"Miami Vice" intro deja vu

What does this clip from Epic Movie remind you of?

South Park: All About Mormons

Here is the video I mentioned to you.
South Park: All About Mormons

Mindsweeper - Reading minds with 90 percent accuracy.

Cool.  How soon will bran scans replace keyboards?  See article below.
--pws

Mindsweeper - Reading minds with 90 percent accuracy" by William Saletan.
Scientists read the visual content of a human mind with 92 percent accuracy.

Method:
1) Two people were shown 1,750 pictures.
2) Brain scans showed the blood-flow patterns triggered in each person by each picture.
3) From the scans, scientists computed which pattern reflected which type of image.
4) The same people were shown 120 new pictures while being scanned.

Results: The computer correctly predicted which new image was being viewed 92 percent of the time for one person, and 72 percent for the other. The probability of a correct prediction by guessing was less than 1 percent. When the number of new images increased from 120 to 1,000, the computer still got it right 82 percent of the time.

What's new: Previous mind-reading used pictures the subjects had already seen; in this study, the pictures were new.

What's next:
1) Quadriplegics issuing commands to computers via brain scan.
2) Watching or analyzing another person's dreams.
3) "A general brain-reading device that could reconstruct a picture of a person's visual experience at any moment."

Related: Human Nature's take on the recently demonstrated ability to predict a person's intentions.

Fwd: Obama Girl could be secret GOP weapon

Have you heard about Obama Girl?  I didn't until today, and learned she is "so 2007." 
Anyhow, the Obama Girl article is interesting and the way she inserts herself into the video of the debates is amusing.
The video "I Got a Crush...On Obama" By Obama Girl is also funny in a creepy stalker sort of way.

EMC CEO Joe Tucci having a catch with Hideki Okajima

from article about Red Sox in Japan

Highlight of the trip, hands down, was EMC CEO Joe Tucci having a catch with Hideki Okajima at a fancy reception at the Sox' New Otani Hotel headquarters Monday. While 2007 World Series clips were shown on a Green Monster-sized LED screen, assorted clients and dignitaries - most of them Japanese - feasted on sushi and fine wines. After a few speeches and interviews with Mike Lowell, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Terry Francona, a couple of fielding mitts were produced and Tucci lined up to play catch with the Sox' second-most-famous Japanese hurler. Standing in front of the giant screen, Okajima softly tossed to Tucci, who was about 20 feet away. Tucci made the catch, and before you could say, "Nuke LaLoosh," gunned a wild heater that sailed far high and wide of a sprawling Okajima and punctured the precious LED screen. I will never look at the EMC logo (which was on the Sox uniforms for the Japan games) without thinking of this.

A roundup of bullies and bullying on TV and film

Did you know Kiefer Sutherland was a bully in the movie Stand By Me?
--pws

A roundup of bullies and bullying on TV and film

Stand By Me

Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland, right) is a small town hooligan and big time bully. He disintegrates mailboxes with a baseball bat and picks on kids far younger than him — which includes pulling a knife on the four 12-year-old main characters.

Harvard iced by Wisconsin

Junior Erika Lawler from Fitchburg and sophomore Meghan Duggan of Danvers each had 2 points in Wisconsin's 4-1 NCAA semifinal win. Harvard (32-2) led, 1-0, after the first intermission, but Lawler's goal 18 seconds into the second period gave the momentum to the two-time defending NCAA champion Badgers (29-8-3). She scored unassisted after wrapping around the net and beating Crimson sophomore Christina Kessler (24 saves) on a backhander.

more here

Flying stingray kills woman in Fla. boat

This spotted eagle stingray flew out of the water in the Florida Keys and struck a woman riding in the boat, knocking her over and likely killing her on contact, according to a state official. (Mark Coleman/Associated Press)

Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Associated Press / March 21, 2008

MARATHON, Fla. - A 75-pound stingray killed a Michigan woman yesterday when it flew out of the water and struck her face as she rode in a boat in the Florida Keys, officials said.

more stories like this

Judy Kay Zagorski, of Pigeon, Mich., was sitting in the front seat of a boat going 25 miles per hour when the spotted eagle ray, with a wingspan of 5 to 6 feet, leaped out of the water, said Jorge Pino, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The 57-year-old woman's father was driving the boat on the Atlantic Ocean side of Vaca Key, Pino said.

"He had absolutely no warning," Pino said. "It just happened instantaneously."

The collision knocked Zagorski backward onto the floor of the boat, Pino said.

The impact likely killed the woman. She did not appear to have puncture wounds from the ray's barb, Pino said, adding that an autopsy is planned.

Zagorski's sister was standing next to her when the stingray appeared but was not injured, Pino said.

The stingray also died from the impact.

Spotted eagle stingrays can weigh 500 pounds and have a wingspan of up to 10 feet. They are known to occasionally jump out of the water but are not aggressive and use the venomous barb at the end of their tail for defense. The rays are protected in Florida waters and are typically seen swimming around on the water's surface.

"Rays jump to escape a predator, give birth, and shake off parasites," said Lynn Gear, supervisor of fishes and reptiles at Theater of the Sea in Islamorada.

"They do not attack people."

No big deal, but thought you might be interested.
--pws

Explosive device found near McCall School

By Eric Tsetsi/Staff Writer

Wed Mar 19, 2008, 01:07 PM EDT

Winchester, MA - Police and fire department personnel were called after a Main Street resident reported finding an unknown explosive device in the rear of his property Sunday morning at about 11:45 a.m.

According to police, the item was white in color and was approximately the size of a soda bottle with a wire leading down the side that appeared to be a fuse, police said. The bottle also had several warnings on the side of it that said it was an explosive.

The device was found in the resident's backyard, which is near the McCall Middle School and Manchester Field.

"Markings on the device indicated (it to be) a 'simulator projectile ground burst M115AZ,'" according to the fire department.

A military supply Web site indicates the device is designed to simulate incoming artillery.

"The simulator is functioned by means of a manual pull ring, after which the item is thrown," states the description posted on U.S. Army Combat Readiness Safety Center Web site. "After the simulator is initiated there is a six to 10-second delay, followed by a two to four-second whistling sound, then a flash and bang."

The item is usually used to provide battle noises during troop maneuvers and training, according to another Web site.

How one of the devices wound up in a Winchester resident's back yard is unknown.

A Massachusetts State Police specialist picked up the explosive from the police station and properly disposed of it at the Transfer Station compost area. A bomb unit detonated the device without incident.

Police said the device looked as if it could have been outside for some time, but the resident said he hadn't seen it before.

Eric Tsetsi can be reached at 781-674-7731 or etsetsi@cnc.com.

Crayon Physics Deluxe - An ingenious video game that looks like it was designed by a third-grader

If you like Line Rider (or Line Runner), you'll love Crayon Physics.
--pws

excerpts from http://www.slate.com/id/2186848/

Most of the chatter was about a game called Crayon Physics Deluxe, which didn't get a glitzy demo on a huge video screen in front of an audience of thousands. Why all the love for a game that looks a bit like something your third-grader might ask you to stick up on the fridge? Watch the embedded video below, and you'll understand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsTqspnvAaI

Pretty awesome, huh?

Crayon Physics Deluxe lets you draw objects on the screen by clicking and dragging your mouse, or by drawing with the stylus of a tablet PC, as in this video. The objects you scrawl become part of the game world. The goal is to create objects that propel a crudely drawn ball toward a crudely drawn star. There is no single correct way to scoot that ball around; the fun is in exploring the options. Within seconds of hitting start, you're furiously scribbling blocks and ramps and wedges and seesaws, whatever it takes to reach the goal. Some players may get sidetracked creating hilariously inefficient Rube Goldberg devices. Others will forget the objectives altogether and just draw. (If you want to try it yourself, you can download a simpler demo version of the game here.)

Crayon Physics Deluxe was made by Petri Purho, a 24-year-old student at Helsinki Polytechnic. He makes games at the rate of about one a month and offers them as free, PC-only downloads on his personal site. Purho says his hobby was inspired by the Experimental Gameplay Project, the equivalent of Dogme 95 for indie game makers. The tenets of EGP are:

• Each game must be made in less than seven days.
• Each game must be made by exactly one person.
• Each game must be based around a common theme, i.e., "gravity," "vegetation," "swarms," etc.

But many of his experiments are wickedly funny and original. There are many games based on the exploits of Indiana Jones, but Purho's version is the only one that tells the story from the boulder's point of view, letting players control the rampaging sphere and smoosh wave after wave of attacking archeologists. Another game, Grammar Nazi, is a literate twist on shooters like Space Invaders. Players fire upward at swarms of enemies, but the ammo in Purho's version is the letters you type on the keyboard, and the longer the words you spell, the more damage they do. (Tapping out indie has some impact. Autodidact causes a massive explosion.) Purho made it in a single day.

Take Audiosurf, made by another game-a-week geek, Dylan Fitterer (with help from his wife, Elizabeth). The game is based on a simple, ingenious concept: transform your favorite music into a game. Audiosurf takes any music file from your computer and turns it into a level. While listening to the track, you steer a little rocket car back and forth to collect the beats as they whiz past and avoid others. It's the perfect way to kill five minutes, and it's currently one of the best-selling titles on the Steam downloadable-games service.

Treating Cancer -- With Herbs

Treating Cancer -- With Herbs

Research has been done on the scientific statements in scripture. No errors found so far.

What do you make of the following letter?  Especially the statement, "Research has been done on the scientific statements in scripture. No errors found so far."
That doesn't jibe with my memories of the class on the Old Testament I took in college.  Much of the class tied OT stories to other legends, not to scientific facts.
--Phillip


from Winchester Star letters

Time of year near when faithful join together

It is time to greet the faithful with those amazing words; "He IS risen," and hear their joyous reply; "He is risen INDEED!"

Each year, we believers in the historical, traditional, reality of the resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, have more and more to rejoice over as the marvels of the information age provide details to add to the veracity of our deeply held beliefs. Some of these include:

A recent book entitled "Every Prophecy of the Bible," which lists over 1,000 predictions (or prophecies) stated in Scripture. It points out that about half of them have proven to be true, and about half are for future times. Things like the reemergence of Israel as a state, naming Cyrus, King of Persia 300 years before his birth, and many about the Christ Himself. That is 100 percent accuracy. The Book can be trusted. No author has ever even attempted this feat.

Research has been done on the scientific statements in scripture. No errors found so far. Fathers of disciplines such as Oceanography and Weather found their guidance in the Bible. Names like, Kepler, Newton, and many more all found their inspiration in scripture. As a Nuclear Weapons Employment Officer, I was able to get my directions from Ezekiel 39,12-15, 9,10.

Amazing! I have a list of more than 100 items like this. The Book was written from 4,000-2,000 years ago. Think about that.

Then there are the recent debates in cosmology. Seems the evidence is growing for the possibility that our little earth is at or very near the center of what's happening out there after all.

Well, how about the reliability of the manuscripts? No one questions Plato's, Caesar's, or Pliny's existence, but there is a 500 year gap between the writing of the Iliad and the oldest manuscripts (643 extant), 1,000 years for the Gallic Wars (10 extant), Pliny's writings, 750 years, etc. But for the New Testament alone, there are more than 25,000 fragments extant, and the oldest is dated a mere 25 years after it was written. Yet people say the Bible is unreliable. Speaking of unreliable, I understand that student history books are editing out any reference to God in historical documents such as the Mayflower Compact. That is dishonesty at its ugliest.

It will always be by faith we believe, but it is comforting to know that there is more and more evidence to under-gird that faith, even at this late date.

He is risen, indeed!

Tom Eynon

Pond Street

Fwd: racism today and Obama

Interesting articles about racism today and Obama.
--pws

Race in America: Caught Between Healing and Bitterness
Obama's Race Speech Was Too Little, Too Late
The crazy uncles in Obama's attic

Remember Schfifty Five?

More Group X excellence

• Mr. Coke?
• don't touch that
  
• Peanuts
  
• and the video that ruled JH 2005, Schfifty Five

Mt Cardigan - 1st sled descent

The drive to Mt Cardigan was an adventure of its own. Rain and snow made visibility poor. We saw three crashses; one left a minivan perched atop an 8-foot high pile of snow; another somehow deposited a car on the other side of a 3-foot guardrail. Watching the wrecks instead of the exits, we missed our exit... twice. The AMC's Cardigan Lodge is at the end of a dirt road that goes over a big hill. New snow and old tires made it impossible to drive over the hill. Michael and John put on their crampons and pushed with all their strength for about 100 yards to get us over the top. Only time this week my strained QL was a benefit; I got to drive instead of push.
There was no powder like last time, but there was still plenty of snow. The trail was well packed, making snowshoes unnecessary, but step off the trail and you would posthole to knee or crotch. The bridge gave evidence that the packed snow was at least two-feet deep. Blazes on the trees, normally at eye-level, were waist high.
It was a warm day, in the high-30's, so we had to strip down while climbing. Although it was cloudy, it didn't rain.
Just before the summit, there was a small downhill, so sleds came off the packs for a bit of fun.

The summit was windblown and icy. We used our snowshoes for traction, but could have easily booted it all the way.

A group of skiers skinned past us while we were eating lunch near the warden's cabin. They were still at the summit when we got there and took the group photo below. They saw our sleds and waited around to see us descend. They told us it would be the first sled descent from the summit of Mt. Cardigan, and I'm sure they would know.
Tandem sledding


Tree turns


Standing fall

Facts or Legends about Chuck Norris?

Chuck Norris turns 68 this week.  Read the many legends about Norris on the Web at Facts or Legends about Chuck Norris?

For example, did you know...

Chuck Norris can hit you so hard that he can actually alter your DNA.
Decades from now your descendants will occasionally clutch their heads and yell, "What the hell was that?"

7-pound road bike

Did you see this 7-pound road bike?