Coming to Kindle and Smashwords

Coming to Kindle and Smashwords
November 2013

Nov 22, 2011

sleek....GroundBot, A Spherical All-Terrain Surveillance Robot



GroundBot by Rotundus
GroundBot by Rotundus
GroundBot by Rotundus
GroundBot by Rotundus
GroundBot by Swedish robotics firm Rotundus is an all-terrain, amphibious surveillance robot in the shape of a bug-eyed sphere (video). Roughly the size of a car tire, the robot moves silently at up to six mph. GroundBot houses two cameras which provide a stereoscopic view to its remote operator. Rotundus notes that the current version “cannot house robot arms or weapons.” Maybe in the next release.
The spherical design is simplicity itself. With its large circumference, GroundBot takes all kinds of terrain in its stride. And yet its appearance is friendly and unthreatening.
Inside, all cameras and sensors are sealed off from the outside world. This means that they are protected from bangs and knocks. In addition, the outside world is protected from potential electrical sparks when GroundBot is investigating gas leaks

janitors actually provide a service and are useful to society unlike this mouth breathing goober....

Newt Gingrich's Cavalier View Of Janitorial Work Challenged By Facts

Newt
WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich argued at an address at Harvard University last week that American school systems should fire their unionized janitors and let underprivileged children do the work instead, according to a report in Politico.
The upshot of the plan? The kids would learn life skills, and taxpayers would save money.
The logic for such an argument would seem to rely on two premises: that janitors are currently being overpaid for their work, and that their job is so easy a child could do it.
The nation's janitors, unionized and non-unionized alike, would probably disagree.
The mean wage for a janitor working in an elementary or secondary school is $13.74 an hour, or $28,570 per year, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average pay is significantly less for janitors working at private buildings, which comprise the vast majority of janitorial jobs: $10.56 per hour, or $21,960 a year.
The latter annual salary is below the poverty line for a family of four, according to the federal government's most recent poverty guidelines. It also happens to be less than the self-renewing monthly retainer that Gingrich enjoyed as a consultant to Freddie Mac between 1999 and 2002, according to Bloomberg.
Despite its relatively modest pay, a janitor's job isn't as easy as Gingrich seems to think it is. According to the Labor Department, a janitor needs to be able to carry out a long list of duties and repairs during a typical day: Mop and polish floors, handle dangerous chemicals, even perform basic electrical and plumbing repairs. At schools, they also need to interact well with children and, at times, clean up their vomit.
A janitor's job is also more dangerous than most American occupations -- and hardly fit for children, according to the Labor Department's description of the work. Janitors, it notes, "may suffer cuts, bruises, and burns from machines, handtools, and chemicals. They spend most of their time on their feet, sometimes lifting or pushing heavy furniture or equipment. Many tasks, such as dusting or sweeping, require constant bending, stooping, and stretching."
A spokesman for Gingrich's campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.
Gingrich made his remarks on unionized janitors to an audience that should know quite a bit about the subject. After long negotiations, Harvard's janitors, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union, just ratified a five-year contract with the school this past weekend, having received public support from much of the student body.
The contract includes what the SEIU has described as a "groundbreaking" childcare allowance worth up to $5,000 each year for workers, as well as a modest but important 3 percent annual raise, helping janitors' salaries keep pace with the ever-rising cost of living. The agreement also caps the percentage of janitors that Harvard can use through contractors, thereby stemming a trend that has helped erode workers' pay and benefits in the services industry and other blue-collar fields.
At Harvard, Gingrich said his plan to put kids to work as janitors would help them "begin the process of rising" in society.
And the contract won by the unionized janitors appears to do just that for workers and their children. One of the perks in the agreement allows janitors to take advantage of a tuition assistance program, letting them pursue Harvard degrees or continuing education classes at a discounted rate. That benefit, presumably, could lead to better jobs and brighter futures for the janitors and their families

japanese do cyberpunk best...




finally my nephew Pol Pot will have someone to play with...

Adolf Hitler Campbell Custody Dispute: Heath And Deborah Campbell Want Their Baby Back
Heath Deborah Campbell Nazi
Heath Campbell, left, with his wife, Deborah, and son Adolf Hitler Campbell, 3, pose in Easton, Pa.

NEWARK, N.J. -- A New Jersey couple who gave their three children Nazi-inspired names is due in court Monday to try to regain custody of their newborn.
Heath and Deborah Campbell's lawyer says state child welfare officials took custody of the child named Hons after he was born Thursday at Hunterdon Medical Center.
The state took custody of the couple's other children nearly two years ago, saying there were in danger because of previous violence in the Campbell home.
Their parents made headlines in 2009 when a supermarket refused to decorate a birthday cake for their son, Adolf Hitler. His siblings are named JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler

I think my sister could have her shower here....

HR Giger Bar at The Museum HR Giger

By on November 21, 2011

HR Giger Bar
Museum HR Giger Bar
Museum HR Giger Bar
The Museum HR Giger Bar is a stunning bar designed by artist HR Giger (the designer of the Alien film character). The bar is located at Museum HR Giger in Gruyères, Switzerland (see a brief video of the bar by z0wye and a flickr photoset by Alejandro Pérez). Another Giger Bar is located in Chur, Switzerland

duh.....

Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: Study

Fox News
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Fox News viewers are less informed than people who don't watch any news, according to a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
The poll surveyed New Jersey residents about the uprisings in Egypt and the Middle East, and where they get their news sources. The study, which controlled for demographic factors like education and partisanship, found that "people who watch Fox News are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government" and "6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government" compared to those who watch no news.
Overall, 53% of all respondents knew that Egyptians successfully overthrew Hosni Mubarak and 48% knew that Syrians have yet to overthrow their government.
Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson, explained in a statement, "Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News. Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all."
This isn't the first study that has found that Fox News viewers more misinformed in comparison to others. Last year, a study from the University of Maryland found that Fox News viewers were more likely to believe false information about politics

Waiter, this steak tastes like sh**....


Japan is plotting to get the world to eat excrement.  (Source: Tom Six)

Professor Mitsuyuki Ikeda inspects his feces "meat".  (Source: TWO/YouTube)

Fresh "steak" shoots out the exploder.  (Source: TWO/YouTube)

The researchers say the meat is delicious and tastes like beef. It is colored with red food coloring to give it a pleasing tone.  (Source: TWO/YouTube)
Mankind's food chain may become a loop
Mankind has come up with all sorts of ideas for new meat sources from cloned animals to chowing down on insects, but this idea may be the most outlandish yet.

The Tokyo Sewage service in Japan serves over 13 million people over approximately a 2,200 square kilometer area.  It approached Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, with an unusual problem -- it had too much "sewer mud" (also known as human excrement).

It turns out human excrement is a breeding ground for scores of bacteria.  So Mr. Ikeda cooked up an unusual solution -- make food [video] out of the feces.

The first step is to cook the bacteria, killing them, and to extract their proteins via separation techniques according to Yahoo News.  Soy protein is added to enhance the flavor.  The meat mixture travels to a "reaction enhancer" (likely a chemical reactor of some sort) where it turns into a textured "meat" and is then extrude through an "exploder".

The delicious "steak" is even finished with red food color to give it a comforting hue.  Mr. Ikeda claims that in initial testing people found the feces steak to taste somewhat like beef.

Mr. Ikeda is afraid the main obstacle to deploying excrement meat to the masses is the "psychological barrier."  He states, "I admit that few people would be keen to eat it knowing its made of human excrement."

Indeed, the concept of "fake" meat alone is hard for some to swallow.  Taco Bell was recently sued when diners discovered that its beef mixed "fake meat" filers with real meat.

How much would the "meat" cost?  Mr. Ikeda comments, "As far as the cost is concerned, because at the moment it includes the cost of research our artificial meat is 10 to 20 times more expensive than normal meat.  But once the research is complete and it's put on the market, we'll probably be able to price it at roughly the same level as normal meat."

The new "meat" is also healthier than traditional meat as it’s an ideal mix of 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals.  The small fat content, in particular makes the feces steaks healthier than their animal counterpart.

The new meat would also cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions, which traditional livestock produce.  In that regard it could even earn "carbon credits" helping its price to be cheaper than animal-derived meat.

The idea may sound crazy, but consider that Japan is no stranger to fine meat products.  Its Kobe region beef is renowned by connoisseurs worldwide for it's delicious flavor.

And as the band Pink Floyd famously sang, "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat