UFO’s appear on satellite photos

I’m not sure if these photos show actual UFO’s or not but they got my attention.

The pictures below were found on Google Sightseeing - UFO update. Link here.

There are links to over 20 photos that appear to be satellite images containing some sort of ball or disc shaped object.

Eight of the pictures are said to have been taken over Florida. The rest were taken over Los Angeles, California.

Four of them are shown below:

Some of the comments from the site are:

The UFOs are just too big to be water towers (and there’s no shadow).

Definitely they’re NOT marks for picture stitching. In most stitching software (like for making panoramas) the algorithm comes down to finding sharp and contrasting details and aligning those spots with each other

Condensation inside some sort of housing would be my guess. If the drop were directly on the lens it would be effectively invisible. Put it a few inches/feet away and have the camera shooting with a very deep depth of field (as you would with a small aperture) and it would look just like that anomaly.

I’m sure the photos do not show alien spacecraft. They are not out of this world but they are interesting to look at. Anomalies perhaps, but not flying saucers.

=========================

UPDATE

More similar photos can be found here.

Their last water bill was $8,000? Is that all?

A family in Danville, Kentucky received an $8,000 water bill for a house they say they haven't lived in for more than two years.

The family was told by a water company employee that the $8,000 bill was not a clerical error.

The ground around the home isn't saturated and there are no apparent signs of a leak.

Needless to say, they want an explanation for the $8,000 water bill for the empty house with no water leaks.

Link

When quilt makers get carried away

This is what happens when quilt makers go too far.

(click on picture to enlarge)

The Clinton blueprint

The Washington Post reports on a ‘blueprint’ that will restore the race for the nomination to ’rough parity’ between Hillary and Barack Obama

Talk of a Clinton blueprint reminds Lucianne of an old cartoon showing two prisoners chained hand and foot to a cement wall. One says to the other, "I have a plan."

We wonder if treading water has anything to do with the Hillary blueprint? Or is the blueprint more like finding a way to Fosterize Barack Obama?

Sen. Clinton is probably wishing she was back in her dorm room at Wellesley (pictured) cramming for mid-terms.

Link here to the Hillary blueprint article.

Large RC model of Lockheed Constellation airliner in action

The link below has a video of a very large radio control model of a Lockheed Constellation plane in action.



The video shows the Lockheed “Connie” making two flights with perfect landings, takeoffs and several awesome fly bye’s.

Link

Royal wave: handmade wooden action miniature

Here is something for that ‘hard to buy for’ person on your Christmas shopping list.

It’s a 9 inch tall handmade wooden action miniature of the Queen giving her usual ‘royal wave.’

This ‘way cool’ action figure will only set you back £700.00 ($1,351.00).

Click here and scroll down to see it in action along with sound effects.

Minnesota town wins Icebox of Nation title

International Falls, Minnesota now has the dubious distinction of owning the "Icebox of the Nation" title.

The city on the Canadian border had been fighting the ski town of Fraser, Colorado for the legal right to the trademark.

International Falls claimed victory this week when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office sent the city attorney a certificate granting the community Reg. No. 3,375,139.

International Falls, Minnesota took the “Icebox” title but no one can take the scenic beauty away from Fraser, Colorado (lower photo).

Link

Helicopter appears to defy gravity

Click here to see this helicopter fly with blades that appear to be motionless.

The FPS (frames per second) of the camera were exactly synchronized with the rotation of the helicopter blades making the blades appear to be motionless.

So much for AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity

BBC News reports that one fourth of all iPhones have been ‘unlocked’ so they can be used on other networks.

The iPhone was designed to be used only on Apple's exclusive partner AT&T.

One million iPhones, or 27% of those sold last year, have been adapted to work on other networks.

Apple recently admitted that the number of unlocked iPhones was "significant".

The iPhone, which was launched last summer, is tied to a single phone network in each country it is on sale.

