XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Friday, 24 September 2010

Worst billboard typo ever? - What it was supposed to say: “15 best things about our public schools.” missed the "L" -

Four people proofread the ad. Four dirty, dirty minded people.

In the end, it was Indiana drivers who spotted the problem.

A cringe-inducing absence appeared this week in the middle of a billboard ad touting South Bend, Indiana’s school system.

What it was supposed to say: “15 best things about our public schools.”

Minus a very pivotal ‘L’.

The billboard stood for nearly five days. No word on any spikes in applications for enrollment.

Passing motorists noticed and phoned in the error.

The company which produced the billboard quickly fell on its sword.

“I feel terrible. It’s a mistake we made, and we’re guilty of it, and responsible for it, and we take full responsibility for the error,” Patrick Strickler, president of the Blue Waters Group, told theSouth Bend Tribune.

Thursday, 23 September 2010

Emergency Bra - emergency respiratory device - slip it over your head - one cup for you, and one for your friend -

Caught in a disaster? You'd better hope you're wearing the Emergency Bra. Simply unsnap the bright red bra, separate the cups, and slip it over your head -- one cup for you, and one for your friend.

Dr. Elena Bodnar won an Ignoble Award for the invention last year, an annual tribute to scientificresearch that on the surface seems goofy but is often surprisingly practical. And now Bodnar has brought the eBra to the public; purchase one online for just $29.95.

"The goal of any emergency respiratory device is to achieve tight fixation and full coverage. Luckily, the wonderful design of the bra is already in the shape of a face mask and so with the addition of a few design features, the Emergency Bra enhances the efficiency of minimizing contaminated bypass air flow," explains the eBra website.

It sounds silly, but Bodnar, a Ukraine native who now lives in Chicago, started her medical career studying the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster, she said, they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness.

The bra-turned-gas masks could have also been useful during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and for women caught outside during the dust storms that recently enveloped Sydney, she said.

"You have to be prepared all the time, at any place, at any moment, and practically every woman wears a bra," she said. Her patented devices also look pretty, no different from a conventional bra, she added.

According to a report on tech news site CNET, there are plans for a "counterpart device for men" in the works, though the precise shape it will take has yet to be revealed.

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

Pope’s Astronomer Says He Would Baptise an Alien - have souls and could choose to be baptised if humans ever met them -

Pope’s Astronomer Says He Would Baptise an Alien - have souls and could choose to be baptised if humans ever met them -

Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Pope's Astronomer

Brother Guy Consolmagno, the Pope's Astronomer

Guy Consolmagno, one of the pope's astronomers, said he would be 'delighted' if intelligent life was found among the stars. Photograph: David Sillitoe/Guardian

Aliens might have souls and could choose to be baptised if humans ever met them, a Vatican scientist said today. The official also dismissed intelligent design as “bad theology” that had been “hijacked” by American creationist fundamentalists.

Guy Consolmagno, who is one of the pope’s astronomers, said he would be “delighted” if intelligent life was found among the stars. “But the odds of us finding it, of it being intelligent and us being able to communicate with it – when you add them up it’s probably not a practical question.”

Speaking ahead of a talk at the British Science Festival in Birmingham tomorrow, he said that the traditional definition of a soul was to have intelligence, free will, freedom to love and freedom to make decisions. “Any entity – no matter how many tentacles it has – has a soul.” Would he baptise an alien? “Only if they asked.”

Consolmagno, who became interested in science through reading science fiction, said that the Vatican was well aware of the latest goings-on in scientific research. “You’d be surprised,” he said.

Dog Poop Lights Up City Park - a street lamp in Cambridge, Mass., that is powered by dog poop -

Dog Poop Lights Up City Park - a street lamp in Cambridge, Mass., that is powered by dog poop -

Dog Poop Lights Up City Park,

Matthew Mazzotta

Conceptual artist Matthew Mazzotta has created a street lamp that uses methane gas from feces collected at a dog park in Cambridge, Mass.

Environmentalists are going gaga for a street lamp in Cambridge, Mass., that is powered by dog poop.

The lamp, a shining example of how humans can make use of an underutilized and perpetually renewable energy source -- feces -- is the brainchild of Matthew Mazzotta, a conceptual artist who studied at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who wanted to give back to the community.

The lamp is located at a dog park and uses a device known as a methane digester. Folks whose dogs do their business there simply collect the poop in a plastic bag and put it in the device and turn a crank to help the methane in the tank rise up to the top so it can be piped to the gas-burning lamppost that is attached.

Mazzotta says the Fido-powered flames are "eternal" and will "burn until someone or a group of people propose an idea to use the heat and light of the constantly burning flame and make a public project."

Methane digesters are nothing new. Mazzotta says they are common in China, India and South America where they are used mostly with cow manure, not dog poop.

"No one is taking account of all the methane produced by animals that live in cities," Mazzotta told AOL News. "Methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gases -- even more than carbon dioxide -- but when it burns [it] separates into water and carbon dioxide."

Mazzotta was inspired to create what is now called the "Park Spark Project" after a trip to India, where he first saw the devices.

"When I came back, I saw whole bags of dog poop collected in bags and dumped in landfills," he said. "I thought we should burn it, reduce it and make free energy."

So he proposed the idea to Cambridge officials and after six months of discussion, got the OK. After that, he got a $4,000 grant from his alma mater.

Since it seems to take a village to clean up all the dog poop, part of Mazzotta's project is to have the community decide how to use the excrement energy.

For instance, in the next few weeks, Mazzotta will be gathering ideas on how to best use the flame. According to Wired.com, some of the suggestion already include a shadow-projection box, a popcorn stand and a tea house.

But what is happening in a dog park in Cambridge could become known as the "sh-t heard around the world."

"Every dog park around the world should take their poop and do something with it."

It looks like that may happen. Ever since word got out about the poop-powered lamp, Mazzotta has been talking with people from all over the world who want the straight poop about his concept, including an official from a town near Paris, France.

Even better, he says, is how the lamp is affecting the locals in the dog park.

"When people throw their poop in the digester, they now know their actions have implications," Mazzotta said.

Read more - http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/street-lamp-in-cambridge-mass-dog-park-is-powered-by-methane-from-dog-poop/19643188?test=latestnews

UK Pensioner takes dogs for walk...and returns to find locks changed and an immigrant family living in his home

UK Pensioner takes dogs for walk...and returns to find locks changed and an immigrant family living in his home -

Distraught: George Pope, 72, was unable to get into his council house because the locks were changed

A pensioner who took his dogs out for a walk returned to find a family had moved into his home.

George Pope, 72, was unable to get into his council house because the locks were changed.

Mr Pope left his home in Barking, Essex, to take his dogs out to nearby Parsloes Park last Thursday, September 16.

The arthritis sufferer, who needs a stick to walk, started feeling ill and decided to stay at a friend's house until he was well enough to go home.

But when he returned to his house on Saturday morning, he was stunned to discover his locks had been changed.

He claims a man then walked up the path to his house and accosted him.

'I said, "This is my place". But he said, "This is our property and we intend to stay here unless you go to court". It made me feel ill.'

He added: 'I have been shaking ever since. I get panic attacks. It's just terrible.'

Mr Pope immediately called the council and police.

But he claims they told him the new occupants could not be evicted because they were themselves victims of a scam.

Mr Pope said police claimed the residents, who he believes are from Lithuania, had paid £3,000 to a bogus estate agent to rent the property themselves for six months.

The retired Dagenham Ford worker, who was forced to stay with friends, said: 'Police told me it looked like a civil matter.

'But the squatters were using my home, my gas and my electricity - it's absolutely disgraceful.'

Mr Pope went back to his house on Monday morning to find all his belongings had been thrown out.

Neighbours then helped the him gather up his documents, photographs and clothes.

Mr Pope suspects illegal estate agents of occupying buildings and letting them for money.

'I had been out for just two-and-a-half days. Someone must have been watching me,' he said.

'The rear door had been levered out with screwdrivers - that's how they got in.

'My neighbours are now too frightened to go out anywhere in case the same happens to them,' he added.

A Met Police spokeswoman said: 'Police are investigating a civil dispute where there may have been fraudulent sub-letting of the premises.

'Anyone with information concerning the person who has fraudulently advertised this property for rent and subsequently changed the locks should contact Barking and Dagenham Police.'

Mr Pope, who has lived in the house for four years, was able to move back into his home last night after the family fled but said he is now scared to be there because next door is also being occupied by squatters.

He also claims some of his possessions, including a washing machine and an electric cooker have been taken and that the electricity system has been tampered with.

'The wiring has been ripped out and there are burn marks,' he said.

'The whole experience has been really traumatic.'

A Barking and Dagenham council spokesman said council officers visited the house yesterday and found it to be empty, allowing Mr Pope to move back in.

'The council’s repair service changed the locks and Mr Pope was able to return to his home,' he said.

