Adam Savage, Dodo Skeletons, and the Maltese Falcon

How do all of those things relate? Two are obsessions of one, and two are unaware of the other two...
No really. Adam Savage (of Mythbusters) gives a high-speed talk about his personal artistic obsession.



Ted Talks, I love this site. Okay, so now I want to make my own Dodo skeleton with the skull of a monkey...

Patterns Made by Sound

Okay, you artsy people get on this one. I'll expect something like an animated short made by sand and sound soon. [God, I love alliteration]




I found this on NPR Science Friday hosted by Ira Flatow.
The video was made by Wake Forest University Department of Physics,
http://www.wfu.edu/physics
Sam Eisenberg and Peter Scherpelz/HMC 08,
Hendrik Orem/HMC 09,
Hyung Joo Park/HMC 08,
Patricia Sparks/ HMC Physics,
Jon Jacobsen/HMC Math,
NPR story produced by Flora Lichtman.

Dreaming About Twitter - the Game

I can't believe it finally happened. Last night, I dreamed about using Twitter.
What has happened to me?

And what was even cooler (depending on how you view dreaming about Twitter - good v. bad) was that I was using it in a city-wide game of Marco Polo.

You need two things:

• a city
• an mobile device with Internet access plus camera

Scratch that, three things; you need a Twitter account.

Crap. Scratch that, four things; you also need a friend...with a Twitter account.

How to play:
You travel to somewhere in the city and get comfortable - I suggest a Pub, but that may be too easy to find. Maybe pack a lunch and a book. When your friend is ready they tweet you "Marco". You take a pic of something around you (not too obvious like a street sign) and tweet back "Polo" with a tinyurl to the pic.
They try and figure out where you are and tweet back. If they don't get it in three guesses, they have to go to a new place (verified by pic and tweet) and "Marco" again. And you send them a new pic and "Polo".
And so on...

Hey at least it was fun in the dream...

Intellagirl, I blame you.

Flickr is cool, but what about space?

No, I'm not talking about storage space for your files; I'm talking about space proper. The great, great out of doors - the night sky of stars, planets, clouds of Ort, and jazz of that sort. Well, Flickr has some eye candy for you space lovers too!
Check out this blog post called "Stargazing" by Fiona Miller; you'll get your fix. And if your camera is high tech enough or you are Wile E. Coyote ^{(TM Warner Bros.)} genius enough and built your own space pic taken camera you can enter the Astronomy Photographer of the Year project.

Radiology Art by Satre Stuelke

Who knew that using a CT scanner to look into everyday objects would turn into art? But take a look!

http://www.radiologyart.com/

My favorite is the movie of the Barbie doll. It makes me think of the pre-production stage of the making of the animatronic girl friend of the future. The freeze frame of the hair looks like the product of the first night of testing the horizontal features...

Teenagers' Class Project Takes Pics at the Cusp of Space

A group of Spanish teenagers pulled together a camera, a balloon, and some parts to send it all 20 miles up to take some snapshots.
Kids today, I swear. They've got nothing better to do than to make my childhood seem ridiculous. No wonder I didn't win at the high school science fair.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1162659/Students-tie-56-camera-balloon-send-edge-space-capture-stunning-images-Earth.html

Opinion Paper: Instant Messaging in Education and its Usage

Abstract

Instant messaging (IM) is a common way for technology savvy young people to stay in constant communication with their friends. The question as to whether or not instant messaging could be used as a tool for education is still being debated. Some want to ban it outright from the schools, saying that it is an enormous distraction when students are allowed to use it. Others however, see opportunities for learning situations in which instant messaging can benefit the exchange of knowledge and, they are exploring its uses. This is not a black and white situation. Instant messaging can be a bane and a boon for instructors.

Instant Messaging in Education and its Usage

Instant Messaging (IM) has become a ubiquitous tool for communication via the Internet. The key points that distinguish it from other forms of communication are that it is text-based and in real-time. Email is text-based, but you must wait for a reply. Phones are real-time, but people around you can eavesdrop on your conversation.

