Top 10: Things Bosses Love To Hear

From: http://www.askmen.com

If you want to get promoted, these 10 sayings had better be coming out of your mouth on a regular basis.

By Nate Steere,

If you have a boss, you're probably looking for ways to impress him. Your boss has the most direct influence over your work life, and as far as your ability to advance, his power over your career is second only to your own. And, deep down, your boss isn't that different from anyone else: he loves good news and he loves when things are going well. That's why telling your boss the right things will put a smile on his face every time. Notice that everything on our list is work related -- don't be that guy and resort to brown-nosing or “Gee boss, that's a nice tie.” That's beneath you. Keep it about the work and read on for 10 ways to keep your boss smiling throughout the work week.

10: "It's already been arranged."

While your boss may be tackling bigger tasks than you, that doesn't change how good it feels to check something off the old to-do list. When your boss asks about something that's finished, let him know it clearly and directly. Some employees speak so indirectly to their bosses that the boss may continue thinking or worrying about a task that's done, just because the employee didn't come right out and say the good news. If the task is done, say so.

9: "Good news."

This one's a no-brainer. When something good happens, bring your boss in on the good feelings. Work is about getting work done, but that doesn't mean you can't take pride and satisfaction when something works out well. Your boss has plenty of bad news headed his way on a regular basis, so you stick out like a sore thumb when you're the bearer of good news. Being a source of pleasure for your boss is never a bad thing.

8: "No problem."

You think your coworkers are a bunch of complainers? You have no idea. As much as they whine to you, you wouldn't believe how much pushback your boss gets. When assigning work to your fellow employees, your boss has to hold people's hands and listen to complaints about how busy they are and how difficult the project is going to be. Don't be one of the complainers. When you're given a task you can handle, let your boss know that it's a slam dunk.

7: "It's being taken care of."

Sooner or later, you're going to screw up. It hurts, but it happens. When you drop the ball on something, you should do two things: tell your boss and tell your boss what you're doing about it. Sure, your boss isn't going to be happy that a mistake was made (who likes problems in their area?), but he will be a lot less happy if he doesn't hear about it from you, and then gets blindsided by it when the situation blows up. So fess up to the error, it shows that you're big enough to be responsible for your actions. But always, always have a plan for getting things back on track. Let your boss know that you're correcting the error -- it shows that you're paying enough attention to realize you messed up, and you care enough to not settle for mediocrity.

6: "With regard to X, I've figure out we can do A, B or C. What do you think?"

It's fine to have situations at work, and there's nothing wrong with asking your boss for advice, but before you step into his or her office, have some ideas about what can be done. By having a few ideas, you show that you've thought the situation through. Even if your boss doesn't like any of your ideas and tells you to do “D” instead, you've shown him or her that your first reaction at the sign of trouble is to start thinking, not throw up your hands and run to the boss with your problems.

5: "I figured out what to do about X."

Not every problem is simple enough to be solvable in a few minutes, and that's OK, but you should keep thinking about the problem, and try to find out a way to solve the situation (or at least move it forward). If you come up with a solution or at least a next step, share it with your boss. The more you get promoted, the larger and more complex the problems will get, and the harder it will be to find a “perfect” solution too. So, show that you're able to plan ahead and solve the bigger problems.

4: "Consider it done."

When you make this statement, in one instant, an item has gone from something vague in your boss' mind to a task that's assigned to somebody. This is a step toward being seen as a “go-to person,” your bosses reliable right-hand man.

3: "I'll see to it personally."

This statement is an extension of “consider it done.” If you have a reputation with your boss as somebody who can handle the important or difficult work, saying you'll handle it personally calls in that reputation you've built up. If you've been doing your work well and doing it on time, saying you're taking care of if personally reminds your boss that the task will not only get done, but it will get done with the standard of excellence he's come to expect from you.

2: "I found a way to get it done cheaper."

Getting invested in the bottom line is one of the best ways to get your boss smiling. You can work hard and be a good employee all you like, but businesses don't run on happy feelings. Your boss is always looking for ways to do two things: make the business more money and cost the business less money. And while you can always help find ways to earn the company more, suggestions to save money are often easier. Lots of people can say “we need more customers,” but if you find a new vendor who's 10% cheaper, that's a hard number your boss can put to use.

1: "Let me run an idea by you."

Having employees who are taking the initiative means the boss can focus on the tasks on his plate; he doesn't have to worry that you're just sitting around waiting for direction. Your boss will appreciate you trying to come up with ideas, but he wouldn't appreciate you launching those ideas without getting his opinion. As the one responsible for what comes out of the department, he wants to know that everybody is rowing in the same direction. So come up with some good ideas, use your noodle and make sure your boss gets the benefit from your brainstorm.

This article is sponsored in part by Head & Shoulders (What's this?)

9 Medical Marijuana Ads

by David K. Israel
From: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/49891

Unless you live in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington, you probably aren’t getting a lot of medical marijuana ads in your local newspapers. (Did I leave any states off the list?) Because the ads are so ubiquitous, and so interesting, I thought a small roundup was in order for our friends living in all the other states, or in other countries where medical marijuana is illegal.

Of course, long before cannabis was legalized in these 14 states, it was used widely throughout ancient Greece, Egypt, India, and China to treat various illnesses and conditions. But it wasn’t until an Irish physician called William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, Assistant-Surgeon and Professor of Chemistry at the Medical College of Calcutta, conducted an experiment in the 1830s to help treat muscle spasms, that marijuana was introduced to the so-called modern world of medicine.

Perhaps he’s the reason why all the following ads have a green tint, then? ;-)

[N.B. mentalfloss does not condone nor condemn the use of medical marijuana. This post is about the language used in the ads.]

1. 20 of the best strains in town… and 2 crappy ones!

2. In this ad we learn that they’re looking for “donations” not purchases. Plus, if you act now!

3. Get Legal Today!

4. This one has WEED in the phone number

5. There’s so much to study in this one, it’s ridiculous. Let’s start with the name: Westwood “Organic”

6. “Call for directions” – Gee, if you need directions on smoking marijuana you think they could give you a demo in the store, no?

7. Attorney Protection Program? ‘Nuf said.

8. The winking smiley face here just cracks me up!

9. Non SELF INCRIMINATING medical forms!

Dogs, Art or Both? Dogs Filmed At 1000 Frames Per Second

From: http://www.urlesque.com/

What do you call humanity in dogs? Dogness? Caninity? Whatever it is, this video from Pedigree and TBWA Toronto captures something previously known only to the most sensitive of dog owners.

When watching this video, complete with the chaotic crescendos and super slow-mo shots you love, don't be surprised if you catch yourself throwing some dog food into your satchel on your next grocery trip.

This is the kind of video that just gets to you.

Top 10: French Cars

From: http://www.askmen.com/

With the release of From Paris with Love, director Pierre Morel (The Transporter, Taken) pairs a rank-and-file U.S. embassy employee, played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, with a blunt-force FBI agent portrayed by a hairless John Travolta. Given the director and cast, we hope this works for Travolta as an adrenaline-filled segue back to action flicks after dabbling in comedy for the past couple of years.

It’s the same way with the French cars you’ll see in the film or, for that matter, French cars in general. They have massive reputation issues in the American market. Most were econoboxes that trickled over in low numbers over a few odd decades, and odd they were. Even if you liked their interpretation of style, they were typically crude and crabby. Sadly, we were never fully exposed to France’s best stuff. And yes, they have made great cars -- still do, in many cases. Read on and see why these top 10 French cars are welcome additions to our fantasy garages.


10
Renault Sport Spider

© Public Domain

Renault hasn’t been missed after leaving North America over 20 years ago, thanks to the bitter aftertaste of models like the 12, Le Car and Alliance. In the years since, Renault has come back from the brink (thanks in no small part to Carlos Ghosn) and produced cars like the Sport Spider. Built in seriously limited numbers between 1996 and 1999, the mid-engine Spider was a lot like the Lotus Elise in the way it was engineered to maximize the driving experience without being dulled by creature comforts.


9
Bugatti EB110

© Lothar Spurzem/Wikimedia Commons

The Bugatti marque’s brief 1987 resurrection may have had an Italian accent, but the EB110 produced between 1991and 1995 was fully French in spirit and paved the way for much better things in the Veyron we know and lust after today. Like the Veyron, the EB110 was all about extremes: A mid-mounted, quad-turbo V-12 with up to 592 horsepower; a 0-60 of as little as 3.2 seconds; and, a top speed of up to 216 mph. Even now, after almost 20 years, few cars touch the numbers achieved by Michael Schumacher’s onetime daily driver.


8
Citroen C4 Coupe

© EyOne/Wikimedia Commons
Famously raced (and crashed in the 2009 Acropolis Rally) by Sebastien Loeb, the production Citroen C4 Coupe doesn’t come in a rally-inspired street version like Subaru’s WRX or Mitsubishi’s Evo, and it definitely isn’t fit to tumble down Greek mountains. That doesn’t necessarily mean the buzz is killed: Your inner geek would love the tech-heavy interior features and optional hybrid drivetrain configurations -- if only you could get this top 10 French car here.


7
Venturi Fetish

© VenturiFetish.fr
America has the Tesla Roadster, but France has the Venturi Fetish. We trust having “France” and “Fetish” in the same sentence caught your undivided attention, and driving the electric sports car would probably give you the equatorial "tinglies" too. We say probably, as we haven’t personally tested any of the planned 25 hand-built examples of the $427,000 Fetish to confirm. It’s probably a moot point, since the Tesla is presumably a better car in every way, but we maintain “Fetish” is a helluva lot hotter than “Roadster” (just not $300,000 and change hotter).


6
Renault Alpine

© Alex Collard/Wikimedia Commons
What few Renaults came to the U.S. were mostly everyday economy cars. When it did give us something remotely resembling a sports car, it was the unconscionably stupid Fuego. What we should have gotten was the Alpine, the rear-engine coupe that gained prominence through racing success beginning in the early 1970s. The highly desirable A310 variant remained relevant through the mid-'80s, until the 1986 GTA and 1991 A610 redesigns progressively looked like bad fusions of the Camaro and kit car.

5
Citroen 2CV

© Pinkdylan/Wikimedia Commons
If you’re unfamiliar, the Citroen 2CV is to France what the original VW Beetle is to Germany, with a universal cult following to match. Ever the ugly duck, the Citroen 2CV delivers in character what it lacks in performance (which, in both respects, is considerable). The 2CV seems to have approximately 12 moving parts, including the wheels and engine. Drag racing anything faster than a glacier is not recommended. On the other hand, you’ll never have so much fun going slow as you will in this top 10 French car.


4
Peugeot 205 GTI

© Christoph (CrazyD)/Wikimedia Commons
When you think of hot hatches, GTI is a given. But do you think Peugeot? You ought to, because this top 10 French car was arguably as fun as the better-known VW hot hatch. The original 205 GTI of the 1980s had a 1.6-liter engine that thrived on revs and was very tossable, with great balance for its time despite the front-drive layout. Though Peugeot was still in the U.S. at the time, rumors of the 205 GTI being offered here never came to pass.


3
Renault R5 Turbo

© Public Domain
For as much as the French grumble about doping, the R5 Turbo stands as a stark contradiction. Based on the humble R5 (marketed as “Le Car” here in the States and intentionally absent from our review), this car is a juiced-up rocket compared to its muse. The clackety, front-mounted four-cylinder was ditched along with the rear seat for a 158-horsepower, 1.4-liter turbo in its place -- making the car mid-engine, rear-drive and ridiculously fun in the process.


2
Citroen DS

© Joe Mabel/Wikimedia Commons
Yes, the DS is runner-up on our review of the top 10 French cars (the same Citroen featured recently in our Top 10: Creepiest Cars feature). We believe “looks like a slithering amoeba” may have been said -- we meant it in a good way. Like the 2CV seen earlier, the DS’ design is partly why the car is so cool. Surprisingly good handling and innovation factor in too. The DS represented that a French car could be timelessly avant-garde.

1
Bugatti Veyron 16.4

© Bugatti
Forget top 10 French cars, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is among the best cars from anywhere. It’s overkill in every possible respect, and we are completely taken by it. And for once, let’s not regurgitate the Veyron’s stats. We all know what it can do, how it does it and its cost. What’s most noteworthy is how the Bugatti embodies exclusivity, performance, style, and technology. Take a good look, because after the Veyron, we’ll never again see a car this extreme.

This article is sponsored in part by From Paris with Love, in theaters February 5th (What's this?)

Opera Mini for iPhone Makes Browsing on (the) EDGE Actually Kind of Great

From: http://gizmodo.com/

"Why," you're probably asking, "would I want another browser on my iPhone, when mobile Safari's the best one around?" Because Opera Mini on the iPhone makes pokey EDGE feel like 3G. Check it out.

This whole demo's taking place on EDGE, and as you can see, it's pretty damn quick—especially considering it took place in Gawker's office, where reception tends to suck, in the middle of Manhattan around 4pm on a weekday. As you're probably familiar with by now, Opera Mini's the little browser that does all of the heavy crunching on the server side, and spits it out to your phone, making things much faster than if your phone and its slower connection did all the work.

Overall, it's the fastest I've ever felt Opera Mini perform across any platform. Everything happens instantly, and it feels really smooth, and polished. As with other versions of Opera Mini, there's no pinch-to-zoom, simply one-touch, fit to column, but the super speed makes that just fine, at least when it properly displays columns—it had a problem rendering Giz, for instance, but that was the only page where I had an "AHA it's broke" moment. (Expect other pages that give Opera Mini problems to still have issues here, since it's the same engine, after all.) It caches back pages, moving between them quickly, because Opera Mini is used to working with "tens of megabytes, and here we lots of megabytes of RAM to play with," says Opera founder and former CEO Jon von Tetzchner. What's really nice? Finding text in page, which Safari doesn't have.

It's functionally the same Opera Mini on other platforms, with mostly the same interface, just written in Objective C and optimized for iPhone. So you have syncing with other versions of Opera, and everything else you'd expect. The only difference, feature-wise, is that it saves your browsing state, down to your tab and position, which other versions of Opera Mini don't do.

They're submitting it like a normal app to the App Store sometime today. Tetzchner doesn't see why it would be rejected, arguing that it doesn't execute any code (which the SDK prohibits), it's just reading what the server sends to it. We'll see how Apple feels about that, but I hope they let it go, since it'd make life on EDGE for original iPhone users—and anybody in NY or SF, where AT&T reception is terrible, and EDGE is way more reliable—way more livable.

Opera Mini submitted to Apple's App Store

Oslo, Norway – March 23, 2010

Opera Mini for iPhone was officially submitted to the Apple iPhone App store today. A select few first saw it at Mobile World Congress 2010 in February. Now, the "fast like a rocket" browser is taking its first big step towards giving users a new way to browse on the iPhone.

Early reviews of Opera Mini for iPhone praised the sheer browsing speed, powering through Web pages up to six times faster than Safari. Due to server-side rendering, Opera Mini compresses data by up to 90 percent before sending it to the phone, resulting in rapid page loading and more Web per MB for the end user. Those familiar with iPhone roaming charges will relish Opera Mini's ability to deliver more for less, giving users the Web they want quickly, without, the high costs.

"The Opera Mini for iPhone sneak peek during MWC told us that we have something special," said Jon von Tetzchner, Co-founder, Opera Software. "Opera has put every effort into creating a customized, stylized, feature-rich and highly responsive browser that masterfully combines iPhone capabilities with Opera's renowned Web experience, and the result is a high performing browser for the iPhone."

Opera Mini is the world's most popular mobile Web browser, famed for bringing the Web to nearly any mobile phone. Its speed, usability and navigation-friendly design have catapulted this browser onto more than 50 million mobile phones worldwide. Creating a version for iPhone is part of Opera's mission to bring the Web to all platforms and all devices.

[Opera]

New Sprint ad shows iPhone using WiMAX... via Overdrive

By Darren Murph

Your existing iPhone (yeah, even the original) can surf the information superhighway at 4G speeds. Today. Who knew, right? Sprint's Overdrive -- which creates a WiFi hotspot that enables nearby devices to cruise on Clear's 4G (or 3G, if you're not in a 4G locale) network -- can theoretically enable any WiFi-capable phone to surf on WiMAX, but Sprint's taking a pretty bold approach by actually touting the feature in a new spot. Befuddled? Hop on past the break and mash play. Too bad this is about as close the iPhone will ever get to Sprint's shelves...

See more video at our hub!

TUAW

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A Shot-by-Shot Live Action Remake of A Goofy Movie - Why the Hell Not?

Study: Daylight saving time a waste of energy

March 16, 2010 by Lin Edwards

(PhysOrg.com) -- Daylight saving time is supposed to reduce energy use, but data gathered from a state in the US suggests it actually does the opposite.

The US state of Indiana has 92 counties, but until 2006 only 15 of them adjusted their clocks for daylight saving time, with the remainder keeping standard time all year, at least partly to appease farmers who did not want the change. Then in 2006 the Indiana Legislature decided the entire state should adopt daylight saving time, beginning that spring.

This unique situation enabled professor of economics Matthew Kotchen and his PhD student Laura E. Grant, both from the University of California at Santa Barbara, to study how the adoption of daylight saving affected energy use. They studied over seven million electricity meter readings in southern Indiana every month for three years, and compared the energy consumption before and after the change. The 15 counties that had adopted daylight saving time much earlier were the control group, which allowed them to adjust for the effects of weather extremes over the period.

The result of the study showed that electricity use went up in the counties adopting daylight saving time in 2006, costing $8.6 million more in household electricity bills. The conclusion reached by Kotchen and Grant was that while the lighting costs were reduced in the afternoons by daylight saving, the greater heating costs in the mornings, and more use of air-conditioners on hot afternoons more than offset these savings. Kotchen said the results were more “clear and unambiguous” than results in any other paper he had presented.

Kotchen and Grant's work reinforces the findings of an Australian study in 2007 by economists Ryan Kellogg and Hendrik Wolff, who studied the extension of daylight saving time for two months in New South Wales and Victoria for the 2000 Summer Olympics. They also found an increase in energy use.

Daylight saving was initially introduced, and has been extended, because it was believed to save energy, but the studies upon which this idea was based were conducted in the 1970s. A big difference between then and the present is the massive increase in the take-up of air conditioning. In hot periods daylight saving time means air conditioners tend to be run more when people arrive home from work, while in cooler periods more heating is used.

Professor Kotchen presented the paper at the March National Bureau of Economic Research conference.

More information: via WSJ

© 2010 PhysOrg.com

Video: F-35 Performs Its First Fully Vertical Landing

By Stuart Fox

From http://www.popsci.com/

F-35 Touching Down, Vertically via NASA

After cost overruns, a series of delays, and almost a decade of hype, the F-35 Lighting finally performed a vertical landing for the first time. Yesterday at 1 P.M., after descending from a 150-foot-high hover, the test plane touched down on the tarmac at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. This is a significant step forward for the F-35, as its vertical takeoff and landing capability are crucial to the fighter's role as a replacement for the aging Harrier jet.

The test began with a short runway takeoff at 93 miles per hour, after which the pilot swung around, positioned the plane over the runway, and lowered it down. The test pilot, a former Royal Air Force aviator with experience piloting VSTOL planes, said he found landing the F-35 vertically far easier than landing older planes, like the Harrier, the same way.

This test moves the F-35 program significantly closer to deployment. In fact, the Marine Corps hopes to start training its first round of F-35 pilots this fall. However, with February's announcement that the entire program has been delayed a year, and cost overruns threatening automatic program restructuring under the Nunn-McCurdy Amendment, I wouldn't bet on the Marines keeping to that schedule, even in light of this recent successful test.

[The Bay Net]

Me real beauties: Cap’n Jack bans false breasts

By: John Harlow
From: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/

Pirates of the Caribbean. Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp

IF the predatory molls and purse-snatching lassies in the next Pirates of the Caribbean blockbuster seem a little deflated compared with their swashbuckling predecessors, blame it on Walt Disney’s new ban on actresses with artificial enhancements.

Under Rob Marshall, the director of the fourth chapter of the family films, only the naturally endowed will stand a chance of crossing swords with Johnny Depp.

In a request to casting directors circulated around Los Angeles last week, the film-makers say they are seeking “beautiful female fit models. Must be 5ft 7in-5ft 8in, size 4 or 6, no bigger or smaller. Age 18-25. Must have a lean dancer body. Must have real breasts. Do not submit if you have implants.”

The film-makers warn that there will be a “show and tell” day with costume designers where potential actresses will be expected to run — a venerable Hollywood test to detect false breasts, which move less freely than the real thing during action sequences.

The actresses, who must also be able to dive and swim, are needed for scenes to be shot in Hawaii this summer. The film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, is due to be released in May 2011.

Depp will return as Captain Jack Sparrow in what Disney hopes will be the start of a new trilogy. Ian McShane, the British actor, has been cast as Blackbeard and Penelope Cruz will replace Keira Knightley as the love interest.

Knightley, 24, who was 18 when she shot the first Pirates movie, did not have to face the indignity of an enhancement test. “I am not that well endowed so they literally painted in my cleavage,” she said.

“It took about 45 minutes every day for make-up artists to add shade and volume and it looked fantastic until it got too hot shooting. Then the make-up would start smearing and the lines running away.”

She tried alternatives such as a bodice which shrunk her waist to 18 inches. It gave her a tremendous cleavage by squeezing her breasts “up and out” but also left her with only enough oxygen to breathe for 10 minutes: “After that I started passing out.”

However, publicity posters for the film King Arthur, in which Knightley played Guinevere, were digitally enhanced to give her bigger breasts.

Sources said this was the first time such an edict had been passed on a Pirates film: “In the last movie there were enhanced breasts to give that 18th-century whoreish look and men were pretty well padded, too, and no one worried,” said a former casting agent. “But times are changing and the audience can spot false breasts.”

Cruz, the Spanish Oscar winner, is said not to know about the casting decisions. But she said that acting in Nine had exposed her “to some wonderfully beautiful women of all shapes, styles and sizes”.

If Marshall and Disney are frowning on plastic surgery “cheats”, they may reflect a change in public attitudes. A Disney spokesman said: "We never comment on casting rumours." Earlier this month the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (Asaps) announced that while breast augmentations remained the most popular procedure in America, the number of operations had dropped from 365,000 to 312,000 — and is expected to decline again this year. “Not only are numbers down, which can be partially explained by the recession, but women are asking for smaller enlargements,” said Renato Saltz, the president of Asaps and a Utah plastic surgeon.

“Women used to want the most bang for their buck, but now I see many opting instead for a C-cup over a traditional double-D because they want something more subtle, not something that stops a room talking.”

The former casting agent said: “Directors such as Martin Scorsese already avoid employing actresses using Botox or with collagen inflated lips. They know what they want, which is to avoid vulgar distractions. In Hollywood movies, where everything else is false, nothing is more valued than natural beauty.”

The Ten Retired Girl Scout Cookies Fans Miss Most

By: Vicki Santillano (View Profile)
From: http://www.divinecaroline.com

Everyone has a favorite when it comes to Girl Scout cookies. You can claim to like many of them, but at the end of the day, allegiance usually falls into one cookie camp. I’m on Team Thin Mint and have been since childhood. My loyalty was only cemented in college when my roommate introduced me to the wonder that is frozen Thin Mints. Clearly, I’m not alone in my love, since they’re currently the most popular cookie, monopolizing 25 percent of sales. (Sorry, coconut lovers: Samoas trail behind, at 19 percent.)

But, whether you live for Samoas (also known as Caramel deLites, depending on which of the two Girl Scout cookie suppliers—ABC Smart Cookie and Little Brownie Bakers—sells in your area) or hoard Tagalongs (aka Peanut Butter Patties), chances are, you feel quite strongly about them. So imagine how devastating it would be to find out they were put into retirement. Every year, old and often beloved cookies have to make way for newer kinds, much to the chagrin of Girl Scout cookie enthusiasts across the land. But though they’re no longer in production, certain varieties remain steadfastly in consumers’ memories—and hearts. (Some pictures approximated).

1. Lemon Coolers
These vanilla wafers had a touch of lemon zest and were dusted with powdered sugar. The sugar was replaced with lemon icing and the name changed to Lemonades, but hardcore fans still pine for the powdered variety.

2. Aloha Chips
Aloha Chips were around for only a couple of years in the early 2000s and sold only in certain areas of the country, but they’re still mentioned in online forums and articles dedicated to Girl Scout cookie nostalgia. They were dotted with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.

3. Kookaburras
Some remember these as Kit Kats in cookie form. Kookaburras had layers of wafers and caramel that were coated in milk chocolate.

4. Scot-Teas
Shortbread cookies are one of three types that must be offered every year by Girl Scout troops. (The other two are Thin Mints and Peanut Butter Sandwiches/Do-Si-Dos.) But whether they’re called Shortbreads or Trefoils in your town, they lack the sprinkled sugar that endeared cookie enthusiasts to Scot-Teas.

5. Oxfords/Chalet Cremes
Back before the Girl Scouts organization focused on selling cookies you couldn’t get anywhere else (sneaky!), it offered what we know today as Oreos. These chocolate cookies with vanilla crème filling were sold back in the early fundraising days.

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6. Ole Oles
Think of Ole Oles like Mexican wedding cookies with coconut. These powdered sugar cookies had pecans and bits of coconut and were sold between 2001 and 2003 before they got the ax.

7. Iced Berry Piñatas
Sounds like a fun name for party punch, but Piñatas were actually cookie versions of the Danish pastry. They were sugar cookies with berry jam at the center and icing drizzled on top.

8. Juliettes
Juliettes were supposedly named after the Girl Scouts’ founder, Juliette Low. In some parts of the country, they were called Golden Nut Clusters. With milk chocolate, caramel, and pecans, they developed a wide fan base during their run from the 1980s to the mid-’90s.

9. Double Dutch
Like Oxfords/Chalet Cremes, these chocolate cookies with chocolate chips weren’t unique enough for the Girl Scouts organization to keep them in rotation longer than a couple of years.

10. Golden Yangles
Technically, these aren’t cookies, but I found enough references to them on the Internet to warrant their inclusion. During the 1980s, the Girl Scouts tried to get into the cracker market with Golden Yangles, cheddar-flavored, triangle-shaped crackers. As far as I can tell, that was the first and last attempt, but fans still haven’t forgotten them.

I’d never heard of some of these prior to my research, but the way people talk about Lemon Coolers, Aloha Chips, and Juliettes, I can’t help but wonder what I’ve missed out on. Thin Mints probably won’t be discontinued anytime soon, but based on how many cookies the Girl Scouts have rotated through since they began selling in 1917, I’d better buy a few extra boxes this season, just to be sure.

