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Posts Tagged ‘Mdash’

10 Interesting Links From November 20th

November 21st, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
  • 9NEWS.com | Colorado’s Online News Leader | Huge ball of ice crashes through woman’s roof – Then she heard a huge explosion after something fell out of the sky right into her kitchen. Thankfully Hagan was not sitting in the room. The two of them had just left the kitchen and no one in the home was injured. "It was just bizarre," Hagan said, "I heard a huge explosion, couldn't figure out if something had crashed in or exploded out and [it was] just complete chaos after that." It turns out a piece of ice, a bowling-ball-size piece, fell from the sky.
  • Quit smoking today—and start looking better tomorrow: Consumer Reports Health Blog – Fewer wrinkles. Better-smelling breath, hair, and clothing. Healthier teeth and gums. More money in your pocket. An improved sense of taste and smell. A reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and cancer of the lungs, cervix, pancreas, throat, intestine, kidneys, and bladder. Most important, up to 10 years added to your life span. Despite these convincing reasons to quit smoking, Americans are not getting the message that smoking can not only shorten your life, but also increase the risk of death in those who come into contact with your secondhand smoke—including your children.
  • Ten Awesome Feats Of Automotive Infrastructure – Infrastructure – Jalopnik – This is apparently how Japanese engineers settle civil arguments: Don't want to move your building? Eat me. I've got a road to build.
  • J.C. Penney discontinuing "big book" – Dallas Business Journal: – As more consumers flock to the Web to make online retail purchases, North Texas-based J.C. Penney Co. is changing the face of its brand by discontinuing the publishing of its two “big book” catalogs in exchange for more online initiatives and smaller, more specialized catalogs.
  • Daily Express | World News :: Million hit by ‘plague worse than swine flu’ – A cocktail of three flu viruses are reported to have mutated into a single pneumonic plague, which it is believed may be far more dangerous than swine flu. The death toll has reached 189 and more than 1 million people have been infected, most of them in the nine regions of Western Ukraine.
  • Washington Redskins can keep team name; Supreme Court refuses native Americans’ suit | csmonitor.com – A group of native Americans have lost their bid to force the Washington Redskins pro football team to change its name because they consider it to be a racial slur. On Monday, the US Supreme Court, in a one-line ruling, refused to take up the case. The action lets stand a decision by a federal appeals court in Washington that the native Americans had waited too long to bring their challenge to the Redskins trademark, and thus forfeited any right to sue.
  • Web site’s cash handout stunt horrifies French minister| Technology| Reuters – Marketing Web site Mailorama.fr was forced to call off its plan to throw envelopes of cash to passers-by from the top of a bus on Saturday after thousands of people turned up and began spilling over security barriers. The decision to call off the stunt, which had been heavily promoted beforehand, sparked violent scenes in which shop windows were smashed, at least one car was overturned by hooded youths and photographers and cameramen were attacked.
  • Americans see country headed in wrong direction, poll says, but closer look shows strong partisan divide on nation’s direction | Postcards – Daron Shaw, a University of Texas government professor who helped helm the poll, reacted: “The Republicans are (basically) more pessimistic than the Democrats are optimistic.”
  • Al Jazeera English – Europe – Sicilian Mafia fugitive arrested – He had been convicted of five murders, including the kidnapping and killing of a rival's son, whose body was thrown into a vat of acid. Raccuglia faces several life sentences.
  • Foodborne illness: An acute and long-term health challenge for the 21st century | Science Blog – CFI's report, The Long-Term Health Outcomes of Selected Foodborne Pathogens, calls for a new approach to foodborne illness research and surveillance and provides expert reviews about some of the long-term health outcomes for five foodborne pathogens. The outcomes range from hypertension and diabetes to kidney failure and mental retardation.
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    10 Interesting Links From July 25th

    July 26th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • Percentages are the Way You Think | Bad Money Advice – Imagine that you have decided to buy the latest, totally cool and sexy, iPod. It retails for $200. You are about to pick it up at a shop near your home when you hear that all the way across town a store is running a one-day special promotion, selling this iPod for only $100. It is a 90 minute round-trip drive, but you gleefully head off to score your bargain iPod. Unfortunately, after a while you realize that the iPod is not attracting nearly the number of members of the opposite sex that you expected. So you hatch Plan B, an even more totally cool and sexy convertible. The dealership near your house will let you drive it off the lot for $50,000. But then you find out that another dealership, coincidentally next to the place where you got the bargain on the iPod, will sell it to you for only $49,900. Do you make the same trek across town to save $100 on the car? Most people would not, even though they would to save the same $100 on the iPod. Because people are idiots.
    • "Dr. Brown" – USCIS conducted a special naturalization ceremony last week for a man we’re referring to as Dr. Brown. Why was the ceremony so special, and why aren’t we using his real name? Well, Dr. Brown is the first nonimmigrant to become a citizen of the United States under the pilot Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program. MAVNI allows nonimmigrants to enlist in the Army and apply for citizenship even though they do not hold permanent resident status. So, Dr. Brown was the first, and his story is pretty incredible.
    • Heavy metal cure for constipation – Around the World – Austrian Times – Dr Cristina Bontescu, spokeswoman for the local hospital where he turned up at the emergency unit, said: "He was a bit drunk and said he had been eating cherries that had left him badly constipated. He said he had a few drinks to dull the pain and then came up with the idea of poking a hammerhead up his backside in the hope of sorting out the constipation. "But the hammerhead got stuck and then he came up with the idea of using a second hammerhead in order to try and get out the first – but then he lost the second one as well."
    • WikiLeaks victorious over corruption report gag order – Wikileaks – According to statements made to the London Times earlier this month, the UK intends to suspend the Islands' constitution and take direct rule–with the support of British Navy–something that has the press of other British colonies in the Caribbean and Atlantic, such as Bermuda, aghast.
    • Male cats are lefties – Like their human owners, cats also use a preferred hand to complete complex task. But unlike humans, who are mostly right-handed, felines are split right down the middle, with females preferring the right paw and males favoring the left.
    • Bosch DareDevil Spade Bits – Review | Tool Snob – ToolSnob.com – The primary difference between the DareDevil Spade bits and your standard spades bits is this little threaded nub up at the centering point. Once these threads catch (which they can't not do), the bit is actually pulled into the wood. This happens with so much aggressiveness that we practically felt in danger of dislocating our shoulder while drilling holes. The body of the spade is also contoured so that the shaved wood doesn't clog up the hole and bog down the bit. The pointed spurs are additionally designed to minimize blow-out (which is better than most spade bits, but still considerable). There's a lot going on with these little bits.
    • ABQJOURNAL NEWS/METRO: The High Price of Driving and Talking – In addition to a fine of at least $100, people cited for using the phone while driving get hit with the same fees and court costs as with every other traffic citation that involves the court — about $85. Last week, Albuquerque police wrote more than 300 cell phone citations during an eight-hour crackdown and have written thousands since the ordinance took effect.
    • Strange! Humans Glow in Visible Light | LiveScience – The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal. Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.
    • Review: Navigon MobileNavigator North America | iLounge – The good news: in tech industry parlance, MobileNavigator “doesn’t suck” as turn-by-turn driving direction software, at least when it’s used under the right conditions. First, you need to have your iPhone 3G or 3GS mounted or held continuously near a window in your car, or be lucky enough to have a vehicle with a roof that doesn’t impede the device’s access to GPS satellites. Second, you’ll probably want to connect the device up to a car charger of some sort, because running the app and the GPS will eat up your iPhone 3G or 3GS battery. And third, you’ll want to make sure you can locate the physical address of the place you’re planning to visit, just in case. More on that in a moment.
    • FBI captures Top 10 fugitive in Wyoming – The Denver Post – One of the FBI's "Top 10" fugitives was captured in the southern portion of the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming today, after nearly 15 years on the run, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in Denver. Edward Eugene Harper, also known as Ed Harmon, was wanted in the alleged sexual assaults of two girls, ages 3 and 8, in Hernando, Miss., in 1994.
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    10 Interesting Links From July 23rd

    July 24th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • Intel: Antitrust fine violated human rights – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Intel is appealing the record-setting antitrust fine that the European Union levied in May, saying that the fine violated the company's human rights, the Wall Street Journal reports. The exact arguments aren't known yet, but Intel and other companies who are arguing that the fines violate human rights, base their cases on the fact that a political bureaucrat, and not a judge, levy the fines. The bureaucrat is antitrust commissioner Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands.
    • The Truth Behind Secret Recipes in Coke, KFC, Etc. | LiveScience – In his book "Big Secrets," William Poundstone revealed a laboratory analysis of Kentucky Fried Chicken: "The sample of coating mix was found to contain four and only four ingredients: flour, salt, monosodium glutamate, and black pepper. There were no eleven herbs and spices — no herbs at all in fact… Nothing was found in the sample that couldn't be identified." So much for the "secret." In fact, the chicken's ingredient statement is available on KFC's Web site.
    • Annual New Mexico Photographers Art Show – Mission: The Annual New Mexico Photographic Art Show was created in order to provide an opportunity for the photographers of New Mexico to share, display and sell their images in a premier gallery setting that showcases local artists. The goal in this undertaking is to encourage statewide support of photographic artists and the activities and education of photography. ANMPAS will promote events that will feature the best photographic images from the best New Mexico photographers.

      Who is Eligible: The show is open to all photographers who are currently residents of the State of New Mexico.

    • Experiments show ‘artificial gravity’ can prevent muscle loss in space | Science Blog – Now, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have conducted the first human experiments using a device intended to counteract this effect ? a NASA centrifuge that spins a test subject with his or her feet outward 30 times a minute, creating an effect similar to standing against a force two and half times that of gravity. Working with volunteers kept in bed for three weeks to simulate zero-gravity conditions, they found that just one hour a day on the centrifuge was sufficient to restore muscle synthesis.
    • Gilbert man stung by scorpion on plane – A Gilbert man was stung by a venomous scorpion stowed away in his carry-on luggage on an Indianapolis-bound Southwest Airline flight. The toxic Arizona bark scorpion and five babies were killed after Flight 2093 from Phoenix landed at Indianapolis International Airport at 12:10 a.m. Sunday, Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said.
    • Company Denies its Robots Feed on the Dead | Danger Room | Wired.com – “We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,” stated Harry Schoell, Cyclone’s CEO. “We are focused on demonstrating that our engines can create usable, green power from plentiful, renewable plant matter. The commercial applications alone for this earth-friendly energy solution are enormous.”
    • Teenager wings it with a fake airline – Times Online – A TEENAGE boy from Yorkshire succeeded in persuading British aviation executives that he was a tycoon about to launch his own airline. Using the pseudonym Adam Tait, the smooth-talking 17-year-old told airport and airline executives that he had a fleet of jets. Tait, who said he was in his twenties, even flew to Jersey to attend a 1½-hour long meeting with the director of its airport. Their talks were considered promising enough for a further meeting to be arranged, which was due to be held next week.
    • Intel PAC showing no love for former employee, Barela? – It's nice to be incumbent when coming up to an election (Nevada governor Jim Gibbons and Senator John Ensign notwithstanding), and campaign finance reports tend to show that. For example, Congressman Martin Heinrich received $6,000 from Intel's political action committee — the same company that employed Barela. The Associated Press points out, "Intel Corp.'s PAC contributed $6,000. The company is a major employer in the Albuquerque area."
    • New SunCatcher™ power system unveiled at National Solar Thermal Test Facility – July 7, 2009 – ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Stirling Energy Systems (SES) and Tessera Solar recently unveiled four newly designed solar power collection dishes at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF). Called SunCatchers™, the new dishes have a refined design that will be used in commercial-scale deployments of the units beginning in 2010.
    • www.KOB.com – APD says it’s swamped with robberies – Albuquerque police say they’re swamped with robbery cases, even though robbery cases overall are down.
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    10 Interesting Links From July 5th

    July 6th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • Risk of mad cow disease from farmed fish? | Science | Reuters – Three U.S. scientists are concern about the potential of people contracting Creutzfeldt Jakob disease — the human form of "mad cow disease" — from eating farmed fish who are fed byproducts rendered from cows.
    • Tucson rainwater harvesting law drawing interest – Under the nation's first municipal rainwater harvesting ordinance for commercial projects, Tucson developers building new business, corporate or commercial structures will have to supply half of the water needed for landscaping from harvested rainwater starting next year.
    • N.M. teenager shot in head with Taserby town’s top cop – The Denver Post – TUCUMCARI, N.M. — Authorities say a teenage girl is recovering at an Albuquerque hospital after being shot in the head with a Taser dart by Tucumcari's police chief.
    • Gizmodo – CatGenie Litter Box: The Clean Fresh Smell of Civilization’s Discontents – Catgenie review – We all know there are plenty of products that cause more problems than they solve. As a professional technologian, my job is to sift through innovations to see which ones make for an improved life, and which ones are too troublesome for their own good.

      CatGenie—pardon the pun—gives me pause.

