February 2008
New Arbitrary TSA requirement: all electronics out... →
I thought it was silly when a TSA agent at the Oakland airport asked me with concern in her voice to remove my thin cotton sweater before walking through the metal detector this afternoon, but it sounds like things are even sillier at San Francisco Airport. Scott Beale reports:
Wow, flying out of SFO just became much worse. While traveling this morning I surprised to find out that TSA is now...
Tentative Deal to Salvage Real Estate Empire →
Harry and Billy Macklowe, the father-and-son team of real estate developers, have come under intense financial pressure with the near collapse of the credit markets.
Vinyl Frontier: Left-for-Dead Music Is Resurrected... →
Keith Abrahamsson launches the first all-digital reissues label, Anthology Recordings.
January 2008
Organlegging nurse sold diseased corpsemeat for... →
An oral surgeon-turned-nurse-turned-organlegger has been busted in Philadelphia for buying corpses from funeral directors, extracting their valuable tissues, and selling them on to be used in surgery in the US and Canada:
Mastromarino, a former oral surgeon, paid funeral directors $1,000 per corpse, then sold the parts to tissue banks, Sagel said.
The body parts fetched up to $10,000 apiece,...
Organlegging nurse sold diseased corpsemeat for... →
An oral surgeon-turned-nurse-turned-organlegger has been busted in Philadelphia for buying corpses from funeral directors, extracting their valuable tissues, and selling them on to be used in surgery in the US and Canada:
Mastromarino, a former oral surgeon, paid funeral directors $1,000 per corpse, then sold the parts to tissue banks, Sagel said.
The body parts fetched up to $10,000 apiece,...
Netscape, the Browser That Started It All, Dies a... →
The Netscape Navigator browser, after years of lagging behind competitor Internet Explorer and siblings Mozilla and Firefox, will fade into history on Feb. 1. Parent company AOL will cease production on all Netscape-branded projects Friday, though the Netscape.com website will continue to exist as a web portal.
Bono's manager says Bono does all the work and... →
Basically Paul McGuinness (above, right) is calling me a thief. It’s been all over the news. He gave a big speech at some conference in Cannes. See one story about it here. Money quote: “McGuinness challenged Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, to ‘apply his ingenuity’ to solving the music industry crisis. … `These are very clever people and a lot of fun to work...
The TSA has a blog →
Our favorite federal administration, the TSA, has just launched a blog, called Evolution of Security. It kicks off with a cheerful message from Kip Hawley. I applaud his reason for launching the blog:
One of my major goals of 2008 is to get TSA and passengers back on the same side, working together. We need your help to get the checkpoint to be a better environment for us to do our security job...
The TSA has a blog →
Our favorite federal administration, the TSA, has just launched a blog, called Evolution of Security. It kicks off with a cheerful message from Kip Hawley. I applaud his reason for launching the blog:
One of my major goals of 2008 is to get TSA and passengers back on the same side, working together. We need your help to get the checkpoint to be a better environment for us to do our security job...
Antique anti-masturbation device →
This circa 1880 anti-masturbation device is currently up for auction on eBay. The starting bid is $1500. From the auction listing:
EXTREMELY RARE ANTI MASTURBATION DEVICE DATING FROM c1880. THE COPPER SHAPED DEVICE WAS ATTACHED TO A BELT AND WORN BY BOYS AS A MEANS OF PREVENTING NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS. VERY MUCH AN INDICATION OF SOCIETIES VIEWS ON ONANISM IN THE 19TH CENTURY. THIS IS THE FIRST...
Antique anti-masturbation device →
This circa 1880 anti-masturbation device is currently up for auction on eBay. The starting bid is $1500. From the auction listing:
EXTREMELY RARE ANTI MASTURBATION DEVICE DATING FROM c1880. THE COPPER SHAPED DEVICE WAS ATTACHED TO A BELT AND WORN BY BOYS AS A MEANS OF PREVENTING NOCTURNAL EMISSIONS. VERY MUCH AN INDICATION OF SOCIETIES VIEWS ON ONANISM IN THE 19TH CENTURY. THIS IS THE FIRST...
Dog-bite victim sues →
Think the snarling Fido next door is dangerous? It may be, but don’t expect anything will be done about it. Not all dog owners control their pets. And the county Animal Services Department cannot take Fido away just because others think it’s dangerous. The law protects dog owners’ rights as much as it tries to ensure public safety.
