5. ColdFusion
The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills. "Obsolescence is a relative — not absolute — term in the world of technology."
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Virtuoso Vertiginousness
Vertigo got you spinning? The answers to your problems and more are available at the Hitchcock DVD Wiki.
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Testing
BTW, in case you didnt notice, I’m goofing around with a new style or two. Stay tuned.
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One thing leads to another.
The folks from Japanese public TV’s excellent children’s show "Pythagora Switch" have for several years been creating some of the most delightful and inventive Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions you’re likely to ever see. Here’s a 9 minute clip featuring lots of these little kinetic masterpieces, guaranteed to entertain.
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Boy Gets in Trouble at School with “No Touching” Policy
Boy’s Hug Lands Him in Trouble At School With “No Touching” Policy. 7th grader Hal Beaulieu “hopped up from his lunch table one day a few months ago, sat next to his girlfriend and slipped his arm around her shoulder. That landed him a trip to the school office.” Handshakes could be gang signs, and officials note, “in a culturally diverse school…families might have different views of what is appropriate.” The PTA President remarks: “”Even high-fives can get out of hand … someone can get bonked in the head.” (CNN News Video)
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“The Following PREVIEW Has Been Approved ONLY for age-appropriate internet users.”
Nearly all movie trailers shown in theaters, and on the web, come with a so-called green tag, saying they are approved for all audiences, or a red tag, saying they are approved for only restricted audiences. Since 2000, many theaters will not run red tag trailers; Warner Brothers will not make red tag trailers, and Universal Pictures has not ran one in theaters since "American Pie" in 1999. Wishing to show audiences more "edgy" previews, the producers are looking to the internet.
Rob Zombie�s �Halloween� remake became the first to display a new yellow tag, signaling that the movie was rated PG-13 or above, and the preview was �approved only for age-appropriate Internet users� � mandatd by the MPAA as visitors to sites either frequented mainly by grown-ups (as determined by Nielsen’s Web Demographic reports) or accessible only between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.
This August�s �Superbad� (autoplay music…) has an R-rated, red tag internet trailer, which MPAA regulations require a viewer to pass an age-verification test, in which the viewer 17 and older has to match their name, birthday and ZIP code against public government records on file.”
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The Flying Karamazov Brothers’ Comedy of Errors
In 2003, the Flying Karamazov Brothers workshopped a piece with The Bobs entitled "The Comedy of Eras". In 1992, they performed a show about Le Pétomane billed as "A Comedy of Airs". And in 1983, they started the cycle by creating a vaudeville adaptation of Shakespeare’s "The Comedy of Errors". When they brought this adaptation back to the stage in 1987, PBS aired a performance live from Lincoln Center. Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of that broadcast, and if you enjoy good juggling or bad Shakespeare, you can celebrate by watching it online: part 1, part 2.
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Nature Slowly Reclaims Abandoned Amusement Park
Chippewa Lake Park is a former amusement park in Ohio; opened in 1878, it closed in 1978 due to lack of attendance. During the decades since then, the ballroom, roller coasters & other rides have lain abandoned as the surrounding forest reclaims them.
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Man kills attacking bobcat
Dale Rippy, 62, killed a rabid bobcat with his bare hands when it attacked him on his porch in Wesley Chapel, Florida. The Vietnam vet was later treated for bites, scratches, and exposure to rabies. From Associated Press:
Dale Rippy endured the (25 pound) bobcat�s slashes and bites until it clawed into a position where he could grab it by the throat. Then he strangled it.
When I read this, I flashed back to some storys Firlotte.com told me about his father. Heh.
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The Last Link is a Reward for Getting Through the First Link
The concept of alphabetization was invented at the Great Library of Alexandria in the third century BC, with words grouped by first letter. It wasn’t until 1053, in the Elementarium doctrinae erudimentum that recursive alphabetization (where "Aab" comes before "Aac" and after "Aaa") appeared in rudimentary form.
You’d think that by now we’d have the process down, but controversies still rage. Does "sea foam" come before "seaborne"? Does "Michael Jackson" come before "Nick Cave"? Throw in international characters and an occasional foray into ASCIIbetical order and it’s no wonder the alphabet can be so frustrating.
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Theremin Crazy
Two words: Hip Hop and Theremin. Turns out the weird, spooky sci-fi noise machine plays all sorts of good music: Video Killed the Radio Star, The Legend of Zelda and sometimes, in the right hands, it speaks of a man’s love of White Castle.
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“What a beautiful world this will be. What a glorious time to be free.”
It’s been nearly 50 years since the beginning of the International Geophysical Year (IGY), an 18-month period of scientific activities and discoveries that ran from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. Both the US and the USSR launched the world’s first artificial satellites during the IGY (Sputnik 1 and Explorer 1). Other achievements of the IGY included the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts and the mapping of mid-ocean ridges. The IGY also inspired at least one artistic endeavor: Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen wrote his 1982 solo song "I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year)" as an homage to 50s optimism.
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It’s a girl
15 year old Indian boy performs a Caesarean Section on pregnant woman in presence of his Doctor parents. Father stands by his son�and says he did nothing wrong.
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2001: An Adapted Odyssey
Scans from Jack Kirby’s comic book adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Here are some scans of his sketches as well. You can read more about the adaptation here and here.
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There’s water in them there tanks…
"The business is definitely an art, the men are craftsmen…"(YT) NYC’s rooftop water tanks are a unique and often overlooked part of the city. Watch as one goes up (its worth the 10 minutes for the money shot at the end): "New York, is water tanks, yes."(YT)
"New York, which has thousands of cylindrical wooden rooftop water tanks with conical roofs, couldn’t exist without them." Its the only city with its own section under Wiki’s water tower page.
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Smells like elderberries
The Times reports: Lily-livered milquetoasts trying to suffocate the British insult. In case you illiterate turkey-buggering colonials have comprehension troubles, consult this handy glossary and usage guide.
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Public Domain Photos
Public Domain Photos. An extraordinarily rich resource for free stock photography.
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Ready to work some yellow magic? No, not like that.
The Simpsons Movie website just went live. In 12 languages, apparently (including non-American English).
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Coping: A Survival Guide for People with Asperger Syndrome
Coping: A Survival Guide for People with Asperger Syndrome. A short, to-the-point guide to the unwritten rules of life.
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Hilarious exchange between lawyer and SmartFlix
Travis Corcoran is the owner of a wonderful how-to DVD rental service called SmartFlix. One of the publishers of a DVD that SmartFlix offers didn’t like the idea that SmartFlix was renting out his video so he retained a lawyer, Robert H. Tourtelot, to try to get SmartFlix to stop renting the DVD.
Corcoran has published the email messages that the DVD maker and his lawyer has sent him, along with Corcoran’s replies to these clueless emails. The lawyer was so out of his league with Corcoran that he resorted to making jokes about Corcoran’s height! The email exchanges are hilarious.
Tourtelot: Dear Mr. Corcoran: I am in receipt of your e-mail to my client, Mr. XXX. I note your comments about me. I have a proposition for you. I will pay your way to California if you will agree to come and meet me in a gym, the address of which the limo driver who meets your flight will have.
Oh yes, the deal only includes a one-way ticket, as I do not believe you will be needing the return portion! Ciao, and have a good day. RHT
Corcoran: Are you proposing a boxing or MMA match?
I accept. I’ll pay my own way back, of course.
Any weekend in June works for me.
Please mail the airline ticket (departing from Logan Airport, in Boston) to the address I previously supplied.
I look forward to our bout (I usually do heavy bag work in my training sessions, but I’ll make sure to add some speed bag work to the mix over the next few weeks).
Shall we specify the same $1,000 wager that you suggested to Mr. XXX in your bet about my height?
Tourtelot: Plain and simple, pal. A street fight.! By the way, do you have a Black Belt also?
Corcoran: Please send the plane ticket.
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Thrill ride severs rider’s feet
I love themeparks, but I don’t care for thrill rides — I’m a Haunted Mansion guy, not an upside-down vomitcoaster 3000 guy. I don’t have the stomach for it. Besides, people get hurt on those things.
A girl’s feet were cut off Thursday when a free-fall thrill ride malfunctioned at the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom Amusement Park in Louisville, Kentucky, police said.
A cord wrapped around the 16-year-old’s feet and severed them at her ankles while she was on the “Superman Tower of Power,” a police dispatcher said. The girl was taken to a local hospital.
RobDurdle.com 
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