Archive for January, 2012


Your iPad Could Be Hazardous To Your Health

Filed Under: Computers/The Web, iPod, iPhone, iPad, i by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 26, 2012

Remember that I’m sitting at a computer while bringing this article from breitbart.com to your attention!

>>Users of tablet computers should place their device on the table and tilt its screen, rather than have it flat on their lap, to avoid potentially painful hunching of the neck, a study suggested Wednesday.

“Tablet users may be at high risk to develop neck discomfort based on current behaviours and tablet designs,” it warned.

A team led by environmental health researcher Jack Dennerlein of the Harvard School of Public Health asked seven men and eight women who were experienced tablet users to carry out tasks on an iPad2 and a Motorola Xoom.

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Postal Service To Cut 260,000 Jobs

Filed Under: Unusual News Stories by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 24, 2012

Does anyone still get a lot of important mail anymore?

My landlord is big on checking the mail daily, but mostly all I receive is junk mail and coupons. More things of value come through FedEx or the overnight Postal Service delivery than the regular drop-offs.

So the following article from CNBC was interesting:

>>The U.S. Postal Service needs to slash 260,000 jobs and end weekend delivery if it is to climb out of its “financially insolvent” condition, Rep. Darrell Issa said.

Despite a mandate to avoid deficits, the post office loses up to $15 billion a year, Issa told CNBC during an informal gathering of senior House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members.

“It’s a combination of delivering what people want at a price they’re willing to pay,” the California Republican said. “We’ve restricted what the post office can charge for various classes of mail. But the biggest challenge is there are about 660,000 workers at the post office. In the private sector there would be about 400,000.”

Though Issa’s numbers are likely on the high side — the most recent official estimates from the postal service put the total employees at 574,000 — reducing the size of the workforce and consolidating operations has been a priority.

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Four Die In One Day On NYC Subway

Filed Under: Unusual News Stories by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 23, 2012

When I went to the New York City Comic-Con late last year, I found the subway somewhat difficult to use. The voice overhead was muffled, the stations were not clearly marked, and it was tough to find someone working for the system to answer questions. Interestingly enough, people who rode the subway were very helpful, which went against the stereotype of folks you find in NYC.

Well, I was intrigued when I came across the following story from the AP:

>>Four men have died in New York’s subway in less than 24 hours.

Police say the mishaps — all on Saturday — are unrelated.

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A Victory For The Internet Or Not?

Filed Under: Computers/The Web by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 20, 2012

One of the great things about the World Wide Web has been that it has been largely unregulated. Anyone can pretty much do anything out here, which is why it has thrived so strongly over the past few decades.

Well, there are parts of it that folks don’t like, including piracy, which is understandable, but a new attempt to impose rules on the Internet has met with a lot of opposition. Here’s the AP’s article on the latest developments:

>>WASHINGTON (AP) — Yielding to strong opposition from the high tech community, Senate and House leaders said Friday they will put off further action on legislation to combat online piracy.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was postponing a test vote set for Tuesday “in light of recent events.” Those events included a petition drive by Google that attracted more than 7 million participants and a one-day blackout by the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

House Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, quickly followed suit, saying consideration of a similar House bill would be postponed “until there is wider agreement on a solution.”

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Books Or iBooks?

Filed Under: Computers/The Web by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 19, 2012

Since I work for a newspaper, I’m always interested in when technology replaces something non-technical.

Here’s the story of textbooks likely being replaced by electronic devices like the iBooks, iPad and Kindle. It’s from the International Business Times website:

>>Apple announced it would update its iBooks platform to include textbook capabilities. It also added a new platform called iBooks Author, which lets anyone easily create and publish their own e-books. Apple’s late co-founder and chairman Steve Jobs had hoped to bring relief to the higher education masses in the late 80s and early 90s, but 20 years later, Jobs’s legacy lives on in Apple, which hopes to make yet another dent in the education industry.

In NYC on Thursday, Apple revolutionized the education industry with its new iBooks 2 app for marking up digital textbooks, its new iBooks Author app for quick and easy e-book publishing, and the iTunes U platform for teachers to better communicate and share materials with students.

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Duo Attacks Car With Flaming Tampons

Filed Under: Unusual News Stories by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 18, 2012

Honestly, as good an imagination as I think I have, I could not possibly come up with this stuff!

Without comment, here’s the story from, appropriately enough, the Smoking Gun website:

>>JANUARY 18–Armed with flaming tampons–yes, flaming tampons–two young Pennsylvanians attempted to blow up a vehicle after severely vandalizing it, according to police.

The bizarre January 7 incident outside a bar in Metal Township resulted in the arrest of Patricia Deshong, 25, and Quentin Deshong, 22, on a variety of charges, including attempted arson, public drunkenness, and criminal mischief.

According to State Police troopers, the Deshongs seriously damaged a 2006 Ford Fusion, which had its windshield and windows either cracked or broken, was covered with dents, and had blood on the front passenger seat. The car’s hood was also open and various hoses had been disconnected.

The Deshongs are pictured in the above mug shots.

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‘Would You Like Your Burger Delivered?’

Filed Under: Unusual News Stories by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 17, 2012

Sorry I’ve been busy the last week or so. There’s been a lot going on in my life, and posting here just didn’t happen.

I’m fascinated by the changes in the business world these days given the terrible economy. Here’s one interesting development, as noted by USAToday.com:

>>Burger King, the No. 2 burger chain, has quietly begun testing home delivery of its burgers, fries and other sandwiches since fall at four of its restaurants in the greater Washington, D.C., area, with an eye on expanding beyond that.

Should home delivery catch on for the burger giants — as it has for the pizza kingpins — it could be an industry changer. But it runs counter to long-held consumer perception that fast-food burgers and fries travel poorly — and don’t warm up well in the microwave. It also would require millions of hungry folks to change their at-home eating habits. “There are some real food-quality issues here,” says Ron Paul, president of research firm Technomic. “But there’s no question that consumer expectation for having things delivered has risen.”

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Christmas Trees Being Set On Fire

Filed Under: Christmas/The Holiday Season, Unusual News Stories by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 13, 2012

Even I’ve stopped listening to Christmas music for now, but that doesn’t mean that all the news about the holiday season is over.

Here’s an interesting story about Christmas trees being set on fire from the Los Angeles CBS website:

>>LONG BEACH (CBS) — Fire investigators have had their hands full with dozens of intentionally set Christmas tree fires.

Officials say as many as 60 fires have been set in the past several days involving Christmas trees that have been left on the curb for trash pick up, KNX 1070′s Ron Killgore reports.

“The risk of the public being hurt, victims being burned in these fires from the fire venturing into their home which is a very real possibility,” Long Beach Fire Arson Capt. Pat Wills said.

No injuries have been reported.

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Paying For Having A ‘Messy’ Yard

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January 12, 2012

First off, sorry for so few posts this week — I continue to work on my right eye and getting it ready for a corneal transplant in the months ahead!

But I had to share this story from the Charlotte CBS station’s website:

>>MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — A Mount Pleasant woman is serving 10 days in jail after failing to pay a $480 fine for having a messy yard.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reports 53-year-old Linda Ruggles has sold blood and even volunteered for medical experiments to get money to keep her home from foreclosure.

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The First Musical Weekend Of 2012

Filed Under: Music by Wayne Hall — Leave a comment
January 7, 2012

Although it isn’t very cold or snowy yet this winter, I thought I’d kick off the new year with some winter songs I like. They’re not included in the music list you see to your right, though.

I’ve always enjoyed Anne Murray‘s deep voice, so let’s start off with “Snowbird:”

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