The IM programs used today seem to vary quite a bit from laptop to cell phones, but there are several commonalities in which they all seem to participate. You have a username that may or may not be your real name. You maintain a list of other people with whom you chat, and you can see when they are available for chatting. You can set your availability status to show that you are 'in' when you want to chat, or 'out' or 'busy' when you do not want to be disturbed. Text is the primary element of communication, not pictures, video, or audio, although some or all of those extra elements can be combined with the text message.

While considering the usefulness of IM, there is an obvious division that should be established. In regards to education, IM can be used inside and outside of the classroom. On the surface this may seem like a trivial distinction, but it does impact the usefulness and the purpose of IM in schools.

In the classroom, the established rule is that anything interrupting the attention of the students from the front of the room is a disruption and should be stopped by the teacher. Passing notes and whispering in class have never been permitted, and now some schools and instructors hold IM in the same regard. Since IM became widely available to students via computers, laptops, and cell phones, it has become a major method of communication for them. "Studies show that some 75 percent of teenagers use instant messaging, making it one of students' primary modes of written communication" (Martineau, 2007, ¶ 2).

However, some advocates for its removal from schools say it can be used as a way to share answers and cheat. In 2007, the Toronto Canada District School Board banned the use of cell phones and other electronic devices in the school citing the easy ability to cheat as one of the factors. One unidentified 9th grade student admitted to cheating and said, "You take notes by text message and save them, then you pop [the cellphone] out. It's quiet and nobody sees. It's not like paper. It doesn't crinkle" ("Toronto Students Banned," 2007).

In addition to cheating, there is the distraction factor. Many in education subscribe to the idea that students must be in a focused environment to learn, and any allowed deviation from that focus invites laziness or daydreaming. After some discussion at the Smoky Valley High School in Lindsborg, Kansas, the school's technology committee decided to allow the students to use IM, via the Apple chat client iChat, during class as they took notes and worked on their laptops. Sharon Texley, a member of the committee, said:

As time went by, the folly of that decision became apparent. Students did use iChat to communicate, but not the way we idealists had envisioned. The constant 'iChatter,' instead, included who's going out with whom, who went to the party last weekend, who's bored in class, and so on. In addition, many of them shared answers on tests and other work meant to be done individually. (Texley and DeGennaro, 2005, p. 2)

IM does make chatting and cheating easy. Anyone with experience in front of a class full of children would agree that students can create enough distractions on their own without one extra being given to them. In classes where individual work is important, maybe allowing IM is a bad idea, but what about situations where group work is appropriate?

Many say that since students already know how to use IM (most use it with a high proficiency) why not make educational use of it (Martineau, 2007, ¶ 4). There can be learning situations where communication and shared work is suitable. Elena Nehrebecki is an English language instructor at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, NJ. One way in which she uses IM in the classroom is to ask students to translate some of their instant messages into grammatically correct sentences. She feels that she connecting with the students by using something already know, and it shows them the difference between casual and proper language (Martineau, 2007, ¶ 7).

IM holds a special place in Distance Education class. Since the classroom is already conducted virtually, IM becomes the fast way to communicate. Even though audio chat usage is on the rise, many people still do not have the bandwidth necessary to make that a viable communication tool. Many universities that have a Distance Education program use a Course Management System (CMS) to manage the classes and give the instructors a secure place to post a syllabus, assignment list, receive assignments electronically, and etcetera. Many CMSs have an IM feature built into their courseware. This benefits the student in several ways. The instructor can have office hours in a chat room that is only open to the class. Since the IM client is integrated in the CMS there is no additional account to sign up for and manage. If the instructor is not online the student can leave a message that the instructor will see the next time they log in.

Another use for IM in the classroom comes from classes with a large number of students present at once. When teaching large classes, instructors often have little time for taking questions. If the students could submit questions via IM then during a pause, the instructor could quickly review the submitted questions to see how well the students understand the lecture. In some large classes the instructor has an assistant, and that person could answer questions in the chat room while the instructor proceeds with the lecture (Kinzie, Whitaker, & Hofer, 2005, p. 158).

Outside of classroom, IM has a much more developed and accepted educational support role. For instance, it is a useful supplement to a second language class. When learning a second language, classroom work is important, but that is only a few hours per week. To learn a language well it must be practiced daily. IM can help the student by giving that instant communication to clarify a problem or just extra practice with the instructor or the instructor's aid outside of the classroom. One of the most helpful methods of learning another language is the understanding of short messages. Eventually reading long passages from a book will be natural, but understanding short communications helps to foster the ability to think in the other language. Even though IM cannot help with pronunciation problems, is very helpful for fostering understanding of the written text (Sotillo, 2006).

IM's educational assistance can be as simple as to help people in different locations communicate. "IM was viewed as a better tool for communicating with the instructor than e-mail or the telephone" (Jeong, 2007, p. 32). Many instructors make themselves available for contact via IM instead of holding regular office hours. The local student population (not Distance Education enrollees) who use IM as much or more than email communication, almost unanimously approved of this practice. Also some students are shy and reluctant to ask a question in front of a classroom of twenty, thirty, or more students. But, IM expands the comfort zone of the student and they are able to ask those questions (Jeong, 2007, p. 32 - 33).

On the whole, students like the ability to use IM to communicate with their instructors outside of the classroom; it is an improvement over past methods and at least equal to email in the ease of use. Before such technologies, if a student needed to contact an instructor they had to wait for designated office hours and either physically visit the office or telephone; both were a hit or miss approach. With email and IM, office hours can become whenever the instructor is willing.

There seems to be very little reason not to use IM outside of the classroom. Of the students that preferred to not use IM as a contact method for their instructor, they either had usability issues or would have rather used other methods of communication. The students that did not use IM still appreciated the option, as long as it was not required for the class. As for the students that were able to get along fine without it, they were indifferent about its use (Jeong, 2007, p. 33 - 36). For the students that needed the extra method of contact, it was helpful, and for the students that did not need it, it did not interferer with their learning. That sounds like an ideal tool.

It is agreed that as a communication tool, IM is useful and omnipresent. However, on the topic of whether or not to use it as an educational tool, the answer is affirmative, but with limitations. The highest value of IM seems to lie outside of the classroom as a method for contacting instructors. Although, inside the classroom there are also uses to be explored for language class, group work, asking questions, and others. The value that IM adds to in-class work should be weighed against the potential for lost student focus.

Consider the phrase, "If you give them an inch they will take a mile." I am not sure whom that that phrase originally referred to, but it applies students. If IM is freely allowed in the classroom, the virtual notes will be flying even while the instructor is facing the class; no longer would students need to wait for teachers to turn their backs. It has been shown that outside of the classroom the value of IM can be great. And it has also been shown that IM can be used in the classroom to benefit the learning situation, but it must be controlled or limited in some fashion.

Resources

Martineau, P. (September 2007). Tapping Instant Messaging: Once frowned upon, IM is now used in schools for language lessons. Education Week's Digital Directions. Retrieved February 14, 2009, from http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2007/09/12/02im.h01.html

Toronto Students Banned From Using Cellphones in Schools, (April 19, 2007). CBS News Canada. Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/04/19/toronto-cellphones.html

Texley, S., and DeGennaro, D. (2005). Should We Ban Instant Messaging in Schools? Learning & Leading with Technology 32 (7). Retrieved February 14, 2009, from http://eric.ed.gov:80/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/2a/19/6c.pdf

Kinzie, M. B., Whitaker, S. D., & Hofer, M. J. (2005). Instructional Uses of Instant Messaging (IM) During Classroom Lectures. Educational Technology & Society, 8 (2), 150-160. Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.ifets.info/journals/8_2/14.pdf

Sotillo, S. (2006). Using instant messaging for collaborative learning: A case study. Innovate 2 (3). Retrieved February 15, 2009, from http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=170

Jeong, W. (2007). Instant Messaging in On-Site and Online Classes in Higher Education. Educause Quarterly (No. 1) Retrieved February 14, 2009, from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0714.pdf

