Lettuce Prey
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Bear Naked
This bear, Dolores, from the Leipzig Zoo has lost her fur, and no one knows why.Reposted from All Creatures [great and small] 
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Gorilla Valentine
Sudden Love: A Very Improbable Gorilla Valentine : NPR
Barb: Things happen when you, when you spend time in wild places and you tune into the animals. Things ... things happen that you can't explain.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Millionaire gives away fortune
Millionaire gives away fortune which made him miserable
Austrian millionaire Karl Rabeder is giving away every penny of his £3 million fortune after realising his riches were making him unhappy.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
How to Do Everything in Google Buzz (Including Turn It Off)
How to Do Everything in Google Buzz (Including Turn It Off) | Work Smart | Fast Company
How to Do Everything in Google Buzz (Including Turn It Off)
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Translation Party - "I don't dance, I don't do magic"
Translation Party
back into Japanese
私は魔法のダンスはありません back into English
I do not dance magicEquilibrium found!
You should move to Japan!
You should move to Japan!
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
New Heinz Packet
New Heinz Packet for Nugget Lovers Encourages Dippin' 'n' Drivin'
BY William Bostwick A new ketchup packet from Heinz makes it easier to eat--and die--while driving.
Facebook Nations
How to split up the US - Peter Warden
 |
In a nutshell, Warden’s data analysis showed that Facebook users in the U.S. can be roughly segmented into seven regions, which he named facetiously:
- Stayathomia: This belt’s defining feature is how near most people are to their friends, implying they don’t move far.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Attention Bird Watchers...
FriendFeed
Attention bird watchers: tomorrow much attention will be paid, something to do with a superb owl. There's even a pre game show.
OneStonedCrow <- Go and read!
OneStonedCrow 
OneStonedCrow Pics
Succulents On The Namibian Coastline
After the good rains in 2006, the usually drab coastal area near Luderitz was transformed by the appearance of these succulents. Unfortunately I arrived about a week too late to catch them at their best. They look like they're made out of plastic hey? photo album GGGo
Friday, February 05, 2010
Monday, February 01, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Zoushigaya micro-gardens « Tokyo Green Space
Zoushigaya micro-gardens « Tokyo Green Space
Old Tokyo neighborhoods like Zoushigaya are full of plant lovers who manage to create gardens where there is almost no space. This type of passion for gardening cannot be replicated by large scale developers. What is amazing is the ingenuity and sheer variety of plants grown by residents.
Above there are five or more plants growing vertically along a narrow path that would otherwise be a grim cinder block and metal siding wall between properties. The gardener seems to have used large blue laundry clips to espalier these hardy plants.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Apple's questionable product name.
It is readily evident that Apple didn't do diligence with study groups before it named its latest product. I know too many insecure macho men who wouldn't touch an iPad if Apple gave them away for free. I will be interested to see how other segments of the population respond.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Koko, the sign language specialist with the original "Yes we can" Mister Rogers. Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Mozilla Explains Why it Doesn't License h264
Mozilla Explains Why it Doesn't License h264"Even if we were to pay the USD 5000000 annual licensing cost for H.264, and we were to not care about the spectre of license fees for internet distribution of encoded content, or about content and tool creators, downstream projects would be no better off," Shaver explains.
Perhaps it is time to boycott YouTube
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Five things... help keep you mentally well
five things you do that help keep you mentally well
At the suggestion of MindApples
At the suggestion of MindApples
- Feed the birds - This helps to keep my "abundance" of riches in perspective.
- Engage my wife and children in conversation - something we all need to practice.
- Let the muse loose - I seldom know where she leads but if I don't follow then I won't get there.
- Aspire to great things - while seldom achieved it gives me license to attempt (and to fail).
- Silence: practicing the fine art of being silent and then trying to listen.
Here’s how it works:
- Write a post telling your readers five things you do that help keep you mentally well.
- Link to the Mindapples site www.mindapples.org
- Invite five blog-friends to do the same (if you want to)
And that’s it.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Great site for silly signs... Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The worst kind of "Journalism" (FAIL)
Report: Google China Hack Might Be Inside Job
3:40 PM - January 19, 2010 by Marcus Yam
Washington sends "diplomatic note" to China asking for an explanation on Google hacking incident.
As the topic of Google and China litter the headlines, we continually wonder whether or not the search giant will continue business in the censorship-filled country. But before Google can go any further, it needs to investigate what happened when it had its networks attacked by hackers.
New wire Reuters today published a story that cites its own sources as saying that the hacking of the networks may have been an inside job.
"The sources, who are familiar with the situation, told Reuters that the attack, which targeted people who have access to specific parts of Google networks, may have been facilitated by people working in Google China's office."
Security analysts also told Reuters that the malicious software used in the hack was a trojan called Hydraq.
This is a prime example of why journalism FAILS! Starting with a very poor headline which is little more than sensational innuendo. Followed by an equally misleading "authoritative" third-party "expert" quote. Finished with the FAIL coup de grace, the driveling assignment of blame, a trojan. In light of the ethnic and national origins of this story I hesitate to use the term but this is a serious case of ...
Yellow journalism is a type of journalism that downplays legitimate news in favor of eye-catching headlines that sell more newspapers. It may feature exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, sensationalism, or unprofessional practices by news media organizations or journalists.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Robert B. Parker is Dead
Robert B. Parker is Dead (UPDATED) - Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind
Robert B. Parker is Dead (UPDATED)
At the age of 77, "just sitting at his desk" at his home in Cambridge, Mass., according to an email sent out by a representative of his U.K. publisher Quercus, Robert B. Parker is dead. The news of Parker's death on Monday was confirmed by Parker's U.S publisher, Putnam; on Twitter, a representative wrote: "R.I.P beloved author Robert B. Parker. You were indeed a Grand Master, your legacy lives on, and you will be missed by us all."
In a statement released late Monday, Parker's longtime editor at Putnam, Christine Pepe, said: “What mattered most to Bob were his family and his writing, and those were the only things that he needed to be happy. He will be deeply missed by all us at Putnam, and by his fans everywhere.”The thriller writer Joseph Finder also confirmed the news directly with Parker's family, said to be "in shock."And the Bookseller quotes Parker's UK editor, Nick Johnston: "He was a great talent who will be mourned by all his many fans."
I'm really not sure how to process this. Not at all. I suppose it's exactly the way the author best known for his Spenser private detective novels, who by the latter portion of his career was up to publishing three novels a year, working at a five to ten page-a-day clip, should die - doing exactly what he was doing, day in, day out.
He is survived by his wife, Joan, and his sons, David, a choreographer, and Daniel, an actor. Several more novels will be published in 2010, including SPLIT IMAGE, the newest Jesse Stone novel (out February 23) and BLUE-EYED DEVIL, an Appaloosa novel (out on May 4). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Community Servings, 18 Marbury Terrace, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. As well, Parker's literary agent, Helen Brann, told the Associated Press that a private ceremony will take place this week to remember the author, and a public memorial, a "celebration of his life and work," is planned for mid-February in Boston.
Worth repeating ... from every mountain top!
humorzo
“Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but he’s a molder of consensus. And on some positions, cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expedience asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’
“But conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?”
Monday, January 18, 2010
Makin' Bacon... a little squishy
Scientists turn stem cells into pork
The texture of the meat as sort of like scallop, firm but a little squishy
 AP In this image of a photomicrograph of muscle, tissue shows muscle fibers are seen diagonally from lower left to upper right. The blue dots are the nuclei of the cells, the yellow color is the result of an overlay (green and red) of two of the most important proteins in skeletal muscle, actin and myosin. |
By Maria Cheng
updated 12:57 p.m. CT, Fri., Jan. 15, 2010
LONDON - Call it pork in a petri dish — a technique to turn pig stem cells into strips of meat that scientists say could one day offer a green alternative to raising livestock, help alleviate world hunger, and save some pigs their bacon.
Dutch scientists have been growing pork in the laboratory since 2006, and while they admit they haven't gotten the texture quite right or even tasted the engineered meat, they say the technology promises to have widespread implications for our food supply.
