U2 and Jay-Z record song for Haiti

U2 and Jay-Z duetted in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate last year

From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

U2, Jay-Z and producer Swizz Beatz have recorded a song together to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake.

U2's guitarist The Edge told Irish radio station 2FM the band "wrote a song, finished and recorded" last week after being contacted about the idea.
The Edge, Bono and Jay-Z, along with Rihanna, are due to appear in London for "a group performance" as part of Friday's Hope For Haiti telethon.
George Clooney's two-hour benefit show will be aired on MTV in the UK.
The Edge told 2FM DJ Dave Fanning over the weekend: "Bono got a call from a producer, Swizz. He and Jay-Z wanted to do something for Haiti.
"So Bono came up with the phrase on the phone and last night we were here, we wrote a song, finished, recorded, and sent it back to them.
"So, that might be the next thing you hear from us."
'Something amazing'
Swizz Beatz also confirmed the project on his Twitter page, saying: "Me, Bono, Hova [Jay-Z's nickname] have something to say about Haiti. Stay tuned.
"I told you I was working on something amazing for Haiti. They need us!"
It is not clear when the single will be released, or whether the artists plan to premiere the song during Friday's telethon
Jay-Z has played with the Irish rock group before, popping up for a handful of dates on last year's 360 tour, and adding a rap to their hit single Sunday Bloody Sunday during the 2009 MTV Europe Awards.

George Clooney has been organising the Hope For Haiti telethon

Meanwhile, more acts have been added to the bill for the Haiti telethon including Coldplay, who will play at "a London location" alongside Jay-Z.
Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow and Keith Urban will appear in Los Angeles while Haitian-born Fugees star Wyclef Jean, Sting, Mary J Blige, Shakira and Bruce Springsteen will be among performers in New York.
Funds raised will go to Oxfam America, Red Cross, Unicef, Partners in Health and the Yele Haiti Foundation.
The telethon will be screened live in the UK from 0100 GMT on Saturday 23 January.
In the US, the telethon is being screened live without commercials on a number of channels including NBC, ABC and CBS.

Adidas' Star Wars line gets its own commercial

by: Paul Tassi 

A long time ago in uh, well, this galaxy, I brought you the news that Adidas was coming out with a STAR WARS line of shoes that ranged from ridiculous to crazy awesome. But not content with just making this a niche campaign, Adidas has debuted a full length commercial for the line which you can see below.
I’m not quite sure what David Beckham and Snoop Dogg are doing here, but the more the merrier I suppose, and I also didn’t realize that underground street racing…on foot…was a big pastime of kids these days.
But in any case, the commercial is pretty sweet, and there’s a bumping remix of the Imperial March I think you’ll enjoy. Check it out:

Source: JoBlo

The Power User's Guide to Video Encoding with Handbrake

maximumpc.com — Whether you own an iPod touch, Zune HD, Nintendo DSi, or any number of other portable devices, there's one tool that makes easy work out of ripping DVDs and converting incompatible video files into manageable formats: Handbrake. This wonderful utility has just about everything you could ask for.
Click here for this full article on : The Power User's Guide to Video Encoding with Handbrake
 

Proof lacking on e-cigarettes' safety, experts warn

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

'e-cigarettes' look real, but are battery-powered and typically made of stainless steel

There is a worrying lack of safety data on electronic cigarettes, despite their growing popularity with the public, two leading Greek researchers have warned.

In the British Medical Journal, they say that without more evidence it is impossible to know if such products actually do more harm than good.
Some studies have raised safety fears, but retailers argue e-cigarettes are a healthy alternative to the real thing.
Users can inhale nicotine without tar, tobacco or carbon monoxide.
The Department of Health suggested consumers "exercise caution".

The Department of Health is not aware of any evidence about the long-term safety of e-cigarettes and, as such, would suggest that consumers exercise caution Government spokeswoman

The report authors said consumers should stop using the devices until ongoing safety studies reported back within the next year.
The World Health Organisation is among those to raise concerns about the safety of these new types of cigarette substitute, which deliver a nicotine hit in a fine vapour.
And in the past year, US regulators have detained and blocked numerous shipments of e-cigarettes at borders because the devices are not approved.
In the UK, it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes as a "quit smoking" aid.
But they are widely available to buy as a "cigarette alternative" over the internet and are sold in a number of places, including some bars and clubs.
Andreas Flouris and Dimitris Oikonomou, from the Institute of Human Performance and Rehabilitation in Greece, say there have been three main reports on e-cigarette safety - one by US regulators, one by a publicly-funded Greek research institute, and another by a private company in New Zealand.
Scant data
The US Food and Drug Administration report expressed concern after finding different brands of the battery operated device delivered markedly different amounts of nicotine vapour with each puff.
The FDA also detected traces of powerful cancer-causing chemicals.
The Greek institute Demokritos took a neutral stance on the products and did not find any evidence of chemical contamination.
Private enterprise Health New Zealand did find cancer-causing chemicals in products, but concluded that overall e-cigarettes should be recommended on the basis of the health risks associated with smoking normal cigarettes.
The researchers told the BMJ: "The scarce evidence indicates the existence of various toxic and carcinogenic compounds in e-cigarettes, albeit in possibly much smaller concentrations than in traditional cigarettes."

Smokers' views on e-cigarettes

Callum Reckless, director at Smart Smoker, a company that sells e-cigarettes, said: "I believe that electronic cigarettes are indeed a safer alternative to smoking real cigarettes."
He welcomed more research into the safety of the products.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said it had been working with regulators to test the products and that none of those tested so far complied with product safety regulations.
She said the government was working to ensure e-cigarettes were labelled and sold appropriately.
"The Department of Health is not aware of any evidence about the long-term safety of e-cigarettes and, as such, would suggest that consumers exercise caution.
"E-cigarettes are not promoted by, or available on, the NHS," she said.
Deborah Arnott, of the charity Action on Smoking and Health, said: "We do need better data on safety and appropriate regulation for e-cigarettes, although these products are certain to be significantly less hazardous than cigarettes, which lead to premature death in half all long-term users."
She said there was demand for the products from smokers - UK estimates suggest around one in ten has already tried them.

Surfers Riding Waves Inches from the Jaws of Death

By: Karl Fabricius -

From:  http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/


Photo: Phil Gallagher used with permission
When Fergal Smith dropped in on a monster barrel two miles off the coast of Perth in Western Australia, he little realised he was also dropping in on a monster of another kind. For as he powered down the face of the 20-plus-foot wave, lurking there just a few feet from him was a 500-pound Great White Shark. Smith didn’t even realise how close he had come to an encounter with one of the ocean’s deadliest predators. Other surfers’ shaves with man-eating sharks are closer still.
Close shave: Fergal Smith catching a barrel just feet from a Great White

Photo: Phil Gallagher
Fergal Smith was lucky. If he had wiped out on the wave he was sharing with the Great White, help was far away – and who can tell what might have happened? Smith only discovered how narrow his escape had been when he was shown this picture by local photographer Phil Gallagher. His reaction? Laughter – though perhaps of a nervous flavour. At the time, in 2008, Smith said: “I saw a grey shape in the wave but I thought it was the reflection of a slab of rock – how wrong was I?”
Smiling assassin? Great White Shark off South Africa

Photo: hermanusbackpackers
Since 1876, the Great White Shark has been responsible for at least 66 recorded deaths worldwide – most recently off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa – plus around 250 further non-fatal attacks. Incredibly, 101 of the attacks reported in the 20th century were on surfers, though often without serious injury – Great Whites being known to test-bite unfamiliar objects such as surfboards. Even so, there is much in the way of misinformation out there as well as some decidedly fishy photos.
Photoshopped: Fake photo of Great White bursting from a wave

Image via myconfinedspace
When Great White attacks do occur, many scientists believe it is a case of mistaken identity. The shark ambushes the swimmer, body-boarder or surfer from below, confusing their silhouette with that of a seal – particularly if the person has fins or a black wetsuit. However, great whites appear not to like the taste of humans – too bony for their palates, they prefer fatty, protein-rich pinnipeds – and it is only an extremely hungry shark that will go in for the kill after the first bite.
Catching air: Spinner Shark jumps from the waves, New Smyrna Beach

Photo: Kem McNair used with permission
Fact is, Great Whites seldom attack people. Researchers studying the species off the coast of South Africa in 2005 watched as a 13-ft specimen approached the kayak one of their team was sat in, but the creature merely veered off, circled several times, then lost interest. And in places where attacks are common such as Florida’s New Smyrna Beach – known as the shark bite capital of the world with 24 in 2008 – the sharks are usually less lethal – like this 6-ft Spinner snapped leaping from the surf.
Nice turn: Spinner Shark living up to its name, New Smyrna Beach, 2008

Photo: Kem McNair used with permission
Sharks are just one of the dangers surfers face when they take to the waves, but though the odds are stacked in their favour, the risk posed is a real one – as American surfer Bethany Hamilton found out in 2003. Then just 13, Hamilton was lying on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 14-ft Tiger Shark attacked, ripping off her arm just below the shoulder. If the shark had bitten two inches further in, the attack would have been fatal, but luck was on her side.
Tiger Shark attack survivor: Pro surfer Bethany Hamilton at Surfest 07

Photo: Noah Hamilton
Hamilton’s friends helped her paddle back to the shore of Kauai, Hawaii, fashioning a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash that they tied around what was left of her arm before rushing her to the local hospital. Hamilton lost almost 60% of her blood that morning but recovered over six days in hospital, and despite the trauma was back on her board just three weeks after the accident. By 2008, with only one arm, she was competing strongly full-time on the ASP World Qualifying Series.
Mistaken identity: Surfer in wave with Dolphin often misrepresented as Shark

Photo: © Kurt Jones used with permission
Bethany Hamilton’s story is evidence enough that a single bite from a powerful predator like a Tiger Shark can grievously injure a human, yet some sea animals may have something to say about such attacks. Dolphins are well documented protecting humans from sharks – although no one knows why for sure. In 2007, a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins formed a ring around surfer Todd Endris, allowing him to get to shore after he had been mauled by a Great White off Monterey, California.
More Photoshop trickery: Surfing a wave personified as a Shark

Image: Worth 1000
But despite such Dolphin interventions, the words “fish out of water” spring to mind when considering the potential scrapes surfers can get themselves into in the open ocean. To some surfers, the wave itself might be likened to a shark – a force forever capable of chewing them up and spitting them out – but while the wave is a beast whose power surfers have learned to harness, the sharks remains a creature that will never be tamed.


Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Hotel chain offers human bed warmers

A hotel chain is employing human bed warmers to help guests get a good night's sleep.

Five minute free bed warming sessions ''like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed''

 

The walking electric blankets are dressed in special all-in-one sleeper suits and are sent to warm the beds of guests staying at the Holiday Inn before they get under the covers.
Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said the idea could help people get off to sleep.


He said: ''There's plenty of scientific evidence to show that sleep starts at the beginning of the night when body temperature starts to drop. The decline occurs partly because the blood vessels of the hands, face and feet open up and release heat.

''A warm bed – approximately 20 to 24 degrees Celsius – is a good way to start this process whereas a cold bed would inhibit sleep. Holiday Inn's new bed warmers service should help people achieve a good night's sleep especially as it's taking much longer for them to warm up when they come in from the snow.''
Holiday Inn spokeswoman Jane Bednall said the idea was ''like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed''. The five minute free bed warming sessions are being tried out in London and Manchester at the end of January.

Gorillaz announce new album details, guests and release date – exclusive

From: http://www.nme.com/news/gorillaz/49341

Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn's cartoon creations reveal all about 'Plastic Beach'

Gorillaz will release their third album, 'Plastic Beach' on March 8, the cartoon creations of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett have told NME.COM.

Confirming the record's full tracklisting, the band also announced that the likes of Lou Reed, Mos Def, Mark E Smith, Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, De La Soul and Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys, while The Clash duo Mick Jones and Paul Simonon reunite on the title track.

"Leeching is the wrong word now isn't it?" the band's 'frontman Murdoc Niccals told NME.COM of the guest stars. "It's not like I've drawn blood or anything. No, I think the word 'coerced' sings the deal a little better. Although, yes, the coercion did come via chloroform and rohypnol."

See this week's issue of NME – on UK newsstands now – for an exclusive comeback interview with Gorillaz.

As with the band's previous releases, the album boasts a back story, which this time sees "the band have taken up residence, recording on a secret floating island deep in the South Pacific, a Plastic Beach HQ, made up of the detritus, debris and washed up remnants of humanity. This Plastic Beach is the furthest point from any landmass on Earth; the most deserted spot on the planet".

'Plastic Beach' has the following tracklisting.

'Orchestral Intro'
'Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach' (feat. Snoop Dogg)
'White Flag (feat. Kano & Bashy)
'Rhinestone Eyes'
'Stylo' (feat. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
'Superfast Jellyfish' (feat. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
'Empire Ants' (feat. Little Dragon)
'Glitter Freeze' (feat. Mark E Smith)
'Some Kind Of Nature' (feat. Lou Reed)
'On Melancholy Hill'
'Broken'
'Sweepstakes' (feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
'Plastic Beach' (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)
'To Binge' (feat. Little Dragon)
'Cloud Of Unknowing' (feat. Bobby Womack)
'Pirate Jet'

The album will be preceded by the single 'Stylo', which you can hear on NME Radio from today (January 20). To tune in, head to Sky Channel 0184, Virgin Media 975, Freesat 727, DAB nationwide or NME.COM/radio. The song will be available as a download from January 26.

For more Gorillaz head to Twitter.com/MurdocGorillaz.

Hide advert

Listen to full tracks now. Users outside the UK can hear 30-second clips of each song.

British Bobsled Pant Split (Hilarious)

HP TouchSmart 600 All-In-One PC Review - HotHardware

HP TouchSmart 600 All-In-One PC Review - HotHardware

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One Danish Island Experiments with Clean Power [+Slide Show]

scientificamerican.com — One small island in Denmark is technically 100 percent powered by sustainable sources of energy. Could the experiment succeed anywhere else?

Click here to read this fascinating Green Article:   One Danish Island Experiments with Clean Power [+Slide Show]

She (Allegedly) Just Wants To Have Sex With A Hermann Park Statue. The Odd Thing Is, The Statue In Question Is Not Sam Houston

By Richard Connelly in Spaced City

Objectum Sexuality from sergio on Vimeo. Via Swamplot, we get this video, about a woman who really, really really likes a statue in Hermann Park.

It purports to be a documentary, complete with plummy British narrator, of someone with "object sexuality," a condition where people end up loving the Eiffel Tower or marrying the Berlin Wall.

The woman in the above video loves the Pioneer Memorial in Hermann Park (Motto: "Oh, that's what that thing is called?") She first rubs herself all over to a video of it, then cuddles with it in person.

"I think I just came," she says in excitement as she walks up to it.

And as she sits on it, she mentions how she'd like to have sex with it, telling it "I know you're really big but trust me, I can handle it. If you're gentle." (We're pretty sure the memorial would let her take the lead.)

Spoof, deranged person, or just another day in Hermann Park? We report, you decide.

Inside a world-class ring of diamond thieves

globalpost.com — Interpol has dubbed them the Pink Panthers. In a GlobalPost exclusive report, four of the thieves reveal how they plan their robberies, how they dispose of the stolen diamonds — and who is winning the battle between them and police departments from Paris to Dubai. 

A saleswoman displays a 26.62 carat diamond, valued at $5.3 million, at a shopping center in Nanning, China, Nov. 27, 2006. (Reuters/China Daily)

click here for the amazing article: inside a world-class ring of diamond thieves
 

Make Your Own Star Trek Phaser

By: Laura Hudson
From: http://www.comicsalliance.com

Countless Star Trek fans have dreamed about owning their own phaser, and while Wikipedia lists it as a "fictional weapon," one enterprising (rim shot) gentleman decided not to let anyone else tell him what can and cannot be real, and transformed a 1994 Playmates replica of the phaser from the classic "Star Trek" series into a 320mA – 465mW laser device, complete with appropriate sound effect.



