Showing posts with label Water-cooler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Water-cooler. Show all posts

Monday, July 23, 2007

Now Wired Magazine pulls a New York Times

 
And reveals a freaking incredible military secret.


These leaks are getting out of hand.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

News you can use: 'Mrs. Bin Laden's sex secrets laid bare'

 
A tawdry story from the Daily Mail has a catchy headline:

Mrs Bin Laden's sex secrets laid bare

In a tearful and confused phone call to The Mail on Sunday, the British woman who has become Osama Bin Laden's daughter-in-law cast new light on her life since her marriage in April.

Speaking from a villa in Cairo, which she regularly visits for treatment for multiple sclerosis, Mrs. Bin Laden said: 'I need money to get to England and I need to see a good lawyer. I don't have any money. My husband doesn't have any money...

For a mere ten million pounds, Mrs. Bin Laden says she'll reveal all of the Bin Laden family's dirty laundry.

Daily Mail: Mrs Bin Laden's sex secrets laid bare

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Vince McMahon undead; wrestler Chris Benoit truly dead

 
Nine days ago I wrote the following article. In light of the tragic murder-suicide involving Chris Benoit and his family, I felt it was worth re-posting. The number of deaths of young wrestlers (TMZ photo album) is truly outrageous; one can only hope that the wrestling organizations and their management teams are held to account.
 
Originally posted June 16, 2007
 
10Q Detective informs us of the shocking death of World Wrestling founder Vince McMahon:

On June 12, 2007, World Wresting Entertainment (WWE-$17.04) announced that its Chairman Vincent K. McMahon entered his limousine when it suddenly exploded. Although full details were not disclosed, initial reports indicated that Mr. McMahon was presumed dead.


Upon hearing the news, investors sold stock, sending the price down a modest 30 cents per share, or 1.8% in value.

Yawn! Serious investors—and the Company—know that Mr. McMahon “will survive the fiery explosion.” And the only ones guilty of committing such a heinous act are the writers who came up with this melodramatic and predictable storyline...

Who could have "murdered" the irrepressible entrepeneur? Well, to be fair, I could come up with maybe a thousand names.

After all, there's no shortage of real deaths in McMahon's industry. Most fatalities, however, aren't due to exploding limos but rather more mundane causes: abuse of steroids, HGH, and pain-killers:

Every other week, it seems that another pro wrestler has dropped dead at a young age. Mike Lockwood, known professionally as Mad Mikey and Crash Holly, is the latest casualty, but there's a long list of premature deaths which include Road Warrior Hawk, Ravishing Rick Rude, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman (pictured), Yokozuna, Terry Gordy, Rocco Rock, Louie Spicoli, Miss Elizabeth, Eddie Gilbert, Art Barr, and Kerry Von Erich. Sadly, this list is far from complete," a somber KJames199 writes...

"While Owen Hart died in the ring when a stunt went wrong and the Junkyard Dog perished in an auto accident, quite a few of the deaths can be tied to drug use. Many wrestlers use steroids and/or Human Growth Hormone (HGH) to look like they do, then follow it up with painkillers to let them handle a life where bumps, bruises, and broken bones are a part of the job, and where you often don't get paid if you don't (or can't) work. The cost of this drug use is now being seen with young wrestlers dying at an alarming rate. If NFL football players were passing away at the same rate, it would be an enormous scandal. However, the media (with a few exceptions) seems to turn a blind eye to these deaths, possibly not willing or able to cover fake wrestling in a serious manner...

I'd like to think McMahon got his just desserts, but no one is that naive.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Clean Water from Thin Air

 
It's not alchemy, but an architect at Technion University (Haifa, Israel) and his colleague have created a low-tech method for creating fresh water from thin air. The invention recently won an international competition, which reviewed methods for manufacturing safe drinking water.

Grad student Joseph Cory and his colleague Eyal Malka invented "WatAir," an array of mesh panels organized as inverted pyramids. The devices collect dew from the air and transforms it into clean water in nearly any climate.