While AT&T is Apple's chosen partner in the US, in the UK the iPhone is only officially available through O2, while in Germany it is tied to T-Mobile.

The first iPhone ‘unlock’ in the U.S. was soon after the phone was first released last summer.

A college student hacked his iPhone and put it on a T-Mobile network

At that time Apple announced that iPhones would stop working if tempered with. Apparently the Apple iPhone lock is not very secure.

Link

Man’s best friend

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise
============================
My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can.

That's almost $21.00 in dog money!

About those chain e-mails …

An article appearing in the St. Petersburg Times urges peolpe to stop passing on chain e-mails until they at leat try to check them out first.

The writer says, “Please. For the love of humanity. Just stop. Or at the very least, please stop sending them to me.”

He goes on to list some of them that irritate him:

1. Your cell phone is extremely unlikely to blow up your gas tank. [this may have had some validity in the early years of cell phones but static sparks from sliding out of your car seat at a gas station was always a much greater risk].

2. Starbucks (or Target, or insert name of retailer here) does not hate veterans.

3. A dying 7-year-old girl did not write a moving poem that will raise money for cancer.

4. The United States is not merging with Canada and Mexico in 2010.

5. There is no "Life is Beautiful" computer virus.

The writer goes on to explain how e-mail claims can be checked:

Type the words "Internet hoax" into an Internet search.

You'll find several sites that specialize in tracking down the truth or falsity of rumors. His favorite is snopes.com.

In turn, those sites usually have their own search function. (Don't be fooled, by the way, by e-mails that claim to have been "checked out." Do it yourself anyway.)

Link

Hillary skipped out on New Hampshire rent

The Hillary Clinton campaign rented a building in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The landlord, Dr. Terry Bennett, said it was a 3,000-square-foot building with office space, a kitchen, bathroom and a 1,800-foot warehouse. They used the property as a campaign center and dormitory.

When they were done, they left the place trashed and skipped without paying rent.

Link

Leroy Van Dyke video - The Auctioneer

Click here for a YouTube video of The Auctioneer sung by trained auctioneer and country music artist, Leroy Van Dyke.

It’s always fun to hear the rhythmic chant of a good auctioneer.

Racers from erasers

These cool e-racers are made from Pink Pearl trapezoidal erasers.

They are probably fairly easy to make and can be made to look really cool.

Draw on them with a pen as on the right or carve them as shown on the left.

A great rainy-day project for kids.

Move over Rubik’s. Make way for Idiot's cube

This is a spoof on Rubik’s Cube, the classic puzzle that has been driving us nuts for the last thirty years.

The Idiot's Cube is the perfect gag gift and you can get one of your very own for thirteen bucks.

It’s a puzzle that absolutely any one can solve. No matter which way you turn it, the puzzle is solved. Keep turning as much as you want and it remains solved.

A great item for the puzzle hater on your gift list.

Link

A house to die for

So desperate to sell house they offer full refund when they die

A Pittsburgh area couple seem dead serious (pun intended) about selling their house.

It's the deal of a lifetime. Bob and Ricki Husick of Pittsburgh are offering anyone who buys their home a full refund when they die.

The Husicks have been trying to sell their suburban home for almost a year, but have failed to do so in the current shaky market.

Some area homeowners have lowered prices, offered free trips and tried a variety of other gimmicks, but the Husicks came up with their own unique incentive.

The couple have no heirs and built the house in 1993. They want $399,900 for the four-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home, which is located about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Under the Husicks' offer, the buyer would get the sale price back when they die.

Link

Icy curbs do not forgive

Some people will use any excuse to re-use old blog postings.

Manure reduces development of lung cancer

Scientists have discovered that working with manure drastically reduces the risk of developing lung cancer.

Dairy farmers are five times less likely than the general populace to develop the disease, New Scientist magazine reports.

The study found farmers typically breathed in dust that consisted largely of dried manure, and all the bacteria that grew in it.

New Scientist said adults who had a greater exposure to germs than usual might build up a better resistance to bugs, including cancer.

What about politicians? They should never need to worry about lung cancer.

Link

ICE your cell phone for safety

If you have read this on this blog before it’s because I think this is imortant enough to post here every so often.

The American College of Emergency Physicians wants you to add a listing in your cell phone directory.

By entering the acronym ICE (In Case of Emergency) – into your cell phone book, users can list the name and number of someone who should be contacted in an emergency.

Will this ensure that all emergency personnel will look in your cell phone for your ICE listing in an emergency?

The answer is no, not every time.

Put ICE in your phone anyway. What if doctors, firefighters, police or paramedics looked in your cell phone for an emergency contact (ICE) listing and it wasn’t there?

Be safe and ICE your phone!

Link

Scorpion venom offers improved cancer surgery

An article from Britain in the Independent claims that a substance derived from scorpion venom could be the key to more effective treatment for a wide range of cancers.

Turned into a "paint" which can distinguish even a small number of cancerous cells from healthy tissue, the venom would vastly improve surgeons' accuracy when removing tumors.

Link

Bumper sticker mania

===================
All men are animals

some just make better pets
===================

Charts showing fat in fast food: where did you eat today?

There is a chart at the link below comparing fat, calories, etc. in French fries. The chart compares the french fries by restaurant.

The tables are sortable. Clicking a category (calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, etc.) will sort the data in that column from lowest to highest. Clicking it again will sort it from highest to lowest.

One thing to consider is serving size. For instance, Sonic has the least amount of fat. However, the serving size is the smallest which skews the comparison chart.

The chart is useful only when considering serving size.

Two columns to pay close attention to are the saturated fat column and the trans fat column.

What all this really does is to remind us to avoid eating at fast food restaurants as much as possible.

Link

Guinevere and Lancelot

If you like ‘em punny, this is for you:
Guinevere and Lancelot had a huge argument. Eventually, they reached an impasse.

Guinevere told Lancelot that she never wanted to see him again. Heartbroken, Lancelot headed to the local tavern.

Eventually, Guinever calmed down and went out to find him.

Spotting Lancelot’s horse outside the tavern, she went inside. A man who was leaving recognized her.

He asked, “What’s a knight’s girl like you doing in a place like this?”

NY Post scathingly denounces Hillary - endorses Obama

The New York Post endorses Barack Obama - sort of.

The endorsement of Obama is almost an afterthought as most of the page is a scathing denouncement of Hillary Clinton. A portion of anti-Hillary tirade follows - the rest can be found at the link below:

Democrats in 22 states across America go to the polls next Tuesday to pick between two presidential prospects: Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.



We urge them to choose Obama - an untried candidate, to be sure, but preferable to the junior senator from New York.

Obama represents a fresh start.

His opponent, and her husband, stand for déjà vu all over again - a return to the opportunistic, scandal-scarred, morally muddled years of the almost infinitely self-indulgent Clinton co-presidency.

Does America really want to go through all that once again?

It will - if Sen. Clinton becomes president.
Bill Clinton's thuggishly self-centered campaign antics conjure so many bad, sad memories that it's hard to know where to begin.

Suffice it to say that his Peck's-Bad-Boy smirk - the Clinton trademark - wore thin a very long time ago.

Far more to the point, Sen. Clinton could have reined him in at any time. But she chose not to - which tells the nation all it needs to know about what a Clinton II presidency would be like.

Tell us what you really think Mr. Murdock. Don’t hold back.

Link

Wisconsin wants to shed cheesy image

The state of Wisconsin is serious about shedding the cheesehead stereotype.

America's Dairyland wants you to know it's not just full of cheeseheads.

Problem is, it is hard to alter a stereotype that has been around for so long.

To start with, it will be an uphill battle just to clear the cheesehead hats from Lambeau Field during Packers home games. Packer fans wearing their cheeseheads are seen on TV by millions of fans every year.