He's even got a tutorial to help you build your own, and while this may not be as dangerous as the "real" thing -- e.g. able to burrow tunnels through solid rock and disintegrate hostile aliens -- there's a video of the guy popping balloons with the beam, so it's not a joke, particularly if you shoot it into someone's eyes. Remember: Once you add actual lasers to a toy, it's not a toy anymore, so don't point it at any living things, ok?

Restricted Trailer For MacGruber!

By Katey Rich:
From: http://www.cinemablend.com/

Will the MacGruber movie be another in a long line of SNL-inspired flops, or will it be that rare Wayne's World to stand out from the pack? Nobody knows yet, and to be honest, the new restricted trailer doesn't answer too many questions. There's a handful of good jokes in there, and Will Forte has the hilarious MacGyver-esque swagger perfected, but it's easy to cut out all the good jokes in a movie and make it into a decent trailer.

But hey, I'm a skeptic. Watch the trailer below (along with new images from the film) or in HD on the MacGruber official site. Then check in and tell me if you also laughed when you learned the meaning of a "double decker." MacGruber comes out April 23. 










 

Ancient cat goddess temple found in Egypt

Temple thought to belong to wife of king who ruled in 3rd century B.C.

	The ancient cat-goddess Bastet was found amongst the temple's ruins in the Kom el-Dekkah area of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.  View related photos
AP

INTERACTIVE

8 real-life mummies Fictional mummies are a staple of Hollywood movies, but real-life mummies come with their own horrific tales.

CAIRO - Egypt said Tuesday that its archaeologists have unearthed a Ptolemaic-era temple dating back more than 2,000 years, that may have been dedicated to the ancient cat goddess, Bastet.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities said the temple's ruins were discovered in the heart of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, the seat of the dynasty founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C., that ended with the suicide of Cleopatra 300 years later.

The statement said the temple was thought to belong to Queen Berenice, wife of King Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt in the 3rd century B.C.

Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, said the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria's royal quarter.

The large number of statues depicting Bastet found in the ruins, he said, indicated that this may be the first Ptolemaic temple discovered in Alexandria to be dedicated to the cat goddess.

That also suggests that the worship of the cat-goddess continued in Egypt during the later, more Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period, he said. Statues of other ancient Egyptian deities also present, he added.

Zahi Hawas, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said the temple may have been used in later times as a quarry and that this was evidenced by the large number of missing stone blocks.

Modern Alexandria was built squarely on top of the ruins of the classical-era city and many of the great temples, palaces and libraries of that time remain undiscovered.

The temple was found in the Kom el-Dekkah neighborhood near the city's main train station and is also the site of a Roman-era amphitheater and well preserved mosaics.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LG Display Reveals News-Worthy, Flexible E-Paper

• Source: Korea IT Times  •

LG Display revealed its new flexible e-paper display.

LG Display Co., Ltd., a leading innovator of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) technology, announced it has developed the 19-inch flexible e-paper – the world’s largest.
The 19-inch wide (250×400mm) flexible e-paper is almost as big as a page of A3-sized newspaper. Approximately eight times larger than e-books of 6-inch class, the product is optimized for an e-newspaper and able to convey the feeling of reading an actual newspaper. Additionally, as the product measures 0.3 millimeters thin, the e-paper weighs just 130 grams despite its 19-inch size.
LG Display arranged TFT on metal foil rather than glass substrate, allowing the e-paper display to recover its original shape after being bent. The use of a metal foil substrate makes the e-paper both flexible and durable while maintaining excellent display qualities. In particular, LG Display applied ‘GIP (Gate-in-Panel)’ technology which integrates the gate driver IC onto the panel. This improves flexibility by removing driver-ICs which are attached to the side of panel and hinder the bending of the display.


E-paper is being hailed as a promising new form of public display for offering various advantages compared to conventional LCD or PDP displays. E-paper faces fewer spatial constraints because of its ultra-thin and lightweight form, and reduced maintenance costs due to significantly lower power consumption. Furthermore, e-paper’s flexibility and bendiness enable a wider choice of applications like advertising signs as it can be easily wrapped around pillars and other locations.
CTO and Executive Vice President of LG Display, Dr. In Jae Chung said, “Our development of the world’s largest flexile display has opened up a new market in the next-generation display sector of e-paper. As the e-paper market is growing at a rapid pace, LG Display will continue to deliver new value to customers and the market through industry-leading technologies and differentiated products.”
Meanwhile LG Display plans to launch mass production of an 11.5-inch flexible e-paper display in the first half of 2010. According to market researcher DisplaySearch, the e-book market will grow from approximately USD370 million in 2009 to USD1.73 billion in 2011 and to USD1.73 billion in 2015.

Sand-Printer like a giant die cutter

I'm digging this giant sand printer by Zana design (no direct link). Who wouldn't want a giant wheel that they can push around on the beach and leave a message? For extra points, I'd love to see a giant golfball printhead robot that drives around and stamps messages into the ground. [via rebel:art]

High Support for Medical Marijuana

ABC News/Washington Post Poll: 81 Percent Support Legalizing Marijuana for Medical Use

ANALYSIS By GARY LANGER

From: http://abcnews.go.com

Jan. 18, 2010—

Eight in 10 Americans support legalizing marijuana for medical use and nearly half favor decriminalizing the drug more generally, both far higher than a decade ago.
With New Jersey this week poised to become the 14th state to legalize medical marijuana, 81 percent in this national ABC News/Washington Post poll support the idea, up from an already substantial 69 percent in 1997. Indeed the main complaint is with restrictions on access, as in the New Jersey law.
Click here for PDF with charts and questionnaire.
Fifty-six percent say that if it's allowed, doctors should be able to prescribe medical marijuana to anyone they think it can help. New Jersey's measure, which is more restrictive than most, limits prescriptions to people with severe illnesses. State health officials can add to the list.
DECRIMINALIZE? Apart from medical marijuana, there have been recent efforts to decriminalize marijuana more broadly in some states. A preliminary vote on one such measure is to be held in the Washington state Legislature this week. In California organizers say they've collected enough signatures to hold a statewide referendum on the issue next fall. And a separate proposal in California to legalize and tax the drug cleared a legislative committee last week. A Field poll there in April found 56 percent support for the idea, which its backers say would raise $1.3 billion a year.
Nationally, this survey finds 46 percent support for legalizing small amounts of marijuana for personal use the same as it was last spring, and well above its level in past years, for example 39 percent in 2002 and 22 percent in 1997.
GROUPS Age is a factor. Just 23 percent of senior citizens favor legalizing marijuana for personal use; that jumps to 51 percent of adults under age 65. There are political and ideological differences as well: Thirty percent of conservatives and 32 percent of Republicans favor legalization, compared with 49 percent of independents, 53 percent of Democrats and more than half of moderates and liberals alike (53 and 63 percent, respectively).
Medical marijuana, for its part, receives majority support across the political and ideological spectrum, from 68 percent of conservatives and 72 percent of Republicans as well as 85 percent of Democrats and independents and about nine in 10 liberals and moderates. Support slips to 69 percent among seniors, vs. 83 percent among all adults under age 65.
There are similar divisions on whether medical marijuana should be restricted or made available to anyone a doctor thinks it would help. Overall, 56 percent, as noted, prefer no restrictions, while 21 percent say it should be limited to terminally ill patients and an additional 21 percent say it should be limited to those with serious but not necessarily terminal illnesses.
Liberals are 23 points more apt than conservatives, and Democrats 20 points more likely than Republicans, to oppose restrictions. There's also a difference between the sexes, with men 10 points more likely than women to say the doctor should decide.
But the main difference is whether people think marijuana should be permitted for medical uses in the first place. Among supporters, 63 percent would rely on the doctor's discretion. Among those who oppose medical marijuana, 75 percent say that if it is allowed, it should be limited to seriously or terminally ill patients.
New Jersey passed its medical marijuana law this month and outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to sign it tomorrow morning, his last day in office. Medical marijuana first became legal in California in 1996, followed by Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.

METHODOLOGY This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone Jan. 12-15, 2010, among a random national sample of 1,083 adults, including landline and cell-phone-only respondents, with an oversample of African Americans (weighted to their correct share of the population) for a total of 153 black respondents. Results for the full sample have a 3.5-point error margin. Click here for a detailed description of sampling error. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, PA.

Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures

Brett Favre Sings “Pants On The Ground” (VIDEO)

Quarterback Brett Favre shocked the viewers with his own rendition of the American Idol hit song “Pants On The Ground” by General Larry Platt during his celebration of the Vikings big win against the Cowboys on Sunday (January 17).
MUST Watch General Larry Platt “Pants On The Ground” Video HERE

Sword Practice

Amazing Phelps Swim Move @4:20
Awesome Dragon Twister @ 5:05

The Ultimate Cell Phone Plans Comparison

Tony Adam

From: http://www.billshrink.com

On Friday, Verizon Wireless announced pricing plan restructuring that would reduce the cost of voice usage. AT&T Wireless quickly followed suit and unveiled their updated cell phone plans as well. Today is the day that those changes go into effect.
While both carriers announced these changes as efforts to simplify plans, the real truth behind the story is that the profits are in the data: Verizon’s revenue is now up 24% (they reported $15.8 billion in Q309), with 17% coming from data services.
I think that there is still a long way to go before it gets to a point where picking a cell phone plan is simple, even after these various many attempts by the carriers in 2009. There are still way too many plan combination.
This is our best attempt to simplify all of the plan combination and it was painful, but here it is, The Ultimate Cell Phone Plans Comparison:

Click Image to Enlarge

BillShrink can help you find cell phone plans that save you money and fit your needs, without sifting through the madness!

Meet Marko, the 9-year-old systems engineer

by Ina Fried

from: http://news.cnet.com

Marko Calasan, a 9-year-old from Macedonia, is more than just a kid who's into computers.
At age 6, he got his first systems administrator credential from Microsoft and, last month, he became perhaps the youngest Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.
"I must say that from the technological point of view, Marko is definitely a wonder child," said Matej Potokar, the general manager of Microsoft Slovenia. Potokar said in an e-mail interview that he first heard about Marko two years ago and was eager to get the chance to meet the young prodigy.

Images of a 9-year-old IT administrator (photos)

"When we were informed that he is coming to Ljubljana (Slovenia's capital) and would like to meet with people from Microsoft Slovenia I was looking forward to meet him," Potokar said. For a half an hour, Marko made a presentation to Potokar and his team about Active Directory and its benefits and challenges.
"It is amazing how much time and energy he dedicated to study this complex and extensive material. On the other hand, I hope that...he still finds time for his second biggest love, which is football."
Marko already has his first gig as a system administrator, remotely managing a network of computers for a nonprofit that works with people with disabilities.
"The employees...are very glad that there is a good administrator," Marko said in an e-mail interview. "I think that it's true, but who knows."

"I do not play games on computers because there is nothing serious about playing games on computers...If you want to play, go outside and play with your friends."

--Marko Calasan, 9

Marko said he typically spends about four hours a day at the computer, but concedes that it is sometimes 10 hours or more.
Marko is also a teacher with his own computer lab on the grounds of an elementary school where he teaches 8- to 11-year-olds the basics of computers. The lab houses 15 PCs provided by the ministry of education. That's on top of the five computers already in the Calasan home--Marko's dad is also an IT systems manager.
To allow him more time with his computers, Marko has permission from the government to attend school infrequently. Sometimes it's only several times a month. And he also has a set of keys so he can go into the lab at any time.
"Sometimes when the other classmates are sleeping, I go and practice in my lab," Marko said in an e-mail interview.
His latest project is trying to devise a way to send high-definition television signals over a comparatively slow network infrastructure. To support his effort, a Macedonian telecommunications company has given him a direct connection to its network backbone.

Marko proudly says that even over a basic DSL connection one can get HDTV without glitches. "The buffering will be very short," he said. Marko hopes to demonstrate the technology at this year's CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany.
The one computer-related activity Marko is not all that into is video games.
"I do not play games on computers because there is nothing serious about playing games on computers," Marko said. "If you want to play, go outside and play with your friends."
Although he is something of a celebrity in Macedonia, Calasan said he really wants to move to the United States to be closer to the latest technology--and to Microsoft itself.
"That's my biggest wish," he said. "I want to live in America because there are the highest technologies."