Archive for July, 2010


A prototype of the Air Force Research Laboratory's bird-like micro air vehicle is shown. Researchers say the so-called spy pigeon will flap its wings like a real bird, and even be able to land on power lines.

I’m always impressed by the amazing advances in technology we see from day to day.  Computers and robots can do so much more than even those of us who are science-fiction fans ever conceived of years ago.

Take, for example, the “spy pigeon” aerial drone. This amazing little aircraft could save lives, or it could mean the end of privacy.  Here’s the story from AOL News:

>>In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, U.S. officials often had to rely on grainy satellite photos to decide whether facilities on the ground were intended for producing weapons of mass destruction. Now imagine that instead of overhead satellite imagery–or even high-flying unmanned aircraft–they could send in a flock of microdrones that could actually fly right over, or even inside, such facilities.

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It’s hard to believe, but people in the United States may actually be turning off their televisions in favor of other forms of entertainment.

Yes, you read that right. The nightly ritual of plunking down in front of the “idiot box” may be coming to an end. Some things have led up to this, including the writers’ strike (when people learned they could live without their favorite programs) and the growing number of alternative things to do, like find out what is happening on the Internet or using their DVD players.

I think this is a good thing, and that’s coming from a long-time TV viewer. When we choose to watch the “boob tube” only when there is something worth watching, that’s serious progress, I think.

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Is this a good idea?

I never knew how many people drive their mowers for fun. I always thought lawn mowers equaled work, and lots of it. But some folks enjoy their mowers more than others.

For instance, here’s a story from the Des Moines Register:

>>It may have been how Robert Grimstad was driving that caught people’s attention. He was all over the road.

Or the fact it was after midnight and the 38-year-old didn’t have headlights on.

Most likely, though, it was the fact he was riding a lawn mower down the highway.

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Having trouble keeping hold of your ATM card?  Or is it your password that you struggle to remember? Well, all that may be a thing of the past very soon here in the U.S., if this CNN story is true:

>>Poland’s cooperative BPS bank says it’s the first in Europe to install a biometric ATM–allowing customers to withdraw cash simply with the touch of a fingertip.

The digit-scanning ATM, introduced in the Polish capital of Warsaw, runs on the latest in “finger vein” technology–an authentication system developed by Japanese tech giant Hitachi.

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Six-time hot dog eating contest champion Takeru Kobayashi, center, of Japan, is taken into custody by New York police officers after he jumped on stage at the end of the hot dog eating contest in New York's Coney Island. (AP Photo)

Over the holiday weekend, the annual New York City Hot Dog Eating Contest took place, and it ended up with the same guy who has won the last four  years again taking the big prize. but that’s just the start of this story.  Here’s how the AP reported it:

>>A Japanese eating champion who sat out this year’s Coney Island Fourth of July hot dog contest apparently couldn’t resist the temptation to hotdog afterward.

Competitive eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut gobbled his way to a fourth consecutive championship Sunday. But he was suddenly upstaged by the surprise appearance of his biggest rival–six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi, who did not compete but crashed the stage after Chestnut’s win and wrestled with police.

“Let him eat! Let him eat!” the crowd chanted as police handcuffed the world’s No. 3 professional eater, dubbed “The Tsunami.”

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When I was looking through videos for yesterday’s entry, I came across one that really surprised me.  As you can probably tell from my discussions, I enjoy the Muppets a lot.  They tend to look at things through a pretty innocent pair of spectacles, and I find that refreshing, especially these days.

The video I came across is below, Robin singing “Halfway Down The Stairs:”

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Okay, I know that yesterday was actually the real holiday, but it is a long weekend, so I hope you are still in the mood for some patriotic music.  I know I am!  I thought I’d pretty much let the music and the videos do the talking today, and I tried to pick out most of the videos because the music was easy to hear and/or they also had the words to the songs. Click on the images below for the videos. View full article »

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Happy Fourth of July!  Today is the big day, so be sure to have an extra hot dog or pretzel for me when you gather your friends and family together!

I thought I’d share some interesting facts about the Independence Day holiday from Wikipedia that intrigued me.  Here goes:

Families often celebrate Independence Day by hosting or attending a picnic or barbecue and take advantage of the day off and, in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.

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Happy Independence Day!  Here’s the second in a series of articles by Beverly Hernandez on About.com regarding the holiday:

>>The Fireworks Family

New Castle, Pennsylvania, is home to the Vitale Fireworks Display Company, responsible for more than one thousand fireworks shows every year. In 1922 Constantino Vitale brought his expertise at making fireworks from Italy to the United States. He passed his secrets on to his four sons, and since then the company has been making Americans exclaim “ooohhh” and “aaahhhh” at the lighted colors in the sky on July 4 and other occasions. “It’s like putting on a ballet show except that the dancers were above, painting the sky,” says Vitale’s granddaughter. “Seeing that spectacular display in the sky made me really love the country.”

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For this holiday weekend, I thought I’d share a series of great articles from About.com on the Fourth of July by Beverly Hernandez.  Here’s the first, which focuses on general history of the holiday:

>>The History And Origin Of Independence Day

By the middle of the 1700s, the 13 colonies that made up part of England’s empire in the New World were finding it difficult to be ruled by a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. They were tired of the taxes imposed upon them. But independence was a gradual and painful process. The colonists could not forget that they were British citizens and that they owed allegiance to King George III.

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