It will be a slow process to remove the stereotype whatever method they use.

Link

The Washington pork barrel king of all time

When it comes to congressional pork, this Byrd really brings home the bacon!

The Democrat from West Virginia tops tham all for spending tax dollars on his own pet projects.

At age 90, Sen. Robert Byrd (pictured) of West Virginia has been in the Senate longer than anybody else.

And he's spent much of that time as head of the most powerful spending committee, with extraordinary control over earmarks - grants of your tax dollars without the normal public review.

Byrd was the first senator to rack up a total of $1 billion in earmarks for his home state.

That was in 1999. Today he's past the $3 billion mark.

And though tradition frowns on sitting members of Congress funding projects in their own name, they don't seem to have a problem with it in Byrd Country. West Virginia is full of ventures paid for with your tax dollars but named after him.

You can take the Robert C. Byrd Highway to the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, explore space through the Robert C. Byrd Telescope, and work at the Robert C. Byrd Hilltop Office Complex.

In all, we found more than 40 projects bearing the Byrd name. Many of them sound perfectly reasonable, but the problem is other needy communities never get a crack at the money.

The worst part is the money was not his to spend.

Link

For sale: 4 bedrooms, 3 bath, 1 scandal

So much for curb appeal.

When a house's reputation is tainted, selling can be tough.

A stylish new house sits on South Tampa's Vasconia Street, for sale or rent.

But yellow crime-scene tape rings the front yard. A chunk of the stairway apparently has been cut away. Pieces of the slab are stacked in the garage. The foyer has a foxhole.

And a murder victim may be buried under it all.

For now, the 3,200-square foot home at 3908 W Vasconia isn't exactly open for showing.

Link

Give me the cash. No, wait. Let me think

The story of a conflicted bank robber in Lynchburg, Virginia.

A 72-year-old man entered Carter Bank and Trust armed with a gun and told the branch manager, "give me all your money."

He then changed his mind, handed the money back and told the teller to call the police. He also tried to give her his gun.

Link

‘Green Eggs and Ham’ ruling by rhyming judge

A U.S. District Court Judge received a hard-boiled egg in the mail from an inmate who was protesting his prison diet.

Judge James Muirhead reached for Dr. Seuss' "Green Eggs and Ham" for inspiration after getting the egg from inmate Charles Jay Wolff.

The judge wrote:

I do not like eggs in the file
I do not like them in any style.
I will not take them fried or boiled.
I will not take them poached or broiled.
I will not take them soft or scrambled
Despite an argument well-rambled.

The judge then ordered the egg destroyed saying:

No fan I am
Of the egg at hand.
Destroy that egg!
Today! Today! Today I say!
Without delay!"

Dr. Seuss would have been proud.

Link

Piggy bank: updated version

Does this mean the piggy bank is making a comeback?

The updated piggy bank shown here has four separate compartments so you can earmark your coins by category.

Notice that “invest” doesn’t get much respect. Its the compartment located at the pigs rear-end.

Link here.

101-year-old ship still working the Great Lakes

The St. Marys Challenger is a 101-year-old cement carrier that is still plying the waters of the Great Lakes.

Challenger was christened as the William P. Snyder when originally launched in Detroit. Over the years, the ship also was known as the Alex D. Chisholm, Medusa Challenger and Southdown Challenger.

The ship is currently known as the St. Marys Challenger and holds the honors of being the oldest lake boat still trading on the Great Lakes.

Powered by a steam engine, the Challenger was launched in 1906 - six years before the RMS Titanic set sail on its doomed maiden voyage.

Link

Bill Clinton unleashed: unloads on the press

Bill Clinton is accustomed to being treated kindly by the media. Especially “Clinton friendly” media such as CNN, the network that has patronized him for the last 15 years.

When the media asks him tough questions he lashes out.

The most recent Bill Clinton barrage can be found here.

With a history of coronary artery disease, it would seem be in his best interest to calm down.

Make a survival kit from an Altoids Tin

Link here to a Field & Stream magazine article that shows how to pack a survival kit into an Altoids tin.

Several versions are listed so you can make one for many purposes including a Pocket Kit, Day Kit, and Wilderness Kit.

I never dreamed an Altoids mint tin could have such an interesting and useful second life.

Conscience …

--------------------------------------
Conscience is what hurts

when everything else feels good
--------------------------------------

Qees

Qees are 2 & 1/2-inch tall collectable key chain figures. The Qees (pronounced ‘keys’) are also available in a large 8 inch size. You would need big pockets to use the large size as a key chain, but then your keys never get lost.

A small collection of Qees
They have been out for a few years so maybe it’s not just a passing fad. Wonder if they are traded on playgrounds like football stickers? Or maybe like pog trading in the early 1990’s. Remember pogs? Kids gathered ‘em in by the bag full for a very short time - until they discovered how worthless they were and tossed them out.

Collecting Qees sounds like it could be fun. A lot more exciting to kids than collecting stamps and not as addictive as baseball cards. Qee links here and here.

Lightning strikes and rainbow in same photo

(click on picture to enlarge)

Awesome picture of lightning strikes and a rainbow. Photo taken near Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Link

The "living in a garbage truck" hoax

Have you seen this hoax on the Internet, or maybe received it by e-mail?

The story of a garbage truck converted to a motor home has been posted several places on the Internet.

The postings are usually titled, Living in a garbage truck. Don’t you believe it. It’s just another hoax floating around on the Internet.



It’s a TerraCross Home on Wheels made by UNICAT. The TerraCross web site is here. The UNICAT home page is here.

The myth buster web site is here.

Study shows cell phone users tie up traffic

Do you use your wireless phone while driving? If so, you may be slowing traffic as well as your arrival time to say nothing of the safety of yourself and other drivers.

The University of Utah's Traffic Lab found that drivers who use cell phones behind the wheel impede the flow of traffic and extend commute times.

Prior studies have equated the risk of driving while talking on a cell phone with driving while drunk. Some 50 countries have banned use of hand-held phones while driving.

The study showed tha when drivers were distracted by a phone conversation, they made fewer lane changes, drove slower and took longer to get where they are going. It made no difference if they used a hands-free phone.

Link

Cooking spray helps clear snow from a satellite dish

A clever solution for keeping snow and ice buildup off your satellite dish is to put a plastic trash bag over it and pull it tight to prevent sagging.

Use duct tape to seal the bag to the back of the dish. The snow and ice will fall off the bag and give you clear reception.

If snow and ice starts to build up on the bag, spray the bag with PAM (or similar) cooking spray.

Satellite dish heaters and covers are available but you can’t beat the price of the remedy outlined above.

Optical illusions

These soldiers are all exactly the same height.

Another simple yet very cool optical illusion.

Solar car from Taiwan to hit market soon

A solar car from Taiwan is slated to hit the market soon, but it won't be a hit in this country.

The battery charges in just a few hours sunlight and can power the car for three hours.

It will have a top speed of 70kph (43 mph). It may work out as a golf cart but it would be a menace on the freeway.

We wonder how many will be standing in line to pay 800,000 New Taiwanese Dollars ($24,617) for this vehicle.

Link

The ant and the grasshopper

There are two versions of this story.

OLD VERSION:

The ant worked hard in the steamy summer heat building his house and storing food and supplies for winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and plays around all summer.

The next winter the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter and he dies out in the cold.

MODERN VERSION:

The ant worked hard in the steamy summer heat building his house and storing food and supplies for winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and plays around all summer.

The next winter the ant is warm and well fed.

The grasshopper has no food or shelter so he calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are starving out in the cold.

Reporters from CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC show up and take pictures of the starving, shivering grasshopper and show a video of the ant in his comfortable home with food on the table.