Report faults Navy in sewage spill →
Inaction by the Navy and its contractors allowed at least 14 million gallons of sewage to gush from the San Diego Naval Base into Chollas Creek over about two years ending in November 2006. That’s the conclusion of a months-long investigation by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. The finding is part of a report prepared for the agency’s meeting in two weeks.
Starbucks: Say Good-Bye To Breakfast Sandwiches,... →
Starbucks recently announced that they would begin selling their “short” cups of brewed coffee for $1 a piece, and offering free refills of brewed coffee as a test in their home market of Seattle. CEO Howard Shultz also announced that breakfast sandwiches were on the way out. From Starbucks Gossip:
** The warm sandwiches “are going to be out by year’s end.” In the...
"Family Friendly" Movie Censors Were Running Porn... →
According to the Provo, UT Daily Herald the founder of “Flix Club” a defunct company that edited swearing and nudity from films and resold them as “family friendly’ versions, has been arrested on charges that he and another man paid two 14-year-old girls for sex. Police also said that the men may have been using the “family friendly” video business as a front...
Discovery HQ Takes Rare LEED-EB Platinum →
Discovery, aka “the number-one nonfiction media company” and recent purchaser of Treehugger, now has legit green digs. LEED-EB stands for LEED Existing Buildings, but the certification standard has recently undergone a renovation to LEED Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance. Up until now, the LEED-EB Platinum certification has been pretty rare, but we’ll see if...
Man unveils 30-year-old "instant water... →
Ninety-two-year-old Peter Davey of New Zealand says he invented a unique water boiling gadget 30 years ago. He claims it uses sound waves, not a heating element, to boil water in seconds.
Davey noticed as he played the saxophone at home that everything resonated at a different frequency.
“The glasses will tinkle on one note. Knives and forks in the drawer will tinkle on another note and I...
Highlights From the New Peer-Reviewed Creation... →
If you’re looking to bolster an intelligent-design argument, the Answers Research Journal features “creationist researchers, scientists and theologians” tackling non-evolutionary, young-earth theories. It’s joining the internet age, jumping online with downloadable articles, branching out from its old-fashioned, print-only format.
The Best: Extinct Animals, From an Elephant Bird... →
Life isn’t what it used to be. Just look at 10 of the weirdest beasts that ever roamed the Earth. From Wired magazine.
Lilly in Settlement Talks With U.S. →
A settlement of an inquiry into Lilly’s marketing of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa could result in the company’s paying more than $1 billion to federal and state governments.
Starbucks Scales Back U.S. Expansion →
The company’s chief executive, Howard Schultz, announced that he would close 100 underperforming stores in the United States, though he did not identify the locations.
Man unveils 30-year-old "instant water boiler"... →
Ninety-two-year-old Peter Davey of New Zealand says he invented a unique water boiling gadget 30 years ago. He claims it uses sound waves, not a heating element, to boil water in seconds.
Davey noticed as he played the saxophone at home that everything resonated at a different frequency.
“The glasses will tinkle on one note. Knives and forks in the drawer will tinkle on another note and I...
Deep Brain Stimulation boosts memory →
A morbidly obese man who was undergoing treatment with deep brain electrical stimulation experienced a surprising boost in his memory. Deep brain stimulation devices are comparable to a “pacemaker” for the brain and are used to treat Parkinson’s disease, depression, and other disorders. When the physicians at the Toronto Western Hospital first stimulated the electrodes in the...
Deep Brain Stimulation boosts memory →
A morbidly obese man who was undergoing treatment with deep brain electrical stimulation experienced a surprising boost in his memory. Deep brain stimulation devices are comparable to a “pacemaker” for the brain and are used to treat Parkinson’s disease, depression, and other disorders. When the physicians at the Toronto Western Hospital first stimulated the electrodes in the...
Castro Street transformed for Harvey Milk movie →
San Francisco’s Castro Street, a well-known gay mecca, is undergoing a 1970s makeover. The redecoration is for a Hollywood film about the life and death of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay activist and, according to Time magazine, “the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet.” Milk and Mayor George Moscone were...
Castro Street transformed for Harvey Milk movie →
San Francisco’s Castro Street, a well-known gay mecca, is undergoing a 1970s makeover. The redecoration is for a Hollywood film about the life and death of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay activist and, according to Time magazine, “the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet.” Milk and Mayor George Moscone were...
Wesley Snipes’s Anti-Tax Manifesto →
In a filing with the I.R.S., the actor explains his views with defiance and legalese.
