Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes

On Charlie Sheen's new cooking show; Winning Recipes, Charlie shows you how to cook using all of the power of a warlock.

Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes from Charlie Sheen

CBS Renews How I Met Your Mother for Two More Seasons

By Krystal Clark
From http://screencrave.com/

The CBS network has experienced a huge blow to their comedy line up with the unexpected termination of “Two and a Half Men” (Charlie and Chuck, can’t we all just get along?). Therefore, they’re trying to solidify their other winning comedies by locking them into contracts and extending their deals. “How I Met Your Mother” has officially been renewed for another two seasons.


“We are so proud of this show and all of its creative and ratings achievements,” said CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler.  “HIMYM’s brilliant producing team continues to find inventive ways to tell funny stories that stir pop culture conversation; it has become a go-to destination for top guest stars and its amazing ensemble cast brings to life characters that audiences want to hang out with every Monday night.”

The show is currently in its sixth season, and has continued to be a ratings success for the network. In terms of critical achievements, co-star Neil Patrick Harris has been nominated for four consecutive Primetime Emmys for his role as Barney, the womanizer on the show.

This is great news for the series, the cast, and the fans, but how long are people expected to wait before they find out who this kid’s mother is? It’s moments like these, that make us happy that we never got fully invested in the show.

Hands-on with iOS 4.3 [PHOTOS]

mashable.com — A full walkthrough of what is new and updated in iOS 4.3 for iPad and iPhone. 1 day 10 hr ago

Click here for Full Article, with pics:  http://mashable.com/2011/03/08/hands-on-with-ios-4-3/

You Knew This Was Coming: Autotuned Charlie Sheen (VID)

Winning - a Song by Charlie Sheen

By: schmoyoho

Charlie Sheen Parody - Bi-Winning (Official Song) 

by theparodyfactory1

The original Dubstep version:

Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning Dubstep

by DjEphixa

U.S. Department of Energy Announces New Biofuel to Replace Gasoline

By Tina Casey
From: http://cleantechnica.com/

Things are moving along at a nice clip in the world of biofuel research, so it seems like news of another “breakthrough” is barely enough to provoke a yawn. Well, this latest piece of news sure stands out from the crowd. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has just announced that a research team headed up by the Department’s BioEnergy Science Center has developed a cost effective method for converting woody plants straight into isobutanol, which can be used in conventional car engines just as gasoline.

Biofuel and Green Jobs, Too

In his announcement, Chu was quick to point out that biofuel production has the potential to create new jobs in rural parts of the country. Though some of those jobs might come from putting more farmland into production, the most important thing about DOE’s new isobutanol process is that it does not necessarily rely on new agricultural production. Aside from cultivated biofuel crops, it can use the woody waste from other crops including wheat and rice straw, corn stover, and lumber waste. Handling, transporting and refining these wastes is probably where a good deal of the new employment would occur.

Biofuel, from Farm to Gas Tank

Scientists from the BioEnergy Science Center (an offshoot of DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory) worked with researchers from the University of California to develop a new strain of the microbe Clostridium celluloyticum. As its name implies, C. celluloyticum is a natural at breaking down cellulose. The problem is that different species can only produce certain aspects of the process, so the new strain combines those various talents in one microbe. The result is a process that breaks down plant matter and produces isobutanol in one relatively inexpensive step, in contrast to the multi-stage process demanded of conventional biofuel production.

Green Jobs for Microbes

Non-edible woody plant matter is a potential biofuel gold mine, but until now the problem has been to find low cost, energy efficient ways of breaking down the cellulose – the “wood” part of the plant cells – to get at the soft innards that can be converted to fuel. Microbes have proved up to the job, and that’s just one example of their role in new green tech. They’re also being put to work cleaning up polluted sites, powering fuel cells, and even transforming wastewater into bioplastic.
Image: Cylinders and beakers by Horia Varlan on flickr.com.

Probably the most awesome pile of wood ever!

From:  i.imgur.com

Google Maps Navigation Gains Real-Time Traffic Re-Routing

by Ray Willington

from http://hothardware.com/

Traffic. Just the mention of the word makes some city folk cringe, and for most everyone, it turns a good day into a bad one. It's a dreadful thing, and it's something that some people have to deal with on a daily basis. But technology has been coming to the rescue lately, with many personal navigation devices adding real-time traffic alerts to keep motorists from falling into nasty log-jams that are near impossible to escape.

Google is a bit behind when it comes to that, but when the app is free, who could complain? Google Maps 5.2.1 introduces a killer new feature: real-time traffic alerts. The new version of the app has the ability to route users around traffic, and with over 35 million miles driven by Google Maps Navigation users every single day, it should end up being quite effective. The traffic data is crowdsourced; if you're using Google Maps Navigation to get around, your velocity and location can be recorded and sent to show others in general how fast a given road is.

You don’t have to do anything to be routed around traffic; just start Navigation like you normally would, either from the Navigation app or from within Google Maps. Before today, Navigation would choose whichever route was fastest, without taking current traffic conditions into account. It would also generate additional alternate directions, such as the shortest route or one that uses highways instead of side roads. Starting today, our routing algorithms will also apply our knowledge of current and historical traffic to select the fastest route from those alternates. That means that Navigation will automatically guide you along the best route given the current traffic conditions.

Sounds like a total winner to us, and we hope it spreads to more navigation systems soon. Thanks again to Google for pushing competition.

Jennifer Aniston's Sax Tape: goes viral - smartwater

Uploaded by drinksmartwater

smartwater presents jen aniston in her first ever viral video

Good Luck Finding a More Intimidating 8-Year-Old Than Stevo Poulin

Pint-sized Powerhouse

by Ryan Murphy

from: http://www.mensfitness.com/

Stevo Poulin is a problem. Although he's only 8-years-old, this champion wrestler from Schuylerville, New York has become the latest YouTube phenomenon thanks to a two-minute video that features the pint-sized grappler destroying hapless opponent with the same raw power and electric intensity as Brock Lesnar. Sporting a serious Mohawk and surprising strength, Poulin already has a clear grasp on all the basics of mat wrestling. But what sets this elementary school assassin apart is his ability to intimidate. Watch the way the little man bounces on his feet before the match starts like he's trying to suppress his desire to prematurely pounce on his opponent and be thankful that you never ran into a kid like Stevo Poulin when you were in second grade.

How Many Americans Have a Passport? The Percentages, State by State

From: http://blog.cgpgrey.com/

(Discussion on Reddit)
One of the things I’ve often heard while living in the European Union is the meme that only 10% of Americans own a passport. (This assertion is usually followed by the quazi-urban legend that George W. Bush never had a passport before becoming president. This I’ve never been able to prove or disprove any satisfaction)
Such a low number wouldn’t have surprised me. After all, the United States is nearly thrice the size of the EU and borders only two foreign countries, while the EU is made of 27 countries and – depending on how you want to count them – borders another 19.
I wondered aloud about this in my previous post, ‘Work in Progress: The United States Explained‘ and a commentor, Alison, was nice enough to bring this data set about passports from the ever-awesome data.gov to my attention.
The data was only for the past four years, so I had to do some estimates based on issue rates and the 2000 census numbers, but the result is the above infographic and the table below:

State	Population with Passport
NEW JERSEY	68.36%
DELAWARE	67.05%
ALASKA	65.01%
MASSACHUSETTS	63.42%
NEW YORK	62.47%
CALIFORNIA	60.19%
NEW HAMPSHIRE	59.39%
CONNECTICUT	58.50%
WASHINGTON	57.28%
VERMONT	56.32%
MARYLAND	56.21%
MINNESOTA	56.14%
COLORADO	54.88%
RHODE ISLAND	54.40%
FLORIDA	52.83%
ILLINOIS	52.06%
MAINE	51.62%
ARIZONA	51.24%
HAWAII	49.94%
UTAH	49.36%
VIRGINIA	49.16%
TEXAS	48.80%
NORTH DAKOTA	48.30%
NEVADA	46.84%
MONTANA	46.63%
PENNSYLVANIA	45.11%
WISCONSIN	43.70%
OREGON	43.39%
MICHIGAN	42.89%
WYOMING	41.40%
IDAHO	41.24%
IOWA	39.34%
NEBRASKA	38.97%
GEORGIA	38.73%
KANSAS	38.18%
SOUTH DAKOTA	37.69%
NEW MEXICO	37.11%
OHIO	35.71%
MISSOURI	35.32%
NORTH CAROLINA	34.18%
OKLAHOMA	33.23%
INDIANA	32.73%
SOUTH CAROLINA	32.09%
LOUISIANA	29.47%
TENNESSEE	28.78%
ARKANSAS	25.14%
ALABAMA	25.03%
KENTUCKY	24.94%
WEST VIRGINIA	20.43%
MISSISSIPPI	19.86%

(If you’re the kind of person who really cares about the details, you can see all the calculations on my United States data spreadsheet – please let me know if there are any errors)

DreamWorks Animation Reveals Release Slate Through 2014

By Krystal Clark
From http://screencrave.com/


DreamWorks Animation has decided to let us in on their theatrical plans for the next three years. The studio has announced their release schedule that’s booked all the way up to 2014, and features several anticipated tentpoles. Some of the notable films on the list include the Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots, How to Train Our Dragon 2, and the Robert Downey Jr. voiced Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Check out the roster…

Here’s the schedule (via Deadline)

• May 26, 2011: Kung Fu Panda 2
• Nov. 4, 2011: Puss In Boots (Chris Miller director; Joe Aguilar and Latifa Ouaou, producers)
• June 8, 2012: Madagascar 3 (Eric Darnell, director; Mireille Soria and Mark Swift, producers)
• Nov. 21, 2012: Rise of the Guardians (Peter Ramsey, director, William Joyce, co-director; Christina Steinberg and Nancy Bernstein, producers)
• March 1, 2013: The Croods (Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco, directors; Kristine Belson and Jane Hartwell, producers)
• June 7, 2013: Turbo (David Soren, director; Lisa Stewart, producer)
• Nov. 8, 2013: Me and My Shadow (Mark Dindal, director; Melissa Cobb and Teresa Cheng, producer)
• March 21, 2014: Mr. Peabody & Sherman (Rob Minkoff, director; Jason Clark and Denise Nolan Cascino, producers)
• June 20, 2014: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Dean DeBlois, director; Bonnie Arnold, producer)

We forgot all about Madagascar 3! Granted we love the franchise, but the fact that a third one was on the horizon completely slipped our minds. In terms of the non-sequel projects, we’re interested in seeing Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Anything with Robert Downey Jr. deserves a little bit of attention.

Trent Reznor to shift focus back to NIN

By Emily Zemler

From http://www.myspace.com/

.
Trent Reznor may have claimed retirement from Nine Inch Nails, but it sounds like the recent Oscar winner is already preparing to revitalize the act that made him famous. Reznor posted a lengthy blog on the NIN forum this week discussing his future plans and clarifying a few misunderstandings.
.
“The three columns of things I’m currently funneling music into – HTDA, NIN and film work – I believe will start to make more sense to you (and me) as everything unfolds,” he wrote, referring to his new band How To Destroy Angels. “By having a few different outlets for my work I’m finding more inspiration within each one. No, Nine Inch Nails is not dead and I plan to focus on that next.”
.
He added, “Perhaps I misspoke on the red carpet or wherever it was I said the new How To Destroy Angels record is finished – it is not. We’ve been working since last summer on it and are due to mix it this summer for a fall release. We’ve spent a lot of time experimenting and finding our own sound and identity this time around and we’re very happy with the results.”
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Renzor is also confirmed to be scoring David Fincher’s upcoming film-adaptation of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which will be out late this year. “Atticus [Ross] and I are hard at work scoring David’s next film, which will be opening this Christmas,” Reznor wrote. “We’ve been composing quite a bit of music for this and have just begun to see some of what’s been shot. Trust me when I say this film (and of course the music!) will not disappoint.”
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As for that other project Reznor is said to be doing? It’s apparently true. He will be scoring and appearing in the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter — which was supposed to be a surprise. “The idea was a cameo-esque role that would be kept under wraps and be a surprise around opening night,” Reznor wrote. “I was considering this when I awoke a few days ago to the news I am now STARRING in ALVH (which is obviously not true). Fuck. We both apparently forgot the internet existed AND THERE ARE NO SURPRISES anymore.”

Seriously jaw-dropping picture of the Sun

Need your slice of awesome today? Then check out this truly astonishing picture of a detached prominence off the limb of the Sun:



Holy wow! Click to ensolarnate. And I mean it: you want to see the bigger version of this.

This picture was taken by Alan Friedman, who is no stranger to this blog: his picture of the boiling Sun last year was hugely popular, and so amazing I featured it as one of my top pictures of 2010.

And with this he’s done it again… and maybe even topped it.

Alan used a filter that lets through only a very narrow wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen (called Hα for those of you keeping track at home), so this tracks the activity of gas on the solar surface. He also inverts the image of the solar disk (makes it a negative) to increase contrast. Somehow this adds a three-dimensional quality to the picture, and reveals an amazing amount of texture. I swear I had a rug in my bedroom growing up that was this texture (though somewhat cooler and less burny).

The scene-stealer is that detached prominence off to the left. That’s the leftover material ejected from the Sun by an erupting sunspot (you can see other sunspots in the picture as well). The gas is ionized — a plasma — and so it’s affected by magnetic fields. The material follows the magnetic field of the Sun in the explosion, lifting it off the surface and into space. Sometimes it falls back, and sometimes it leaves the Sun entirely. In this case, Alan caught some of the material at what looks like the top of its trajectory.

The beauty of this picture belies its violence and sheer magnitude: the mass of material in a prominence can easily top 10 billion tons! As for size, see that dark elongated sunspot near the base of the prominence, just to the right of the bigger, speckly one? That spot is roughly twice the size of the Earth.

Yegads.

Making this even more amazing, these images are taken with a 90mm telescope — that’s a lens not even 4 inches across! Superior optics, a good mount, and a steady hand can do wonders.

You really need to go and see the rest of Alan’s photography at his site, Averted Imagination. His photos of the skies are surpassingly beautiful.

The CARD Act

For millions of consumers, credit debt is a burden, as is dealing with credit companies. From rate hikes to hidden fees creditors have historically been in control. In 2009, President Obama signed the CARD Act, which established regulations for companies charging consumers.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge
Source:The CARD Act