Inhabit reports:

...With an estimated 5,000 children dying daily due to dirty drinking water, Joseph Cory and Eyal Malka’s award-winning WatAir design for Arup and WaterAid’s drawn water challenge might be the response barren landscapes are looking for. Simply described, WatAir produces water from the air through its inverted pyramid array of panels. Inspired by spiderwebs and the dew-catching properties of leaves, WatAir is easy to incorporate into both rural and urban landscapes due to its relatively small footprint.

Arup’s and WaterAid’s drawing water challenge launched in September of 2006 as an ideas competition seeking innovative ways to “help many more people gain access to safe water and effective sanitation.” Over 91 entrants responded from 19 countries across North America, with WatAir taking away the grand prize. Each WatAir unit features 96 square meters of lightweight dew-collecting panels that gravitationally funnel moisture from the air to one collective source. The designers estimate that each unit can collect roughly 48 liters of water in remote places or places that do not have any clean water sources. The panels are flexible, easy to collapse when not in use, and readily available to provide shade and even some shelter...

Well done, gentlemen!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Vince McMahon "dead" in fiery limo explosion

 
10Q Detective informs us of the shocking death of World Wrestling founder Vince McMahon:

On June 12, 2007, World Wresting Entertainment (WWE-$17.04) announced that its Chairman Vincent K. McMahon entered his limousine when it suddenly exploded. Although full details were not disclosed, initial reports indicated that Mr. McMahon was presumed dead.


Upon hearing the news, investors sold stock, sending the price down a modest 30 cents per share, or 1.8% in value.

Yawn! Serious investors—and the Company—know that Mr. McMahon “will survive the fiery explosion.” And the only ones guilty of committing such a heinous act are the writers who came up with this melodramatic and predictable storyline...

Who could have "murdered" the irrepressible entrepeneur? Well, to be fair, I could come up with maybe a thousand names.

After all, there's no shortage of real deaths in McMahon's industry. Most fatalities, however, aren't due to exploding limos but rather more mundane causes: abuse of steroids, HGH, and pain-killers:

Every other week, it seems that another pro wrestler has dropped dead at a young age. Mike Lockwood, known professionally as Mad Mikey and Crash Holly, is the latest casualty, but there's a long list of premature deaths which include Road Warrior Hawk, Ravishing Rick Rude, "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman (pictured), Yokozuna, Terry Gordy, Rocco Rock, Louie Spicoli, Miss Elizabeth, Eddie Gilbert, Art Barr, and Kerry Von Erich. Sadly, this list is far from complete," a somber KJames199 writes...

"While Owen Hart died in the ring when a stunt went wrong and the Junkyard Dog perished in an auto accident, quite a few of the deaths can be tied to drug use. Many wrestlers use steroids and/or Human Growth Hormone (HGH) to look like they do, then follow it up with painkillers to let them handle a life where bumps, bruises, and broken bones are a part of the job, and where you often don't get paid if you don't (or can't) work. The cost of this drug use is now being seen with young wrestlers dying at an alarming rate. If NFL football players were passing away at the same rate, it would be an enormous scandal. However, the media (with a few exceptions) seems to turn a blind eye to these deaths, possibly not willing or able to cover fake wrestling in a serious manner...

I'd like to think McMahon got his just desserts, but no one is that naive.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Interpreting The Sopranos Last and Final Episode

 
Joe Johnston of Chicago, commenting on the Times Online website, offers one of the best interpretations I've seen:

The final moment wasn't ambiguous at all. You just have to think about how it ends and, if you account for a number of overlooked details--i.e., the elongated moment with the blank screen before credits roll, and especially the sudden cessation of the music mid-song--you'll see that there's nothing ambiguous about the ending.

Tony is whacked. It happens at the very end -- but we see it from Tony's point of view, which is the sudden nullity of instant death from a gunshot wound to the head.

Another commenter adds that it recalls the episode where Bobby and Tony are sitting in his fishing boat, talking about hits. Tony remarks that you would never see it coming, the world would just go black.

I'm down with that analysis.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Age: search for 'Ismael Ax' sparks web frenzy


Australia's The Age reports on the flood of searches for information on 'Ismael Ax':

All at once, the world went searching for the meaning of "Ismail Ax"... Those two words, written in red ink on one arm of Cho Seung Hui, the 23-year-old Virginia Tech student suspected of the campus shooting spree, set off a massive internet hunt by the public for clues to what might have motivated the nation's worst mass killings.

Almost as soon as the Chicago Tribune's website reported that detail, which was then picked up by news organisations around the world, the blogosphere filled with theories about the possible meaning of "Ismail Ax." Hundreds of bloggers speculated on a link to Islam or to literature; thousands offered their opinions and millions read the commentaries, according to Technorati.com...


For a couple of hours, a recent post on this site ranked #1 on Google's search results for the term.

The resulting flood of traffic, which I could never have predicted, was significant (especially for an eighth-tier blog like this one):

We're still a long way from the daily record -- which occurred after a story made the front-page on Digg -- of 18,000 visitors. But it certainly highlights the firehose-like power of Google's search results.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Inspirational Story o' The Day


A tribute to the late, legendary Grambling coach Eddie Robinson:


[Cincinnati Bengals] Secondary coach Kevin Coyle told one of the best [Robinson stories]... Coyle, then 26, was in one of his first jobs as a defensive assistant at Holy Cross when he attended the 1982 NCAA coaches convention.

He happened to see Robinson honored with the American Football Coaches Association’s Amos Alonzo Stagg Award for services that “have been outstanding in the advancement of the best interests of football,” and when the event broke Coyle headed to a workshop about an interesting defensive topic taught by a junior-college coach.

There were about 20 guys huddled in chairs and no one had quite heard of the [presenter], so Coyle was bowled over when Robinson walked into the room with a yellow notepad, sat down, and raised his hand a few times to ask questions.

“I’m thinking, ‘That’s Eddie Robinson in this little room asking questions of a junior college coach,’ ” Coyle said. “I just figured here’s a guy who about 20 minutes ago received the highest award in the profession. Wouldn’t he be in his suite, or somewhere, celebrating with his friends? But there he was, trying to learn more about the game.”

Bengals.com: Boiler Room Heats Up

Friday, April 06, 2007

Line o' the Day


After walking into the family room today, only to discover my wife watching a soap opera...

Me: You still watch soap operas?

Wife: No, I just want to see if they bring Janet back.

300 Workout


Carol Williams reports:

The movie "300" is packed with actors in tip-top shape, bodies sculpted to fit into skimpy spartan battle wear.

And there's a workout that got them there. The not-so-secret training regemin has hit the internet.

It, conveniently, involves 300 reps. 25 pull-ups. 50 deadlifts at 135 pounds 50 box jumps with a 24-inch box. 50 "floor wipers," a core exercise. 50 "clean and press" with 36 pounds, aweight-lifting exercise. Then 25 more pullups.

And the toughest part is, there's no rest between each exercise.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Gmail Paper: hardcopies of all your emails


Need hardcopies of your emails? Gmail Paper is a new Google service that threatens to revolutionize your email messages by transforming them into --er-- print.

Google's 2007 April Fool's Joke

Best of all, the service is free. It's subsidized by advertisers, who print subtle, context-sensitive ads on the hardcopies. For more information, just position your mouse over the photo.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Potential Gaffe o' the Week


The Broward-Palm Beach News Times reports that Hollywood, Florida will see an aerial marshmallow drop of epic proportions. On Saturday, children of all ages will revel as 30,000 marshmallows are dropped from a speeding aircraft into a park.


What could possibly go wrong with that?

My guess is that the aircraft will hit an altitude sufficient to freeze said marshmallows prior to dropping them. The sugary treats will transform themselves from squishy, delicious concoctions into rock-hard engines of destruction. They'll be fully capable of leveling the park and laying waste to swarms of kids.

Sounds like something Keith Olbermann might dream up.