Coprophagy

Coprophagy [kŏ-prŏf'ə-jē]
-noun
eating of dung, or feces, considered abnormal among human beings but apparently instinctive among certain members of the order Lagomorpha (rabbits and hares) and in at least one leaf-eating primate (genus Lepilemur). It is thought that these animals obtain needed vitamins in this way. The diets of certain insect species, among them the dung beetles and dung flies, are primarily or exclusively coprophagous.
cop⋅roph⋅a⋅gous [kuh-prof-uh-guhs]
–adjective
feeding on dung, as certain beetles.
Origin: 1820–30; copro- + -phagous
Definitions retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coprophagy

While researching for a post on the topic of rabbits and hares (Lagomorpha) I came across this interesting bit of disgusting trivia. Apparently, rabbits (and hares) eat their first shit so that they can digest it in a unique part of their stomach and recover all of the nutrients from it before they shit it out a second time and are done with it.

"Lagomorphs produce two kinds of feces. The first kind is basically a first-cut, digestively speaking, from which some but not all nutrients have been extracted. This gooey black feces is eaten as soon as it is excreted, and then re-digested in a special part of the stomach. This second round of food processing extracts more nutrients, and the final-cut feces is in the form of small, hard pellets." (Lumpkin, 2000, paragraph 14)

Lumpkin, Susan. (2000) A Rabbits Tale Retrieved from http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/ZooGoer/2000/4/arabbittale.cfm

My Apploigies to All Thomas Grangers Everywhere

Thomas Granger was the first person (and the first teenager) hanged (to death) in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. What's more unique, I suppose, is that he was hanged for the crime of bestiality. He had a mare, a cow, two goats, five sheep, two calves, and a turkey under his belt. [pardon the pun].

I'd rather die anonymously than be in the record books for that...
Another icky thought...

Core77 Design Magazine Greener Gadget Contest

Vote Now For Your Favorite Greener Gadget!

Help us pick the top 10 gadgets for the live judging at this year's Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City on February 27th, 2009. Voting ends February 20th. Click, get inspired, and vote below!

http://www.core77.com/greenergadgets/

Faster than Light Speed Travel?

Okay. Really?
"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!"
(Never mind that parsecs are units of distance and not time - oh well, George still made a great movie.)

I know we all want it to be possible. The 'real' theory (not talking Star Trek/Wars here!) is based on an idea by Michael Alcubierre. The propulsion system doesn't really propel the space ship; it would expand space behind the ship and shrink space in front of the ship. The ship would then 'surf' the bubble as it zips through space. It was coined as the "Alcubierre drive."

This idea has been reworked a little (add a sprinkling of dark energy to control the manipulation of spacetime) by Baylor University physicists Gerald Cleaver and graduate student Richard Obousy.

It's an interesting thought experiment. It does seem to escape the problem of Einstein's theory of relativity. The ship is not actually 'moving through space,' but riding the bubble of stationary space. So then no infinite speed requiring an infinite amount of fuel mass.

I'm curious about time. Assuming that this will come to pass as real technology at some point. How will a bubble of space affect the passage of time in and around it?

The idea that space can move faster than light comes from data generated by the WMAP that space expanded faster than the speed of light for a short time after the Big Bang.

Sadly, we won't be able to enjoy the fruits of this theory, unless someone cracks the problem of the human life span. That's a story for another day.

Whole story at Discover.com
Warp Drive Engine Would Travel Faster Than Light
by Eric Bland

Story with more detail about how dark energy fits into the picture at SPACE.com
Spaceship Could Fly Faster Than Light
by Jeremy Hsu

How to Use the Three Seashells

Let me preface this by saying I like a lot of movies that others seem to consider bad. Particularly I like Sci Fi, and I like dystopias. I sometimes try to justify my opinion, this time I won't.
I like Demolition Man. I don't like most of Stallone's or Snipes' movies, but this one gets me. I like the dystopia future of San Angles, and the writing is good and humorous.

One of the dialogue jokes in the movie is the mysterious replacement of toilet paper in the bathroom by the use of 3 seashells. The answer is never revealed in the movie. i-Mockery.com seems to have found the missing instruction poster.
How to use the Three Seashells!

Poetry Contests - in general

I'm still getting comments to a post about a suspicious poetry contest I saw in our local paper. Read all posts on this topic.
This is what I replied to the latest:
"In my experience, the only legitimate contests you'll find are through journals and publications that focus on writing. The contests that are putting together 'The World's Best Poetry Book' are scams wanting you to basically pay for publication.
That is different than a readers fee. Ones that employ a readers fee are looking for compensation for their time, money to pool together for the prize, and perhaps a little extra to pay employees at the press. That's not to say that some of those aren't scams either.
I recommend that you always investigate the publication before submitting, just so you know you are getting back thoughtful comments and criticisms. Case in point, go read some of the poems online at poetry.com; most are awful, but no one told the authors that because they are spending money on the hack books cranked out."

If you do submit to these suspicious contests, please leave me some comments or email me and let me know how it resolved. I'm very interested!

Jill Price has an amazing memory

Imagine being able to remember every event, conversation, spelling test, kiss, from the time you were a small child, and be able to recall it at a moments notice. You're thinking, awesome! My spouse wouldn't have a chance, right? Now relive every pain, death, red light, and stubbed toe with the same emotions as if you were living it again. Not so great huh? For Jill Price time doesn't heal any wounds - at least her feelings about them.
Nice article:
An Infinite Loop in the Brain
on Spiegel Online written by Samiha Shafy

Reading it reminded me (ironic, I know) that I heard about Jill Price last spring on NPR. She also has a book out.
NPR story (read or listen) Blessed and Cursed by an Extraordinary Memory

The name of Jill Price's book is The Woman Who Can't Forget.

I was going to link to Amazon but their web site has become ridiculous, and you can find and buy the book anywhere you want to; it's none of my business. It's not like I'm getting a kick back from Amazon or anything like that. Enjoy!

Phoenix was Twittering

Dang! I missed it.
"When NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory News Services manager Veronica McGregor was tasked with delivering word of the agency's first-ever robotic landing on Mars during a holiday weekend, she turned to the social-networking Web site."
Read the Discovery story: Phoenix Twittered from Mars!

Carbonated (Fizzy) Fruit

Patrick Buckley, co-author of "The Hungry Scientist Handbook" makes fizzy fruit with dry ice. I wonder if the process would increase the life of the fruit in the fridge?

Sugar in Space

Awesome. A simple sugar compound has been found to exist out in space.
"What's interesting about glycolaldehyde is how easily it combines with a three-carbon sugar to produce ribose, the building blocks of DNA and RNA, which carry genetic information for living things. "
Yum.
Read more at Discovery.com

Poetry Contest part 3 - The Saga Continues

This is a follow up to Poetry Contest part 2
A couple of weeks ago I received mail from The International Library of Poetry (poetry.com) giving me access to an exclusive offer.

I knew it was a mistake giving them my mailing address…

Apparently my poem has made it into the semi-finals in their “International Open Poetry Contest.” Yay, I’m not surprised, and it’s not because I’m confident in my ability (I’ve haven’t won a single contest entered). They want some of my scratch.

They sent a proof for me to look over and correct. There is one small typo on a quotation mark that wasn’t in the text I submitted; I know because I looked at it closely before I submitted it online. Besides, the quotation mark was there on the website when they tried to get me to buy a friggin’ plaque (See the screen capture from my post, Poetry Contest part 2). Also, I use the word “Hell”, and they changed it to “H***”. Really? I thought this was poetry for adults, not a children’s book.

Their saving grace (that speaks to a false sense of genuineness) is a disclaimer statement that says I have no obligation to send any money; my poem is still in the running. However, the typos seem to urge me to contact them. Hmm, what to do?

Let me bring to light the offers involved. First they offer me the opportunity to preorder the compilation ($49.95 plus $9.00 s&h) in which I would be printed, should I win, “Immortal Verses” - barf - that is an awful title. Previous compilation titles include, “The Promise of Dawn”, “A Symphony of Verse”, and “Tranquil Rains of Summer”. Does it get any worse than the tranquil rains of summer? It was a dark and stormy night…

But there are more offers to offer. Because I’m new to the International Society of Poetry I can order a “Limited Edition Protective Slipcover” embossed with gold leaf, with or without my name engraved on it. That’s $19.95 each, plus $5.00 s&h or with my name $25.95 plus $5.00 s&h.

