Archive for February, 2009
Everything is amazing, nobody is happy… 0
Louis CK on Conans show, explaining why you suck when you’re spoiled.
Firms defraud government but get new US contracts 0
Print Story: Firms defraud government but get new US contracts – Yahoo! News
Companies that defrauded the United States and jeopardized American lives received new government work despite rulings designed to stop them from receiving federal contracts, government investigators report.
Payments went to a company whose president tried to sell nuclear bomb parts to North Korea, a company that jeopardized lives on the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy, and a seller of body armor that the Air Force said was defective.
The companies were on a government database of 70,000 individuals and businesses suspended or barred by various U.S. agencies from receiving government contract work.
The Government Accountability Office blamed some of the mistakes on faulty computer searches by officials who left out commas or periods. But it also said the search engine for the database often failed to identify any of the entries on the exclusion list.
A hypothetical suspended company named XYZ Corp., Inc. — with a comma — would escape detection if one searched for XYZ Corp. Inc. — without the comma — the report said.
The investigators found a staggering list of offenses by companies awarded new contracts. They included use of fictitious Social Security numbers, massive tax fraud, delivery of faulty parts for the military, false filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, use of insider information to bid on federal contracts, and Medicare fraud.
Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch 0
Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — an endless floating waste of plastic trash. Now he’s drawing attention to the growing, choking problem of plastic debris in our seas.
“Clean Coal” Air Freshener Ad Created By The Coen Brothers 0
Now with new and improved labeling! In reality, there’s no such thing as clean coal. Learn more. Join the campaign. http://www.thisisreality.org
Clean Coal Air Freshener! – watch more funny videos
Tap’d NY – Would you by tap water? 0
New York — Two teachers on their lunch break scanned a refrigerated shelf inside a Manhattan coffee shop lined with drink bottles: Naked Juice, Perrier, Smartwater, New York City tap water.
“Tap water?” said Alison Szeli, 26, picking up the clear plastic bottle with orange letters: “Tap’d NY. Purified New York City tap water.” She studied the description: “No glaciers were harmed in making this water.” She compared prices: Smartwater cost $1.85. Tap’d NY was 35 cents less. Szeli and her co-worker went for tap, carrying the bottles to the cash register. “It’s cheaper,” Szeli said. “Water is all the same anyway. I just prefer to buy my own water in bottles.” A few feet away, a scruffy-haired 29-year-old in jeans and a striped shirt delivered a shipment of Tap’d NY out of a rented Scion. Craig Zucker, founder of Tap’d NY, stopped unloading long enough to notice the two customers buying his brand. He smiled.
In the five months since he started the company, he has proved his hunch: People are willing to pay for New York City tap water, and not just in monthly utility bills.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized – Part 1 0
The Short and Simple Story of the Credit Crisis.
By Jonathan Jarvis.
Crisisofcredit.com
The goal of giving form to a complex situation like the credit crisis is to quickly supply the essence of the situation to those unfamiliar and uninitiated. This project was completed as part of my thesis work in the Media Design Program, a graduate studio at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Weird fish with see-through head 0
MBARI researchers Bruce Robison and Kim Reisenbichler used video taken by unmanned, undersea robots called remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to study barreleye fish in the deep waters just offshore of Central California. At depths of 600 to 800 meters (2,000 to 2,600 feet) below the surface, the ROV cameras typically showed these fish hanging motionless in the water, their eyes glowing a vivid green in the ROV’s bright lights. The ROV video also revealed a previously undescribed feature of these fish–its eyes are surrounded by a transparent, fluid-filled shield that covers the top of the fish’s head.
This video is narrated by senior scientist Bruce Robison.
Photo of the Week – Swimming 0
swimming - by +CHERRY+
T-Rex – Milk Commercial 1
Milk commercial featuring great animation and some funny prehistoric action.
Obama – State of the Union Speach 1
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
App Management in iTunes ~ concept 0
As elegant as moving Apps is in the iPhone and iPod touch interface is, I always find myself frustrated that there’s no easy option to manage this inside iTunes. This is the interface I’d love to see on iTunes for handling apps.
Will California legalize Pot? 0
i don’t really smoke pot, but there is no reason why it should be illegal. it makes people happy, hungry, friendly and sleepy so it can’t be all that bad.
California would become the first state in the nation to legalize marijuana for recreational use under a bill introduced Monday by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano of San Francisco.
The proposal would regulate marijuana like alcohol, with people over 21 years old allowed to grow, buy, sell and possess cannabis – all of which is barred by federal law.
Ammiano, a Democrat in his third month as a state lawmaker, said taxes and other fees associated with regulation could put more than a billion dollars a year into state coffers at a time when revenues continue to decline. He said he thinks the federal government could soften its stance on marijuana under the Obama administration. ”We could in fact have the political will to do something, and certainly in the meantime this is a public policy call and I think it’s worth the discussion,” Ammiano said. “I think the outcome would be very healthy for California and California’s economy.”
a few more from Post Secret 0
i really like this site but i haven’t found myself brave enough to send one in.
