Sean. Looking at the reviews on Amazon.com, it looks like I'm going with the Commuter series case rather than the normally heavier-duty Defender line. Sounds like they didn't try so hard on the HTC Desire Defender.

Now to figure out what apps to use....

My sister suggested Evernote and Yelp, and they do seem like they'll be helpful. I'll have to actually use Evernote to take notes for stories.

Yes, I went with the Commuter model, as well. I didn't want anything too bulky. So far, it does well enough, although the silicone part of the casing seems to cling to my pocket fuzz.

I need a cleaner pocket app.

I recommend you get a Zagg invisi-shield screen protector, unless you get an otterbox that covers the screen too.

Canada. You gotta Love it!
The only country in the world that would reschedule a Federal Leaders Debate in the middle of an election because the Montreal Canadiens are playing the Boston Bruins that night.

Video footage of radiation measurements around Fukushima. As the first comment says, these guys have balls of steel! Crazy.

And here's an interview with the journalist.

Only country? I am not so sure about that. Unless the President of the United States was announcing the beginning of World War 3 or any other items related to an ongoing election campaign, you don't honestly think they would attempt this on the day of the Super Bowl, do you?

It's that the electoral debate in Quebec was rescheduled for a Montreal Canadians hockey game, and no other country would do the same (not that the game was already scheduled, and they chose a different day for the debate). Yep, the U.S. might do it for baseball or the Super Bowl, but I highly doubt they would for hockey, as it's not as popular.

A movie lover’s plea: Let there be light (The Boston Globe)

Are you wearing your flea collar? Clicky

About time. 'Pulp Fiction' & 'Jackie Brown' Blu-rays Dated (High-Def Digest)

For those interested, Amy Goodman is hosting a discussion with WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek. The event will be broadcast live from London July 2 at 11am EDT.

Link.

Peace.

I don't know if any of you guys know who Cenk Urgur is, but I've been listening to him/TYT pretty much since it's inception.

A while ago he was hired by MSNBC, and got his own show as a result. Unfortunately, he's just left MSNBC, but in the video below, he explains why, and the circumstances that impacted his decision. I think a lot of you will find this very interesting. Although most of us understand how the media works, it's still scary to hear firsthand accounts like this (I don't want to say too much and spoil it)...

I've always had a tremendous amount of respect for him and the other TYT hosts (in this clip you'll get an idea why).

Cenk leaves MSNBC.

"Was dein T-Shirt kann, kannst du auch."

Story on the use of technology, in the form of special t-shirt ink, to fight extremism.

Have you see this new gadget? It's an immersive movie screen that you wear on your head.

Get Your Jean Shorts Ready: 'Arrested Development' Is Planning New TV Episodes and a Movie (Time)

I sure hope it works out.

Interesting monolog Cam. I didn't think it ever got that blatant.

The internet is a boon to those who look for a wider perspective. I still follow the mainstream media, but always look for other sources and perspectives.

2011 year in review.

40' streams of fire, 120,000 pounds of thrust, 40' streams of fire and best of all..... 40' streams of fire!!

What's not to love in this quick Space-X video clip.
Super Rockets

I SO want a marshmallow.







And a loooooooooong stick.

They're going to land a capsule?! Vertically? Controlled? On LAND?!

And you know this idea came about after the leading scientists began lighting their farts on fire one drunken night.

. . .the night of Rocket Scientist's Chili Cook-Off Extravaganza.

Ah, so that's how they got the 40' flames.

I think every American household located near the Rio Grande border should have one of those.

You think it's coincidence that that particular one lives in McGregor, Texas?

Though it may be a bit much just to dry off their shoes and pantlegs.

jacket.

Bing. Di-liddle-ing. Di-liddl-e-ding-ding.

Train kills reindeer 'like meat grinder'

YIKES!

Dentist pulls out all of ex-boyfriend's teeth.

Perhaps now he can get a job at a strip club as a Gummy Bear.

I didn't even know Regina Spektor was married until today. It seems to have happened in December? To the guy I've seen in concert as many times as her, simply because he opened for her every time.

You should have been opening for her. Then she might have opened for you.

The Death of Hope. Ouch.

Ha ha. Thanks, guys.

Don't give up Charles. You just have to be more like James Bond.

Solange: You like married women... don't you, James?
James Bond: It keeps things simple.

Stuntman survives firt-ever 2400 ft skydrive without a parachute.

"Hello, Acme Corrugated Box Company?"

I feel ripped off. The title never implied a flying squirrel suit.

Or cardboard boxes. pffft

Are they boxes? I thought they were giant foam cushions. Or bass traps maybe.