'This was a highly unusual situation and we are working closely with the police to try and determine exactly what happened.

'By taking quick action we have been able to restore Mr Pope to his home without the need to apply to court for an eviction notice. This would have been a very lengthy process.

'We are also aware of a housing association property in this street that is also being squatted.

'We have contacted the housing association concerned and have asked them to try and resolve the situation.

'We are extremely pleased that Mr Pope is back in his own home.'

UFOs Visited Nuclear Weapons Sites, Former Air Force Officers Say - and possibly tampered with American nuclear weapons -

UFOs have monitored and possibly tampered with American nuclear weapons, according to a group of former Air Force officers who will make their claims public next week at a Washington, D.C., news conference.

"While most of the incidents apparently involved mere surveillance, in a few cases, a significant number of nuclear missiles suddenly and simultaneously malfunctioned, just as USAF security policemen reported seeing disc-shaped craft hovering nearby," says Robert Hastings, author of "UFOs and Nukes: Extraordinary Encounters at Nuclear Weapons Sites."

On Monday, at the National Press Club, Hastings will present six former Air Force personnel who will break their silence and disclose dramatic first-hand experiences with UFOs at nuclear weapons sites.

In a statement, Hastings said, "At long last, all of these witnesses are coming forward to say that, as unbelievable as it may seem to some, UFOs have long monitored and sometimes tampered with our nukes."

Hastings' co-host for the news conference, ICBM launch officer Capt. Robert Salas, was witness to a UFO incident in 1967 that, he says, caused a missile disruption at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, and he was ordered to keep quiet about it.

"The Air Force is lying about the national security implications of unidentified aerial objects at nuclear bases, and we can prove it," Salas said.

Another officer scheduled to appear at Monday's conference, Col. Charles Halt, witnessed a disc-shaped object shooting beams of light onto the joint Anglo/American RAF Bentwaters airbase in England in 1980. The lights were reportedly near the base's nuclear weapons storage area.

"I believe that the security services of both the United States and the United Kingdom have attempted -- both then and now -- to subvert the significance of what occurred at RAF Bentwaters by the use of well-practiced methods of disinformation."

Sunday, 19 September 2010

September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day - Arrgh!! - Take the Pirate Personality Test -

September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day - Arrgh!! -

As anyone who trolls the dark seas of the internet can tell you, Sunday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010.

The holiday, which encourages people to talk like seafaring swashbucklers (with or without a pirate encyclopedia), has inspired affection deeper than Davy Jones' Locker.

What is the history of International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Oddly enough, the holiday was brought about by a sports injury.

The holiday is particularly popular in Australia, perhaps not surprising considering the country was built largely by prison labour.

So who do you celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2010?

Here is a link to some pirate pickup lines and some International Talk Like a Pirate Day rum recipes.

If you don't want go to all that effort you can just change your Facebook page to pirate talk.

One company is putting on a Talk Like a Pirate contest with a trip to Aruba as first prize.

What are some pirate jokes?

The website Pirate Jokes has a comprehensive list of pirate humor, like this gem:

"How do pirates solve their differences?

ARRRRrrrrrrbitration!"

Never Book your travel thru Yahoo Travel - What a HUGE mess they have made of my trip to Dallas!!!

I booked my trip in July, to go to Dallas in November. Two weeks ago they change my return flight. Okay, fine these things happen. Then yesterday they change the flight again. Only this time I can't make my connection home in time. Please call in they say. I call in. After an 88 minute phone call, yes EIGHTY EIGHT minutes, they say okay all set. We will send you the new itinerary by email. Get the email this AM. Instead of sending me home they send me to Washington DC. oops. So I call in again today and waste another 63 minutes on the phone. Now I have to leave at 6 AM and fly all day to get home. Do I get a discount, nope. Anything, nope, just a giant waste of time. Next time I won't use Yahoo Travel - that is for sure. Thanks for letting me vent. Now tell everyone you know - All together now - Never book your travel thru Yahoo Travel!!!! MWG

Thursday, 16 September 2010

One in seven Americans is living in poverty, Census shows - highest number since the government has kept such statistics -

One in seven Americans is living in poverty, the highest number in the half-century that the government has kept such statistics, the Census Bureau announced Thursday.
Last year was the third consecutive year that the poverty rate climbed, in part because of the recession, rising from 13.2 percent in 2008 to 14.3 percent, or 43.6 million people, last year.
Asians were the only ethnic group whose poverty rate did not change substantially; every other race and Hispanics experienced increases in poverty rates.
In addition, 51 million Americans were uninsured, as the number of people with health insurance dropped from 255 million to less than 254 million -- the first decrease since the government started keeping track in 1987. The number would have been worse because 6.5 million fewer people got insurance through their jobs, but it was offset by a leap in government-backed health insurance. More than 30 percent of Americans now get coverage from the government.
"Given all the unemployment we saw, it's the government safety net that's keeping people above the poverty line," Douglas Besharov, a University of Maryland public policy professor and former scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, told the Associated Press.
The grim statistics reflect the depth of the recession that began almost three years ago and could have an impact on midterm elections less than two months away.
"These numbers should be a wake-up call," said Peter Edelman, a Georgetown University professor and co-director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy. "These are deeply disturbing numbers."
At organizations where the unemployed come to get help finding a job or seek food, the numbers were no surprise.
"In the decade I've been doing this work, this is a low point," said Jason Perkins-Cohen, executive director of the Job Opportunities Task Force in Baltimore. "We're getting a real feeling of desperation. For sheer numbers, it's a new, unhappy world."
At the nonprofit Action Though Service in Prince William County late Thursday morning, the shelves of the agency's pantry were starting to empty, as the line for help snaked out the door with a few dozen people seeking assistance.
Prince William resident Carol Williams said she has come to the shelter once a month since January, when she was laid off from her job at United Medical Center due to budget woes.
"I worked since I was 15, and, now, for the first time I don't have a job and I can't feed my family," said Williams, 55. "I have a degree; doesn't matter. The jobs aren't there."
Williams said she has been applying for dozens of jobs a week and had about 20 interviews since January. "I think people are scared to hire someone who is not working," she said, adding there also is just a lot more competition because of the high unemployment rate.
A single mother, Williams has five mouths to feed -- children and grandchildren-- ranging in age from 17 months to 28. Williams said she was able to raise three sons on her own, but she now turns to the food pantry at ACTS and her father and friends for help.
"We had no bread, no nothing last Friday because the pantry was closed," she said. "Luckily a friend helped me or we would have had no food for the weekend."
Advocates said they're seeing a lot more people like Williams.
"We have definitely seen many more individuals who are very well-educated, with high degrees, where it's the first time to ever be in a situation to ever have to ask for help for food or shelter," said Vickie Koth, executive director of Good Shepherd Alliance inLoudoun County.
Koth recalls one family of four in particular, where both parents were highly educated -- the mother was a lawyer, and the father was a mortgage broker. "They were in the business of buying and selling homes, and they had three foreclosures within the same span of time and were homeless for the first time.
"We're full all the time and we turn people away every day, and that's always been true. But the types of people that call have changed," Koth said. "Time after time I've heard individuals say, 'I've given to shelters, I've volunteered at food pantries. I've never thought I'd be here myself.' "

Taxpayer Losses from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac seizures may near $400 billion -

Taxpayer losses from the government seizure of failed housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could reach nearly $400 billion, but likely won't top that level as some had feared, the firms' federal regulator said Wednesday.

To offset some losses, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking billions of dollars in repayment from banks that sold bad loans to the firms, acting director Edward J. DeMarco said.

Some banks are balking, and the agency is considering tougher action, DeMarco said. But he did not specify what steps might be taken.

The bailouts of the two former government-sponsored enterprises, which continue to keep the mortgage financing market afloat almost single-handedly, already have reached $148.2 billion as bad loans they purchased during the real estate boom continue to fail.

Concerns were raised about the ultimate price tag when the Obama administration in December lifted a $400-billion cap on the federal commitment to Fannie and Freddie through 2012. Officials at the time said they did so to provide certainty to the real estate market as the White House and Congress wrestle with the future of the entities.

DeMarco told a House Financial Services subcommittee Thursday that the total cost of the bailout "appeared to be less than $400 billion."

That figure would hold even under most scenarios analyzed by Fannie and Freddie in which the economy suffers another "severe stress."

But to provide Congress and the public a better idea of the potential costs, the agency is working to put the finances of Fannie and Freddie under more extensive stress tests similar to those regulators used to assess the financial condition of the nation's largest banks last year.

Given the projections, Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Il.) asked DeMarco whether he would support legislation preventing Fannie and Freddie from borrowing more than $400 from taxpayers, who now own 79.9% of each of them.

DeMarco said he would oppose such a move because it would take away the clarity the administration provided to investors in December about the backing for mortgage securities from Fannie and Freddie.

Read more - http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fannie-freddie-20100916,0,6603010.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+latimes/mostviewed+(L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories)