Driverless Cars

Posted and filed under asides, News, technology.

Ever since my son was born I have been saying that I don’t think he’ll ever need to “drive” a car. I really think that by the time he’s old enough to drive, the idea of sitting behind the wheel and steering and using the gas pedal will be silly to him. I’m not saying… Read more »

Feed a Fever, Starve a Cold

Posted and filed under asides, News.

@BabyCenter has a great list of thirteen myths about colds and the flu. Remember: Only a cold virus can give you a cold. Being cold can’t make you sick!

Venus and Mars / Rock Show

Posted and filed under Los Angeles, News.

They’ve got rock n’ roll / At the Hollywood Bowl We’ll be there / Oh, yeah! Here in Los Angeles for the last week, a few of the planets have been putting on one hell of a show. You can read all about the “conjunction” at Universe Today. The last few nights Venus and Jupiter… Read more »

Link Droppings

Posted and filed under News, WebLinks.

News & Notes Couple married 72 years dies holding hands — from kottke.org Jason Kottke also published an epic round-up of all the best stories, comments, obituaries, collections, videos, etc. about Steve Jobs. Top Ten Misused English Words — from listverse.com 4 Personal Finance Principles That Would Make Your Grandfather Proud — from The Art… Read more »

Friday Five: Lessons from Dateline

Posted and filed under media, News.

When in doubt, assume it was the husband. (Second place: The wife.) If the crime is particularly odd, deranged, strange, or otherwise unusual, assume it occurred in Florida. It is always a bad idea to join a cult. If he’s seen one prostitute, he’s likely seen many prostitutes. Most forms of murder generate a tremendous… Read more »

The 2010 Census

Posted and filed under Los Angeles, News, rants.

Okay, riddle me this, kids: The local NBC affiliate’s nightly news keeps running items about how Los Angeles residents are not returning their census forms. The anchorman reports hyper-specific percentages each evening of how many of us have not responded. On Thursday night he said that less than 72% of the city had completed the… Read more »

Presidential Reunion

Posted and filed under comedy, News.

Okay, this is just awesome. Ron Howard directs Chevy Chase (as Gerald Ford), Dana Carvey (as George H. Bush), Darrell Hammond (as Bill Clinton), Will Ferrell (as George W. Bush), Dan Akroyd (as Jimmy Carter), and Jim Carrey (as Ronald Reagan) in a presidential reunion visit to Fred Armisen (as Barack Obama) and Maya Rudolph… Read more »

The Dogs of War

Posted and filed under News.

Happy Veterans’ Day! Celebrate by watching this compilation of videos of dogs welcoming their masters home from the field. And a hat tip to my grandfather Vincent Albanese (1918 – 1986), who fought in WWII as one of Merrill’s Marauders. Thanks for everything I have and am today.

Butterflies!

Posted and filed under News.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A gift of more than 2 million butterfly and moth specimens to the University of Florida contains hundreds and possibly more than 1,000 new unnamed species, and will help researchers better understand biodiversity and environmental changes. The gift to the Florida Museum of Natural History from Dr. William and Nadine McGuire of… Read more »

AIG Has $182 Billion of Your Money

Posted and filed under News, rants.

Robert Benmosche, new CEO of AIG — which continues to hold $182 billion of the taxpayers’ money, and seems in no hurry to return any — will be paid about $7 million per year. That means typical people, who earn a median $50,000 a year, are being taxed so yet another plutocrat can own an… Read more »

Angelina Jolie: Awesome

Posted and filed under News.

Angelina Jolie made a trip to the Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington, D.C. back on June 26th. No one reported on this until now because she didn’t tell anyone. She spent several hours with wounded soldiers and gave each one a gift bag which included, among other things, a $1000 gift certificate to Best… Read more »