    • The Recession and the American Airline Industry – Here is a handy guide to each airline’s pricing for additional services to help you know for what you are going to have to pay, before you buy your ticket.
    • One Confirmed Shot at Arlington Apple Store|ABC 7 News – ARLINGTON, Va. – Police in Arlington are on the scene of a shooting at an Apple Store on Clarendon Boulevard. It happened shortly after 10 a.m. at 2700 Clarendon Blvd. One person was shot and transported to a local hospital, police say.
    • www.KOB.com – Scorpions out for ‘09-10 – The Central Hockey League announced the New Mexico Scorpions will not play in the 2009-2010 season.
    • Evidence mounts that Mars was once habitable – Scientists with the University of Arizona-led Phoenix Mars Mission are publishing research today that advances the theory that water once flowed and the Red Planet was once habitable. Researchers found a lot of the basic ingredients that life needs to survive, including water in the form of ice, various minerals and a salt called perchlorate that microbes on Earth use as an energy source.
    • Ford Ranger sales are up for June – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The Ford Motor Co. sold 8.8 percent more Ford Ranger pickup trucks in June than in the same month a year ago, according to data released by the automobile manufacturer Wednesday.
    • Evidence mounts that Mars was once habitable – Scientists with the University of Arizona-led Phoenix Mars Mission are publishing research today that advances the theory that water once flowed and the Red Planet was once habitable. Researchers found a lot of the basic ingredients that life needs to survive, including water in the form of ice, various minerals and a salt called perchlorate that microbes on Earth use as an energy source.
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    10 Interesting Links From June 20th

    June 20th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • Police: Argument over better father ends in shooting – A man shot his former lover's new boyfriend in the leg early Saturday morning after the two men argued about who was a better father to the first man's son, police said.
    • Home invasion suspects tied to border group – KVOA News 4, Tucson, Arizona - – The trio are alleged to have dressed as law enforcement officers and forced their way into a home about 10 miles north of the Mexican border in rural Arivaca on May 30, wounding a woman and fatally shooting her husband and their 9-year-old daughter.

      Their motive was financial, Dupnik said.

      "The husband who was murdered has a history of being involved in narcotics and there was an anticipation that there would be a considerable amount of cash at this location as well as the possibility of drugs," Dupnik said.

      Forde is the leader of Minutemen American Defense, a small border watch group, and Bush goes by the nickname "Gunny" and is its operations director, according to the group's Web site.

    • News : Intel fined for hazardous waste – The New Mexico Environment Department fined Intel for violating the state’s hazardous waste management regulations in March.

      On March 25, NMED conducted a hazardous waste compliance evaluation inspection at Intel Corporation. Inspectors discovered that Intel failed to close several containers of universal waste lamps. Universal waste lamps are bulbs used for standard office lighting and can contain levels of mercury and lead that make them hazardous waste when disposed.

    • Growing the Poison Pepper – Boing Boing – I ordered naga jolokia pepper seeds from the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University. The naga jolokia, sometimes called the bhut jolokia, the ghost pepper, or the poison pepper, is the world's hottest chile pepper. My brother, the expert gardener, is growing them right now. These are pretty difficult to grow in Minnesota; they take forever to germinate and the drop flowers at the slightest provocation.
    • Bare-bones warning to Boulder cyclists – The Denver Post – Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner warned Thursday that police will ticket bike riders if they expose their genitals during the World Naked Bike Ride, which is planned for Saturday as a protest against oil dependency.
    • Not so windy: Research suggests winds dying down – The Denver Post – The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming—the very problem wind power seeks to address.
      The idea that winds may be slowing is still a speculative one, and scientists disagree whether that is happening. But a first-of-its-kind study suggests that average and peak wind speeds have been noticeably slowing since 1973, especially in the Midwest and the East.
    • Four Reasons Why iPhone Owners Hate AT&T – With the iPhone 3G S news now in the wild, the discussion digressed from the announcement of the 3G S itself to AT&T, the iPhone's exclusive carrier in the U.S. (at the moment). Without a doubt, this relationship is where Apple's weaknesses lie.
    • Three Things the Palm Pre Does Better Than the iPhone 3GS | Popular Science – Arguably the Pre’s biggest draw is its super-elegant multitasking schema—apps fill up “cards” as they’re launched, which you can quickly scroll through horizontally by pressing the main button, which zooms out into a “card”view. Closing apps is done by flicking it off the top of the screen, which feels great. Aside from the five icons in a quick-launch bar and those within the three drawers of the app launcher, there is no icons-on-a-desktop conceit.
    • Al Jazeera English – Europe – WHO declares H1N1 pandemic – The World Health Organisation has declared a H1N1 pandemic, the first such annoucement in more than 40 years, as infections continue to rise around the planet.
    • Atomic Warfare – Intel last week bought for $884 million Wind River Systems, a venerable embedded operating system company — yet another of the chip giant’s recent forays into software. The reason for this purchase is both simple and grand — to help Intel vertically integrate and to further its Linux ambitions. Intel’s ultimate target with this purchase is Microsoft. It’s all about kicking Redmond out of the netbook business.
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    10 Interesting Links From June 1st

    June 2nd, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: New Supercomputer Living on State Handouts – The supercomputer unveiled in January 2008 hasn't produced the kind of revenue projected. Including the purchase price, the operation has cost the state $13.8 million, but has taken in only about $300,000 in cash. Other revenue has been in the form of in-kind services.
    • Ten Vehicles That Bankrupted GM – Reasons abound for GM's bankruptcy, including legacy costs, fuel prices and the conventional wisdom of East Coast media elite, but we mustn't forget in the end it's all about the cars. And frankly, some of them really sucked. Here's the ten vehicles most responsible for driving GM into bankruptcy.
    • How To Care For Scorpions – Learn how to care for your scorpions, or learn how to keep them if you want some
    • How to Keep Your Mexican Home Free of Scorpions – Associated Content – This is not such a frightening thought since the scorpion of which I speak also runs around in the desert homes of America's southwestern states. The Bark Scorpion is the critter that causes a great deal of problems in Mexico. It kills, according to some online sites, 1000-2000 people per year in this country. There are other scorpion species that live in central Mexico, but their venom is not as potent as the dreaded and deadly Bark Scorpion.
    • The Associated Press: Haney, ‘voice of NASA’ reporter, dies of cancer – ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — Paul Haney, who was known as the "voice of NASA's Mission Control" for his live televised reports during the early years of the space program, has died of cancer. He was 80.
    • How to Keep Scorpions Out of Apartment | eHow.com – Living in the desert can be wonderful, but dealing with the scorpions, bugs and other creepy crawlies of the more arid climates can be less than pleasant. When living in the desert there are a few tips you should follow to help seal-off and rid your home of scorpions.
    • BPA gets attention from industry spinmeisters (leaked minutes) : Effect Measure – So it looks like the writing is on the wall for BPA unless the food packaging industry can reverse the trend. They can't fight it on science, so they are desperately casting about for the right set of lies. It's not easy, as we learn from these leaked minutes of a private meeting held Thursday about "potential communication/media strategies around BPA" at an exclusive Washington, DC social club (The Cosmos Club). This is a peek behind the curtain and it's not pretty. The document has been verified as authentic
    • The Ultimate Lock Picker Hacks Pentagon, Beats Corporate Security for Fun and Profit – He's a professional lock breaker, a man obsessively—perhaps compulsively—dedicated to cracking physical security systems. He doesn't play games, he rarely sees movies, he doesn't attend to plants or pets or, currently, a girlfriend. Tobias hacks locks. Then he teaches the public how to hack them, too.
    • The Ultimate Lock Picker Hacks Pentagon, Beats Corporate Security for Fun and Profit – He's a professional lock breaker, a man obsessively—perhaps compulsively—dedicated to cracking physical security systems. He doesn't play games, he rarely sees movies, he doesn't attend to plants or pets or, currently, a girlfriend. Tobias hacks locks. Then he teaches the public how to hack them, too.
    • Frugal Bachelor Was Arrested – Frugal Bachelor is a dumb ass, this weekend he went to Mexico like he does every weekend, he drove his vehicle across the international border, then found himself in bad part of town and was driving too fast, i.e. around 30 km/h; OK, maybe 40 km/h, too fast for dirt road in Mexico.
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    9 Interesting Links From May 30th

    May 31st, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • Astronauts Spot Mysterious Ice Circles in World’s Deepest Lake | Wired Science | Wired.com – Astronauts aboard the International Space Station noticed two mysterious dark circles in the ice of Russia’s Lake Baikal in April. Though the cause is more likely aqueous than alien, some aspects of the odd blemishes defy explanation.
    • Groceries for iPhone Review | Software | iPhone Central | Macworld – I don’t really get excited about single-purpose utilities for the iPhone and iPod touch. But Sophiestication Software’s Groceries app merits the excitement. It makes grocery lists easy to create, manage, and—dare I say—a little fun.
    • Pro AV Products and Providers – Lectrosonics, Inc. BUCKCHERRY ROCKS OUT WITH LECTROSONICS – Rio Rancho, NM – May 2009… Buckcherry, the Los Angeles, California-based hard rock band that achieved critical acclaim with the 2006 RIAA platinum, Grammy-nominated album 15, is back with a vengeance and touring once again in support of their latest album Black Butterfly. Consisting of Josh Todd (vocals),Xavier Muriel (drums),Jimmy Ashhurst (bass),Keith Nelson (guitar), andStevie D. (guitar), Buckcherry is in the midst of an extensive tour that has them travelling both domestically as well in Europe. No matter where the tour takes them, guitarist Stevie D. and his guitar technician Dean Mitchell rely on a wireless setup to deliver Stevie’s signature guitar sound while providing the mobility to roam freely about the stage—and for this, they count on Lectrosonics.
    • New Mac clone maker to open retail store in Calif. | Apple – CNET News – "It's exciting. We are trying to stay as close to Apple as we can with our products," Rashantha De Silva, Quo founder, told CNET News. "We are trying to mimic things as much as we can. I'm hoping that Apple sees the value in what we are doing."
    • Patients On Hookworm Therapy Swear By Treatment – cbs5.com – Musician Scott Richards and artist Debora Wade are two Bay Area patients on the hookworm treatment. Richards and Wade both suffer from an inflammatory bowel disease called Crohn's. When faced with using a parasite as therapy, both patients felt they had nothing to lose.
    • How To Tell If You Have Religious Food [Get Rich Quick] – Over the weekend, I picked through a bag of Cheetos—or "my retirement chips" as I was calling them—looking for any recognizable icons I could sell. My theory was that any average bag of Cheetos should contain at least one auction-worthy chip. I had mixed success—out of one bag, I found four recognizable icons, but only one of them was definitely religious in nature. I have emailed Frito Lay to inquire about a buy-back program, but have yet to hear from them. I'd really rather not bring eBay or PayPal into this.
    • Atlantis, crew land in Calif. after Hubble mission : NPR – Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned safely to Earth on Sunday, detouring from stormy Florida to sunsplashed California to end a 13-day mission that repaired and enhanced the Hubble Space Telescope.
    • News : Officials consider raising speeding fines – Rio Rancho Observer – Speeding over 35 miles per hour over the posted limit could net you a $459 fine, that’s more than double of the $225 fine levied now.

      Drivers going 10 miles per hour or less than the speed limit will be fined $159, opposed to $50 it now costs.

    • www.KOB.com – 4 Investigates: Swimming pool drain covers – It was a horrific accident for a 6-year-old Minnesota girl named Abagail Taylor that drew the nation's attention to pool drains.
      In 2007, the girl had 21 feet of her small intestine sucked out of her body when she sat on a kiddy pool drain.
      "You don't think about your child being disemboweled in 18 inches of water," her father, Scott Taylor, said.
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    10 Interesting Links From May 7th

    May 8th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • Two hospital projects stalled as Rio Rancho’s growth projections slip – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The announcements in May 2008 seemed to promise an embarrassment of riches – Rio Rancho would go from no hospitals to two by the end of 2010.

      Then the credit crisis froze the bond market, and by the end of the year, Presbyterian Healthcare Services’ plans were on hold. And today, although the joint hospital project of Legacy Hospital Partners Inc., of Plano, Texas, and the University of New Mexico Medical Group Inc. is not officially on hold, Legacy’s CEO is acknowledging a new reality.

    • Lost in Space | Articles | Features | Fortean Times UK – What really happened to Russia's missing cosmonauts? An incredible tale of space hacking, espionage and death in the lonely reaches of space.
    • Mooning leads to mistrial in Willcox murder case – A Cochise County judge has declared a mistrial in a murder case because the defendant's brother dropped his pants, gestured and made threatening comments in the presence of jurors.
    • Fish may actually feel pain and react to it much like humans | Science Blog – Fish don't make noises or contort their faces to show that it hurts when hooks are pulled from their mouths, but a Purdue University researcher believes they feel that pain all the same.
    • The 50 Worst Cars of All Time – The 50 Worst Cars of All Time – TIME – On the 50th anniversary of the Ford Edsel, TIME and Dan Neil, Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive critic and syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times, look at the greatest lemons of the automotive industry
    • Sony’s GPS-CS3K: Your Geotagging Best Friend… Mini-Review : Akihabara News .com – The Sony GPS-CS3K GPS tracker has a tiny display that operates in three modes: displays current coordinates in big letters, exact coordinates (not rounded values) in small letters, and the current date/time. It might take a few minutes to complete the initial positioning during the first boot after not using the device for some time.
      If the device loses a satellite it usually takes only a few seconds to re-calculate its position. The device can be placed in a pocket without any problems, it doesn't need a direct visual connection to a satellite.
    • Above And Beyond: T-Mobile Provides iPhone Support Despite Not Offering iPhone – When a system update caused service failures and bugs in T-Mobile customers' unlocked iPhones, the users emailed T-Mobile to alert them to the issue. Even though T-Mobile doesn't offer the iPhone, they fixed the bugs and gave the users a service credit for the inconvenience.
    • Narrow Side Yard Makeover! — Eden Makers Blog – I nominate “side yards” as some of the most under-exploited areas in the landscape! What a shame, especially when every square foot of real estate is valuable, even in a down economy. Small, narrow yards can be perplexing to some homeowners who don’t know which plants and trees work in a constricted space.
    • Garden Center at the Pueblo of Santa Ana – The Santa Ana Garden Center is your source for native and xeric perennials, shrubs and trees. Our plants are the natural choice for landscaping. They have evolved over centuries to survive in our unique and varied climate and are suited for low water, poor soil and high altitudes. They can be used for rock gardens, windbreaks, natural hedges, barriers or erosion control. Other uses include wildlife habitat, food and medicine, or simply to enjoy.
    • The Official Site of Rio Rancho, NM – Water Watch Program – The City of Rio Rancho participates in the Albuquerque metropolitan area WaterWatch Program. This program is part of the daily weathercast on all local news stations from April 1st through September 30th. The Water Conservation Office promotes the daily watering guide by following the day’s recommended ColorDrop (see below) as well as its own seasonal watering guide.
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    10 Interesting Links From April 25th

    April 26th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • News : Master Gardeners win national honor – Rio Rancho Observer – The garden has received the International Master Gardener Search for Excellence Award, which is a cooperative effort of the Sandoval County Master Gardeners through New Mexico State University’s Cooperative Extension program and several City of Rio Rancho departments, partnering with the Rio Grande Basin Initiative, local businesses and community volunteers.

      The award was presented on March 23 to Master Gardener Linda Poe, project coordinator, at the International Master Gardener Conference in Las Vegas, Nev.

    • The Consumerist Hive Helps You Buy A Diamond [Jewelry] – What are the things you should know when going diamond shopping? Our reader Justin needs to buy one.
    • Realtors: Existing-home sales in West up 19% in March from last year – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The West, including New Mexico, was the only part of the country to see sales of existing homes increase in March from the same month of 2008, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
    • Electronista | EU steps toward fining Intel in antitrust case – The European Union has prepared a draft decision in an ongoing antitrust case against Intel that appears to be approaching completion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter claim the EU will seek a fine against the company, although the draft can be modified as it continues through the process.
    • Thirteen year-old revealed as winner of Apple’s billion app contest | Software | Macworld – Apple on Friday revealed the name of the winner of its billion app countdown contest. It’s Connor Mulcahey, a 13 year-old who hails from Weston, Conn.
    • The Simple Dollar » Thoughts on Work, Personal Life, and Frugality – If you hate your job, today’s the day to start going frugal. Don’t go home tonight and follow the same old routine. Your future doesn’t have to be like this. Here are 100 ways to get started. Most important: when you’re tempted to spend on something unnecessary, think twice about it. Make the choice not to spend until it becomes familiar and comfortable – then use that money you’re saving to get out of debt and build yourself a future you can be happy with.
    • The GOP: divorced from reality – Los Angeles Times – By Bill Maher

      If conservatives don't want to be seen as bitter people who cling to their guns and religion and anti-immigrant sentiments, they should stop being bitter and clinging to their guns, religion and anti-immigrant sentiments.

    • Advanced Composite Structures: Flying high – New Mexico Business Weekly: – The Rio Rancho company, which makes thermoplastic air cargo boxes, reorganized operations through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy over the past two years.

      Now, it has emerged from the process with $16 million in new capital from a New York-based investment firm and a $6 million contract with Northwest Airlines.

    • Spider "Resurrections" Take Scientists by Surprise – rs in a lab twitched back to life hours after "drowning"—and the scientists were as surprised as anyone.

      The bugs, it seems, enter comas to survive for hours underwater, according to a new study.

    • Chrysler unveils new electric minivan for U.S. Postal Service duty – Chrysler is celebrating Earth Day today by unveiling the first four of what will be a fleet of 250 battery powered minivans for the US Postal Service. The U.S.P.S. will be using the vans for variety of duties at locations around the country – including daily home delivery.
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    10 Interesting Links From April 9th

    April 10th, 2009 Greg Smith No comments
    • Federal Trade Commission’s plan to change rules on ad endorsements, testimonials worries marketers — chicagotribune.com – Updated guidelines on ad endorsements and testimonials under final review by the Federal Trade Commission—and widely expected to be adopted—would end marketers' ability to talk up the extreme benefits of products while carrying disclaimers like "results not typical" or "individual results may vary."
    • News : Small store hanging in there with big boys – Rio Rancho Observer – Owner George Meyerson was asked the secret to staying in business for 20 years, especially in light of the large home-improvement stores moving into the area, not to mention a Kmart and several Wal-Marts?

      Observer '�” Gary Herron photos The silver hammer sign at True Value Hardward, at 2108 Southern Blvd SE, has been a steadying presence in Rio Rancho. The business is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a 20 percent off sale today and tomorrow.

      “The right products, reasonable prices and good service,” is his answer.

    • An old engine learns new solar-power tricks – Mar. 24, 2009 – J.D. Sitton's mission was to find a new market for a 193-year-old engine that nobody wanted. His innovative answer: turn it into a solar power collector, then persuade top auto-parts suppliers – currently eager for work – to build it.
    • Green By Design » Barefoot Dreams in the Dead of Winter – Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the radiant floor heating is that it creates not just a warm room, but an entire warm floor. The heat still rises, but it’s rising uniformly from ground zero instead of from a single fixture or a couple of vents. The result is often that rare anomaly, barefoot comfort in the dead of winter. Such systems are particularly good for homes with high ceilings, where forced-air heat often ends up where it is least needed unless the homeowner is endowed with the agility of a bat.
    • Rear Engine Front Driver – Not all of Gregory’s front wheel drive experiments were racy. This particular 1947 Gregory sedan features front wheel drive and a rear mounted engine.
    • Direct Stock Purchase Plans: A Better Way to Invest – Hundreds of companies that trade on the major stock exchanges allow you to buy shares directly from their transfer agents for very little or no money.
    • Mexico’s health insurance success offers lessons for US reforms, Lancet study suggests | Science Blog – As America considers major healthcare reforms, it may have lessons to learn from Seguro Popular, Mexico's ambitious plan to improve healthcare for its estimated 50 million uninsured citizens, suggests Ryan Moore, co-author of a study published April 8 in The Lancet, a leading international medical journal.
    • Why We Need the New York Times – When the Jayson Blair story erupted, I realized that if the Times couldn't even properly and effectively assess their own, how could they be relied upon to assess public officials and figures? It was then that I stopped buying the paper. A lot of people did. In Manhattan, copies of the New York Times often pile up everywhere.

      But lately, the alternatives seem wanting. In the Times recently was good reporting about the poor documentation of the deaths of deportation detainees by various state and federal agencies. Another article recently captured the abyss of disputed workmen's compensation cases and the endless troubles that greet those who fall into it. I don't see that on MSNBC. Frankly, I don't see that on TV at all.

    • Road Tested: Voltaic Systems Generator laptop bag – I had a chance to road test one of these incredibly cool bags for a month and was very impressed. What makes it so special? Well, it could be the big photovoltaic panel on one side of the Generator that provides 15 watts of power to feed your electronic devices. Voltaic points out that the Generator is the "first solar bag powerful enough to recharge a laptop." That panel charges an internal 58Wh Lithium Ion battery pack that can run most laptops.
    • The Road to Area 51 – Los Angeles Times – As for the guys who picked him up, they were tracked down and told to sign national security nondisclosures. As part of Collins' own debriefing, the CIA asked the decorated pilot to take truth serum. "They wanted to see if there was anything I'd for-gotten about the events leading up to the crash." The Sodium Pento-thal experience went without a hitch—except for the reaction of his wife, Jane.

      "Late Sunday, three CIA agents brought me home. One drove my car; the other two carried me inside and laid me down on the couch. I was loopy from the drugs. They handed Jane the car keys and left without saying a word." The only conclusion she could draw was that her husband had gone out and gotten drunk. "Boy, was she mad," says Collins with a chuckle.

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