Category: Of Interest
Those miscellaneous things that just must be published.
NYC Under Attack?
Look! I did a FauxNews headline with a question mark! The wife tells me a small plane or helicopter has crashed into a building in New York. The building is on fire.
This information is unconfirmed and could be inaccurate.
NEW YORK (AP) — Police say an aircraft has crashed into a building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side at 72nd Street and York Avenue. It is near Rockefeller Center. [Source]
Here’s a photo.
Update: Live video and another picture.
Update: MSNBC chimes in.
According to local affiliate WNBC, officials said the aircraft was a helicopter, not a plane. That had not been confirmed by any other sources.
…
Apartments occupy floors 22 through 50; a hospital is on the lower floors. … struck struck the 20th floor…
[Source]
At least they don’t have far to go to find doctors.
Update: "NORAD is launching fighters to several U.S. cities." – unconfirmed.
New York City Police said there was no indication from defense department officials that any suspicious aircraft were in the area.
Prior to the crash, some witnesses said the craft was flying erratically.
[Source]
Update: NPR blog lists the aircraft as "a small plane."
The address of the building is 524 E. 72nd Street [map] — a 50-story condominium tower built in 1986 and located nearby Sotheby’s Auction House. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million. [Source]
Update: Here’s a good roundup.
Update: "The building is a 50-story condominium tower built in 1986 and located nearby Sotheby’s Auction House. It has 183 apartments, many of which sell for more than $1 million." [Source]
Update: Al Jazera is also reporting it as a small plane.
And for the best American news coverage, check out the BBC.
168 firefighters on the scene. 4 alarm fire.
Now that’s a joke!
So if you hit Comedy Central’s job postings link you get a 404 ! That’s good comedy.
The Next Number One Video
GoldenAppleCorp of AtomicTumor has identified what is undeniably, a piece of video art! At first I was wondering why I was watching; in the end, I wanted to watch it over and over! I think perhaps a bored Monty Python animator had some influence on this video.
Monroe County Thanks You
I spoke with the Red Cross last night regarding the Monroe County family with the blind mother and 5 children that lost their home to fire. The children are ages 3-16. The fire occurred on the 16 year old’s birthday. They are looking for clothing in the following sizes: size 4 boy, girls size 6 and 8, boys size 14 and 16. The Monroe County Red Cross, unlike the Knoxville Red Cross, is self-supported through their own fund raising and donations. They have been very surprised by the community response from outside of Monroe County.
Yesterday someone donated 6 beds. The Red Cross gave them backpacks with some coloring books, toys, etc. They have been given a television and vcr and a vhs library of movies. Today they are hoping to arrange housing that is not a motel. I am not sure what else they have received.
If you want to help, call the help line at (423) 337-9011.
Strange Inventions
My current project involves the US Patent Office. In randomly searching patents I came across Patent #5782779 for a vibrating tampon which first showed up in the US Patent Office June of 1947 and is currently not available to the general public because they are "…in the process of developing high speed manufacturing equipment." I would hope the vibrator would have a high speed! The ladies will have to wait until late 2007.
Btw, I found it randomly after growing tired of looking at Patent #5000000 for Ethanol production by Escherichia coli strains co-expressing Zymomonas PDC and ADH genes.
New Super Hero
Two days ago, she was just a normal woman. Now, lightning fires from her butt. I suppose it could have been the chili.
Today’s Political Video
We all know that Google has now purchased YouTube.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., October 9, 2006 – Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community. [Source]
There’s some CYA! "Yes, we own them but they operate independently so you can’t touch our bank accounts with your lawsuits!" Of course, some questions remain unanswered. If you fear the transition to Google, you can use other services like Dailymotion. So, while you still can, watch Jon Stewart on Bush speeches. The best part of this video starts at 3:33.
An interest tidbit for you Daily Show lovers. The theme song is performed by none other than They Might Be Giants. The original theme song is "Dog on Fire" by Bob Mould.
Trade Your Guns for Boxing Gloves
You know. I don’t think I ever feared students shooting up the various schools I attended. I recall fights and stabbings, sex in the theatre sound booth, marijuana in the bathrooms, and cocaine on the desktops. I bought a 10 inch Rambo knife in highschool. But no one talked about having the school shot to pieces. When they talked of putting metal detectors in my middle school there was a public outcry against it. Now the public begs for it and the students practice lockdown drills where they hide under desks.
I would love to get a peek at the family lives of students that bring guns to schools. Their cries for attention are going to have terrible reprecussions on our already failing school systems.
Odeo closes Audioblogger
If you have used Audioblogger (run by Odeo, Inc.) then you need to know that they are closing the service. MP3s made with the service will continue to exist and be hosted but you cannot create anything new. I never realized that Audioblogger wasn’t owned by that evil company Blogger.com.
Hello,
As of November 1, 2006, Audioblogger will no longer accept phone calls. MP3s made with the service will continue to be hosted and served but you will no longer be able to use Audioblogger to post new audio.
Audioblogger is an independent product, run by Odeo, Inc., a small startup company in San Francisco, CA. We are not affiliated with Google or Blogger except that we operate and provide the Audioblogger service.
Given our limited resources, we have to make tough decisions about what projects to focus on. And we’ve come to the difficult decision that Audioblogger demands too many resources, time, and money for us to continue its operation.
However, there are several other services that offer similar functionality. Odeo is not affiliated with any of these services, we only suggest them only in hopes that one or the other will be a good alternative for you.
Gabcast.com is a free service for recording by phone Hipcast.com has a seven day free trial and lots of features Gcast.com is another free service for phone recording
All of the phone posting services listed above are compatible with Odeo in that they produce podcast feeds, which can be imported to Odeo. Any audio file at Odeo can be posted on a blog by copying and pasting some embed code.
Odeo would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has tried Audioblogger. If you are interested in keeping up with our other blog-friendly projects, please have a look at Twitter.com and our customizable audio players.
Thanks,
The Odeo TeamLinks:
Gabcast – http://gabcast.com
Hipcast – http://hipcast.com
Gcast – http://gcast.com
Odeo Importing – http://www.odeo.com/create/addfeed
Twitter – http://twitter.com
Players – http://odeo.com/channel/102054/embedded_player
Hot Pants! Lee Can Sell Down Under (but not North America)
Well now, if you are in Australia (Tim), you can buy these pants. If you are in America, you had better not click that link from work!
Lee Jeans’ controversial “Lolita” ad poster for spring-summer 2006 has been found acceptable by the Advertising Standards Board.
…
“The board (notes) that the woman is over 18, is fully clothed in attire that is fashionable amongst young women for summer, and that there is no nudity,” its determination said.“The board also (notes) that consumption of this style of lollipop is now common amongst people over 18.”
[Source – probably NSFW]
What nipple?
Update: Search Flickr for "Lee Jeans Lolita to see more. These pictures show how the American version will have the hint of nipple removed.
Woman Rapes Boy Then Sues Him For Child Support
If you got pregnant at 19 ½ when you had sex with a 13 ½ year old boy, at 22 don’t take him to court for child support because he can finally work at 16. Matter of fact, don’t ever ask him for child support.
“But for her having made the application in Family Court, we never would have known about this,” Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan said. “It was such an unusual way to have a case come forward.” [Source]
Quiet Down Class – Don’t Make Me Shoot My Gun!
Ah! Our reactive society thinks throwing guns at the teachers is going to make our schools safer. Ok. Maybe it will. At what cost? Our future is in the schools now. I am already disturbed by the overwhelming influence that the schools have on the upbringing of our children. I mean, for the bulk of their day we place the development of a human being – morals, ethics, beliefs, integrity, etc – into the hands of burnt out strangers or naive youth. What message are we communicating to the students when suddenly every adult in the school has a sidearm? Either a) we don’t trust you or b) you can’t trust the world. Regardless, we are bringing up our children to not trust and to believe that it is better to unquestionably close ourselves off (ie. lose liberties) in the name of safety. When we are pinching pennies in our retirement homes, what decisions will our youth be making for us as our political leaders?
I am not saying that arming teachers is wrong. Maybe it is necessary. But make it a responsive decision as opposed to a reactive decision. Respond by weighing pros and cons. You know, our airlines would be safer if we instituted strip searches and body cavity searches on ever passenger then sent them naked with their sore orafices to their cold seats. But that is not going to happen is it?
Star Trek’s 5 no 3 no 5 year mission
If you are a Star Trek fan, you’ll know that the original 5 year mission only lasted 3 years. What you may not know, is that production on the original series has begun again. At roughly $70,000 per episode, 4 of a planned 22 episodes, including guest appearances from original cast members, have been completed and are available as a free download on the Internet as Star Trek:New Voyages. One script was written 30 years ago. Learn more at the Star Trek New Voyages website.
C|Net lists many other Star Trek stories including:
Jesus Offroader
We all know the Jesus walking on water story. What happens when you give Jesus a Jeep?