America is stunned by the contrast.

How can it be that in a country of such wealth this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer like this?

Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everyone cries when they sing: It’s Not Easy Being Green.

Jesse Jackson organizes a demonstration in front of the ant’s house. The news networks film the group singing: We Shall Overcome.

John Kerry and Ted Kennedy appear in a joint interview on Larry King Live. They discuss why the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper.

Congress calls for an immediate tax hike on all ants.

The EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act which is made retroactive to the beginning of the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs.

The ant has no money left to pay his retroactive taxes. The government confiscates his home.

Hillary arranges for her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant.

The case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.

The ant loses the case.

The story ends with the grasshopper eating the last of the food in his house (which just happens to be the ant’s old house) as the house crumbles around him because he hasn’t maintained the building.

The ant has disappeared in the snow.

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident.

The house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

Hillary Meal Deal fake advertisement

This political satire button looks like it was inspired by the MoveOn organization except for one thing -- MoveOn only attacks conservatives.



An article at the link below asks if this is a shot at Hillary from the Obama campaign.

The article shows a similar Hillary Meal Deal ad that appeared on a laptop at the Holiday Inn in Des Moines where Obama’s campaign team is staying.

Obama himself is staying at the Residence Inn in West Des Moines so he’s probably not guilty. It was likely someone on the Obama team having a little fun at Hillary’s expense.

Link

In the classroom

TEACHER: Jonathan, your composition on "My Dog" is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?

JONATHAN: No, teacher, it's the same dog.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

TEACHER: James, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?

JAMES: A teacher.

McCow

They’ll advertise anywhere!

Flight from Oregon to Idaho in lawn chair

A 47-year-old Oregon man took his lawn chair up to 13,000 feet and almost landed in Idaho.

He was able to fly 193 miles at 13,000 feet by attaching 105 balloons to his lawn chair, each 4 feet round, in an attempt to fly from Bend, Oregon to Idaho

Bundled together, the 105 balloons rose three stories high.

He didn’t quite make it to Idaho. The lawn chair landed in a farmer's field in Eastern Oregon

The lawn chair pilot carried with him a global positioning system device, a two-way radio, a digital camcorder and a cell phone. No mention of a parachute.

Link

Least memorable celebrities of 2007

The following is our list of 2007’s least memorable celebrities:


Most annoying celebrity of the year - Rosie O’Donnell


Worst dressed celebrity of the year - Nick Nolte


Political hack of the year - Michael Moore

The following tied for the least memorable celebrities with the most news coverage in 2007:


Anna Nicole Smith


Paris Hilton


Britney Spears


O. J. Simpson

400 prominent scientists disputed warming claims in 2007

More than 400 prominent scientists disputed man-made global warming claims this year. This debunks the Al Gore “consensus” claim.

Even some in the establishment media now appear to be taking notice of the growing number of skeptical scientists.

In October, the Washington Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin conceded the obvious, writing that climate skeptics "appear to be expanding rather than shrinking." Many scientists from around the world have dubbed 2007 as the year man-made global warming fears “bites the dust.”

This blockbuster Senate report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation. It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007.

This new “consensus busters” report is poised to redefine the debate.

It must be noted, however, that as long as the liberal media continues to worship at the feet of Al Gore, this may not become common knowledge until the earth begins to swing back into a cooling cycle as it did in the 1970’s as reported in Newsweek here.

Link here and here.

Dutchman built a modern day Noah’s Ark

Johan Huibers, a 47-year-old man from Schagen, 30 miles north of Amsterdam, is building a modern day Noah’s ark. This working model will be a fifth the size of the Biblical ark.

When the ark is finished in September, he plans to set sail through the interior waters of the Netherlands.

The ark is being built of American cedar and Norwegian pine rather than gopher wood.

Mr Huibers plans to charge people to tour the boat and said a drink (soft drink we presume) and religious pamphlet will be included in the admission pricthe project to break-even financially.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be just under 1m euros (£0.7m; US$1.2m) and was funded with bank loans.

