Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Pythons wiping out Everglades mammals
In this November 14, 2009 photo provided by the University of Florida, University of Florida researchers hold a 162-pound Burmese python captured in Everglades National Park, Fla. Therese Walters, left, Alex Wolf and Michael R. Rochford, right, are holding the 15-foot snake shortly after the python ate a six-foot American alligator. The National Academy of Science report released Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, indicates that the proliferation of pythons coincides with a sharp decrease of mammals in the park. (AP Photo/ University of Florida, Michael R. Rochford)
http://news.yahoo.com/pythons-apparently-wiping-everglades-mammals-201541112.html
Kindle Fire owners keenest Android app users
Amazon's Kindle Fire has grabbed more than a third of the overall Android tablet usage activity in less than three months on sale.
That puts it on an effectively equal footing with the Samsung Galaxy Tab family. The latter's January 2012 app activity share is 35.6 per cent.
Back in the previous November, Samsung had a commanding 63 per cent of app usage. But it's not the only one to lose share to Amazon: Asus' Eee Pad Transformer and Acer's Iconia Tab family all saw their shares squeezed after the Amazon advent.
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/01/30/amazon_kindle_fire_becomes_android_tablet_with_highest_app_usage/
http://www.reghardware.com/2012/01/30/amazon_kindle_fire_becomes_android_tablet_with_highest_app_usage/
TEENAGE HYSTERIA
One afternoon last October in a small town about 50 miles from Buffalo, a high school cheerleader lay down for a nap, and woke up changed. She had been struck not with Tourette’s but with a host of symptoms that resembled it: facial tics, uncontrollable movement, stuttering, verbal outbursts. Several other schoolmates have been afflicted, for a total of 14 girls. One boy reported symptoms.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/opinion/sunday/adolescent-girl-hysteria.html
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Thousands of federal workers owe back taxes
36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes
Read more: http://nation.foxnews.com/president-obama/2012/01/26/36-obama-aides-owe-833000-back-taxes#ixzz1krjfMjN2
(AP) WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has preached that all Americans should pay their fair share in taxes, but a government report finds that tens of thousands of federal employees — from staffers in Congress to federal agencies and even Obama's executive office — collectively owe the government billions in back taxes.
Data from the Internal Revenue Service found that more than 279,000 federal employees and retirees owed $3.4 billion in back income taxes as of Sept. 30, 2010.
Data from the Internal Revenue Service found that more than 279,000 federal employees and retirees owed $3.4 billion in back income taxes as of Sept. 30, 2010.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
SKYNET EVER CLOSER
New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who's accountable?
The Navy's new drone being tested near Chesapeake Bay stretches the boundaries of technology: It's designed to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, one of aviation's most difficult maneuvers.
What's even more remarkable is that it will do that not only without a pilot in the cockpit, but without a pilot at all.
The X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone's ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently.
What's even more remarkable is that it will do that not only without a pilot in the cockpit, but without a pilot at all.
The X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone's ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Japanese Eye Test
If you cannot decipher anything, then try pulling the
corner of your eyes as if you were Japanese. Keep
pulling until your eyes are almost closed...It works.
LIVE COMMERCIAL ACTUALLY AIRED ONE TIME IN CALIFORNIA
I think this is the guy Johnny Carson used to spoof on his show.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
OBAMA PSALM
Obama Is the shepherd I did not want.
He leadeth me
Beside the still factories.
He restoreth my faith in the Republican party.
He guideth me in the path of unemployment
For his party's sake.
Yea, Though I walk through the valley of the bread line,
I shall fear no hunger, for his bailouts are with me.
He has Anointed my income with taxes,
My expenses runneth over.
Surely, poverty and hard living will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will live in a mortgaged home forever.
I'm glad I am American,
I am glad that I am free,
But I wish .. I was a dog,
And Obama was a tree!
I am glad that I am free,
But I wish .. I was a dog,
And Obama was a tree!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
5 To-Do's When Someone Says "I'm Suicidal"
1) Listen. I know it sounds simple, but it's profoundly true. You may be the first person they've told, or you may be the tenth. You might be the first to truly listen.
