head-smashed-in

In with the old, out with the new

2011-10-25T23:43:00.001-04:00

From today's Globe:

New England Confectionery Co. thought it could make its old-fashioned wafer appeal to a modern, health-conscious consumer by coloring and flavoring it with all natural ingredients such as cabbage and beets.

Instead, sales of Necco Wafers fell 35 percent.

“There were stacks and stacks of letters and e-mails that said, ‘Why did you do this? You ruined it,’ ’’ recalled Steve Ornell, Necco’s vice president of sales.

Less than two years after going all natural, the Revere company has gone back to its original recipe in hopes of recouping lost sales and loyal fans of the 164-year-old candy. The chalky, sugary candy that comes in eight colors is once again made of artificial dyes and flavors.

Estimating the Airspeed Velocity of an Unladen Swallow

2011-10-21T23:08:00.000-04:00

From our friends at 13pt comes this impressive looking analysis.

The conclusion?

Although a definitive answer would of course require further measurements, published species-wide averages of wing length and body mass, initial Strouhal estimates based on those averages and cross-species comparisons, the Lund wind tunnel study of birds flying at a range of speeds, and revised Strouhal numbers based on that study all lead me to estimate that the average cruising airspeed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is roughly 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour.

Should whipping it be considered?

2011-10-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

Charlie Rangel gets a portrait

2011-09-22T22:57:00.000-04:00

From today's Los Angeles Times:

Forget what F. Scott Fitzgerald said about there being no second acts in life. A portrait of Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), a former chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, was unveiled in the committee’s hearing room today before a cheering crowd.

That’s the same 81-year-old Rangel who was censured by his colleagues last year for ethical misconduct.

Rangel, who received tributes from members of both parties for his four decades in Congress, basked in the moment, making only slight reference to his past troubles.

"I can’t wait to see how the New York Post handles it," he joked, referring to the tabloid's coverage of the portrait's unveiling.

Because...

2011-09-15T23:40:00.001-04:00

An oldie but a goodie...

2011-05-30T12:39:00.001-04:00

Saturday Joel Blogging

2011-05-27T19:30:00.001-04:00

Cat Interior Design

2011-04-27T21:21:00.001-04:00

From where else! Japan...

Jean Bartik, Software Pioneer, Dies at 86

2011-04-08T13:31:00.004-04:00

The New York Times, By Steve Lohr, April 7

Jean Jennings Bartik, one of the first computer programmers and a pioneering forerunner in a technology that came to be known as software, died on March 23 at a nursing home in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. She was 86.

[...]

Ms. Bartik was the last surviving member of the group of women who programmed the Eniac, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, which is credited as the first all-electronic digital computer.

[...]

When the Eniac was shown off at the University of Pennsylvania in February 1946, it generated headlines in newspapers across the country. But the attention was all on the men and the machine. The women were not even introduced at the event.

“For years, we celebrated the people who built it, not the people who programmed it,” said David Alan Grier, a technology historian at George Washington University and a senior vice president of the IEEE Computer Society.

[...]

Ms. Bartik left the computer industry in 1951 to raise her three children and returned to it in 1967. After holding a series of jobs in programming, training and technical publishing, she was laid off in 1985 as she was nearing 61 and could not find another job in the industry.

“There’s a lot of age discrimination, then and now, and I see it in my research,” said Mr. Bartik, a labor economist.

For the next 25 years Ms. Bartik was a real estate agent in New Jersey.

Just what the world needs.

2011-03-27T15:46:00.001-04:00

Sylvester Stallone is to launch a clothing line

The Guardian, By Imogen Fox, March 27

Here's what we're hoping for from the Rocky and Rambo star's menswear label.

This autumn, Academy Award winner Sly Stallone faces his greatest challenge yet: the film legend is launching his very own clothing line. Stallone's menswear will be based on his two most iconic characters, Rambo and Rocky, and will feature – in the words of the designer – "looks for the rebel and the gentleman". Here are the key pieces we're desperately hoping for.

• A deluxe headband. Sly reckons that the line will be "premium", so we're holding out for something in six-ply cashmere that says "soldier-chic".

• An olive-green vest. Scoop-necked and a bit military. A menswear cliché perhaps, but the Stallone interpretation could be styled with a gold pendant. One for Cristiano Ronaldo this.

continued at the link

Marianne has a new album out...

2011-03-08T03:50:00.002-05:00

Marianne has a new album out, Horses and High Heels, released in mainland Europe January 31st, and March 7th in the UK.

Fun fact:

Faithfull's maternal great great uncle was Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the 19th century Austrian nobleman whose erotic novel, Venus in Furs, spawned the word "masochism". In regard to her roots in nobility, Faithfull commented in March 2007 prior to beginning the European leg of her tour, "I'm even going to Budapest, which is nice because I'm half English and half Austro Hungarian. I've inherited the title Baroness Sacher-Masoch—it comes from one of my great uncles who gave his name to masochism."

Let's have a look back, shall we?

Jack Lalanne est décédé.

2011-01-24T09:30:00.004-05:00

Jack Lalanne has died.

The LA Times has a retrospective. Read, as they say, the whole thing. It'll be good for you. I promise.

Jack LaLanne dies at 96; spiritual father of U.S. fitness movement

He leaves his wife of nearly half a century, Elaine Lalanne, and a variety of children.

Word of the Day

2010-11-01T22:28:00.007-04:00

Sebum: Merriam Webster has : fatty lubricant matter secreted by sebaceous glands of the skin; Latin: tallow, grease. Circa 1860

Our usage example today comes to us via Al Jazeera:

Today, meeting Mephistopheles is much simpler: You can simply turn over barrels of cash in unmarked bills to American Crossroads or Crossroads GPS, the two appropriately named groups formed by one of the most wretched, sebum-stained forces of evil at the current American political crossroads: Karl Rove.

Friday Cat Blogging

2010-10-15T12:53:00.001-04:00

2010 IgNobel awards announced!

2010-10-01T07:59:00.002-04:00

Via The Guardian:

Britain has once again proved a country to be reckoned with in science after landing a national record four wins at the annual Ig Nobel awards ceremony at Harvard University.

Researchers from across the UK were honoured for achievements that included proof that swearing relieves pain, a means of collecting whale snot with a remote-controlled helicopter and the first documented case of fellatio in fruit bats.

Not to be confused with the real (and more lucrative) Nobel prizes, which are due to be announced next week, the "Igs" are awarded to scientists whose work makes people laugh first and think later.

Award listing at the link!

No, No, No, No

2010-09-26T12:57:00.002-04:00

Hey! Let me google that for you!

2010-08-14T13:18:00.002-04:00

Here.

For Example.

Got a talker in the house?

2010-08-13T23:19:00.002-04:00

Don't feed them gabapentin:

Although gabapentin is not a controlled substance, it does produce psychoactive effects that cause it to have potential for recreational use. Even in low doses, Gabapentin causes sensations of reduced acute pain, reduced anxiety and even a tendency to become overly social and talkative.

VS's competition

2010-08-09T08:03:00.002-04:00

Via The Independent, we learn of Nina Taylor:

She is one of the country's most ubiquitous models. Her image adorns billboards, magazines and television screens – she has five TV commercials running at the moment. She appears in adverts for companies from Dolce & Gabana to Domestos and her credits include shoots with Kate Moss and Mario Testino.

You wouldn't recognise Nina Taylor if you saw her in the street, though. She is a hands, feet and legs model, known in the industry as Kate Moss's hand double. Her mitts are insured for £2m, so forget rock climbing. Even opening a can or chopping a carrot are cardinal sins that invalidate her cover. Shaving her legs is similarly prohibited.

"It is hard to find someone who understands my situation every time I want to open a can – it is difficult to convince them to do it for me without their thinking I'm a prima donna," she said.

"But this could mean losing a lot of money to me, it is not worth the risk." A chipped nail could mean that Taylor, 29, misses out on a day's work. Break a finger and it could be curtains. Given that she earns up to £5,000 a day, each vegetable takes on a sudden menace.

Vuvuzela fan?

2010-06-24T15:01:00.002-04:00

Well, you're in luck!

Youtube has added an excellent feature to its videos.

Now Public has the details:

If you navigate to any Youtube video, like Bruce Lee's Green Hornet audition, for example, you'll notice a little soccer ball button at the right-hand side of the scrubber bar (that red line that tells you how far along the video is). Not just a generic soccer ball- it's the 2010 World Cup version.

Certain Shatner vids (e.g. Common People (Avant-garde's only genius)) also sport the soccer ball!

Rumor!

2010-06-10T01:43:00.001-04:00

The weeks old rumor now is that NT is working with ED.

Congrats!

Don't mess with the Chinese farmers...

2010-06-10T01:40:00.002-04:00

Chinese farmer declares war on property developers with homemade wheelbarrow cannon

A Chinese farmer is fighting off property developers who want his land, firing rockets from a homemade cannon made out of a wheelbarrow and pipes, state media said on Tuesday.

The Telegraph, June 8

Yang Youde, who lives on the outskirts of the bustling city of Wuhan, in central Hubei province, said he had fended off two eviction attempts with his improvised weapon, which uses ammunition made from locally sold fireworks.

"I shot only over their heads to frighten them," he told the China Daily of his attacks on demolition workers sent to move him off his land. "I didn't want to cause any injuries."

Did you know?

2010-05-17T17:39:00.003-04:00

Did you know that the neutron is not stable outside of the nucleus of an atom? It's got a mean lifetime of about 15 minutes (885.7±0.8 s to be exact)...

Of course, once they've rid themselves of that pesky electron and electron neutrino, they become protons, which are notoriously stable: Protons are observed to be stable and their empirically observed half-life is at least 6.6×10^35 yr. (I've heard of all nighters before, but that's just ridiculous!)

More mind-bending numbers here: How the Universe Will End

Oh, forgot to mention

2010-05-17T12:54:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago VS said that XN had one offer and another one pending. So it seems that she's got a new job, too!

Congratulations, XN!

Update (6/24/10): WL reports that the new position is in Southie.

Quote of the day

2010-05-17T02:03:00.001-04:00

You can't spell "slaughter" without "laughter".

ZH.

Tonight...

2010-05-16T01:19:00.001-04:00

Tonight RA met Bossy (and her Boston-area posse) in the flesh!.

Truly a dream come true!

Lewis Black on Beck

2010-05-13T15:45:00.000-04:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

Tea Party

All you need to do is try!

2010-05-10T11:58:00.000-04:00

More Job News!

2010-04-27T22:17:00.001-04:00

WL and CC both report having landed new positions!

Controversy in Science!

2010-04-08T15:34:00.002-04:00

Identity crisis for fly that’s the apple of scientists’ eye

The Times, By Mark Henderson, April 8

It is an icon of modern science, a species so important to biological research that its official Latin name is better known in laboratories than that of any organism bar Homo sapiens.

Yet Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, which has guided many of the most important genetic advances of the past century, is in the throes of an identity crisis that has divided science.

A ruling by the body that governs the official naming of animals has left the insect in danger of losing its celebrated title, just as scientists are marking the centenary this year of the work that first brought it to prominence.

New analysis indicates that D. melanogaster, which means “dark-bellied dew-lover”, does not properly belong to the genus Drosophila and should be renamed Sophophora melanogaster, or “dark-bellied bearer of wisdom”. A move to protect its name in light of this research, however, was dismissed this week by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).

The decision has split the scientific community. Some argue that renaming such a well-known species would betray its history and confuse the public. Others contend that preserving the name would require the redesignation of hundreds of other fruit fly species.

It's Pluto all over again!

New Chili Record!

2010-04-01T12:35:00.004-04:00

From The Sun.

The variety out-scorches its nearest rival, which is so hot it is used in mob-control grenades by the Indian Army.

Tests by Warwick University rate the new variety at 1,067,286 on the Scoville Scale which is used to measure the heat of peppers.

The former record-holder, the Indian Bhut Jolokia, is 1,041,427.

A jalapeno measures just 2,500 to 5,000. Weapons-grade pepper spray is 2,000,000.

The Lincs variety is named Infinity for its "never-ending" burn, which cannot be quelled by even the best antidote, milk.

If you don't believe The Sun, the Guardian corroborates.

Patent Broken?

2010-03-30T10:16:00.005-04:00

So saith Federal Judge Robert W. Sweet. Via the New York Times:

A federal judge on Monday struck down patents on two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer. The decision, if upheld, could throw into doubt the patents covering thousands of human genes and reshape the law of intellectual property.

United States District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet issued the 152-page decision [PDF], which invalidated seven patents related to the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, whose mutations have been associated with cancer.

RA has a new niece.

2010-03-25T11:31:00.002-04:00

Clover Spring is her name. She lives in Virginia (for the moment). Born March 25, one day short of 2 years younger than her brother Henry Tecumseh.

Statistics: 19.5 inches long, 8 lbs 14 oz.

Hello, Spring!

2010-03-20T15:06:00.002-04:00

John Stewart Channeled Glenn Beck

2010-03-19T11:17:00.004-04:00

John Stewart channeled Glenn Beck (Intro, Main) last night, and it was funny...

Logorama: 2010 - Oscar-winning short

2010-03-10T09:34:00.002-05:00

Via Filmdrunk, via Truthdig.

News Flash!

2010-03-09T22:31:00.001-05:00

WL reports that HD has landed a new job!

Congratulations, Mr. D.

May we all be so lucky soon!

Google is the new Babelfish

2010-03-09T22:26:00.005-05:00

The New York Times says so.

Here.

“This technology can make the language barrier go away,” said Franz Och, a principal scientist at Google who leads the company’s machine translation team. “It would allow anyone to communicate with anyone else.”

A few translations from the French give the impression that it's better than Yahoo's offering. It's less literal, more fluent.

Also... They have Swahili...

Don't believe everything you see

2010-02-22T18:39:00.001-05:00

Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Reel 2009

(Like the music, too).

Bored? Have a webcam? Not bothered by Freak?

2010-02-22T16:21:00.002-05:00

Then Chatroulette could be for you!

New York Times: The Surreal World of Chatroulette

Nothing can really prepare you for the latest online phenomenon, Chatroulette.

The social Web site, created just three months ago by a 17-year-old Russian named Andrey Ternovskiy, drops you into an unnerving world where you are connected through webcams to a random, fathomless succession of strangers from across the globe.

[...]

Before you rush off to your computer to try Chatroulette, it is only fair to let you know what you’re getting into. Entering Chatroulette is akin to speed-dating tens of thousands of perfect strangers — some clothed, some not.

[...]

In its simplest form, the site does exactly what its name says — it pulls you into a game of roulette. I used the service for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found it both enthralling and distasteful, yet I kept going back for more.

What to make of chatroulette?

"how did it take 15 years for the Internet to deliver this experience?"

NY Mag: The Human Shuffle

ChatRoulette is, in this sense, a blast from the Internet past. It’s the anti-Facebook, pure social-media shuffle. It arrived quietly last November, with no fanfare.

Sounds like the old days of Skype or the scene from (I think) Heinlein's Friday whereby the rich look for dates via hologram.

Bored?

2010-02-20T22:53:00.002-05:00

You could do worse than spend some time with Hobnox.

Geekitude is now kewl!

2010-02-20T16:45:00.002-05:00

Truthdig: Introducing Computer Geek Barbie...

SF Gate with the details: Can Barbie's spiked heel help crack engineering's glass ceiling?

Noted

2010-02-19T23:48:00.004-05:00

We hereby note that Radio Netherlands has on its masthead a beautiful example of bovine pulchritude:

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

2010-02-15T23:25:00.001-05:00

Sorry, we're a bit late welcoming the Year of the Tiger.

May everyone roar loudly, and not be scratched too severely.

French-Canadian Pea Soup

2010-02-15T23:13:00.002-05:00

Who knew there was such a thing? What's so French-Canadian about it?

What has VS gotten herself into?

2010-02-13T13:39:00.003-05:00

They're different in Minnesota...

Farmer makes manure valentine for his wife

ALBERT LEA, Minn., Feb. 12 (UPI) -- A Minnesota farmer's wife has received a valentine possibly only a farmer's wife could appreciate -- a half-mile-wide heart outlined in cow manure.

Bruce Andersland spent hours with a manure spreader hitched to his tractor Wednesday and Thursday creating the heart, the Albert Lea Tribune, Minn., reported. It is in a square-mile field 12 miles outside of Albert Lea that has belonged to his family for 87 years.

Here's a good shot of it:

Superbowl XLIV

2010-02-07T12:07:00.002-05:00

We're picking the Saints to win... Let's say by 10 points.

UPDATE: There was never any doubt...

Bush to The Hague!

2010-02-06T11:16:00.002-05:00

Complaint here.

Professor Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign, USA, has filed a complaint with the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against US citizens George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales (the “Accused”) for their criminal policy and practice of “extraordinary rendition” perpetrated upon about 100 human beings.

Wanna Buy A Chopper?

2010-02-03T16:58:00.004-05:00

Colorado Springs has two (2) for sale, for the apparent blowout price of $170,000.

Hurry, the auction ends soon!

Things are tough all over: Colorado Springs cuts into services considered basic by many

Denver Post, January 31

COLORADO SPRINGS — This tax-averse city is about to learn what it looks and feels like when budget cuts slash services most Americans consider part of the urban fabric.

More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.

The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.

Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that.

The Scale of the Universe

2010-01-30T22:01:00.001-05:00

Click.

(And for those who might have missed it: Cell Size and Scale).

One expletive-laden translation of the SOTU

2010-01-28T12:03:00.001-05:00

One expletive-laden translation of the SOTU is here.

Krugman: Same as he ever was

2010-01-27T10:53:00.004-05:00

On the proposed discretionary spending freeze:

"rhetorically, it’s a complete concession to Reaganism."

and:

There was a lot of delusion among progressives who convinced themselves, in the face of clear evidence to the contrary, that Obama was a strong champion of their values. He wasn’t and isn’t.

Read the entire 4 paragraphs at the link...

Also. How Rob Petrie ruined Lance Mannion's life.

2010-01-26T00:38:00.004-05:00

Lance relates and we learn:

I learned a lot about real life from The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Too much.

I took it all literally.

Like that briefcase.

I learned the wrong lesson from that.

It convinced me that it was possible to own a briefcase like that, and all the middle-class accoutrements, and encumberances, that it symbolized, and still hope to be a writer and spend my working days in the company of other writers and beautiful actresses with or without apricot bows.

As they say, read the whole thing.

Tomorrow's the SOTU

2010-01-26T00:28:00.006-05:00

Wonder what Mr. Freeze will talk about?

The early depression FDR-ish / Reagan-ish / OMG a Republican won Massachusetts discretionary spending freeze / kabuki theatre?

Or the outsourcing of NASA?

Or maybe he'll have some other thing to talk about...

We can't wait!

Hey, RV has a blog!

2010-01-25T20:34:00.001-05:00

Check it out here.

Also, not as much of a big deal, but he also has a book. It's almost published.

Weekend Politics

2010-01-23T23:46:00.003-05:00

Sing it, kd

2010-01-23T00:49:00.000-05:00

Don't go back to Rockville...

2010-01-21T09:47:00.001-05:00

Disclaimer: This not a comment on any employment situation!

Time to move east or way west...

2010-01-19T22:29:00.005-05:00

Or back to Worcester... Worcester is nice. Or Nantucket or the Vineyard.

Pat Boone wants you to vote for Scott Brown

2010-01-16T13:25:00.006-05:00

Tattoo your cat! It's the newest coolest thing!

2010-01-16T12:55:00.004-05:00

Click here.

Gilligan!

2010-01-13T17:26:00.002-05:00

It turns out that TV really is bad for you... And it's bad even if you're exercising adequately!

Watching TV shortens life span, study finds

Watching television for hour upon hour obviously isn't the best way to spend leisure time -- inactivity has been linked to obesity and heart disease. But a new study quantifies TV viewing's effect on risk of death.

Researchers found that each hour a day spent watching TV was linked with an 18% greater risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, an 11% greater risk of all causes of death, and a 9% increased risk of death from cancer.

[...]

Researchers found a strong connection between TV hours and death from cardiovascular disease, not just among the overweight and obese, but among people who had a healthy weight and exercised.

[...]

"What we showed was that irrespective of a person's exercise level, sitting for four or more hours watching television was linked to a significant increase in risk of death compared to watching lower amounts of TV," said Dr. David Dunstan, lead author of the study and professor and head of the Physical Activity Laboratory at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Victoria, Australia. "The message here is that in addition to promoting regular exercise, we also need to promote avoiding long periods of sitting, such as spending long hours in front of the computer screen."

Certainly this has no bearing on Internet use, or having a modern, sedentary job...

35 is the new 40

2010-01-12T16:55:00.002-05:00

From The Telegraph we learn that we've all become older due to "economic worries".

While 40 was once widely considered the milestone that defined middle age, this has been lowered to 35, according to research by the Philips Center for Health and Well-Being.

"Thirty five is the new 40 as Americans feel the pressures of middle age earlier than ever," the Amsterdam-based centre said in a statement.

Katy Hartley, the director of the centre, which aims to improve quality of life, said stress about the economy and healthcare that you would typically associate with turning 40 is starting at a younger age.

"The data suggests the new age for middle age is 35," she said in an interview.

I thought I've felt older since about 2008...

Ladies and Gentlemen, Iris Dement

2010-01-08T02:37:00.001-05:00

(Parental Advisory...)

Born near Paragould, Arkansas, the youngest of FOURTEEN children... (On her father's side, but still).

Cats Are Just Misunderstood

2010-01-07T10:08:00.004-05:00

From the AP:

Cats are "nasty, stinking creatures," says Mark David of Warrensburg, Mo. And dogs? They're noisy, disruptive and "lick you and themselves," counters Sanford Reikes of Louisville, Ky.

Clearly, there are dog people and there are cat people. But it's not much of a contest: 74 percent of people like dogs a lot, and only 41 percent like cats a lot.

[snip]

"Cats are 1,000 times smarter than dogs," said Bonnie Hanson, 77, of Sioux Falls, S.D. She and her late husband had a black Siamese cat, Kitty, that she said "always wanted to comfort people, anybody who was ill or unhappy."

"My husband would have chest pains and wouldn't tell me. But Kitty would come and look at me and I'd know. We called him our psychic Siamese," she said. "Every cat I ever had was a help and a comfort."

About 59 percent of American households own pets, according to the poll. About 74 percent of pet owners polled said they had dogs, and 47 percent said they had cats.
On the other side, the BBC has video of a dog with a vocabulary of more than 340 words - so here again, we get into a discussion of exactly what the nature of intelligence is. And who knew that cats were empathetic?

El Dorado was real?

2010-01-05T22:36:00.003-05:00

So says The Guardian...

It is the legend that drew legions of explorers and adventurers to their deaths: an ancient empire of citadels and treasure hidden deep in the Amazon jungle.

Spanish conquistadores ventured into the rainforest seeking fortune, followed over the centuries by others convinced they would find a lost civilisation to rival the Aztecs and Incas.

Some seekers called it El Dorado, others the City of Z. But the jungle swallowed them and nothing was found, prompting the rest of the world to call it a myth. The Amazon was too inhospitable, said 20th century scholars, to permit large human settlements.

Now, however, the doomed dreamers have been proved right: there was a great civilisation. New satellite imagery and fly-overs have revealed more than 200 huge geometric earthworks carved in the upper Amazon basin near Brazil's border with Bolivia.

Spanning 155 miles, the circles, squares and other geometric shapes form a network of avenues, ditches and enclosures built long before Christopher Columbus set foot in the new world. Some date to as early as 200 AD, others to 1283.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T11:21:00.001-05:00

(Potential re-)discovery du jour

2009-12-28T20:55:00.005-05:00

Did you know that Norah Jones is a daughter of Ravi Shankar? Some history, for inquiring minds...

Do you know Leonard Cohen?

2009-12-21T11:28:00.001-05:00

1988

Happy Winter...

2009-12-21T10:07:00.002-05:00

Legally, it all gets going today at 12:47 PM.

Worcester Envy

2009-12-20T00:15:00.003-05:00

Miss Worcester Diner, by Elizabeth Thomsen

Main Entry: Worces·ter en·vy
Pronunciation: \ˈwu̇s-tər\ˈen-vē\
Function: noun
Date: 1783

That feeling engendered particularly in residents of other Massachusetts counties when they realize that they could reside in that most favored county in the Commonwealth.

We Present... Techno-Disco-Chicken

2009-12-19T23:54:00.004-05:00

We wonder if NT has been able to get similar results?

In The Immortal Words of Socrates...

2009-12-19T02:33:00.003-05:00

I drank what?

There was a Christmas Mix of the Macarena!

2009-12-13T22:31:00.002-05:00

How did we not know of this!

Looking for income?

2009-12-11T13:48:00.001-05:00

Here's an idea!

Many years ago when men were men and women were nervous, a few independent souls decided that there must be away to get out and see the greater wider world and make a bit of money out of it.

All you needed was an old truck, a map, an inflated sense of self-belief and a lot of time and luck. So began the phenomenon of the overlanding tour operator.

The confidence was one thing; you then needed to persuade the population of Earl’s Court that they needed to travel for six months across Africa or Asia.

A couple of slideshows later, a few beers down the Kings Head, a photocopied brochure and a booking form excluding all liability and you had your passengers.

What day is it?

2009-12-10T12:08:00.002-05:00

For your edification:

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
What profit hath a man of all his labor which he taketh under the sun?
One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
All things are full of labor; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

and

I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.

The days come, and the days go. One day looks much the same as the last. There is no stability, no structure, no candy dish.

The day starts late, lunch is at dusk. Offers of employment in Madison, WI, bring only temporary levity.

What day is it?

Cold Autumnal Light

2009-12-03T11:48:00.003-05:00

Today a gusty wind blows,
  and the cold autumnal light falls upon a diminished world.
A smoothly running team is released,
  and its members seek new livelihoods.
Bankruptcy court looms, customers are disappointed,
   equipment decays, biochips age.
Does anyone wish to pick up the pieces?

Today also this blog is released from its corporate duties. It will continue as a personal effort to... well, we don't exactly know. It, too, is slightly shocked at yesterday's turn of events. It will eventually find its new voice, as will we all.

Review: Maruchan Chili-Flavored Ramen

2009-12-01T11:07:00.002-05:00

Pitch Perfect
We cooked up a couple of packages of the Maruchan Chili-Flavored Ramen last night, as a soup, essentially unadorned (so as to not obscure its essential purity for review purposes). While an old Rockford Files played before us, we experienced the greatness of this new (to us) form of ramen.

The chili flavors were subtle, not at all overpowering as might have been expected. Just the right level of salt and umami, as usual. The addition of some scallions and/or pork would have been a nice augmentation.

If you like chili, this is definitely one to add to your own list of approved ramen flavors.

Might we also suggest the Maruchan Roasted Chicken Ramen - it's been one of our favorites for a long time.

Speaking of favorites, Rockford was successful as usual, but he had to send the girl away, so she could "find her own place." Whatta guy.

Discovery Of the Day

2009-11-24T22:31:00.005-05:00

Maruchan Chili Flavored Ramen
Found at the Hannaford in Waltham, MA. This should not be confused with the Lime Chili Shrimp flavor, an all together different animal...

We have been unable to find a review of the Maruchan version of this, but we have one here of the Nissin version. It's not pretty - so here's hoping that our $1.00 investment in this flavor ramen will not have been ill-considered.

Perhaps a review will be forthcoming in this space.

Now you can hear electric cars coming

2009-11-17T22:14:00.001-05:00

HALOsonic technology makes electric vehicles sound more like spaceships or sports cars - which should make roads safer for people with visual impairments.

Word of the year: "Unfriend"

2009-11-17T06:07:00.002-05:00

"Unfriend has real lex-appeal," said Christine Lindberg, senior lexicographer for Oxford's US dictionary program.

Scientist announces that she is call girl and blogger Belle de Jour

2009-11-15T11:20:00.007-05:00

From the Guardian we have:

One of the best kept literary secrets of the decade was revealed last night when 34-year-old scientist Dr Brooke Magnanti announced she was the writer masquerading as call girl Belle de Jour.

The author behind the bestselling books detailing her secret life as a prostitute decided to come out to one of her fiercest critics, Sunday Times columnist India Knight, after claiming anonymity had become "no fun". "I couldn't even go to my own book launch party", she said.

The money quote:

"I did have another job at one point, as a computer programmer, but I kept up with my other work because it was so much more enjoyable."

Thursday Tea

2009-11-11T16:24:00.003-05:00

Thursday's Tea has been expropriated by CP and Algea.

CP will be bringing goumet pizza - in fulfillment of a gambling debt, while Algea has donated some delectable Danny DeVito Limoncello, currently on display as today's product placement.

See you tomorrow at 4:00!

Introducing The Weezer Snuggie

2009-11-11T06:45:00.002-05:00

New York Times: No single piece of clothing says “neutered invertebrate” or “cult member” quite like the Snuggie (“the blanket with sleeves!”). For more than a year, these large, shapeless swaths of cheap fleece designed for lying on the couch and working the remote have inexplicably remained fixed in the kitsch cultural firmament. There are fan tribute sites, YouTube homages and pub crawls; Oprah, Ellen and Al Roker have worn them on camera. Most incredible of all, more than five million have been sold.

TV Ad at the link!

Pigs (ergo, men) are smart!

2009-11-10T23:15:00.002-05:00

Or at least, so Natalie Angier reports in the New York Times:

We’ve all heard the story of the third Little Pig, who foiled the hyperventilating wolf by building his house out of bricks, rather than with straw or sticks as his brothers had done. Less commonly known is that the pig later improved his home’s safety profile by installing convex security mirrors at key points along the driveway.

Well, why not? In the current issue of Animal Behaviour, researchers present evidence that domestic pigs can quickly learn how mirrors work and will use their understanding of reflected images to scope out their surroundings and find their food...

[...]

The finding is just one in a series of recent discoveries from the nascent study of pig cognition. Other researchers have found that pigs are brilliant at remembering where food stores are cached and how big each stash is relative to the rest. They’ve shown that Pig A can almost instantly learn to follow Pig B when the second pig shows signs of knowing where good food is stored, and that Pig B will try to deceive the pursuing pig and throw it off the trail so that Pig B can hog its food in peace.

They’ve found that pigs are among the quickest of animals to learn a new routine, and pigs can do a circus’s worth of tricks: jump hoops, bow and stand, spin and make wordlike sounds on command, roll out rugs, herd sheep, close and open cages, play videogames with joysticks, and more. For better or worse, pigs are also slow to forget. “They can learn something on the first try, but then it’s difficult for them to unlearn it,” said Suzanne Held of the University of Bristol. “They may get scared once and then have trouble getting over it.”

[...]

...Even on a cursory glance, “the pig genome compares favorably with the human genome,” said Lawrence Schook of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, one of the team leaders.

“Very large sections are maintained in complete pieces,” he said, barely changed in the 100-million-plus years since the ancestors of hogs and humans diverged.

Dr. Schook is particularly eager to see if the many physiological and behavioral parallels between humans and pigs are reflected in our respective genomes. Pig hearts are like our hearts, he said, pigs metabolize drugs as we do, their teeth resemble our teeth, and their habits can, too. “I look at the pig as a great animal model for human lifestyle diseases,” he said. “Pigs like to lie around, they like to drink if given the chance, they’ll smoke and watch TV.”

AZ Update

2009-11-10T16:36:00.002-05:00

AZ has checked in from her outpost in the old world. She and RV are off to get their driver's licenses, and a visa for RV.

RV has been writing a book, and we presume might be interested in reviewers. If you're interested in Fantasy, perhaps drop him a line.

AZ says to tell everyone that she misses them.

WPI, about.

2009-11-10T13:24:00.006-05:00

From their website:

Founded in Worcester, Mass., in 1865, WPI was one of the nation's earliest [private] technological universities. From our founding days, we've taken a unique approach to science and technology education.

WPI is ranked No. 62 among all national, doctoral universities by U.S. News & World Report; No. 1 for student/faculty interaction in the National Survey of Student Engagement; and No. 9 by The Princeton Review for "best career prospects" for graduates of our MBA program. And that's just the beginning of the recognition we've received from a large number of institutions and individuals for our high quality and unique approach to education.

There's more here...

...Also, maybe kinda quirky:

Woo-hoo! Aerosmith may be no more!

2009-11-09T08:05:00.003-05:00

Rumors have it that Steven Tyler has left the building!

CBC has the dirt...

Tyler has 'quit' Aerosmith, bandmate says, November 8

Rock band Aerosmith could be on the verge of a split, with a report by at least one newspaper that guitarist Joe Perry believes frontman Steven Tyler has left the band.

"Steven quit, as far as I can tell," Perry told the Las Vegas Sun on Friday.

"I don't know any more than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band."

Another Wall Street First!

2009-11-05T13:49:00.003-05:00

Wall Street Banks Getting Swine Flu Vaccine Before Many High-Risk Groups (VIDEO)

While thousands of at-risk Americans wait, some big Wall Street banks have already secured the hard-to-find H1N1 vaccine for their employees.

Building on a story that BusinessWeek broke, NBC reports that employees at the New York Stock Exchange, bankers at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and employees at the Federal Reserve have all received swine flu vaccine doses to administer to their employees.

Tea!

2009-11-05T11:46:00.002-05:00

Today's Tea will have a guest contribution from RD. He considers it to be a mere trifle, but it will add to the merriment of the occasion.

See you at 4:00.

Cat catches swine flu

2009-11-04T16:28:00.003-05:00

Does the swine flu pandemic pose a threat to your pet? Yes, according to a report out today from the American Veterinary Medical Association.

A cat in Iowa has tested positive for the H1N1 virus, state officials confirmed this morning, "marking the first time a cat has been diagnosed with this strain of influenza," the association said in a statement.

[...]

Before this kitty was diagnosed with the swine flu, the virus had been found in humans, pigs, birds and ferrets, the association said.

Profit `Not Satanic,’ Barclays Says, After Goldman Invokes Jesus

2009-11-04T14:30:00.002-05:00

From Bloomberg

By Simon Clark and Caroline Binham, November 4

Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer John Varley stood at the wooden lectern in St. Martin-in-the-Fields on London’s Trafalgar Square last night and told the packed pews of the church that “profit is not satanic.”

The 53-year-old head of Britain’s second-biggest bank said banks are the “backbone” of the economy. Rewarding high- performing bankers with more pay doesn’t conflict with Christian values, he said. Varley was paid 1.08 million pounds ($1.77 million) and no bonus in 2008.

“Talent is highly mobile,” Varley, a Catholic, said. “If we fail to pay or are constrained from paying competitive rates then that talent will move to another employer.”

“Is Christianity and banking compatible? Yes,” he said in an interview after the speech in the 283-year-old church. “And is Christianity and fair reward compatible? Yes.”

Varley joins Goldman Sachs International adviser Brian Griffiths and Lazard International Chairman Ken Costa as London bankers who’ve gone into London churches in recent weeks and invoked Christianity to defend a banking system that critics say has created wealth and inequality in the U.K.

“The injunction of Jesus to love others as ourselves is an endorsement of self-interest,” Goldman’s Griffiths said Oct. 20, his voice echoing around the gold-mosaic walls of St. Paul’s Cathedral, whose 365-feet-high dome towers over the City, London’s financial district. “We have to tolerate the inequality as a way to achieving greater prosperity and opportunity for all.”

Maine Couple Embarassed Nationwide!

2009-11-03T20:38:00.004-05:00

KISS AND CAST: Priscilla Stevenson waits to be served a ballot by clerk Tom Lane as Jack Mahoney kisses clerk Nancy Mullen before getting his ballot this morning at the polls in Wayne. Poll workers said the turnout was heavy.(Staff photo by Andy Molloy)

Mainers do it on Election Day...

Vital Research

2009-11-03T14:44:00.001-05:00

Linux Kernel Swear Counts

OncoMed Pharmaceutical Services of Massachusetts

2009-11-03T14:01:00.004-05:00

OncoMed Pharmaceutical Services of Massachusetts
Domestic Profit Corporation, ID: 001011992
Organized in Massachusetts: 9/16/2009
President, Treasurer, Director: Kaveh Askari, of Great Neck, NY
CEO, Secretary, Director: Burt Zweigenhaft, of New York, NY

Website. Management.

Not to be confused with OncoMed Pharmaceuticals

They like us! They really, really like us!

2009-11-01T12:28:00.002-05:00

Via AFP, we have this juicy nugget:

Run on Iceland McDonald's as chain flips last burgers

AFP, October 31

REYKJAVIK — Noisy crowds, long queues, and traffic jams plunged McDonald's restaurants in Iceland into a state of siege Saturday, as the chain served its final burgers on the island.

Icelanders flooded the three branches of the US fast-food restaurant in Reykjavik several hours before the outlets shut for the last time, forced to close after the island's economic collapse caused running costs to soar.

Extra staff were deployed to reinforce the outlets, whose disappearance after 16 years means Iceland will be one of the few Western countries without a presence of the ubiquitous eatery.

Customers in one branch faced a 20-minute wait to be served and snaking lines of cars caused traffic jams at the drive-in.

[...]

"We are here to say goodbye," said Orri Hreinsson, who was sitting with two friends at a table covered with 12 cheeseburgers.

Que Es Mas Macho?

2009-10-31T11:00:00.004-04:00

P!nk: Please, Please Don't Leave Me

or Jacques Brel: Ne Me Quitte Pas (with English subtitles)

Apologies for not embedding - it's disabled.

Cell Size and Scale

2009-10-31T10:48:00.003-04:00

Interesting Graphic...

Bear cubs purr?

2009-10-28T11:39:00.001-04:00

AZ details...

2009-10-27T14:53:00.001-04:00

AZ has been hired - she starts work on November 2.

She will have 30 days vacation per year, plus two weeks off at Christmastime, plus 4 days at Easter, and various other Christian holidays, too.

She says Hi to everyone, she misses us.

She plans to journey to Hyderabad, Delhi, and Kerala in September 2010. We'll have to call her Indie, at least for that month.

Also, don't you think employment suits her?