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Number six on the Forbes Ten ways to live longer list: Be rich. Number three? Have more sex.
Thanks, Chatchi. Very helpful!
Oops! I'm failing at number two: Be optimistic.
And I can't even comment on number one, or else I might ruin my chances at number three...
Cracking the Real Estate Code is an excerpt from Freakonomics, which I am enjoying thoroughly.
So on the sale of your $300,000 house, her personal take of the $18,000 commission is $4,500. Still not bad, you say. But what if the house was worth more than $300,000? What if, with a little more effort and patience, she could have sold it for $310,000? After the commission, that puts an additional $9,400 in your pocket. Yet the agent's additional share - her personal 1.5 percent - is a mere $150. So maybe your incentives aren't aligned after all. Is the agent willing to put out all that extra time and energy for just $150?
Authorities in an Indian city are planning to crack down on drunk and disorderly monkeys.
Officials in Shimla city are calling for monkeys to be deported or sterilised if they don't move back into the forest.
That's what I'm talking about. Extreme problems call for extreme solutions.
By Accident or Design, Selling T-Shirts Is Big Business on Web
Today the online and print newsletters have flopped. But the shirts are pulling in up to $3,000 per month, as Mr. Mowry joins the growing ranks of entrepreneurs profiting from an improbable but lucrative Web business model: selling T-shirts.
All over the Web, bloggers, artists and entrepreneurs are unexpectedly finding that T-shirts are more reliable moneymakers than the original ideas that brought them to the Internet.
I keep having ideas for t-shirts, but I fail to execute.
I still love my Double Cut Bastard design, though. (I do wish CafePress would offer black tees, however.)
Today, on the drive to work, I had the distinct pleasure of being the #1 car in a three car chain-reaction accident. Same old story: I had to stop short approaching an intersection. Of course, as soon as I am able to stop without hitting the car in front of me, I check the rearview. The car behind me stops close, but the Suburban behind her isn't able to stop in time. Boom leads to tap and my 7-8 year old plastic rear bumper crumbles.
Nobody was hurt, but we had a fun time waiting 20 minutes for Broomfield Police to arrive only to tell us, "Oh, this is actually City of Westminster, so just hang out until they get here."
Ten more minutes and we get to sit in the Accident Investigation van to file the report.
And now I get to deal with getting a new bumper.
Good times.
Cambodian Troops Quarantine Quan'sul
After death, this parasite is able to restart the heart of its victim for up to two hours after the initial demise of the person where the individual behaves in extremely violent ways from what is believed to be a combination of brain damage and a chemical released into blood during “resurrection.�
We got trouble, right here in River City, and that starts with T and that rhymes with Z and that stands for ZOMBIE!
Ack!
(Yes, this is totally a hoax, btw. It still messed me up a bit, though. After all, it's not a far leap from mermen to zombies, right? ;) )
Careful How You Monkey With DNA
Embryonic stem cells have the ability to differentiate into any type of cell in the human body. Incorporating these highly morphological cells into an animal embryo or brain opens up amazing scientific possibilities and unthinkable ethical quandaries, such as a human brain trapped in a mouse's body, or a human baby with mice for parents.
No scientist working with chimeras apparently wishes to create such nightmarish animals. But just to be on the safe side, the National Academies made chimeras a prominent part of a larger report outlining guidelines for embryonic stem-cell research.
The guidelines, which are voluntary, say scientists should never implant human embryonic stem cells into non-human primates, such as chimpanzees.
And while we're getting all Island of Doctor Moreau up in here, there's this, too: 'Merman' spotted in Caspian
Pardon me for being shallow (especially considering the context in which I found this story), but Suphala is totally hot.
There have been a few compromises. Suphala - the name means fruitfulness in Sanskrit - dropped her last name, Patankar, for simplicity's sake. In the photographs accompanying her CD, "The Now," she's clad in Jean Paul Gauthier and Dolce & Gabbana and displays a J. Lo-style make-over.
As much as I like the pretty lady, I also dig that tabla sound. I might even consider buying the disc except:
One song, "The Lover," contains a mix of the voices of Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith reading a Deepak Chopra translation of a poem by Rabindranath Tagore.
Um. Ouch. Giant turn-off, thanks.
Actually, after listening to a couple sample tracks at Giant Step, I don't think I'm all that interested. The sample on her site doesn't do much for me either.
I'd like to share a few "moment of zen" type links:
George was kind enough to send me this depressing bit: ON THE BRINK OF IRRELEVANCE: Hockey Through American Eyes
Congratulations are surely in order. It took nearly a decade, but the NHL has finally been run into the ground. While it would certainly be convenient to place all of the blame on the shoulders of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players' Association President Bob Goodenow, the decay of the National Hockey League in the United States has, in actuality, been the result of negative associations (everything from annoying glowing pucks, crazed hockey dads, low ratings, and even un-Americanness) that have crept into the subconscious of the average American. With the 2004-05 season officially over, and the chances of a season next year becoming doubtful, the lone silver lining of the league's uncertain future is the opportunity to re-introduce the game of hockey to Americans, free of all these damaging stereotypes.