Link

Santa outsourced again this year

(click on picture to enlarge)

Christmas card arrives 93 years late

Talk about slower than Christmas: a Christmas card sent from Alma, Nebraska in 1914 finally arrived in Oberlin, Kansas 93 years later.

It’s a mystery where it spent most of tha last century, Oberlin Postmaster Steve Schultz said. “It’s surprising that it never got thrown away. How someone found it, I don’t know.”

Link

Last minute decorating for Christmas

Kodak Instamatic 100 camera from 1963

Remember the Kodak Instamatic cameras that came out in the early 1960’s?

They were easy to use and probably introduced countless thousands of people to snapshot photography who otherwise may never have owned a camera.

The hallmark of this camera was its easy loading system. Film was incased in a cartridge that could be popped in and out of the camera without fear of exposing the film to light.

For indoor snapshots you placed a flashcube into the socket on top of the camera.

It had a fairly slow shutter speed so action shots were difficult at best.

Instead of a standard 50mm lens, the Instamatic had a wide angle 38mm lens, which helped to produce somewhat presentable pictures by pushing the subject back.

The camera was hugely popular in the 1960’s. It is estimated that millions of Instamatic-type cameras were made.

Based on the number of cameras sold, it is safe to say the 1960’s Instamatic camera took more mediocre pictures than any other camera in history.

I was well into 35mm cameras when the Kodak Instamatic was introduced. To me, the Instamatic was little more than a toy. My photography friends and I enjoyed referring to the tacky little Instamatic as the ‘Insta-ma-tac’ - with emphasis on the last syllable.

In my view, its only saving grace was that someone on a trip without a camera could go into most any store, plunk down fifteen bucks for a camera and a couple of film cartridges. My reasoning was that in a pinch, so-so pictures were better than no pictures at all.

New York City may ban horse drawn carriages

One New York City councilman plans to introduce a bill that will ban horse-drawn carriages in the city.

The horse-drawn carriages that clip clop around Central Park, like the one shown here, could be a thing of the past if animal activists have their way.

It’s a good thing New York City didn’t have those same activists before motor vehicles came into use.

Link

CompUSA stores to close after the holidays

CompUSA throws in the towel.

Computer retailer CompUSA plans to close all its stores after the holidays.

CompUSA, owned by the Mexican based firm Grupo Carso SA, has 103 stores in 68 markets.

In recent years, CompUSA has struggled against other big-box retailers such as Best Buy and Internet-based companies such as CDW.

CompUSA was founded in 1984 and rose to national prominence under the guidance of Nathan Morton.

As chairman and CEO, Morton led CompUSA from two stores and $60 million in sales as SoftWarehouse to its standing as a multibillion-dollar national retailer in less than five years.

Link

Electronic toilet paper dispenser

Wave your hand under this gadget and it will give you five sheets of toilet paper.

Kimberly-Clark is developing this oddity. They feel that most people will be satisfied with five sheets and use 20 percent less toilet paper.

I say: gimme a break!

The new product research team at Kimberly-Clark really do need to get out more!

Link

Police unmanned spy planes to fly over American cities?

Two police departments, the Miami-Dade police department and the Houston police department, were given permission by the FAA to experiment with the drones.

Houston has already begun testing. The photo shows a Houston Police Department drone flying over the city.

The Houston unmanned plane project was intended to be secret but KPRC Channel 2 took the photo shown here.

This may be a common sight in the sky over major U.S. cities in the future.

Link here and here.

Take a college course by cell phone in Japan

There is a mobile phone college class available in Japan.

Japanese already use cell phones to shop, read novels, exchange e-mail, search for restaurants and take video clips. Now, they can take a university course.

Cyber University, the nation's only university to offer all classes only on the Internet, began offering a class on mobile phones Wednesday on the mysteries of the pyramids.

Link