2) Be supportive, not dismissive. It's easier to think, "I have a lot on my plate right now and I can't take on a suicidal person" than to sit with a person and their feelings. But, your support is crucially important. Believe anyone who says that they are thinking about suicide and let them know that you care about them.
3) Know your limits. At the same time, if you are not a clinician, don't try to be a clinician. You don't need any special knowledge to be supportive, but know when it would be good to connect with someone trained to work more comprehensively with suicidal individuals. If you are talking with someone who has specific ideas about how they would end their life, connect them with a crisis center or clinician.
4) Know your resources. If nothing else, know the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1.800.273.8255). The Lifeline can be a resource for you, or for someone expressing suicidal thoughts. The Lifeline can also connect you to local crisis resources. If you're on a campus, know how to connect with the counseling center.
5) Get support - don't do it alone. Clinicians get supervision because the things they hear are extremely difficult, and sometimes talking about it can relieve some of the burden of hearing it. So, if you talk with someone about their suicidal thinking, it's important for you to talk to someone else. Ideally, that person has some experience dealing with challenging topics, so that they can be supportive of you.
It's a brave thing to talk to someone about suicidal thinking - it's brave for the person saying that they're thinking about ending their life, and it's brave for the person who's listening to them share such deeply personal thoughts. Listening andsupport are just the first steps, but vitally important to preventing suicide.
Copyright 2012 Elana Premack Sandler, All Rights Reserved
The Cage Dogs of Hong Kong
The Cage Dogs of Hong Kong, by Brian Cassey
Hong Kong – home to some 7 million people - is acknowledged as one of the world’s richest cities, with exorbitant luxury property and more Louis Vuitton shops than Paris. But tens of thousands of people in one of the most densely-populated urban districts in the world live in 6ft by 2ft wire cages – sometimes up to thirty in a small room. The cage dwellers are made up of the so-called “working poor,” who cannot afford Hong Kong’s sky-high rents, the elderly who can no longer work and the mentally ill who slip through the welfare cracks. Hong Kong Chinese people actually refer to these unfortunates as “Cage Dogs”.Unscrupulous landlords charge them around US$200 a month for each cage, which are packed 20 to a room, and up to three levels high. The lower cages are more expensive because you can almost stand inside them, but the conditions are no less squalid. Occupants must share toilets and washing facilities, which are rudimentary. Many of the apartments have no kitchens, forcing their impoverished residents to spend there meagre incomes on takeaway food. The alternative is life on the street.
These pictures were captured by British photographer Brian Cassey. See more at the photographer's website.
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/01/cage-dogs-of-hong-kong-by-brian-cassey.html
http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/01/cage-dogs-of-hong-kong-by-brian-cassey.html
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
33,000 Year Old Dog
"The interesting thing is that typically we think of domestication as being cows, sheep and goats, things that produce food through meat or secondary agricultural products such as milk, cheese and wool and things like that," he said.
"Those are different relationships than humans may have with dogs. The dogs are not necessarily providing products or meat. They are probably providing protection, companionship and perhaps helping on the hunt."
"And it's really interesting that this appears to have happened first out of all human relationships with animals."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/24/dog-mans-best-friend-for-over-33000-years/#ixzz1kQ8nMGz4
Terrell Owens with very little to show for his time as a star player
Last week, Terrell Owens signed on with the Allen Wranglers, who are apparently in something called the Indoor Football League. If you were looking for a reason why a player who is a likely Hall of Famer, played 15 seasons in the NFL, and made at least $80 million in the NFL is signing with a team that is about 45 miles from Jerry World but still a million miles away, well, it’s money. Sadly, if this profile in the latest issue of GQ is believed, Terrell Owens has very little left.
http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2012/01/24/terrell-owens-is-broke-after-playing-15-years-and-making-80-million/?sources=topbuttons
You Don't Have To Look Like Your Friends To Be Friends
You Don't Have To Look Like Your Friends To Be Friends
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