Sad but true. At this point I think the best thing that could happen is a total restructuring of the professional game.
The one good thing is that it's been a banner year for minor league and college hockey. True hockey fans do exist, and they will watch hockey whereever they can find it.
Victory Day Show at Russian Circus to Feature Nazi Monkeys (Bad photoshop ahoy!)
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Soviet victory in World War II a circus show will dress monkeys as Nazis and have them act in wartime stories, NewsRu reports.
Why monkeys? Well, as the circus director says: “You can not dress a horse like a Nazi.�
Then there's the idea of a SWAT monkey. Not for fun, folks — this is for teh reals.
The Mesa Police Department is looking to add some primal instinct to its SWAT team. And to do that, it's looking to a monkey.
"Everybody laughs about it until they really start thinking about it," said Mesa Officer Sean Truelove, who builds and operates tactical robots for the suburban Phoenix SWAT team. "It would change the way we do business."
Oh, I've thought about it, alright. In fact I've been sitting on this story for over a week because I was so dumbfounded at first. No, Sean, after much too much consideration, SWAT monkeys are still way freakin' funny.
These are my URL ABCs:
Just a quick catch up on stuff I've enjoyed lately:
OK, that's it. Carry on.
I usually sit in smug judgement of VH1's Best Week Ever: "Seen it. Heard it. Yeah, I know about that. Big deal." I mean, I live on the internets. Plus, thanks to the brother-in-law, I know people who work on TV shows and stuff. I hear about things, yo. Well, not today. Today they featured an act that set me on fire. His name is Matisyahu, he is a Hasidic Jew, and he sings some funky fresh reggae, raps and rocks a killer beatbox. It's amazing.
Combining the sounds of Bob Marley and Shlomo Carlebach, yet remaining wholly original, Matisyahu's performance is an uplifting, powerful experience for all in his presence. Even the most pessimistic in his audience is inspired by his ability to so honestly convey such a delicate, topic as faith/spirituality. It is his dedication to his belief and openness to others that compels one to respect his artistry and message. It's in that fleeting moment when our skepticism melts and our souls open up, that Matisyahu enters with his booming sound of faith.
So check it out:
Any plans for other collaborations? I have a lot of ideas. I did this performance with this guy Kenny Mohammed [sic], he’s a beatboxer, and a pretty famous guy. He’s a Muslim guy. I have a thing I would like to put together: a Rasta, an Arabic dude and myself. And do a project, even a song, like a more pop-y kind of song, something like that.
Kenny Muhammad (aka the Human Orchestra) is the beatboxer you may have seen making the rounds on the intarweb performing in front of an actual orchestra (the NY Philharmonic, it turns out).
Update: There are tons of live recordings at the Internet Archive. Get to downloading!
Police fear retaliatory attack, vow crackdown on gangs
Police Chief Michael Chitwood said he is boosting patrols in anticipation of a retaliatory attack following the shooting Tuesday of a 58-year-old Denmark man at the Portland Tattoo Shop. The bullet grazed the victim's groin before passing through his leg.
Police believe the shooting was a premeditated attack by members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on a group believed to be allied with Hell's Angels.
As H.B. says in the latest Soxaholix strip, "... motorcycle gangs? The Outlaws? The Hells Angels? Hello 1970!"
Seriously, though, once your "organization" has gone global enough to include a 58-year-old Dane as an associate, don't you think you should move on from shooting people and dealing meth? I mean, there's "keeping it old school" and "being in touch with your roots" and then there's "being stuck in the Stone Age"...
Hey, did y'all notice you can view my del.icio.us links right here? The link is over there on the sidebar. All thanks to this plugin for Wordpress.
It's good stuff.
House of Flying Daggers rules!
Read MoreSo the Catholics have chosen a 78 year old German who "has disciplined church dissidents and upheld church policy against attempts by liberals for reforms" as the new pope. (Oh, and it seems he was a Hitler Youth back in the day...) At least he picked a cool name.
DSW Data Theft Much Larger Than Estimated
DSW Shoe Warehouse said Monday that it has contact information for about half of those people and started sending letters notifying them of the thefts, which happened at 108 stores in 25 states between November and February. A list of the stores is available on the company's Web site.
...
Besides the credit card numbers, the thieves obtained driver's license numbers and checking account numbers from 96,000 transactions involving checks, the company said. Customer names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not stolen, DSW said.
Suck. I'm a total show whore, and I love me some DSW. This doesn't give me good feelings, though.
Luckily, we haven't seen any untoward activity on our credit cards. Judging from the DSW site, though, it looks like we should keep watching:
... if you shopped in one of the following stores between mid-November 2004 and mid-February 2005, and you used a credit card, debit card or check to pay for your purchase, your information was most likely included in the stolen information ...
Yep. We're on there.
Whoa! Seeing as how I make a living off a Macromedia product (ColdFusion, which gets no mention in the article, of course.), this bears watching.