First published March 2010

Cries of 'Hey, That's My Jet!' Don't Deter High-End Repo Men

By ROBERT FRANK

From: http://online.wsj.com/

Ken Cage

Mr. Cage's specialty is taking back luxury craft like this $15 million jet.

Business Takes Off for Mr. Cage; Snatching a $15 Million Gulfstream

SANFORD, Fla.—Ken Cage is racing through a private aviation terminal near Orlando when his BlackBerry buzzes with bad news. The plane he is about to repossess is scheduled to take off for Mexico in three minutes.

Even worse, the Cessna's owner and pilot is on his way back from lunch—and he is rumored to be six-feet, six-inches tall.

"I'd rather not stick around to find out," Mr. Cage says.

Mr. Cage, 44, stands guard by the door as his partner Randy Craft walks onto the tarmac and approaches a shiny white turbo-prop. He quickly picks the lock on the door and ushers in the repo team's pilot, Dave Larson. The plane's propellers roar to life, and after clearance from the control tower, the $350,000 ride lifts off the runway and into the sky.

Mr. Cage and Mr. Craft climb back into their Ford pickup and tear out of the parking lot, just as the plane's owner pulls in.

"He's a minute late," says Mr. Cage, peering out the window. "Lucky for us."

Ken Cage isn't your typical repo man. Rather than snatch cars from an over-extended middle class, he takes back yachts, planes and other toys from the over-leveraged rich.

Business is thriving, even as the economy begins to improve. His company, Orlando-based International Recovery Group, repossessed more than 700 boats, planes, helicopters and other property last year valued at more than $100 million. Business, he says, is up six-fold from 2007.

He has reclaimed everything from $18 million Gulfstream jets and Bell helicopters to 110-foot Broward yachts, $500,000 recreational vehicles and even a racehorse. Before the financial crisis, most of the luxury items he pulled in were valued between $30,000 and $50,000. Today, they are valued at $200,000 to $300,000—meaning defaults are hitting people at a much higher income level.

Most repo men take cars and trucks. But Ken Cage and Randy Craft repossess yachts, planes, helicopters and other luxury toys of the formerly wealthy. WSJ's Robert Frank reports.

The folly of the wealthy has been good news for an elite cadre of repo men. Nick Popovich, the self-proclaimed "Learjet Repo Man" and head of Indiana-based Sage-Popovich, and Michigan boat specialists like Harrison Marine report brisk business. Reality-TV producers have been knocking on their doors. Last year, says Mr. Cage, International Recovery's revenues soared to the eight figures, up from just a few hundred thousand when he and two partners bought the company in 2005.

Banks hire Mr. Cage to retrieve their collateral after a borrower has defaulted. Once he grabs the property, he cleans it up or makes needed repairs and sells it to a new buyer. He then gives the proceeds, minus his fees and expenses, back to the bank. While the standard commission for most repossessions is between 6% to 10% of the resale price, Mr. Cage has lowered his fee to as little as two percent as a way to beat back growing competition.

"They're very quick in their response time," says Steve De Amico, vice president in charge of lending at Illinois-based Allied First Bank, which hires Mr. Cage for recoveries. "It's also helpful to have one company that can get the property, restore it and sell it for us."

Mr. Cage can't name names. But he estimates that 70% of his targets made and lost their money from real estate—either as developers, Realtors or contractors. Most of his jobs are in Florida, Arizona, California, Nevada and other sun states where real estate was hit hardest.

The son of a Philadelphia-area trucking-company owner, Mr. Cage never planned to land in the rarefied repo ranks. He started out in the cash-management department of J.P. Morgan, then worked in the collections department at Chrysler Finance, where he hired repo companies to pick up cars.

Even though he never did the repos himself, he said the work became depressing.

"Here we were, taking minivans with child seats in the back, or going to someone's job to take their car," he says. "I had a tough time with that."

Separating flashy toys from their owners seemed to be much easier—especially from a logistical perspective. Unlike cars, which can be hard to find and take, yachts and planes are often traceable through Federal Aviation Administration or marine records. Mr. Cage relies on a vast a network of marine captains, tow-boat operators, jet-terminal crews, dock workers and aircraft pilots who feed him information.

With his Phillies cap, jeans, scruffy goatee and genial smile, the stout Mr. Cage is an unassuming presence. For muscle, he relies on his partner Mr. Craft, a tall, broad-chested former professional wrestler known as "Rockin' Randy."

Mr. Craft prides himself on being able to break into just about anything, whether boat, plane or RV. Not that planes or yachts are that hard to steal. Mr. Cage says most yacht owners keep their keys near the ignition and rarely lock the doors. Plane doors can often be easily picked.

"A jet is much easier to take than a car," he says. His company works with about 30 pilots, all of whom are experts at flying various kinds of aircraft.

Occasionally, the rich rear up to protect their prizes. Mr. Cage says that he and Mr. Craft have been hit by cars, threatened with shovels and chased on foot countless times. Recently, Mr. Cage says he was on a yacht assignment in Jacksonville, Fla., when the owner boarded another boat and zoomed after him, Bond-style. He soon gave up the chase, and Mr. Cage kept his craft.

Most repo targets never even know Mr. Cage is coming.

Early one morning at the Hontoon Marina just outside Orlando, Mr. Cage and Mr. Craft walk along the docks until they spot their prey—a 65-foot Sea Ray. Mr. Cage says they had been tipped off by a boat captain who saw the craft ease into the docks the night before without any running lights—a sign that the owner was trying to avoid notice.

Mr. Craft hops onto the boat, finding no one aboard. A telltale pair of socks and sneakers near the door suggests someone may be headed back soon.

After a quick check of the registration number, the team revs up the engine and backs away from the dock. As they motor down the river, Mr. Cage reclines in a plush leather chair and takes a moment to soak in the sun.

"Someday I'd like to get a boat," he says. "But I'd pay all cash."

Write to Robert Frank at robert.frank@wsj.com

Ellen Arranges $30,000 Scholarship for Gay Teen in Small-Town Prom Flap

by Natalie Finn

from: http://www.eonline.com/

Two things we know about Ellen DeGeneres: She's gay and she loves to dance.

So when she heard about Mississippi teen Constance McMillen, whose senior prom was canceled after she caused a stir by planning to wear a tux and go with another girl, DeGeneres took action.

During an appearance on Ellen Friday, McMillen was presented with a $30,000 scholarship from Tonic.com, which also offered the 18-year-old an internship this summer.

"It's always easy to be quiet," DeGeneres told her. "Especially when you know that somebody might tell you no or it's going to cause a scene. I love that you're not trying to do anything other than go to prom. That's what everyone deserves to do. Go to prom, it's a big deal."

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit against Itawamba County School District officials for their allegedly discriminatory actions. The school board has maintained that it canceled the April 2 prom because the controversy was distracting McMillen's fellow students from their education.

McMillen admitted that she's been having a rough time at school in the wake of all the drama.

"My friends and stuff, there are a few people that are still supportive and everything, but the majority of people are angry because I guess they feel like I'm the one that caused prom to get canceled," she told DeGeneres.

The talk-show host has offered to organize a replacement prom for Itawamba Agricultural High School, as have dozens of other groups and individuals sympathetic to McMillen's cause, but the graduating senior has remained firm.

"I just want to go and be able to be myself, go to the prom that I was supposed to have since I've never known what prom was," she said.

And DeGeneres is also one of many who's hoping that the school board changes its mind.

"I just admire you so much," she told McMillen, "because when I was your age I never would have had the strength to do what you're doing. And you're clearly a very shy girl, so just being yourself and doing what's right, you're going to make a lot of change. You really will."

Read more: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b172602_ellen_arranges_30000_scholarship_gay.html#ixzz0ivwE7Skk

Freida Pinto is to become the next Bond girl.

bangshowbiz.com

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The 'Slumdog Millionaire' actress has signed a multi-million pound deal to play the suave spy's love interest in the 23rd James Bond movie - which is set in Afghanistan - after being approached by director Sam Mendes.

A source said: "Sam has been talking about Bond for months now and is so excited about it. The project has been in the pipeline for months and Freida was always the dream Bond girl, but initially she was nervous about accepting it. This is going to be the most ambitious 007 yet. Sam plans to reinvent the genre.

"Peter Morgan, who wrote 'The Queen', has penned the first draft of the script and it promises to be visually stunning."

Freida is currently dating her 'Slumdog Millionaire' co-star Dev Patel and he is thrilled his girlfriend was won such a high-profile role.

The source added to the Daily Mirror newspaper: "It will be a typically glamorous and raunchy role and Dev has been joking to friends he is cool with seeing Freida rolling around with 007."

Freida will star alongside Daniel Craig, who will be reprising his role as Bond once more, while US actress Olivia Wilde has been approached to play a double-crossing UN worker based in Afghanistan.

(C) BANG Media International

Acne drug prevents HIV breakout (w/ Video)

From: http://www.physorg.com/news188240911.html

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This is Janice E. Clements, Ph.D., Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs, Vice Dean for Faculty, and Professor of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a safe and inexpensive antibiotic in use since the 1970s for treating acne effectively targets infected immune cells in which HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, lies dormant and prevents them from reactivating and replicating.

The drug, minocycline, likely will improve on the current treatment regimens of HIV-infected patients if used in combination with a standard drug cocktail known as HAART (Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy), according to research published now online and appearing in print April 15 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. "The powerful advantage to using minocycline is that the virus appears less able to develop drug resistance because minocycline targets cellular pathways not viral proteins," says Janice Clements, Ph.D., Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs, vice dean for faculty, and professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

"The big challenge clinicians deal with now in this country when treating HIV patients is keeping the virus locked in a dormant state," Clements adds. "While HAART is really effective in keeping down active replication, minocycline is another arm of defense against the virus."

Unlike the drugs used in HAART which target the virus, minocycline homes in on, and adjusts T cells, major immune system agents and targets of HIV infection. According to Clements, minocycline reduces the ability of T cells to activate and proliferate, both steps crucial to HIV production and progression toward full blown AIDS.

Janice E. Clements, Ph.D., Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs, Vice Dean for Faculty, and Professor of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, discusses her team’s discovery that a safe, inexpensive antibiotic will improve on the current treatment regimens of HIV-infected patients. Credit: Johns Hopkins Medicine

If taken daily for life, HAART usually can protect people from becoming ill, but it's not a cure. The HIV virus is kept at a low level but isn't ever entirely purged; it stays quietly hidden in some immune cells. If a person stops HAART or misses a dose, the virus can reactivate out of those immune cells and begin to spread.

The idea for using minocycline as an adjunct to HAART resulted when the Hopkins team learned of research by others on rheumatoid arthritis patients showing the anti-inflammatory effects of minocycline on T cells. The Hopkins group connected the dots between that study with previous research of their own showing that minocycline treatment had multiple beneficial effects in monkeys infected with SIV, the primate version of HIV. In monkeys treated with minocycline, the virus load in the cerebrospinal fluid, the viral RNA in the brain and the severity of central nervous system disease were significantly decreased. The drug was also shown to affect T cell activation and proliferation.

"Since minocycline reduced T cell activation, you might think it would have impaired the immune systems in the macaques, which are very similar to humans, but we didn't see any deleterious effect," says Gregory Szeto, a graduate student in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine working in the Retrovirus Laboratory at Hopkins.

"This drug strikes a good balance and is ideal for HIV because it targets very specific aspects of immune activation."

The success with the animal model prompted the team to study in test tubes whether minocycline treatment affected latency in human T cells infected with HIV. Using cells from HIV-infected humans on HAART, the team isolated the "resting" immune cells and treated half of them with minocycline. Then they counted how many virus particles were reactivated, finding completely undetectable levels in the treated cells versus detectable levels in the untreated cells.

"Minocycline reduces the capability of the virus to emerge from resting infected T cells," Szeto explains. "It prevents the virus from escaping in the one in a million cells in which it lays dormant in a person on HAART, and since it prevents virus activation it should maintain the level of viral latency or even lower it. That's the goal: Sustaining a latent non-infectious state."

The team used molecular markers to discover that minocycline very selectively interrupts certain specific signaling pathways critical for T cell activation. However, the antibiotic doesn't completely obliterate T cells or diminish their ability to respond to other infections or diseases, which is crucial for individuals with HIV.

"HIV requires T cell activation for efficient replication and reactivation of latent virus," Clement says, "so our new understanding about minocyline's effects on a T cell could help us to find even more drugs that target its signaling pathways."

Provided by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

LaDiDa iPhone App Lets Anyone With a Voice Make Music in Seconds

By Eliot Van Buskirk
From http://www.wired.com/

AUSTIN, Texas — Outside of isolated cultural pockets — the Irish countryside, Appalachia and church among them — most people think of music as something other people make for them to enjoy. But as anyone who sings or plays an instrument knows, making music can be a deeply satisfying act, and it’s a shame that more people don’t get to do it.

The husband-and-wife team behind LaDiDa — Khush CTO Parag Chordia and CEO Prerna Gupta — have devised a “reverse karaoke” app that makes it simple for anyone with an iPhone or iPod Touch to make songs with full instrumentation using only their voice.

You don’t even have to be able to sing in tune in order to use the $3 app, which was approved last fall. In the demo video above, Chordia, who is also an assistant professor of music at the Georgia Institute of Technology, sings absolutely terribly to show that, really, anyone can do it. (It’s quite difficult for a trained musician to sing that poorly, so he’s been practicing.)

The app is impressive. It creates harmonic and rhythmic elements after you’ve recorded yourself singing anything you please, whether it’s a pop song cover, “Happy Birthday” or something original. LaDiDa corrects your pitch and adds some reverb (just like the pros do), then aligns it with these elements and plays it back in a variety of styles that you can toggle through until you find the one that sounds best.

From there, the app lets you easily share your creation through Facebook or Twitter. As Gupta suggests, a great use of LaDiDa would be to sing “Happy Birthday” for someone and send it to them electronically, although that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

LaDiDa is available in the iTunes store for $3 (iTunes link).

Read More http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/03/sxsw-ladida-iphone-app/#ixzz0ivN5tjxU

Tim Burton's Next 3D Animated Film? Da Da Da Da, Snap Snap: 'The Addams Family'

By MIKE FLEMING
From http://www.deadline.com/

EXCLUSIVE: Alice in Wonderland director Tim Burton has found a new 3D project. He will direct a stop-motion animated film based on Charles Addams' original ghoulish cartoon drawings of The Addams Family. Illumination Entertainment, the Universal-based family film unit headed by Chris Meledandri, has acquired the underlying rights of the Addams drawings, once a staple of The New Yorker magazine.

Burton's intention is to go back to the litany of Addams illustrations that displayed a sharper wit than seen on the big or little screen before. Other than being inspired by the same source material, the animated feature is unrelated to previous incarnations of Addams’ work: the 1960s TV series, the two 1990s feature film comedies that Barry Sonnenfeld directed with Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston, or the Broadway musical opening this spring with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth in the starring roles.

Meladandri will produce the film. Kevin Miserocchi of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation will be executive producer. A writer will be hired shortly. Burton, whose visual creations are currently on display at a MOMA exhibit that opened last November, is expected to provide much of the visual look of the film himself.

Burton’s experience in animated film is extensive. He last directed Corpse Bride, and is making a feature version of Frankenweenie, the 1984 30-minute short film Burton made about a boy who reanimates his dead dog. That reportedly got him tossed off the Disney lot for making a film too terrifying for a family audience, but the film has since become a cult favorite. Burton recently produced 9, as well as the delightful stop-motion animated The Nightmare Before Christmas, for which he wrote the story.

While there are many post-Green Zone articles speculating how Universal will pull itself out of an extended feature slump, Illumination's upcoming animated slate should be a big help in giving Universal a foothold in the 3D CG family entertainment market. Meledandri left the top post at Fox Animation to form Illumination in 2007, and begins contributing to the Universal pipeline when the studio releases the Steve Carell-voiced Despicable Me on July 9. That’s followed by the April 1, 2011 release of I Hop, with Russell Brand voicing the Easter Bunny, with the Ricky Gervais creation Flanimals coming later 2011. Right behind that is Where’s Waldo and Dr.Seuss’ The Lorax.