Or boxes of used cat litter?

.

Brian, I thought of you yesterday when I paid a condolence visit to a realtive who had to say goodbye to her cat, her 22 year-old cat. She is comforted that she still has his "brother," who will be 25 this year. Her youngest child is arrived 2 years after the cat did.

Fox "News" viewers less (or possibly more incorrectly) informed than those whom watch absolutely NO news.

Surprise, surprise.

Thankfully I don't personally know one person that watches that cartoon network.

Linky.

Cam pulls out a grammatical monstrosity and crows what a smart little boy he is.

I thought the first guy to jump, well, get tossed out of a plane without a chute and survive was a WWII tail gunner.

I wouldn't be surprised if you are correct (story #10 has the earliest date in this list - 1942). Don't who was the first, but Connery surely wasn't.

Read story #7. Falling 2 miles is bad enough, but 10 days hiking through the jungle? How on earth did she survive

Link.

Jack. I remember reading that story about the girl before. Quite amazing!

Indeed!!!!!

Cam, your grammatical monstrosity is a common error and easily fixed. Rather than belittle, I will educate.

As I'm sure you guessed, 2x6 was referring to your use of whom. "Whom" is used when it's the direct object of a verb, and when it directly follows a preposition. Here are some examples of who vs. whom usage:

"I have more money than those who have less money than I do." <-- correct because who is linked to a noun (those) and not to a verb.
"I once put a tack on the chair of my high school English teacher who I hated for his inability to pronounce 'while'. He was from Georgia." <-- incorrect because who is the direct object of hated.

"I give cookies to the old lady on the corner, whom I adore because of her rosy cheeks." <-- correct because whom is linked to a verb (adore).
"Wait, wait, wait.... You gave my favorite socks to whom?!?!" <-- correct because whom is the object of a preposition (of).
"I have a son whom eat peas." <--incorrect because whom is linked to a noun (son) and not to a verb.

Thanks, Peter. You're a good soul.

A good soul wrapped in a GrammerBot skin...... whom I respect!

Thanks for the English 101 Peter, very nice examples, considering we are only talking about adding, or not adding, a lower case m onto a root word. Now how about some examples for these two words, to,and too.

You could make that 3 words, two, to and too, as I have seen two used too many times in place of to; I blame texting on this.

Led vs. lead seems to be a common one on this forum. I'm sure I make enough grammatical errors, though. I should brush up sometime. Thanks, Peter, for highlighting one I've had a history of problems with.

Another VERY common linguistic err is the use of lay.

You don't lay in bed or on the chesterfield etc. You lie in bed etcetera.

Lie is an intransitive verb (one that does not take an object), meaning "to recline." Its principal parts are lie (base form), lay (past tense), lain (past participal), and lying (present participle).

[Lie meaning "to tell an untruth" uses lied for both the past tense and past participle, with lying as the present participle.]

Lay is a transitive verb (one that takes an object), meaning "to put" or "to place." Its principal parts are lay (base form), laid (past tense), laid (past participle), and laying (present participle).

The two words have different meanings and are not interchangeable. Although lay also serves as the past tense of lie (to recline) – as in, "He lay down for a nap an hour ago" – lay (or laying) may not otherwise be used to denote reclining. It is not correct to say or write, "I will lay down for nap" or "He is laying down for a nap." The misuse of lay or laying in the sense of "to recline" (which requires lie or lying) is the most common error involving the confusion of these two words.

> Once you lay (put or place) a book on the desk, it is lying (reclining, resting) there, not laying there.

> When you go to Bermuda for your vacation, you spend your time lying (not laying) on the beach (unless, of course, you are engaged in sexual activity and are, in the vernacular, laying someone on the beach).

> You lie down on the sofa to watch TV and spend the entire evening lying there; you do not lay down on the sofa to watch TV and spend the entire evening laying there.

> If you see something lying on the ground, it is just resting there; if you see something laying on the ground, it must be doing something else, such as laying eggs.

Yup, a smart little boy knew that....

I'm going to go lay down.

Thanks Powertothepeople for your insightful input on those two words. I woke up this morning nearly panic stricken thinking about the extent of how these two words,(Lay/Lie) should be used correctly. Now I know, I won't lose any sleep tonight, thinking about it further.

Whom?

If you add two to two, you get four. If you add one to three, you get four, too.

While we're talking grammar, let's address the most common error I see on the board: your vs. you're.

You're is a contraction of 'you' and 'are'.

"You are cool" is the same as "You're cool."

Your is an adjective describing a possession.

"Your new speakers are amazing."
"I think your opinion is awful."

Please, please, please -- and I'm looking sternly at SirQuack when I say this -- never say "Your right" when you want to say you agree with someone. "You're right" is correct.

This is super simple. One is a contraction, the other is not.

Back on topic:

Naked man shot while chewing on victim's face (thankfully, no pics)

Your right, Peter, thankfully their was no pictures.

**twitch**

It's finally here, the zombie apocalypse. Only Charles will survive as he can wear his Medusa hand bag over his head and blend in.

From Les Paul inspired swimming pool

Do want.

No big deal.

When I was a kid, I had one that was snare drum-shaped. And it rose majestically above the ground!

And this one time, at band camp Mark's house, Tommy Lee came over and played an extended elevated solo with his large drum stick.

When is the last time you visited a phlebotomist, Mark?

It's been over a month.

But I got a lot of mosquito bites yesterday.

Does that count?

No, but a gaggle of leaches would.

Quite right. It's going on six weeks now. Happy Birthday, Mark!

I heard that they almost named the new towers "The Mark S. Johnson Birthday Edition Speakers". It was one of the few names not used up by CatNap and Lamppost.

Ha! Catnap and Lamppost! Ha! Good ones!

I had to look up "lamppost." It just looks wrong. But, you should know the correct spelling, as it's probably a relative of yours.

Immediately proceeding it in Webster's is "lamster"- a fugitive from the law.

I didn't know there was a noun for one whom who is on the lam.

Artist turns his dead cat into helicopter.

Speaking of animals and transportation - how's that for a segue?! - Here's an article on a deep-sea diver/inventor who's used his observations of whales and lobsters to improve your gas mileage. His GasPods are modeled on the raised bumps on the heads of sea creatures, and they channel the wind to reduce the drag coefficient of your car.

That's a pretty cool idea.

Dimples on a golf ball....

Same reason why Mark runs so fast backwards.

Bazinga!

Please do not confuse cellulite for dimples.

Here's a Dutch artist that turned his deceased cat into a helicopter LMAO!

Well, either it's a meme or Cam doesn't really read threads before he posts. Either way, it's funny.

I'm just really, really dumb.

Some of the comments are hilarious.

"Did all the birds in the&#65279; neighborhood collectively lose their shit?"

"My only question is, do you HAVE to wait until the cat is dead to turn&#65279; it into a helicopter?"

"I'm doing this to grandma, maybe I'll dress her in white and&#65279; then I'm gonna scare the shit out of my dad at night :)"

Those are good!

Today, Whitey Bulger's girlfriend, Catherine Grieg, is being sentenced in Federal court for aiding and abetting a fugitive.

The prosecution is asking for 10 years. The defence is asking for 27 months.

Opinions?

The defense is claiming that 27 months is appropriate because she is in love.

And someone needs to write a comic book about Bob's Avatar, then we can make it into a movie.

I think 120 months or 2.25 years would be much more appropriate.

Oh, you mathwhiz, you.

This one's better.

The MA town of Middleborough criminalized the F-Bomb (and other such words) in public last week. It's a $20 fine. How loudly you cuss and where you do it have a bearing on whether or not an offense has been committed.

I rarely need to go there, but I could rack up $500 worth of fines in less than 7 sentences. I can't help it. It's summer and I drive with my window open sometimes.

I never form an opinion on court cases because unless you're in the courtroom for the totality of the proceedings, it's conjecture; and there's way to much of it in society.

Aw, go ahead, Cam. In America, we can say anything we want. So, c'mon, don't fear The Crown's reprisal. Ignore those people who ignore you (and the rest of the nation) for not speaking French.

Be an honrary (ornery) American for a day and write whatever TF you please, irregradlessically of how little you may know about the topic at hand. It's fun! Besides, if we didn't do that, there'd be no television here and therefore, nothing to talk about.

Bob I know you're speaking with some satire here, and I know what you're saying is very true. It reminds me of a situation which happened in early television, back in 58,or 59. No, I didn't actually view it, but remember someone many years ago telling the story.
It happened one night on the old Jack Parr show, ( for those who are to young he preceded Johnny Carson ) back then late night TV wasn't so late night, it was during prime time, and was performed live. Well what happened was, during the interview portion of that particular show. One of his guest used the word toilet in his conversation, five seconds later the TV station stopped broadcasting. A couple of minutes later they were back on the air, with apologies all over the place.
That was then, and we all are more than familiar with how it is now. Got to wonder though, what will it be like fifty years from now?

I'll never be an American for a day .

That's right, you'll be so high on the adrenaline rush, you'll never want to go back.

Peter is sooo right! Unlike bikes, they don't yet manufacture "mountain chairs," so you'd get around a lot easier here, since we have tons more paved surfaces. We could send some people up there to finish the Trans Canadian Hgwy. for you.

While you're at it, could you flatten the Canadian Rockies and turn them into a giant WallyWorld parking lot? That would be sooo cool!

Here is a sample of everyday life in my and Bob's part of the world.

http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/...inks-and-wrench

He was on smelling salts. The sausage, bread and cheese were appetizors before he "faced" the entrée.

You know, if the sausage links had been frozen, they might make a good weapon. However, even a soft, blunt object can briefly stun someone who is not expecting it. Pretty funny, until he started using a wrench. You would no longer be wondering if you were on a Candid Camera type show at that point.

I always feel refreshed whenever the perp is a honky.

I meant to write "bath salts".

Oh, Mr. Orwell. What fun you could have had if you were alive today.

NSA: It Would Violate Your Privacy to Say if We Spied on You

OK, more of an "In the News, a while ago" but might be interesting to you Axiomoes and audiopiles.

Anniversary of the Micro-Groove LP today.

Thanks for the link, an interesting History lesson.

No make that ancient History.

Cool! I think I'll get one!

In the News Headline:

Weiner Pulls Out.


Not pronounced the same as wiener, but it gave me a laugh anyway.

Video of the volcano eruption in Japan
Exploding Volcano

International Olympic Committee refuses to allow minute of silence for 11 Israeli Olympic athletes and coaches slaughtered by Palestinian terrorists at Munich Olympics 40 years ago.

Shame.

That volcano could have eruptions for days, or weeks to come. Also opens up the possibilities of earthquakes as well, lets hope not though.

Who fans trade in tickets from 1979 for tickets to the upcoming concert (with Quadrophenia in its entirety).

Kids today...

Awesome!

What no cola powered jetpacks for added flight time?? Amateurs.

Best ever excuse for not making it to work...

The road ate my car.

Hmm... Sludgeomation or Cryomation Tough choice...

This news article has ruined my faith in beavers. Have the Narnians been lying to us?

I want to know how he got to the second one

Well, when he walked in, there was that employee in the entrance that said "How can I help you today?"

I believe it Cat. I recall when I was thirteen or so and we rowed over too close to a dam while fishing. The beaver viciously attacked our rowboat to the point we were pretty scared and tried to beat him off with the oar. That just got him angrier. Since we figured he had the advantage because our boat was made of wood, we retreated. He didn't let off until we rowed to the very far side of the pond.

I have a very healthy respect for those guys now and give them thier space whenever possible.

I think the oar was too awkward.

Frustration could be viewed as anger.



What was on the other side of the pond? Likely a nice beaver I bet.


Gawd, I'm really sorry for dragging the boards down like this....

And now you're bringing religion into it.

Make a political statement and you'll score the hat trick.

Next time, carry a shotgun, cause beavers eat oars too.

Sinkhole just swallowed the entire state of Florida.

Acid flashback?

Now that's funny raht thar.

Rich people jumping the queue at Disney World by hiring disabled ‘guides’.

Given the source (The NY Post), I have the skepticism.

I believe it! Time to give the Pirates of the Carribean REAL guns!

Sounds like a cool way for the disabled to make some extra money to me.

Park Employee: Didn't you have a different family yesterday?

CNN.

Gotta love the idiots defending the practice (if it actually happens).

Newegg nukes corporate trolls

I finally read that link. Fascinating story, well-told. Thanks.

I think that what they are doing is totally wrong, but I find it fascinating how they keep saying "Black Market Tours". Really? I just popped right over to the website and they had a link (it has been disabled (no pun intended) for now) for the VIP Tour. Doesn't seem so "black market" to me. I mean the black market is about secrecy and special handshakes, secret passwords, money "under the table" in a dark alley. This is right out there for anyone (with enough cash) to do.

It is still wrong, and when I win the Powerball Lottery tomorrow, I won't every do something as crappy as that.

When is the last time Monster Cable sued someone? They were trolls just about the name "Monster"...

Wrong? Well if you can pay the park a few hundred to cut in line for an hour, or you can buy a handicapped family member for a day for the same purpose. I'd go with the handicapped family member. At least that person is getting a fun day out of it.

I would take a "handicapped" kid with me and let them have a blast, but not pay someone to drive a Hoveround and "pretend."

Why would you when you can just buy the place and tell everyone to get the heck out so you can be first in line?