Tuesday, October 16, 2012

A Four-Sun Planetary Find

Yesterday night, researchers meeting in Reno, Nevada, at the annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society presented their discovery of a four-sun planet.  A circumbinary planet is one that orbits two suns.  Only six other circumbinary planets are known to exist.  "Citizen scientists" Robert Gagliano and Kian Jek combed through data from NASA's $600 million Kepler telescope and coordinated their findings with Yale astronomers to find the first known quadruple-sun system.  This rare planet is a little bigger than Neptune, with a radius about six times greater than Earth.  It is now known as PH1 (short for Planet Hunters 1), taking its name from the online citizen science project behind its discovery.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Fattening Cows on Candy

According to a CNN article, the rising cost of corn is driving thrifty farmers to turn to alternative sources of feed for their livestock.  Food products such as chocolate bars, gummy worms, ice cream sprinkles, marshmallows, bits of hard candy, crumbled cookies, breakfast cereal, trail mix, dried cranberries, orange peelings and even powdered hot chocolate mix are being used as more economical alternative feeds.  These are typically blended with more traditional forms of feed, like hay.

The sugar, providing the same kind of energy as the corn it is replacing, helps fatten the cows and increase milk production without any known ill effect to the cow or human consumers of its milk or meat.

Candy is not alone in its use as a substitute feed.  A wide assortment of other byproducts, including cherry juice, fish meal, peanut butter, fruit fillings, tapioca and left-over grain from distilleries, also often find their way into the diet of livestock as a cost-saving measure.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Colorful Honey

A LiveScience.com article, today, reports on the results of honey bees attracted to colorful sugary waste rather than wildflowers for nectar.

Near Ribeauvillé, France, local bees have acquired a taste for processed sugars at a biogas plant that processes waste from a nearby Mars chocolate factory, where M&M candies are made.  With dyes from the processed sugars turning their honey blue and green, though, the beekeepers can't sell their honey.  Apparently it still tastes like honey, but they consider it something completely different.  The planned solution is to keep the waste M&Ms better contained so that the bees can no longer get to them.

Watch for "designer" honey products based on this principle in the future.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Facebook Reaches 1 Billion User Mark

Facebook has reached another major milestone.  Today, a CNN Money article reports on co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's announcement that the social media site now helps over one billion users connect.    This means that it is used by one of every seven people on the planet.

Much of their recently added user community is from Asia and the developing world.  While now less than 20% of Facebook's users live in the U.S. and Canada, however, those users still account for 48% of the $992 million in advertising revenue that Facebook took in last quarter.

One of Facebook's future focus areas will be the growing mobile market.  Half of Facebook's users access the site at least once a month through mobile devices.  102 million users (roughly 10% of total) only use Facebook's mobile site.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Moo for a Potential Milk Allergy Solution

A Health.com article on Monday reports that scientists in New Zealand have cloned a genetically modified, tail-less calf that produces milk containing no detectable levels of beta-lactoglobulin (BLG), the protein that is believed to trigger allergic reactions. Additionally, the hypoallergenic milk from this calf appears to be even more nutritious than regular cow’s milk, as it contains double the amount of the healthy milk proteins known as caseins.

So far, though, no genetically modified animals or animal products have been sold for food.  The nearest example is a patent-protected salmon containing genes from two other fish species that enable it to grow faster, but that fish has yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Search For Hoffa Reaches Another Dead End

The latest lead on the whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa's remains is another bust.  Recently, a tipster claimed to have seen a body buried in the yard of a home in suburban Detroit the day after Hoffa disappeared in 1975. Today, two soil samples taken from that property showed no evidence of human remains.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Red Lobster Revamping Menu

According to a Fox News article today, popular seafood chain Red Lobster is planning changes to its menu by the middle of the month.  It will be increasing the number of lower cost entrees (less than $15) to appeal to customers cutting back on spending. Items in this price range represent about 40 percent of the current menu selections. This proportion will be increased to about 60 percent.

A quarter of the new menu will be non-seafood dishes, up from 8 percent and will include a Parmesan-crusted Chicken Alfredo and Pork chops.  Roasted Vegetable Skewers will represent the first vegetarian entree that isn’t salad or pasta.  For those who want to go light, the Island Grilled Mahi-Mahi and Shrimp is only 510 calories.  There are now three salads, including the Bar Harbor Salad, which has dried berries, pecans and blue cheese.

A new ‘‘Four-Course Feast’’ that comes with a soup, salad, entree and dessert will be offered for $15.99.  For those who want to splurge, the NY Strip Steak & Rock Lobster Tail will still be available for $32.99.

Friday, September 28, 2012

National Drink Beer Day

Today is National Drink Beer Day, an annual “holiday” dedicated to beer lovers and beer connoisseurs across America.  If you were thinking about grabbing a few cold ones with friends, this is the perfect excuse.

A Wikipedia entry on "Beer in the United States" claims that he U.S. produced 196 million barrels of beer in 2009, and consumes roughly 20 gallons of beer per capita annually.  Beer  is the most popular alcoholic beverage in America and accounts for roughly 85% of the volume of alcoholic beverages sold.

Ain't the beer cold! ... Enjoy the holiday!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Google Maps Now Underwater

The street view feature on Google Maps now lets you explore under the water. Specifically, you can currently digitally investigate six ocean coral reefs using the popular Google tool.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Still Too Fat to Fight

A USA Today article this week summarizes some of the results contained in a report released by Mission: Readiness, a group of more than 300 retired generals and admirals.  In 2010, the group released a report titled "Too Fat to Fight."  This follow-up, called "Still Too Fat to Fight," contains some sobering facts about child obesity in America.

Apparently, three-quarters of those ages 17 to 24, cannot serve in the military.  A quarter of them are simply too overweight or obese.  Others don't have a high school diploma, have criminal records, or suffer from other health problems.  Additionally, many accepted recruits must be diverted to special training to address inadequate physical fitness before they can even begin basic training.  The group considers childhood obesity not only as a health crisis but also a national security issue.

The retired-military group is urging the government to move quickly in updating nutritional standards for all food served in schools (including those sold in a la carte lines, vending machines and stores).

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The ROI of a College Degree

A Fox Business article, last Friday, evaluates the long-term worth of earning a college degree.

While college graduates typically out-earn those with just high-school diplomas, the difference is highly dependent upon the specific career field.  For workers such as such as electricians, janitors and postal service mail carriers, there's actually no difference.  In a few job categories, such as carpentry, college graduates may actually have lower lifetime earnings.

Regardless of the choice of career and major, though, a four-year degree still hones leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and the ability to see a long-term task through from beginning to end.  Sometimes, a degree can represent a level of credibility or help get your foot in the door.  Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell provide examples of those who built impressive empires without degrees.  Of Fortune 500 CEOs, however, 93% have bachelor's degrees and 50% have graduate degrees.  

The following career choices provide some examples where a college degree provides a seven figure advantage in median lifetime earnings:
     Chief executive officers and legislators: $1.9 million
     Securities, commodities, financial services sales agents:  $1.5 million
     Financial manager:  $1.3 million
     Miscellaneous manager:  $1.3 million
     Models, demonstrators, and product promoters:  $1.3 million
     Marketing and sales managers:  $1.3 million
     Salespeople in wholesale and manufacturing:  $1.3 million
     First-line managers and supervisors (non-retail):  $1.2 million
     General and operations managers:  $1.1 million
     Construction management:  $1.1 million

Monday, September 24, 2012

Memory Mysteries

A CNN Health article last week reported the findings of a study published recently in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Anyone who's tried hard to remember something knows that repetition helps.  The more times you retrieve a memory, the longer you will remember it.