Fly the Friendly Skies Nude →
A German travel agency, citing “a gap in the market,” offers nude flights to a Baltic resort. The crew will remain clothed “for safety reasons.”
A Mythbuster's Biggest Tech Headaches (and... →
An anonymous reader writes “The Mythbusters’ Jamie Hyneman shares his top tech annoyances. Hyneman runs down the little things that bug him about everything from tools (exotic chargers) to cars (useless features). He also notes that there’s a lot of room for improvement on PC desktops: ‘In addition to being buggy … extra features tend to bog down your system by...
Fail Balloon is Clear for Take Off →
Thanks to shpXohFU for:
Easter Bunny →
Thanks to Joe for:
Pool Car →
Thanks to Bryan for:
Delta Airlines →
Thanks to Bryan for:
Rapist Search →
Thanks to Bryan for:
RIAA Drops Case, Should Have Sued Someone Else →
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes “Once again the RIAA has dropped a case with prejudice, this time after concluding it was the defendant’s daughter it should have sued in the first place. In the case of Lava v. Amurao, mindful that in similar scenarios it has been held liable for the defendant’s attorney fees (Capitol v. Foster and Atlantic v. Andersen), the RIAA went on the...
Anton LaVey's Black House now condos →
For decades, the Victorian seen in the far left photo was a San Francisco landmark known as the Black House. It was home to Church of Satan founder Dr. Anton LaVey from 1967 until his death in 1997. After falling into disrepair, the Black House was sadly demolished in 2001. The current owners of the property built three cheesy condominiums in its place that are just now up for sale. My friend Greg...
Anton LaVey's Black House now condos →
For decades, the Victorian seen in the far left photo was a San Francisco landmark known as the Black House. It was home to Church of Satan founder Dr. Anton LaVey from 1967 until his death in 1997. After falling into disrepair, the Black House was sadly demolished in 2001. The current owners of the property built three cheesy condominiums in its place that are just now up for sale. My friend Greg...
CCDC president set to get raise, but lose bonus... →
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO: San Diego’s top downtown redevelopment official is poised to get a raise but lose her once-controversial bonus deal.
Buying or renting, housing is still pricey →
Aspiring home buyers may be cheering the steep drop in housing prices, but the reality is that most workers in San Diego County still do not earn enough to buy the median-priced home of $440,000, according to a study released yesterday.
Balboa Park needs new focus, study says →
Balboa Park is a “powder keg” of unaddressed maintenance issues because of scarce funding and unclear management, according to an independent report released today. The report argues that it makes no sense for the nationally renowned destination to be run as one of 300-plus properties in San Diego’s park system, and suggests that mounting problems can be solved only by new management focused...
As of Thursday, travelers returning to U.S. need... →
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are reminding travelers that as of Thursday, U.S. citizens returning by land or sea must present proof of citizenship.
Minutemen group threatens lawsuit over freeway... →
The leader of the San Diego Minutemen says the group is seeking legal advice a day after the state transportation department, citing safety concerns, decided to relocate the group’s Adopt-A-Highway site near the Border Patrol’s San Clemente checkpoint to a less-traveled stretch along state Route 52.
From farts to diamonds →
At Davos last week I met some remarkable technologists. But one guy who I had never heard of before had an interesting story: his firm turns methane gas into diamonds. Hence my sensationalistic headline of turning farts to diamonds (farts contain mostly methane gas).
The guy is Neil Kane, President of Advanced Diamond Technologies, and that’s him above showing his diamond film that was...
‘Jerry Springer,’ the Great American Musical →
The notorious show from London uncovers something grand within the small, squalid lives it portrays.
FIAL? →
Thanks to Tom for:
Reading Bush →
Thanks to Hal for:
Philip Morris is releasing some new products for... →
Philip Morris is releasing some new products for smokers, especially those in emerging markets, e.g. markets with more smokers and less regulation than the US or Europe. The Heatbar - a hand-held electronic smoking device that emits 90% less smoke than a regular cigarette, hence less second hand smoke. Only $118 for 1 year of service (2 cartons of cigarettes included) Update: Altria has indeed...
The Incompatible Food Triad. Are there three foods... →
The Incompatible Food Triad. Are there three foods that don’t taste good together but every pair of them does? There are many ways to interpret this “going together” but an example solution would be three pizza toppings — A, B, and C — such that a pizza with A and B is good, and a pizza with A and C is good, and a pizza with B and C is good, but a pizza with A, B,...
Failcat →
Thanks to ZZTop for: