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2013-05-22 12:51:08 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 11 +1s)

I've been waiting for the moment when an elected official would come out of the closet as secular. It's long overdue.

From USA TODAY

Ariz. lawmaker comes out as atheist

Admission comes as Supreme Court takes up prayers at government meetings.

http://usat.ly/193GBTc

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http://www.usatoday.com/mobile-apps

2013-05-22 12:15:59 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

In the interest of full disclosure, I used to be a trainer for Oreck.

From USA TODAY

Could Oreck be swept up by Hoover?

Competitor considers bid after family's $22 million offer in bankruptcy case.

http://usat.ly/193MaB9

Get USA TODAY on your mobile device:
http://www.usatoday.com/mobile-apps

2013-05-22 12:01:50 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

News from @AP: Restaurant learns online reviews can make or break: http://apne.ws/16NCxqV

2013-05-21 22:42:43 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

2013-05-21 22:28:50 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

2013-05-21 22:04:10 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

This High School Graduate Knows Exactly What College Is Going To Be ...

2013-05-21 19:47:32 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Kinda puts things in perspective....

2013-05-21 17:31:23 (17 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

It bugs me when people say "at 9AM this morning" or "around 7PM last night." The "AM" or "PM" takes care of that letting us know if it's morning or night. Just say one or the other, not both.

2013-05-21 17:24:26 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

2013-05-21 17:14:00 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

2013-05-21 14:56:27 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

From USA TODAY

Change Agents: A magical tricorder

Walter De Brouwer hopes his latest tech venture, Scanadu, improves the world's health.

http://usat.ly/12H5NLK

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http://www.usatoday.com/mobile-apps

2013-05-21 14:43:36 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

"It is no secret that Hollywood is trying to take down as many pirated movies as they can, but their targeting of a Creative Commons Pirate Bay documentary is something new. Viacom, Paramount, Fox and Lionsgate have all asked Google to take down links pointing to the Pirate Bay documentary TPB-AFK. But is it a secret plot to silence the voices of the Pirate Bay’s founders, or just another screw up of automated DMCA takedowns?"

2013-05-21 12:04:43 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 1 +1s)

2013-05-21 11:04:20 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

I don't understand people who worry about things they can't control. I quickly assess whether I'm able to do something or whether I'm just going to have to deal with it. If I can do something about it I figure out what I can do and do it. If I'm going to have to deal with it I figure out my options to deal with it. Worry just doesn't come into it.

2013-05-21 10:58:06 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

2013-05-21 02:30:52 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

2013-05-21 02:28:00 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

2013-05-21 01:53:20 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Congressional investigators found that some of Apple’s subsidiaries had no employees and were largely run by top officials from the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. But by officially locating them in places like Ireland, Apple was able to, in effect, make them stateless — exempt from taxes, record-keeping laws and the need for the subsidiaries to even file tax returns anywhere in the world.

Apple didn't just use tax shelters, it created fake subsidiaries. 

2013-05-21 01:23:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

I downloaded it a couple of hours ago so I haven't gotten to play with all the new features yet. 

2013-05-20 23:44:41 (1 comments, 3 reshares, 9 +1s)

Ever wondered why you can't buy cashews in the shell?

h/t +Stephanie Baca 

2013-05-20 22:25:13 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Every time we bring back an old memory, we run the risk of changing it.

2013-05-20 22:22:42 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

I've always kept the washer door open between uses. It just makes sense that something designed to hold water inside should not be allowed to hold water when you're not using it. Few household smells are worse than the funky smell of a moldy washing machine. 

2013-05-20 22:01:22 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

The laundry-soap business has a problem—it is shrinking—thanks to premeasured pod detergents from Procter & Gamble Co. and others that keep consumers from overdosing.

2013-05-20 21:56:51 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

I've said it many times but reply-to-all is evil. I prefer to pick recipients to my replies individually to avoid mishaps. I've seen far too many instances of people inadvertently sending a reply to someone in the thread who shouldn't have received it. 

2013-05-20 17:21:14 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

I had been kicking around the idea of a Yubikey for a while, but I'm pretty glad I waited now. BlurPort looks like a way better option for me. 

2013-05-20 17:11:51 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

This brief history of +BobbleFett's helmets may also be of interest.

Image sources:
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/misc/TDH_Images/fett_helmet_history.png <--- Full size version
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f23/fett-helmet-history-24684/ <--- Original post

#BobaFett

2013-05-20 17:03:02 (6 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

2013-05-20 17:00:10 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-05-20 16:52:57 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Getting some lunch before the rain hits. Pretty decent philly.

2013-05-20 15:30:57 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

From USA TODAY

Justices to rule on government prayers

The Supreme Court will consider the legality of offering prayers at government meetings.

http://usat.ly/18YlOR9

Get USA TODAY on your mobile device:
http://www.usatoday.com/mobile-apps

2013-05-20 15:23:04 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

In what can only be called an exodus, WordPress’ co-founder Matt Mullenweg posted on his blog Sunday night that over 72,000 new blog posts were imported within a single hour. This is a massive spike considering that #WordPress usually just sees 400 to 600 imported posts on most Sundays. It’s a tiny percentage of Tumblr’s 50.9B posts but it’s an important consideration that #Tumblr – and now Yahoo – cannot ignore. WordPress is likely going to be the largest benefactor of Tumblr’s exodus. As Mullenweg notes, the two services have long enjoyed a close relationship. It only takes a few clicks to import a Tumblr site to a WordPress install.

2013-05-20 12:34:37 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

2013-05-20 10:15:08 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

I've never head this one before but find it quite fitting:

The opposite of jump the shark, i.e. when a TV show goes from unspectacular/boring/outlandish to completely awesome. It references Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was unspectacular until season 2, when Commander Riker grew a beard. The show kicked ass from then on.

"Man, Dollhouse really pulled a Riker's Beard last week with that awesome episode."

2013-05-20 00:38:26 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

So what does Mitch know that doesn't agree with what the conservative pundits have been trying to say?

2013-05-19 17:18:08 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

I'm fascinated by people who are profoundly religious (or at least claim to be) yet are quite foul-mouthed and naughty in thoughts and deeds. How do they reconcile this? Is the religiosity just for outward appearances? Do they feel a social obligation to show up in their house of worship on the designated day and to profess belief in their deity of choice? I prefer to be myself 7 days a week. It requires far less effort and I don't have to feel like I'm faking it.  

2013-05-19 17:09:36 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Despite running my a/c considerably more in this billing cycle than I ever ran my heat during the winter months my power bill was less than expected. I guess it really does cost less to cool a space than to heat it. It's just that in the Deep South we have to run the a/c a lot more than we have to use the heater so the summer power bills are usually quite high. At first in my apartment I kept my a/c at 72° until I saw that was resulting in power bills near $200 a month. I decided that was unreasonable so I settled on maintaining a temperature of 78° and it dropped the power bill significantly. 

2013-05-19 14:00:36 (0 comments, 3 reshares, 12 +1s)

2013-05-19 05:51:21 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-05-19 05:23:38 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

So how do I place a phone call with the new Hangouts? There's no telephone icon anymore.

2013-05-19 02:47:55 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

2013-05-19 02:29:09 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

#squirrelsaturday

2013-05-19 02:24:18 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Writer's Distractions - First Star Trek Enterprise to Fly in Space

it's been a big month for Canadians and space. First Commander Chris Hadfield released his Major Tom video and returned to Earth, now Steve Schnier has launched the Enterprise into space.

http://www.fictionimprobable.com/blog/2013/5/18/writers-distractions-first-star-trek-enterprise-to-fly-in-space

2013-05-19 00:46:10 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

I really don't understand Paramount's aim of making the first J. J. Abrams Star Trek movie unavailable for streaming on Netflix right as Star Trek Into Darkness comes out. Are they trying to drive traffic to purchase the DVD instead? Why is it available on Amazon for streaming but not Netflix? What is their strategy?

2013-05-18 22:10:37 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

It looks like the Hurricane Sandy victims are facing the same questions and problems that affected the Hurricane Katrina victims along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Does no one ever ask these types of questions after a flood, earthquake, or tornado?

2013-05-18 21:15:59 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

I'm watching Orphan Black finally.

2013-05-18 20:43:33 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

2013-05-18 20:40:32 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Everybody hates galleries when trying to view a web page, so why do site designers insist on using them? I don't want to have to flip through 17 pages of your gallery. I want everything on a single page that I can scroll down and read. Ditch the galleries already or give us the option of single-page view or gallery view.

2013-05-18 20:26:08 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

I don't think most businesses realize how quickly a public relations nightmare can escalate through social media. Time and again I see businesses finally apologize for missteps days or weeks later instead of immediately when they occur. I've seen tales of businesses deleting comments or deleting entire posts as a way to handle a crisis instead of getting out there and proactively dealing with things. The transition from simply being able to issue a press release to actually dealing with clients and the media seems to be a rough one that businesses can't grasp easily. I'm increasingly convinced that this change is a good thing, but sometimes the change is ugly to watch. 

2013-05-18 20:14:49 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

Police were called after Star Wars fans clashed with Doctor Who fans at a science fiction convention in Norwich. The two rival groups were advised to "keep out of each other's way": http://bbc.in/13xpBSY

2013-05-18 20:13:57 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Matt Smith Confirms Himself for Doctor Who Series 8 & 2014

Many people were saying Matt Smith was leaving with the 2013 Christmas Episode but Matt Smith himself puts that rumor to rest. 

In an interview from Saturday’s edition of The Sun’s TV Magazine, Smith says: “I’m on a break for a couple of months while I’m in Detroit making How To Catch A Monster.”

“We come back and shoot the Christmas special over the summer, then we go on to the next series, which will either start filming at the end of this year or at the start of 2014.”

VERY good news indeed.

#doctorwho   #mattsmith