The problem is that every time we retrieve a memory, we might forget, add, or slightly change small parts of it.  Apparently, the next time we recall the information we remember what we remembered incorrectly.  This is similar to the game of "telephone" we played as kids, where a message is passed from person to person via whisper.  When the last person indicates what he or she heard, it is usually much different than what was first communicated (the cumulative effect of small changes made as the message is relayed from person to person).

One theory is that our brain has an access problem. Each time we remember something, our brain creates a new item similar to the first and stores it up front. When we go to grab that memory again, we grab the one that's easiest to access (the most recent version).

The other theory is that our brain has a storage problem.  Every time we access a memory, we might lose part of it and/or alter it slightly.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Text Neck

According to this CNN article, your smartphone may be a serious pain in the neck.  The average human head weighs 10 pounds in a neutral position (when your ears are over your shoulders). When you use a mobile device, however, it is probably likely that your head is tilted forward and your shoulders are curved. For every inch you tilt your head forward, though, the pressure on your spine doubles. So if you're looking at a smartphone in your lap, your neck is holding up what likely feels like 20 or 30 pounds and is putting a lot of extra pressure on your spine, possibly leading to muscle strain, disc herniations and pinched nerves. Over time, it can even flatten or reverse the natural curve of your neck.

Now there is even a Text Neck Indicator app to tell you whether or not you are holding your phone at a viewing angle putting you at risk for text neck.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Best and Worst Airline Seats

A FOX News article back in April provided the results of a Skyscanner.com airline passenger poll on seat preferences. Apparently, the best (or at least most sought after) seat is 6A.  This up-front window seat seems to represent the best compromise between comfort and safety.

As passengers board and de-plane from the front of the plane, 45% of passengers prefer the first few rows.  Middle seats over the wings also ranked high in the survey because some claim that location may limit the effects of turbulence somewhat.

By contrast, the worst rated seat (the one nobody wanted) was 31E, a middle seat near the rear of the aircraft.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Worrisome Ice Cap Melt Patterns

An arstechnica.com article, today, explains that while Arctic ice is melting much faster than scientists predicted, Antarctic sea ice is actually expanding.

Yesterday, the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced that the Arctic melt season was probably over and the Arctic Sea area with at least 15% sea ice will reach a record low point of about 3.41 million square kilometers.  That is about half of the typical low point observed in the 1980-2000 era and about 750,000 square kilometers less than the previous low set in 2007.  Actually, though, every year since 2007 has seen unusually strong summer melts. The six lowest seasonal minimum ice extents have all occurred in the last six years.

In the Antarctic, however, sea ice is expanding. Warming waters in the Southern Ocean are producing increased snow.  This contributes to keeping existing ice cold and adds to the glaciers that feed floating ice sheets. It also creates a layer of fresh water that stays on the surface, insulating the ice from warmer ocean waters below. The result is an ice sheet that is growing despite the warming climate (at least until the point that warming causes more of the moisture to start falling as rain).

The article points out that the Earth's two poles have radically different behavior, at least in part due to the fact that one is an ocean that is largely surrounded by land, while the other is a continent surrounded by ocean.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

2011 Seafood Haul Is Largest in 17 Years

A CNNMoney article highlights some of the results from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report released today.  It indicates that last year was very productive for America's commercial fishermen.  They landed 10.1 billion pounds of fish and shellfish valued at $5.3 billion. That's an increase of 1.9 billion pounds and more than $784 million from 2010 and represents the biggest catch for U.S. fishermen since 1994.

Globally, though, seafood trade volumes and values hit new highs in 2011 and even with the improved catch last year, the U.S. still imported about 91% of their seafood.  In 2010, the U.S. was responsible for roughly 3% of the global seafood catch.  By comparison, China provided 35%, India supplied 6% and Indonesia brought in 5%.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Scarce Spider Suspends San Antonio Highway Project

Earlier this week, a San Antonio Express-News article by Colin McDonald explains why the unearthing of a cave containing a rare Braken Bat Cave meshweaver spider (Cicurina venii) has halted construction efforts on a $15.1 million San Antonio area highway project to build an underpass for Texas 151 to go beneath Loop 1604.

The spider was believed to be extinct. In fact, the only place it has previously been sighted is at Braken Bat Cave, a few miles from the construction site, but that was 30 years ago. Now, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) found a second one, by accident.

The limestone caves below Bexar County, Texas, house species that have been separated from our above-ground environment for so long that they have evolved into very unique critters. While the discovered species is closely related to eight other spider species in Bexar County, and others that live across Central Texas, the different varieties all have different internal organs and no-one is sure why.

Compliance with the Endangered Species Act will require one of two possible approaches. If uncovering the cave has not significantly affected the feeding, breeding or sheltering behavior of the spider, officials may change plans for the new highway interchange so the cave will be left unharmed. If the cave is damaged or a change in plans is not feasible, another cave with the same species of meshweaver must be found so that it can be protected elsewhere.

The majority of people probably wonder why all of this fuss over a silly spider.  Scientists argue that, while we don't know what we could learn from it, it could be a lot.  Once it is gone, however, that is irreversible and we may never know what we have lost.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Mobile Phone Service a Top Priority

A recent cellular-news article reports that more than one in five (21%) of American mobile phone owners pay more for the phone service to support their mobile communication needs than they do for groceries.  Nearly half of Americans (46%) pay at least $100 per month and 13% pay at least $200 per month in cellular phone service charges.  Spending on Internet service is less than phone service for 71% of households.  57% spend less on cable TV service.  33% spend less on basic utilities (e.g., water, gas, and electric).

Friday, September 14, 2012

Bacon Bits

Earlier this week, Fox News published an article laying out The Truth About Bacon.  On the bad side, 68 percent of bacon's calories come from fat and almost half of the fat is saturated (artery-clogging).  Cured bacon also contains nitrates that have been linked with cancer. A single strip of bacon can contain up to 3.5 grams of fat, 150mg of sodium, and 7mg cholesterol.  On the good side, pork bacon is high in protein, vitamins and minerals, including B6, B12, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc, as well as choline, a nutrient which helps improve cognitive performance, memory, mood and mental alertness.

Their tips for enjoying bacon in a healthier manner are:
     - Moderation (stick to small servings)
     - Blot extra grease off to lower fat intake
     - Avoid adding extra salt or other high sodium seasonings
     - Consider healthier alternatives, such as:
          * Turkey Bacon
          * Bacon Flavored Salt
          * Canadian Bacon
          * Meatless Bacon Substitutes
          * Uncured Bacon

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Bacon Number Featured By Google

The actor Kevin Bacon once claimed that he had worked with everyone in Hollywood. The Kevin Bacon Game (or Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon - after the phrase: six degrees of separation) is all about testing this claim. A celebrity's "Bacon Number" represents the smallest number of "connections" linking him or her to Kevin Bacon. Google Search has now added a "Bacon Number" feature based on their Knowledge Graph, a 'map' of real-world people, entities, and the connections between them.

To use it, simply type the words "Bacon number" (without quotes), followed by the name of a celebrity, as a search entry and it will return a result indicating how closely he or she is connected to Kevin Bacon.

Check it out.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Bypassing Banks

A CNN article, today, reports that, according to survey results released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, about 8.2% of U.S. households, or nearly 10 million, lack a bank account. That's up from 7.7%, or about 9 million households, in 2009. About 33% indicate that this is because they don't have enough money to open and fund a bank account. Banks are also tending to push out unprofitable customers with the decline of free checking and fees that impact customers unable to meet minimum balance requirements and/or who may be chronic over-drafters. While some don't need or want an account and primarily use cash, one in four households have used at least one form of alternative financial service (money order, check cashing service, tax refund anticipation loan, pawn shop, money-transfer service, payday loan, etc.) and about 12% of households have used one of these products in the past 30 days.  Unfortunately, the high cost of some of these alternative financial services can take a toll over the long term.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Omega-3 Supplement Effects In Question

Perhaps not too surprisingly, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that taking fish oil pills rich in omega-3 fatty acids doesn't appear to have a significant effect on heart attacks, strokes or death.

A USA Today article quotes Richard Karas, director of the preventive cardiology center at Tufts Medical Center in Boston with his perspective that:
Time and time again research shows that a diet rich in a certain vitamin or nutrient is beneficial. But then people think if you take a pill containing that ingredient, you'll be healthier. It doesn't work that way.
and
The message Americans may not want to hear is that eating healthy foods, not taking pills, is what helps heart health.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Fantasy Football's Toll on Worker Productivity

The NFL season is again upon us and, according to a millionairecorner.com article, fantasy football may cost American employers upwards of $6.5 billion.  This is based on an estimated 22.3 million employees spending an hour adjusting their line-ups and rosters each week over the course of the duration of the 15-week fantasy season.  As the average hourly wage of American workers is $19.33, the math results in a weekly cost of $430.9 million or $6.46 billion over the course of the entire season.

Fantasy football is played by about 75 percent of all fantasy sports participants.  Market research indicates that there are 70 million free and paid leagues and that players spend up to nine hours a week on their teams.

Some believe that the impact, however, is negligible or even positive.  John A. Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. states that. “Employers will not see any impact on their bottom line and, for the most part, business will proceed as usual." He adds that, “Companies that not only allow workers to indulge in fantasy football, but actually encourage it by organizing company leagues are likely to see significant benefits in morale as well as productivity,”

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Philly Now Boasts World's First Pizza Museum

Pizza Brain, in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, is now the world’s first pizza museum and "home to the world’s largest collection of pizza-memorabilia" (apparently according to the Guinness Book of World Records).  There is also an "artisan pizzeria" attached.  According to a post, from July, by Elizabeth Fiedler to the NPR food blog "The Salt, it is the brainchild of 27-year-old Brian Dwyer, who is apparently so into pizza that he has a tattoo on his back of a drawing of himself holding a slice and saying "Totally Saucesome."

Friday, September 7, 2012

Text Your Emergency?

In a press release earlier this week, AT&T announced that it will launch a trial of a new text-to-911 service in Tennessee.  Last August, the Federal Communications Commission announced plans for the ability to send texts, photos, and videos to emergency call center operators.  This was inspired by the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech, when students tried to send emergency text messages that the emergency call centers were unable to receive.  This test is a precursor to a nationwide launch.  Verizon is also working on a similar capability.  New York City's 911/311 system was upgraded back in 2008 to accept photos and videos.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Microsoft Bing vs. Google Search

Microsoft has challenged Google to the "blind taste test" of search engines.  In an online study, Microsoft indicates that nearly 1000 people participated in a test where participants were shown the main web search results pane (with all branding removed) of both Bing and Google for ten search queries of their choice.  The results were: 57.4% chose Bing more often, 30.2% chose Google more often, and 12.4 % resulted in a draw.  The Microsoft bumper sticker, then, is: "people chose Bing web search results over Google nearly 2:1."  If you would like to try something similar, check out http://www.bingiton.com.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Dems to Bypass Balloons

CNN reports that President Obama's acceptance speech tomorrow night will be moved from the outdoor Bank of America football stadium to an indoor venue at Time Warner Arena due to weather concerns.  Democratic Party officials have apparently also announced that the concluding festivities will not include the traditional balloon drop.  They do promise, however, that it will still be festive.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Its a New NFL Season: Broadcasting Adjustments Announced

On the eve of the NFL season opener tomorrow night in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a USA TODAY article by Michael Hiestand provides a run-down of network broadcasting changes:

CBS
Neal ElAttrache, an orthopedic surgeon (operated on Tom Brady in 2008) joins the team as a medical analyst.

Reporter Jason La Canfora, replaces Charley Casserly.

FOX
Michael Strahan will remain, juggling with his role as the new Regis.

Comedian Rob Riggle replaces Frank Caliendo.

Former coach Mike Martz and ex-fullback Heath Evans replace Jim Mora and Chad Pennington as game analysts.

Erin Andrews will do pre-taped NFL features until Thanksgiving, when she will move to an NFL sideline reporter position.

Fox telestrators will include graphic features to identify highlighted players.

NBC
Former Steeler Hines Ward will become a pre-game analyst.

ESPN
Jon Gruden and Mike Tirico will cover Monday Night Football as a two-person booth.  Ron Jaworski will move to various studio shows.

Brian Dawkins (B-Dawk) will be added as a studio analyst.

Bill Parcells will appear on Sunday pre-game shows.

Matt Light, Jason Taylor, and Bill Polian join the network as analysts.  Kordell Stewart and John Ritchie will no longer provide their analysis.

Chris Berman's Sunday highlights will be moved to late Sunday SportsCenter and will be replaced on Monday night with an NFL Films produced game-day audio feature.  Berman will also call his first live regular season action with Trent Dilfer on the second half of the Monday Night double-header for the opening week of the season.

NFL Network
Adds "First on the Field" show, beginning Sunday coverage at 7 a.m. ET.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Voicemail - A Technology in Tailspin

In the not so distant past, voicemail was a cornerstone of everyday communication management.  A USA TODAY article, however, reports that on Vonage, the number of voice messages left is down 8% from a year ago and the number of messages retrieved is down 14% from a year ago.  Texting and instant chat technologies are generally preferred by many and voice mail transcription services that convert messages for email or text delivery allow users to bypass the standard voicemail system prompts that require the messages to be processed in chronological order.  I guess this is in-line with the trend away from voice communications in general (i.e., a preference for text or chat over voice calls), particularly with younger communicants.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Do You Live In One Of America's Funniest Named Towns?

Reader's Digest humor editor, Andy Simmons crafted 24 of the funniest American town names into a cute story.  Are you familiar with any of these locales:
     1.  Boring, Oregon
     2.  Why, Arizona
     3.  Whynot, Mississippi
     4.  Disco, Tennessee
     5.  Loafers Glory, North Carolina
     6.  Handsome Eddy, New York
     7.  Loveladies, New Jersey
     8.  Husband, Pennsylvania
     9.  Sweet Lips, Tennessee
    10.  Lonelyville, New York
    11.  The Bottle, Alabama
    12.  Condemned Bar, California
    13.  Cranky Corner, Louisiana
    14.  Hell, Michigan
    15.  Oatmeal, Texas
    16.  Sandwich, Massachusetts
    17.  Pie Town, New Mexico
    18.  Greasy, Oklahoma
    19.  Lick Skillet, Tennessee
    20. Brilliant, Ohio
    21.  Do Stop, Kentucky
    22. Wealthy, Texas
    23. Fame, West Virginia
    24. Happyland, Oklahoma

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Cook Dinner In Your Dishwasher?

A DishwashersInfo.com piece by Tyler Wells Lynch lists "6 Unconventional Uses for your Dishwasher."  The first suggestion is to use your dishwasher as a steamer to cook fish filets.  It suggests that running a sealed package of seasoned filets through an entire cycle (dry cycle included) sans detergent can produce a tasty steamed seafood entree for your dinner table.

Not surprisingly, a dishwasher can be used to clean more than dishes.  Baseball caps, footwear, tools, toys, sponges, etc.can all be expertly cleaned in one of our favorite kitchen appliances.  I was surprised, however, to learn that a packet of Lemonade flavored Kool-Aid can be used in the detergent dispenser to clean deposits and stains when the dishwasher itself gets dirty.

Monday, August 13, 2012

U.S. Grades for Gridlock

A recent CarConnection.com article (May 24, 2012) reports that Inrix, a provider of traffic data and information, identified Honolulu, Hawaii, as the U.S. city with the worst traffic.  The following list contains their rankings, along with the hours wasted by the average driver in that city because of traffic congestion:
     1)  Honolulu – 58 hours
     2)  Los Angeles – 56 hours
     3)  San Francisco – 48 hours
     4)  New York – 57 hours
     5)  Bridgeport, CT – 42 hours
     6)  Washington, D.C. – 45 hours
     7)  Seattle – 33 hours
     8)  Austin – 30 hours
     9)  Boston - 35 hours
     10) Chicago – 32.8 hours

L.A. drivers, however, have little to fear.  Checking out the INRIX scorecard for more recent data indicates that the City of Angels may be competing to reclaim its crown.

Many drivers from other traffic hampered cities, however, might not have much empathy for having to endure a few extra wasted hours behind the wheel on an island paradise or in sunny southern California.

The good news for all of us is that overall congestion was down 30 percent in 2011 from the previous year.

One last interesting (although not surprising) traffic tidbit is that nationally, the worst morning commute occurs on Tuesday, while the worst evening commute is on Friday.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Exceptional Elevators


A USA Today article lists ten top elevator destinations:
  • The Deep (Hull, England) - The world's only underwater elevator.
  • Space Needle (Seattle) - Space capsule shaped high-speed elevator cars service this former centerpiece of a World's Fair.
  • Christ the Redeemer Monument (Rio de Janeiro) - New whisper-quiet elevators now carry guests to the base of this inspirational statue. 
  • Burj Khalifa (Dubai) - The world's fastest elevators, which travel nearly 2,000 feet per minute, zip visitors to the top of the world's tallest building. 
  • Newseum (Washington, D.C.) - Six-story glass-walled elevators offer a memorable bay-window view of a 90-foot-tall atrium and the sights along Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue. 
  • Eiffel Tower (Paris) - Customized elevators, designed to climb up the monument's curved legs, are an engineering marvel, 
  • Luxor Hotel (Las Vegas) – Sixteen elevators climb to the top of the pyramid-shaped building at a 39-degree angle. 
  • Empire State Building (New York) - The so-called "robot elevators" of this 1931 art deco building amazed the public because they were among the first that visitors could summon by pushing a button. Otis is now installing a new energy-efficient elevator system that generates electricity as it works, much like a hybrid car. 
  • The Biltmore (Asheville, N.C.) - George Vanderbilt's extraordinary mountain mansion was the first building in the region to have an elevator. With ornate metalwork and brass fixtures, it is one of the oldest operating systems around. 
  • CN Tower (Toronto) – An express elevator for the tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere takes guests, in glass-door cars, to an observation deck 1,136 feet above Canada's largest city in less than a minute.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Mobility on Mars

Today, NASA successfully landed a large and sophisticated mobile laboratory on Mars.  While true that it was two years later than planned and $900 million over budget, this represents one of the few successes in Mars landings (70% of previous missions to Mars have ended in failure). NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden compares the challenge of Mars expeditions to launching something from Kennedy Space Center and having it land in the Rose Bowl, on the 50-year-line, on a Frisbee.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Five of Six Apollo Mission Flags Still Flying

According to a USA Today article, high resolution cameras orbiting the moon have located all but one of the American flags planted by Apollo mission astronauts.  The single exception is that from the very first human moon landing (Apollo 11), back in 1969.  This makes sense, however, as Buzz Aldrin remembers that flag being blown over from the rocket blast when they launched from the moon's surface.  In addition to the flags, photos also reveal tracks made by lunar rovers and equipment left behind, including backpacks jettisoned by astronauts. Images taken of the Apollo 17 site show the astronauts' foot trails.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

NFL Stadium Ratings

With the NFL season soon upon us, away.com provides their stadium rankings.  I'm not sure my list would match theirs, but here is the ordering they came up with:

     1.  Lambeau Field, Green Bay Packers
     2.  CenturyLink Field, Seattle Seahawks
     3.  Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
     4.  Ford Field, Detroit Lions
     5.  Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland Browns
     6.  Gillette Stadium, New England Patriots
     7.  Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia Eagles
     8.  Cowboys Stadium, Dallas Cowboys
     9.  Candlestick Park, San Francisco 49ers
    10. The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans Saints


Thursday, July 12, 2012

I Wouldn't Want That Phone Bill

AT&T is apparently dropping its attempts to collect a $1M phone bill from Michael Smith of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who says someone hacked into his company's phone system in 2009 and made nearly $900,000 in calls to Somalia. AT&T originally sued Smith for $1.15 million to recover the cost of the calls plus interest, but, on Monday, announced their intent to drop pursuit of this claim.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Moon #5 For Pluto

A team of scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope has now discovered another tiny moon belonging to Pluto. This mini-moon is estimated to be up to 15 miles across, smaller than the one that scientists spotted last year, which is up to 21 miles wide. The dwarf planet's largest moon, Charon, is about 650 miles across. Pluto's known moon count is now five. Until the newly found moon gets a name, though, it will be known as P5.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

NFL Arrests More Likely in, say, Jacksonville or Kansas City?

Today, on thebiglead.com, a Jason Lisk post points out a negative correlation between the size of a market and the arrest numbers for their NFL teams.  For instance, the Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos claim the three highest totals (in that order).  By contrast, the two New York franchises (Jets and Giants) are at the bottom of the list.  Apparently, the mathematical correlation between metro area population size and number of arrests since 2000 is -0.39. While this number may not be that meaningful to most, he also presents the data in a couple different fashions. For instance, here are the average arrest totals since 2000, based on metropolitan area population size:
  • Top ten markets (New York, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Bay Area): 14.2 arrests per team
  • Middle ten markets (Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, Denver, Pittsburgh): 20.1 arrests per team
  • Bottom ten markets (Cincinnati, Cleveland, Kansas City, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Nashville, Jacksonville, New Orleans, Buffalo, Green Bay): 23.2 arrests per team
Similarly, the arrest averages by region were:
  • North 22.4
  • Southeast 22.4
  • Midwest 20.4 
  • Pacific 16.0
  • Northeast 13.2
He also points out, however, that not all arrests are equal (e.g., the Northeastern teams had more gun related offenses, and drug offenses) and that there are a lot of factors that these statistics may oversimplify. All said, this may not be very meaningful, but it is kind of interesting.

Monday, July 9, 2012

CSI Technology = Cleaner Hotel Rooms?

In response to what it says is travelers' insistence on cleanliness, Best Western recently announced a new housekeeping initiative, which incorporates ultraviolet lights to detect biological matter otherwise unseen by the human eye, and ultraviolet light wands to sanitize unclean items.  Pillows and blankets will be wrapped in single-use covers and possibly the dirtiest object in your room — the TV remote control — designed specifically to allow for disinfection. They have invested anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million in the new program to roll it out in 700 Best Western properties. All North American Best Western hotels are expected to be compliant by year end.

Friday, July 6, 2012

It Really Has Been Hot

Nationwide, more than 4,500 record high daily temperatures have been set in the past 30 days, according to the National Climatic Data Center.  Since June 23, scores of cities have been the hottest they've ever been, on any day ever recorded (e.g., 107 in Colorado Springs, 109 in Nashville and 106 in Atlanta). In Washington, the thermometer has gone past 95 degrees for nine straight days -- the longest such streak since modern record-keeping began.

Thankfully, there may be a little relief to the discomfort and danger on the horizon. A cold front should move across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes tomorrow, and then into Ohio and the Northeast by Sunday, bringing significantly cooler air with it.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Ancient Agua

According to a U.S. Geological Survey report, some of the water underneath Maryland is more than a million years old.  This is the first such ancient groundwater discovered along the Atlantic coast.

Apparently, water flowed from the land surface into the deep Upper Patapsco aquifer during cooler periods in our earth's history, when glaciers covered much of the northeastern U.S. and sea level was about 125 meters lower than it is today. Today, however, even this deep aquifer, which provides freshwater for the region east of Washington and Baltimore, may not meet future needs.

Worldwide, there aren't many aquifers containing million-year-old groundwater.   The Alberta Basin in Canada, the Nubian aquifer in the Sahara Desert, and the Great Artesian Basin in Australia are other examples.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

A Fish With Choppers

In Lake Lou Yeager near Litchfield, Illinois, fish with teeth are being found. A fisherman caught one back on June 7th and now there are claims another was hooked ten days ago.  Apparently, these fish have been identified as Pacu, which live in the Amazon basin. Biologists claim that they are not dangerous because they mostly eat nuts, snails, and vegetation. They claim that they only eat other fish if these other food choices are not available. Further, they say that the Pacu cannot survive Illinois winters.  They are concerned, however, about the Pacu contaminating other species in the lake.

This Blind Bambi wouldn't be to thrilled about swimming with fish that could take a bite out of me.  I hope they find the person responsible for dumping them in the lake.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

How Clean is the Water at Your Beach?

The National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) publishes water safety ratings for a number of popular U.S. beaches.  Their system  awards up to five stars for exceptionally low violation rates and strong testing and safety practices.  A dozen beaches got this top rating last year:

     Alabama: Gulf Shores Public Beach
     Alabama: Gulf State Park Pavilion
     California: Bolsa Chica Beach
     California: Huntington State Beach, Brookhurst Street
     California: Newport Beach, 38th Street, 52nd/53rd Street
     Delaware: Dewey Beach
     Maryland: Ocean City at Beach 6
     Minnesota: Park Point Franklin Park / 13th Street South Beach
     Minnesota: Park Point Lafayette Community Club Beach
     New Hampshire: Hampton Beach State Park
     New Hampshire: Wallis Sands Beach at Wallis Road
     Texas: South Padre Island (Town of South Padre Island)

Conversely, some of the worst recent offenders (lowest rated) include portions of:

     California: Avalon and Doheny State Beach
     Illinois: Winnetka Elder Park Beach, North Point Marina and North Beach
     Louisiana: Constance, Gulf Breeze, Little Florida, Long and Rutherford
     New Jersey: Beachwood Beach West
     New York: Woodlawn and Ontario
     Ohio: Euclid State Park and Villa Angela State Park
     Wisconsin: South Shore Beach

Friday, May 25, 2012

Best Beach?

With the arrival of Memorial Day weekend, beach destinations are at the forefront of many summer vacation plans and Dr. Beach (Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman -- Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University) has released his 22nd annual Top 10 Beach List.  Here are his rankings:
  1. Coronado Beach San Diego, California
  2. Kahanamoku Beach Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
  3. Main Beach East Hampton, New York
  4. St. George Island State Park Florida Panhandle
  5. Hamoa Beach, Maui, Hawaii
  6. Coast Guard Beach Cape Cod, Massachusetts
  7. Waimanalo Bay Beach Park Oahu, Hawaii
  8. Cape Florida State Park Key Biscayne, Florida
  9. Beachwalker Park Kiawah Island, South Carolina
  10. Cape Hatteras, Outer Banks of North Carolina

Friday, May 18, 2012

Can Spot Alleviate Stress?

As I'm a dog-lover, a USAToday article about colleges using dogs to help relieve stress in students caught my eye.    Apparently, research shows that interaction with pets decreases the level of cortisol — or stress hormone — in people and increases endorphins, known as the happiness hormone.  Therefore, if you are feeling stressed, one of the best treatments available may be spending some quality time with your pet.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Poo Power

Talk about a cheap alternative energy source, each day visitors to the Cosmo dog park in Gilbert, Arizona, leave behind about eight cubic yards of dog waste, plastic bottles, bags and other trash.   Starting this month, however, that waste will be used to power a light at the park.  A team of engineering and technology students at Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus created a "dog waste digester" as part of their iProjects program. Patrons can deposit their dogs’ waste into an underground system, though specially designed openings, where it will be broken down through a process called anaerobic (in the absence of oxygen) digestion.  Biogas (a combination of methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor and other gases) is produced as a byproduct and used to generate electricity for the light.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Band-Aid Beware

Penn State researchers may have created the truly "ouchless" bandage.  Food scientists have developed a process that spins starch into fine strands that can be combined and formed into inexpensive and environmentally-friendly paper-like mats similar to napkins, tissues and other types of paper products.  Starch bandages or medical dressings, however, have an important additional advantage.  Whereas current products on the market must at some point be removed (often with some associated pain or discomfort), starch bandages would simply degrade into glucose, a substance the body safely absorbs, eliminating the removal step.  They could also be cheaper and have less environmental impact than the cellulose and petroleum-based materials we are familiar with.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Online Movie Views to Surpass DVD and Blu-ray This Year

Fueled by all-you-can-view subscription services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, a recent IHS Screen Digest report, forecasts that, in 2012, Americans will watch 3.4 billion movies online.  This is 1 billion higher than predicted number of movies played using physical media like DVDs and Blu-ray discs.  Just last year, the order was reversed at 2.6 billion physical videos and 1.4 billion online viewings.  They also point out a corresponding change in movie consumption trending toward a more TV-like "sampling and snacking" behavior.  This is not surprising, given similarities to recent rapid changes in music consumption format.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The Energy Benchmark of Gasoline

While everyone acknowledges the need for alternative energy sources, I recently stumbled across an article pointing out just how high of a hurdle liquid petroleum sources set for potential competitors.  An ExxonMobil "Perspectives" publication points this out with the following fact:  all of the energy concentrated in one gallon of gasoline is enough to charge an iPhone once a day for almost 20 years.  The energy density of batteries and current bio-fuels can't effectively compete with that of petroleum fuels.

While on the topic of gasoline, the U.S. Energy Information Administration website posts fuel price statistics.  For those who might be interested in the breakdown for the cost of a gallon of gasoline, in March, 2012, they list the average price at $3.85 of which 67% ($2.58) covers the cost of crude oil, 16% ($0.62) covers refining costs, 6% ($0.23) covers distribution and marketing, and 11% ($0.42) goes to taxes.  Obviously, there must be some profitability in each of these components and this breakdown would be more interesting if it provided some insight into the typical distribution of profit for each portion of the product delivery chain relative to the ultimate retail cost.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Lighted Towers and Flying Birds

According to a cellular-news.com article, more than 6 million birds are killed every year by the 84,000 communication towers across North America. The tallest 1.9% of these towers account for 71% of these avian mortalities. Researchers have found that birds particularly circle towers with solid red lights, causing them to run into the cables propping the tower up. Towers with blinking red lights, on the other hand, seem to cause fewer deaths. A study estimates, therefore, that replacing steady-burning lights with blinking lights on only the tallest towers (the roughly 4,500 towers greater than 150 meters tall) could reduce bird fatalities from communication towers by about 45 percent, or about 2.5 million birds.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Tallest Tower Title Returning to Lower Manhattan

By Monday, the rising steel frame of the new One World Trade Center is expected to surpass the Empire State Building in height. When completed, at 1,776-feet and 104 floors, the new skyscraper will be 408 feet taller than the Twin Towers previously occupying the site (a 408-foot broadcast antenna will top the structure). The new building will also surpass the 1,451-foot Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) in Chicago to become the tallest in the Western Hemisphere. The tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, at 2,717 feet.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Beneficial Brain Freeze?

According to a UPI article, "brain freeze" (like the kind you get when eating a cold beverage or dessert too quickly) may lead to potential migraine headache therapies. Researchers at the National University of Ireland and Harvard Medical School induced common brain freeze pain in 13 healthy volunteers so the effects could be studied.  They found that the pain was brought on by a rapid increase in blood flow through a major blood vessel in the brain -- the anterior cerebral artery, and subsided again once blood flow was restricted.  Therefore, the thought is that blood flow control techniques might be devised to treat migraines in a similar fashion.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Happy Birthday Fenway Park!

100 years ago, on April 20, 1912, Fenway Park hosted its very first baseball game, in which the Boston Red Sox hosted the New York Highlanders (who became the Yankees). It was one of three new concrete-and-steel parks to open in 1912, joined by Navin Field in Detroit and Redland Field in Cincinnati. The Red Sox won that game 7-6 in extra innings. Today, though, the Yankees belted five home runs — three over the Green Monster — to handily defeat the Red Sox, 6-2, in a centennial re-match.

I visited Fenway for the first time in my life last summer and, although not a Boston fan, am proud to have experienced one of the true shrines of baseball. Today, it is the oldest professional baseball stadium and has been sold out in 718 consecutive games dating back to 2003, which is the best streak in baseball history.  Chicago’s Wrigley Field is the only other ‘classic’ park remaining.   If you're interested, earlier this week, Mike Lopresti wrote an enjoyable USA Today article taking the perspective of Wrigley Field's potential resentment of all the Fenway fanfare.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Hot Enough For Ya?

Way back on September 13, 1922, a meteorological station in El Azizia, Libya, recorded a temperature of 136° F (57.8° C). As such, it has long been regarded as the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley, California, was the previous title holder with a very close second place measurement of 134° F (56.6° C) on July 10, 1913. A recent UPI article, however, reports that new research by a University of Montana team using data from the U.S. Geological Survey's Landsat satellites found that, in 2005, the Lut Desert in Iran reached a blistering 159.3° F (70.7° C). That's more than 22° F (12° C) warmer than the official air temperature record from Libya.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

How Many Jurors Does a Good Verdict Require?

I watch trial coverage on TV and like shows and movies that include legal drama, so I well know that an American criminal case is decided by twelve jurors.  Well, that's what I thought, but an article on "The Mathematics of Jury Size," by Chris Gorski of Inside Science News Service points out why this Blind Bambi isn't always as smart as he thinks he is.

He explains that the customary juror count of twelve dates back to the decision of an 8th century Welsh king, who established jury trials and based their size on the fact that Jesus had twelve Apostles.  The U.S. Constitution does not specify 12-person juries nor does it require unanimous decisions, and some states do, in fact, employ some variants of the traditions.  For example, states like Florida, Connecticut, and others have either considered or actually used smaller juries of six or nine people instead.  In Louisiana, verdicts may only require agreement of nine out of twelve jurors.  In 1978, however, when Georgia tried to pare down to a five person jury for certain criminal trials, the Supreme Court stepped in and disallowed it.

Anyway, Jeff Suzuki, a mathematician at Brooklyn College in New York, recently presented research into the likelihood of conviction given variances in jury conditions such as its size.  Not surprisingly, his model suggests that smaller juries are more likely than larger juries to convict when the defendant appears less certain to be guilty.  As he points out that the accuracy of jury decisions is much more complicated than the number of people entrusted with the decision, it appears that the answer for optimum jury size is (again not surprisingly) not clear.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

A Gravity Defying Dunk

Paul "Tiny" Sturgess is the world's tallest professional basketball player. This 7' 8" tall British native is a Harlem Globetrotter. If you haven't yet seen it, there is a viral video of a dunk by him with a nearly non-existent vertical component. Check it out here on Yahoo! Sports. If you like that, there is a Harlem Globetrotters YouTube video with him assisting on a Statue of Liberty Dunk.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Making Mobile More Moisture-Resistant ???

Apparently, in Japan, most (about 90-95 percent) phones are waterproof.  At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, a Fujitsu vice-president stated, "The mobile phone is with us 24 hours a day. It accompanies us to the bathroom, to the shower, or under the rain. So it is a necessity for the phone to be robust,"

I love this way of thinking.  I personally, would probably never buy a watch that isn't waterproof. Why should this same logic not extend to my cell phone.  About a third of the damage to mobile phones involves exposure to water of some kind.

In general, any advance in "hardening" technologies is welcome news to someone as rough on things as I am.  For instance, in November, Apple recently filed for a patent on a crack resistant glass screen solution.

Some phone manufacturers already have models that meet military standards for solar radiation, rain, dust, altitude, shock, temperature and more.  These are typically, however, not the models with the most features, smallest footprint, or trendiest styling.  As such, they are not the phones that most of put at the top of our wish list.  With the Japanese helping to influence the global market, though, perhaps the concept of ruggedness will become more prevalent within the mainstream product lines.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Feat Turns Fatal

I just saw a news article reporting the tragic death of a Sri Lankan man, last Saturday, while trying to set a record for the longest time spent buried alive.  His mother indicated that he had been buried alive on two previous occasions - for two and a half hours and six hours respectively.  This time, he was found unconscious after spending six and a half hours buried in a ten foot deep trench sealed with wood and soil.  In spite of his efforts, it is unclear whether there is even an official world record for the longest time buried alive.

This is apparently a stunt that even famous escape artist Harry Houdini had trouble with.  In 1917, near Santa Ana, California, he was buried, without a casket, in a pit of earth six feet deep. He became exhausted and panicky trying to dig his way to the surface and called for help. When his hand finally broke the surface, he fell unconscious and had to be pulled from the grave by his assistants. Houdini wrote in his diary that the escape was "very dangerous" and that "the weight of the earth is killing."

I don't want to pass judgement on anyone's rationale for attempting something like this.  I can sincerely tell you, however, that this Blind Bambi has absolutely no interest in trying something like this at home (or on a reality show).

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Oreo Turns 100

This Tuesday, the iconic Oreo cookie celebrates it's 100th birthday.  On March 6, 1912, the National Biscuit Company made its first sale of Oreo sandwich cookies, for 30 cents per pound, to a grocer in Hoboken, New Jersey.  The current brand owner, Kraft Foods (parent company of Nabisco), enjoyed worldwide Oreo sales, in 100 countries, of more than $2 billion last year.  It is estimated that 491 billion Oreos have been sold since it was first introduced.  It was the best selling cookie of the 20th century.

The original Oreo came in one of two flavors:  lemon meringue and vanilla cream.  The meringue flavor was soon discontinued as the vanilla cream version was more popular.  In 1952, the sandwich cookie we recognize today as the classic Oreo, two crispy chocolate wafers with sweet vanilla icing filling, was introduced.  Apparently, the Oreo recipe is adjusted somewhat around the world to address regional preferences.  For instance, the Canadian version is slightly different than its U.S. baked counterpart.  In China, the most popular version is a green tea ice-cream flavor. In Latin America, there is a banana and dulce de leche-filled cookie.  Last year, Oreos were introduced in Germany, India and Poland.

Some believe that the cookie's name was taken from the French word for gold, "or" (the main color on early Oreo packages). Others claim the name stemmed from the shape of a hill-shaped test version; thus naming the cookie in Greek for mountain, "oreo." Still others believe the name is a combination of taking the "re" from "cream" and placing it between the two "o"s in "chocolate" - making "o-re-o." And still others believe that the cookie was named Oreo simply because it was short and easy to pronounce.

The Oreo is dubbed milk's favorite cookie.  The "twist, lick and dunk" method of eating it is favored by about half of cookie connoisseurs and is more popular among women Oreo eaters than men.  Personally, this Blind Bambi is not an Oreo "dunker", but I am now off to enjoy a tall glass of cold milk and a couple of Oreo cookies to celebrate one of my favorite centenarians.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Contraction of the Market for CDs

The latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine includes an article entitled, “Is the CD Era Finally Over?”  It reports that, in 2011, digital music sales outstripped physical sales for the first time ever.  The speculation, then, is that the CD, as a format, will follow predecessors like the cassette and eight-track tape into obsolescence.  In fact, news stories are starting to announce that major labels may be planning to discontinue the recording and sales of music CDs as early as late 2012.

The first album pressed on CD was "The Visitors" by Abba, and the first CD release was Billy Joel’s "52nd Street," recorded and produced by Sony in 1982.  The first platinum-selling CD album came in 1985 – Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms – and according to BBC News, it is still the world’s most successful album on CD.  Sales for music CDs of all genres peaked in 2000 at 2.455 billion.  In 2006, that figure was down to 1.755 billion.  By 2011, just 223 million CDs were sold.

Middle-aged and senior adults are least likely to have embraced the MP3 era of digital downloads.  As a specific example, Rolling Stone compared this month’s sales of an older musician, Leonard Cohen, and a younger musician, Lana Del Rey. Cohen’s latest album sold roughly 70 percent of its copies on CD, but Del Ray’s album just sold 26 percent on CD.  Likewise, lower income Americans may have more difficulty transitioning to all-digital music distribution.

Believe it or not, this Blind Bambi actually owns and uses an iPod.  I certainly appreciate and understand the convenience and portability of digital music libraries and cloud-based services that can make them readily available to a variety of devices at nearly any location.  I grew up in an era, however, when buying music equated to the purchase of something physical (e.g., an LP, a 45 single, an 8-track, a cassette, a CD, ...).  For that reason, I struggle a little with the on-going demise of the CD as a music format.  I'm not ready, yet, for the CD-stocked shelves of Best Buy, Walmart, Target, and other retailers to simply disappear.  But, then again, I still own a bunch of VHS videotapes.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Grips Like Gecko Feet

Gecko's, typically 5 ounce lizards, amaze scientists (and non-scientists) with their ability to grip and scamper up the smoothest of surfaces.  Their feet are covered in self-cleaning microscopic hairs, known as setae, with even smaller branches at the tips, called spatulae.  These ensure that a gecko's foot has a large surface area in contact with any surface, maximizing the weak but ever-present attraction between adjacent molecules known as the van der Waals force -- Gecko feet produce an adhesive force nearly equivalent to 18 times their own body weight.  Most previous efforts were based on creating materials (e.g., carbon nanotubes) attempting to act like the gecko's setae.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, however, have taken a somewhat different approach by evaluating how several interacting elements in gecko feet, including tendons, bones and skin, work together to produce easily reversible adhesion.  In fact, their novel design approach has demonstrated that setae are not required for gecko-like adhesion.

They developed Geckskin, which integrates adhesive with a soft pad woven into a stiff fabric, allowing the pad to "drape" over a surface to maximize contact. Further, as in natural gecko feet, the skin is woven into a synthetic "tendon," yielding a design that plays a key role in maintaining stiffness and rotational freedom.  An index-card-sized sheet can hold up to 700 pounds on a smooth wall, and using the same types of high-capacity reversibility and dry adhesion as gecko feet, can easily attach and detach heavy objects (like say a big screen TV) on flat or slanted surfaces — even glass. The Geckskin can be released with little effort and re-used, and leaves no residue.  Best of all, the Geckskin's adhesive pad uses simple everyday materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which holds promise for developing an inexpensive, strong and durable dry adhesive product.

And we thought velcro was cool ...


Thursday, February 23, 2012

Second Screen and the Social Television Trend

"Second screen" is a term that refers to an additional electronic device (e.g. laptop, tablet, smartphone) that allows a television audience to interact with the content they are consuming.  According to a recent Physorg article,  it is "the hottest new thing in television."  As some believe that as much as 30 percent of Web-surfing is done while watching TV, a lot of effort is being put into ways to keep the viewer's online focus aligned with the programming being viewed simultaneously.  For example, the broadcaster of a sports event may provide synchronized feeds of statistics and other currently relevant information or allow the viewer to see different camera angles.  Other programming may utilize the second screen for alternative scenes, information, soundtrack, and/or characters.  A marketing application may help viewers buy stuff they see during TV shows.  Social television applications may simply aim to make the television experience more social, by enabling interaction with other viewers; offering the chance to win points, awards, and prizes; and encouraging the user to comment on, rank, or otherwise actively engage the experience.  Below are some examples:

  • GetGlue is a social networking site for entertainment fans to interact.  It allows users to check-in to TV shows or movies they are watching, music they are listening to, books they are reading, video games they are playing, celebrities they are chatting about, or pretty much any topic they are thinking about.
  • IntoNow utilizes a patented sound-recognition technology called SoundPrint that hears and recognizes what is being watched, right down to the episode.   It then lets users share with friends on Twitter or Facebook, provides full episode and cast info, lets them know what their friends are watching (notifying friends who are watching the same show), and provides one-click access to IMDb, iTunes and Netflix.
  • Previiw allows the viewer to choose a scene within a show or movie and clip a portion of that scene (up to 140 seconds), for the purpose of commenting on and sharing through their social network, web site or blog.
  • yap.TV is a completely personalized TV show guide fused with streamed content for thousands of TV shows.
  • During the last Video Music Awards telecast, an MTV website featured an app called Hot Seat, a seating chart of the auditorium where the show was staged. A user could slide his computer mouse across the chart to see what celebrity was sitting there, along with all that celebrity's tweets during the event.
Why is this worth all of the fuss?  The following example illustrates the power that Internet social media can unleash in the entertainment world:

  • Last October, the singer Usher completely split the front of his pants during "A Decade of Difference" concert honoring former President Clinton and celebrating the tenth anniversary of his foundation.  Within minutes, fed by "OMG" messages on Twitter and Facebook, the live video stream on Yahoo! immediately swelled from 1 million to 20 million.


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Drowsy Driver Detector

A recent Gizmag article reports on a "smart cap" that monitors worker fatigue by measuring brain waves.  This washable cap has a waterproof sensor built into its lining that calculates the wearer's level of alertness every second and transmits this information via Bluetooth to a device that can display this information or sound an alarm when a critical threshold is reached.  While I've seen articles about other inventions marketed to help detect and/or awaken drowsy drivers, it seems that an approach as potentially accurate and unobtrusive as this one could potentially one day become a standard safety feature in vehicles of the future.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Pondering Parking

According to a study by Arizona State University and University of California - Berkeley researchers, there are as many as 844 million parking lot and parking structure spaces in the United States, or roughly three spaces for every automobile. That amounts to paved surfaces for parking covering nearly one percent of the land in the country – an area about the size of West Virginia.  If the area used for curbside parking is added to the count, there may be as many as 2 billion parking spaces servicing our nation of commuters.

Given these statistics, one would expect parking, in general, to be quite plentiful.  Unfortunately, I don't think that this Blind Bambi regularly experiences that level of parking pleasure.  Sure, many of the retailers I routinely shop at have fairly convenient parking and that is probably one of the reasons that I patronize them.  Almost everyone has experienced, however, the hassles related to parking at special events; at popular holiday, vacation, or entertainment destinations; or in congested urban locales.  In my non-expert opinion, two factors seem key to this phenomenon.  First, parking is usually most plentiful in locations where the land costs to support it are reasonably low.  The demand for parking, however, is usually highest in locations where property values are relatively high.  Second, in many situations, the difference between the number of parking spaces required during periods of peak demand and the number of parking spaces required during periods of low or normal demand can be quite different numbers.  Hence, it might seem hard to justify the cost of accommodating worst-case parking situations when their occurrence may be acceptably infrequent.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

American Diet: Bread Now Biggest Salt Source

When told by their doctor to limit salt intake, most people probably think of avoiding salty snacks like potato chips, pretzels, or fast food fries.  Those who pay attention to things like this might select lower sodium versions of canned soup or soy sauce when grocery shopping.  People may remove the salt shaker from the table.  While these are important steps, we may be overlooking one of the biggest culprits.

In a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bread and rolls topped the list of sodium sources, accounting for about 7 percent of the salt that the average American eats in a day.  It's not that breads and rolls are saltier than many of the other foods, but rather that people tend to eat a lot of them.

Dietary guidelines recommend no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, equal to about a teaspoon of salt. Certain people, such as those with high blood pressure, should eat even less. Average sodium consumption in the United States, though, is around 3,300 milligrams and only 1 in 10 Americans actually meet the teaspoon guideline.

For those that are interested, bread and rolls were followed on the top-ten list by: cold cuts and cured meats; pizza; fresh and processed poultry; soups; fast-food hamburgers and sandwiches; cheese; spaghetti and other pasta dishes; meatloaf and other meat dishes; and snacks like potato chips and pretzels.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

It's the Most NFL Time of the Year

Superbowl Sunday is one of my favorite holidays -- and yes, it is a true American holiday.  I love the football (although not the Giants or Patriots so much), the food, the commercials, and all of the hoopla.  It is an event to enjoy with friends and family.  I will admit, however, that the hours of pre-game show are a little too much for even me.

This year, a thirty second advertising spot during the Superbowl costs on the order of $3.5 million.  This Blind Bambi, however, doesn't understand the advertiser's rationale in releasing their commercials before the big event.  Sure, they probably get some early press time by doing so, but, this year, when I need a bathroom or snack break, I will have no worries about missing commercials -- I've already had the chance to see them on the web, TV reports, etc.  Will they one day release the Oscar winners a week before the big night, so we can analyze the choices before the event actually happens?

Friday, February 3, 2012

Wacky Weather

I saw on the news this evening that Denver just got dumped on by a record blizzard.  I also just read today, however, that this January was the third-least snowy on record.  Midland, Texas has had more snow thus far this season than Minneapolis or Chicago.  What's up with that?  On Tuesday (January 31st), only a few of the lower 48 states didn't reach 50 degrees or higher.

Contrast that with Valdez, Alaska, where they have had 328 inches of snow (10 feet above average!!!).  Yukon, Alaska hit a record 66 below zero last weekend.  This January has been the ninth snowiest for Europe and Asia.  It has been so cold that areas of the Black Sea near the Romanian coastline have frozen and rare snowfalls have occurred on Croatian islands in the Adriatic Sea.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Its Groundhog Day, 2012

Happy Groundhog's Day. As we all know, according to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on February 2nd, then spring will come early. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

For the first time in my life, this morning I actually watched the TV coverage of the hoopla surrounding Punxsutawney Phil's seasonal prognostication. I saw the famous marmot ceremoniously removed from his cage and presented to the crowd. He then huddled with his handlers, all decked out in top hats, snappy ties and long formal coats, so the proper proclamation could selected and read aloud to his fans. If you haven't heard, this year we were told to expect six more weeks of winter. With all of the camera lights on him, however, I'm not sure how Phil couldn't have seen his shadow.

This ceremony at Gobblers Knob, in southwestern Pennsylvania, is apparently now 126 years old. Although not the background of a popular Hollywood movie like Punxsutawney, other communities also have similar traditions. New York has Staten Island Chuck and this year, his prediction was an early spring. Sir Walter Wally, from North Carolina, agreed with Phil, but a little further south, in Georgia, General Beauregard Lee called for an early spring. This should be a good year for the U.S. Midwest, as, in Illinois, Woodstock Willie predicted an early spring. In Canada, Aberta's Balzac Billy and Quebec’s Fred la Marmotte both saw their shadow, but Ontario's Wiarton Willie and Nova Scotia’s Shubenacadie Sam did not.

I get the impression that bona-fide meteorologists, using satellite images, Doppler radars, and scientific approaches to predict the weather are a little put off by all of the attention heaped upon these groundhogs and their uneducated observations. They put no faith in these silly predictions. Therefore, my plan is to take a groundhog to Hawaii, name him Aloha Al, make sure that he never sees his shadow and prove them wrong.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Milk - It Does a Brain Good?

A recent study by University of Maine researchers backs our parents' insistence that we drink our milk. More than 900 men and women ages 23 to 98 were put through a series of brain and cognitive challenges that tested their visual-spatial, verbal, and working memory tests to find that those who consumed more dairy products scored "significantly" higher on the tests than those who drank little to no milk. They also found that milk drinkers tended to maintain healthier diets overall compared to their non-drinking counterparts.

In spite of this outcome, however, not everyone's beliefs align with the American Dairy Association. Many believe that human drinking of cows milk is unnatural.  Its antibodies are optimized for calves, not human babies.  At a young age, our bodies lose the ability to digest milk sugar and protein.   Scientists have identified a protein in milk that triggers an unusual immune response which may explain an observed correlation between early consumption of cows milk by infants and later development of Type 1 diabetes.  Dr. Kevin McGrady, a medical researcher is quoted as saying "Milk has something for everybody all right -- higher blood cholesterol, and increased risk of heart disease and stroke."

I guess the bottom line is that we need to drink our milk so that we become smart enough to determine whether or not we should continue drinking it.