"If we took the stem cells from one pig and multiplied it by a factor of a million, we would need one million fewer pigs to get the same amount of meat," said Mark Post, a biologist at Maastricht University involved in the In-vitro Meat Consortium, a network of publicly funded Dutch research institutions that is carrying out the experiments.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Laugh-ability!
FBI admits Photofit of Osama Bin Laden had Spanish features
A MOCKED-UP image of how Osama Bin Laden may look today has been withdrawn by the US State Department after the FBI admitted it was partly based on a photograph of a Spanish MP taken from the internet.
The Photofit image of an older, greying Al-Qaeda leader bore a striking resemblance to the left-wing politician Gaspar Llamazares, a member of Spain’s Communist party and a critic of the US “war on terror”. It turned out Llamazares’s grey hair, jaw line and forehead had been simply cut and pasted from an old campaign photograph by an FBI technician.
The FBI originally claimed it used “cutting edge” technology to come up with new images of terrorist suspects for the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Hat-tip to Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Posted at Monday, January 11, 2010
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Friday, January 08, 2010
Warning Label
This product is meant for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to real
persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Void where prohibited. Some
assembly may be required. Batteries not included. Contents may settle during
shipment. Use only as directed. May be too intense for some viewers. If
condition persists, consult your physician. No user-serviceable parts inside.
Breaking seal constitutes acceptance of agreement. Not responsible for direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential damages resulting from any defect, error
or failure to perform. Slippery when wet. For office use only. Substantial
penalty for early withdrawal. Do not write below this line. Your cancelled
check is your receipt. Avoid contact with skin. Employees and their families
are not eligible. Beware of dog. Driver does not carry cash. Limited time
offer, call now to insure prompt delivery. Use only in well-ventilated area.
Keep away from fire or flame. Some equipment shown is optional. Price does
not include taxes, dealer prep, or delivery. Penalty for private use. Call
toll free before digging. Some of the trademarks mentioned in this product
appear for identification purposes only. All models over 18 years of age. Do
not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Postage will be
paid by addressee. Apply only to affected area. One size fits all. Many
suitcases look alike. Edited for television. No solicitors. Reproduction
strictly prohibited. Restaurant package, not for resale. Objects in mirror
are closer than they appear. Decision of judges is final. This supersedes
all previous notices. No other warranty expressed or implied.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
I don't speak good.
I can hardly speak well, either. My writing is no better than my speaking. I cain't spell and I don't got good grammer, neither.
My current excuse? Why, I live in Kentucky. Which actually is no excuse at all - except for one teeny-tiny lil' detail mentioned in an article he wrote called Only a poltroon despises dedantry. David Mitchell, the guy what wrote that there piece hit the ol' nail on the head. Talking about grammar and the like he said, "...the rules do matter - it's just that obeying them doesn't." 'Ceptin he didn' say it quite right, he shoulda said, 'the rules matter some, just ya don' has to obey 'em much.' Which leads me to my real point in offering this linguistic and grammatical send up. It seems that as a society we Joseph Averages in our egalitarian splendor have accepted the reward but little of the responsibility of rugged individualism. 'I cain do what I wants as long as I don' git caught.' is the same as suggesting that the 'rules do matter - it's just obeying them doesn't.'
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Friday, January 01, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Machine Translates Thoughts into Speech in Real Time
Machine Translates Thoughts into Speech in Real Time
December 21, 2009 By Lisa Zyga
Model of the brain-machine interface for real-time synthetic speech production. The stroke-induced lesion (red X) disables speech output, but speech motor planning in the cerebral cortex remains intact. Signals collected from an electrode in the speech motor cortex are amplified and sent wirelessly across the scalp as FM radio signals. The Neuralynx System amplifies, converts, and sorts the signals. The neural decoder then translates the signals into speech commands for the speech synthesizer. Credit: Guenther, et al.
(PhysOrg.com) -- By implanting an electrode into the brain of a person with locked-in syndrome, scientists have demonstrated how to wirelessly transmit neural signals to a speech synthesizer. The "thought-to-speech" process takes about 50 milliseconds - the same amount of time for a non-paralyzed, neurologically intact person to speak their thoughts. The study marks the first successful demonstration of a permanently installed, wireless implant for real-time control of an external device.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
What are your readings ...
From the right smart tumblr: Stood in the Maasai Mara
“William. What are your readings from the barometers of life?” - SabaiyaFriday, December 25, 2009
Uh, Merry Christmas?!?
Bunning Misses Historic Health Care Reform Vote
WTVQ - 11 hours ago
Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning was the only senator to miss the Senate's historic Christmas Eve vote on health care reform. His office says he had family commitments at home in Kentucky.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Health Care Reform: between the devil and the deep blue sea...
I am torn. On one hand I strongly advocate Health Care Reform _and_ endorse the efforts of our current administration (and both sides of the aisle) to forge the best resolve they can muster.
Then I read this from a decidedly opinionated organization... FiredoglakeThe Senate health care bill is an ungodly mess of errors, loopholes, and massive giveaways. When the American people find out what's actually in this bill, they will revolt. Here's why:Forces you to pay up to 8% of your income to private insurance corporations -- whether you want to or not (#) If you refuse to buy the insurance, you'll have to pay penalties of up to 2% of your annual income to the IRS (#) After being forced to pay thousands in premiums for junk insurance, you can still be on the hook for up to $11,900 a year in out-of-pocket medical expenses (#) Massive restriction on a woman's right to choose, designed to trigger a challenge to Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court (#) Paid for by taxes on the middle class insurance plan you have right now through your employer, causing them to cut back benefits and increase co-pays (#) Many of the taxes to pay for the bill start now, but most Americans won't see any benefits -- like an end to discrimination against those with preexisting conditions -- until 2014 when the program begins (#) Allows insurance companies to charge people who are older 300% more than others (#) Grants monopolies to drug companies that will keep generic versions of expensive biotech drugs from ever coming to market (#) No reimportation of prescription drugs, which would save consumers $100 billion over 10 years (#) The cost of medical care will continue to rise, and insurance premiums for a family of four will rise an average of $1000 a year -- meaning in 10 years, you family's insurance premium will be $10,000 more annually than it is right now (#) We desperately need health care reform. But we can't pass the Senate's bill.
Something better...
Something better... 1 (obvious): Excuse me. Is that your nose or did a bus park on your face?
2 (meteorological): Everybody take cover. She's going to blow.
3 (fashionable): You know, you could de-emphasize your nose if you wore
something larger. Like ... Wyoming.
4 (personal): Well, here we are. Just the three of us.
5 (punctual): Alright gentlemen. Your nose was on time but you were fifteen
minutes late.
6 (envious): Oooo, I wish I were you. Gosh. To be able to smell your
own ear.
7 (naughty): Pardon me, Sir. Some of the ladies have asked if you wouldn't
mind putting that thing away.
8 (philosophical): You know. It's not the size of a nose that's important.
It's what's in it that matters.
9 (humorous): Laugh and the world laughs with you. Sneeze and its goodbye
Seattle.
10 (commercial): Hi, I'm Earl Schibe and I can paint that nose for $39.95.
11 (polite): Ah. Would you mind not bobbing your head. The orchestra keeps
changing tempo.
12 (melodic): Everybody! "He's got the whole world in his nose." -- Steve Martin, "Roxanne"
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas Magic
(Read the whole thing here... Suburban Guerrilla)Christmas Magic at the Aramingo Diner
Dec 20th, 2009 at 7:55 am by Susie
Last Saturday, Dec. 5th, something startling and wonderful happened at The Aramingo Diner in Port Richmond.
The 52-year-old landmark restaurant at 3356 Aramingo Ave. is open 24 hours a day, so it’s always a-bustle. But the place really hops during weekend breakfast and lunch time. Last Saturday was no different, and both wings of the diner – the booth area and the bigger dining room – were lively.
The manager on duty, Linda (who asked that I not mention her last name here, for reasons I can’t get into but let’s just say everything worked out okay…), tells me that a couple in their 30s paid their check at the register, then asked the cashier to let them secretly pay the check of another couple in the dining room – a couple they didn’t know.
“They just wanted to do it,” she said. “They thought it would be a nice thing to do.”