Also along with the corrected proof, I have the additional opportunity to add an “Artist’s Profile”, basically a bio. However, in the final printed book, since the poem is set to take up one page, the bio must be printed on an opposing page at a nominal fee (at an undisclosed cost).

I suppose that I will return the corrected proof and see what happens. What else could they offer me? Engrave my poem onto a gold plate and shoot it into space? I might like that. I’ll post here the results…stay tuned.

CAPTCHA options

I've been looking at CAPTCHA option for a variety of reasons recently. For example:

• captcha.net
• recaptcha.net

What's CAPTCHA, you ask? You're not a webmaster are you? Okay, here's the wikipedia article on CAPTCHA. If you're also wondering what C-A-P-T-C-H-A stands for, it's in the article. BTW, I'll write a post on Alan Turing someday; he was truly a man thinking into the future.

I wasn't really intending to educate you about them. But, basically it's that wavy, blurry word thing that you have to type in to prove you're not a crappy spam bot.

So back to my original point, I've been testing a few of these do-dads and got the follow two words to type. No faking, this is a screen capture:



So what does that look like to you?

Icky thought of the day

In my facebook account, minding my own business, I see an advertisement for "Tired of Shaving?", I think yeah, I am. However, they're not talking about a guy's face. Icky + Shallow. Besides, do you see how blonde that guy is? I bet he doesn't even have to shave his face much less his pecks. Now think of Robin Williams; I bet he's tired of shaving. There's your icky thought of the day with my compliments. Enjoy. Screen shot:

Intellagirl talks about Social Media Implications

Featured Speaker : Social Media and Education: The Conflict Between Technology and Institutional Education, and the Future
You can learn a lot from Social Media and it has a big roll in learning, but would you want your doctor or bridge engineer to get their knowledge from Wikipedia? Higher Ed. still has an important roll in the future!
Watch and listen to what Sarah has to say...

Speaking of Mashups...

The Educause web site has a blog, flickr & twitter aggregater pulling Educause tagged content from the web. Neat!
Even neater, it found my post! That page will pass away after a while, but my screen capture will last forever. Warm fuzzies...

Educause 2008 - day 2 - Star Trek Camelot Mashup

Mash it up - awesome!

Educause 2008 Ramachandran talk URL

http://hosted.mediasite.com/hosted5/Viewer/?peid=d45a2cd8e48346daaba953453f3b1c56#

I was having a little trouble viewing the video, but that could be the million and one geeks on the wireless network here ;)

Educause 2008 - day 1

I attended a seminar at Educause 2008 today: "Millennials and Web 2.0: 'Prosumer' Education in Practice" long title but great presenters, AJ Kelton and Sarah Robbins-Bell (intellagirl)
I've been to a few web 2.0 presentations over the last few years and intella-g knows her stuff. I've borrowed a few of her ideas and recommendations for web2 at my Uni.
Hey, she actually gave me a good reason for this anti-social, (actually I profess as my religion to be a 'radical individualist') to use Twitter...
If that's not a good speaker, then I haven't heard one.

Vilayanur Ramachandran talking at Educause 2008

Vilayanur Ramachandran is giving a talk similar to this TED Talk, on Wednesday morning at Educause this year in Orlando, Fl. I get to go, and I'm so excited; this doc is an awesome presenter and studies fantastic anomalies of the human brain.

Sweet! I'll try to post after the talk...so I can gloat about how amazing it was.

Poetry Contest part 2

As a follow up to a post "Poetry Contest" on Oct 5, I receive a comment from BEANS and CORN with a link to a poetry contest on Poetry.com. I feel like I'm doing a disservice to any reader by actually posting the link, but since it is so easy to find, there you go anyway. (Search for "poetry contest" on Google and it's the first sponsored link and the second regular link that shows.)

So, I'm a bit cynical about poetry contest, especially online and mail order, so I decided to explore this one a bit further. So I picked an old poem and submitted it. They wanted my name, address, email, etc.; assuming that I won something, they would need my address to mail it to me right? That's not so unusual; besides I read through their privacy statement and they plan on sharing my address with others that want to send me offers. Typical. I'm sure I'll be getting Viagra offers by mail soon.

Before I go on, let me tell you about the dead-ringer, this is a load crap, scam indicator. On the submit page, the page linked above, there is a "Need Help Rhyming?" button link. No shit, for real. That tells you right there that only real poets come here to submit their fine work. (that was sarcasm) Do you think for one second that if you need help rhyming that you should be submitting poetry here? Don't be gullible! That's how these jerk-wads make easy money.

Also they seen to have a weird copyright clause that states "...I understand that it will be published on the Internet as my original work and under my own copyright by The International Library of Poetry (Poetry.com). The community of poets who use this forum for self-expression will also be able to view and share my poem, always as my original work and under my own copyright in the various ways described on this website."

That's why I sent them an old poem that I'd given up on getting published. Anyway so once I agreed that the poem was my original work and is own by me, etc., I clicked submit. This is where the hook-in-the-mouth happens. The next screen tells that my poem has been "selected to receive the honor" of being glued to a plaque for only $39.00. AH-HA, boing! This is the scam part. In addition to the plaque-crap they also would like "to extend to you some very special reward benefits created just for you." Barf, gag, speew!

People, please don't fall for this crap. It doesn't matter how good or bad your poetry is, they will sell you shit on a shingle as long as you are buying. Only submit your work to reputable publications. Do some research before you waste so much as a stamp. Go to your local book store and look for publications printed at universities or well known journals like The Atlantic.

Here is a screen shot of the "congrats you just submitted a poem page" from Poetry.com. The red outlined boxes I added over my name. They pull your name from the form on the previous page and personalize this page. So as to be fair and let you make up your own mind (I mean who am I, right? I'm not so great; I've only had 2 poems published in twelve years of trying and they weren't even in The Atlantic, they were in Poesia, and I didn't get any money for them.) I say take a writing class at your local community college and see how you do. Or put up your own poetry blog and see what kind of attention you get. People online are fiercely truthful; they won't lie to you and try to sell you a plaque. What...do you think that you've written the next Footprints? You deserve to be on a plaque, and posters, and keychains, and air freshiners? If you want the truth about your writing skills be sure you are ready to take it. Grow your skin thick. You're no Footprints.

Otherwise, buy a frigging plaque and give it to your grandmother and make her smile, because that's all the praise you'll ever get.

Ultra Deep Field Image by Hubble Telescope

This is awesome. This is a zoomable image of the deepest field image yet taken by the Hubble Telescope.
The exposure time was a cumulative time of 11.3 days during the span from Sept 24, 2003 - Jan 16, 2004.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2004/07/image/a/format/zoom/

While you are viewing it think about what you are seeing. These galaxies are not as they are now; but you are seeing them as they were "between 400 and 800 million years...after the big bang."
Now consider that the universe is between 12 and 14 billion years (source: map.gsfc.nasa.gov) and you are seeing the extreme past. Doing the math with the average of both numbers, imaging that the universe is currently a person between 21 and 22 years of age. Now image that you could look at them through a telescope from far away and see them as they were when they were 1 year old. Wow!
"This will hold the record as the deepest-ever view of the universe until ESA, together with NASA, launches the James Webb Space Telescope in 2011."
- I can hardly wait...

Faschionism

It’s time to coin a new word.

Faschionism [fas-shun-nizum]
-noun
The meeting of fashion and fascism. Extreme totalitarian adherence to the current manner of dress.

New for the cold and flu season, the DVD Nap Pauser.

The DVD Nap Pauser.

When you are sick and in the recliner watching your favorite DVD do you ever nod off and miss 20-30mins? Then you have to rewind and try to remember where you were?

You've seen this feature on fine European luxury cars, if you get sleepy and your head tilts forward, a sensor notices and beeps to wake you up.

This function has been adapted into the DVD Nap Pauser; if your head tilts forward or if your gaze strays for more than 30secs, the DVD Nap Pauser will automatically pause your DVD player. And your movie will be ready for you to resume when you wake up! Easy as hooking up a web cam; plugs directly into the back of your DVD player.

Like magic, but real!

(Patent pending)