When the unsuspecting patrons went to pay their check, they were floored to find out that strangers had picked up their tab. So they asked the cashier to let them pay another table’s check, also anonymously.
When that table’s patrons approached the register, they, too, decided to pay the favor forward for yet another table of unsuspecting strangers.
You know where this is going, right?
Feeling disillusioned?
I've got some great new illusions, right here!
-- Fortune stolen from Slackware loginSunday, December 20, 2009
The way that you wander...
The way that you wander is the way that you choose,
the day that you tarry is a day that you lose... - Jeremiah Johnson
the day that you tarry is a day that you lose... - Jeremiah Johnson
Thursday, December 17, 2009
All along the watchtower...
Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything.
-- Bob Dylan
OMG! What _is_ the world coming to???
Swedish Diplomat Fired For Smuggling Stockings
A Swedish diplomat allegedly smuggled tights and nylon stockings from Belarus to Russia. NTV television reports he was caught on tape handing over the legwear from the trunk of his car. The tape also showed the car's red diplomatic plates.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A successful life
"A successful life is not something you simply pursue, it is something that you create, moment by moment."
- Bill Strickland
- Bill Strickland
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Designed for aging... (Must see)
Monday, December 14, 2009
GE's Immelt leading the next American Revolution
From Business Week...
The Immelt Revolution
He's turning GE's culture upside down, demanding far more risk and innovation Despite his air of easy-going confidence, Jeffrey R. Immelt admits to two fears: that General Electric Co. (GE ) will become boring, and that his top people might act like cowards. That's right: cowards. He worries that GE's famous obsession with bottom-line results -- and tendency to get rid of those who don't meet them -- will make some execs shy away from taking risks that could revolutionize the company. volution
He's turning GE's culture upside down, demanding far more risk and innovation Despite his air of easy-going confidence, Jeffrey R. Immelt admits to two fears: that General Electric Co. (GE ) will become boring, and that his top people might act like cowards. That's right: cowards. He worries that GE's famous obsession with bottom-line results -- and tendency to get rid of those who don't meet them -- will make some execs shy away from taking risks that could revolutionize the company.
from SmartPlanet...
Immelt is hiring Americans to workA corporate hero for our time
What makes Immelt heroic is that, while other executives were betting on finance, on imports from China or on real estate, he has bet his company on America. That may be an extraordinary claim. But here is some extraordinary proof:
- Immelt is designing lower-cost products that sell in emerging markets. Its sales to China were up 25% this year.
- Immelt has focused the company on industrial markets, on making things.
- Immelt is hiring Americans to work on big problems like transportation, health care, and energy.
Immelt is hiring Americans to work
Immelt is hiring Americans to work on big problems
The Zen of Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh
Thich Nhat Hanh: 'You are, therefore I am.' Another of his sayings is, 'Don't just do something; sit there.'
One of Thich Nhat Hanh’s most important ideas is ‘interbeing’, which concerns the mutual interconnectedness of all living things. As he describes it in his book Being Peace: ‘I am, therefore you are. You are, therefore I am. That is the meaning of the word “interbeing”’.
Interbeing contains a very clear empathetic element, which is that we become more compassionate when we imagine ourselves in someone else’s place and understand their suffering. The challenge he raises is that we need to empathise with everybody – not just people we know and care about, but strangers and those who we might despise. This is nowhere better illustrated than in his extraordinary prayer-poem ‘Please Call Me By My True Names’.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
When all you have is war...
When all you have is a "justified" war then all you have is the same old excuse.
An excuse to send someone elses' children to fight and die for failing politicians and monied interests. Consider sending your own children - then see if this justified war is worth it.
When all you have is a Military Industrial Complex then every resolution looks like a war. Again!
Afghanistan = Vietnam (Why! Why? Why...)
When all you have are Generals everything looks like a reason to send more troops.
If all you have are Generals then everything looks like a military conflict.
- Papa
(If all you have is a hammer then everything looks like a nail.)
William Meloney---------------------------
Blog: http://pa-2.blogspot.com
Poetry: http://2voices.blogspot.com
Voice: 270-215-4275
Saturday, December 12, 2009
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