[QUOTE=Dubslow;385740]The average temperature of deep space is 450 times greater than the reported temperature.[/QUOTE]True. But unrelated to my comment.

[size=1][color=grey]Hint: Look at my second smiley.[/color][/size]

Outdated but still....

[QUOTE]"Wind is God's way of balancing heat. Wind is the way you shift heat from areas where it's hotter to areas where it's cooler. That's what wind is. Wouldn't it be ironic if in the interest of global warming we mandated massive switches to energy, which is a finite resource, which slows the winds down, which causes the temperature to go up? Now, I'm not saying that's going to happen, Mr. Chairman, but that is definitely something on the massive scale. I mean, it does make some sense. You stop something, you can't transfer that heat, and the heat goes up. It's just something to think about." [/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_09/020014.php[/url]

Sadly, he has only moved up in the world of politics and is now a Congressman. At least I'm not from Texas though I'm not sure Kansas is even a fraction of a step better with the esteemed brain dead chimpanzee we have in the governor's chair.

May God/Allah/The Flying Spaghetti Monster/Curtis Cooper save us all.

[url]http://imgur.com/gallery/F7KgH[/url]

:tu:[QUOTE=Xyzzy;385782][URL]http://imgur.com/gallery/F7KgH[/URL][/QUOTE]

[B][SIZE=4]New Texas Law Would Require Candidates for Governor to Show Proof of IQ :cmd:
[/SIZE][/B]



[url]http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/26549-new-texas-law-would-require-candidates-for-governor-to-show-proof-of-iq[/url]

[QUOTE=kladner;385849][B][SIZE=4]New Texas Law Would Require Candidates for Governor to Show Proof of IQ :cmd:
[/SIZE][/B]



[url]http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/26549-new-texas-law-would-require-candidates-for-governor-to-show-proof-of-iq[/url][/QUOTE]

This is a good idea, but needs extending to cover all representatives in all forms of government worldwide.

[url]http://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Food-Sharing2014.pdf[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;386000][url]http://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Food-Sharing2014.pdf[/url][/QUOTE]

I don't even know what to say to this. I can only be glad my state has not participated in restriction programs (yet).

there is two version
[youtube]cBlRbrB_Gnc[/youtube]
[youtube]qOw44VFNk8Y[/youtube]

[URL]http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2014/10/dear_prudence_on_halloween_poor_kids_come_to_trick_or_treat_in_my_neighborhood.html[/URL]

[QUOTE]I have noticed that on Halloween, what seems like 75 percent of the trick-or-treaters are clearly not from this neighborhood. Kids arrive in overflowing cars from less fortunate areas. I feel this is inappropriate. Halloween isn’t a social service or a charity in which I have to buy candy for less fortunate children.[/QUOTE]

Oops

[url]http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/motoring/motoringnews/rare-ferrari-hits-lamppost-in-one-of-the-uks-most-expensive-singlecar-crashes-11363938862274#[/url]

[YOUTUBE]cILZ_cB3_so[/YOUTUBE]

[url]http://world.casio.com/corporate/principle/code/[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;386116][url]http://world.casio.com/corporate/principle/code/[/url][/QUOTE]

....

:huh::huh:

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;386116][URL]http://world.casio.com/corporate/principle/code/[/URL][/QUOTE]
c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-casio. 'k' sound alliteration out the ying yang

The couldn't keep up filling the whole CoC with words starting with C, but at least they did in the "Purpose Pyramid".

Otherwise looks like any standard CoC.

As legendary circus impresario P.T. Barnum might have said, "there's a CoC sucker born every minute."

Here is the short flashcard version -- this applies to most big corporations, and more or less all multinationals:

[b]1.Enabling Value Creation[/b]

[b]All the others, insofar as they do not interfere with #1.[/b]

[QUOTE=ewmayer;386177][b]1.Enabling Value Creation[/b]

[b]All the others, insofar as they do not interfere with #1.[/b][/QUOTE]

[URL="http://phrasegenerator.com/corporate"]We will steadfastly and unceasingly implement integrated workflow enhancements for today's market-focused eBusinesses.[/URL]

[QUOTE=Uncwilly;386185][URL="http://phrasegenerator.com/corporate"]We will steadfastly and unceasingly implement integrated workflow enhancements for today's market-focused eBusinesses.[/URL][/QUOTE]

Nice, but will you be "disruptively agile in your growth strategy"?

[url]http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm277152.htm[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;386311][url]http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm277152.htm[/url][/QUOTE]
I can say that I have never been, nor ever will be, in danger of that. It is all sorts of evil.

[url]http://plus.maths.org/content/build-mega-menger[/url]

For all the USA folks, get your $15 here ...
 

[url]https://www.intelpentium4litigation.com/[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;386311][url]http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm277152.htm[/url][/QUOTE]

Black liquorice is very nice once in a while, but I don't eat 50 grams a month, let alone 50 grams a day.

I never played it but it is still an interesting read
 

[url]http://www.polygon.com/a/street-fighter-2-oral-history[/url]

Re-confirmed! Magic mushrooms make life better. Want some?
 

[URL="http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/11/03/magic-mushrooms-transform-your-brain/"]Mark Morford, Notes & Errata[/URL]

[QUOTE]Lots of weird, wonderful stories about the transformative powers of hallucinogens and psychotropic drugs pass through my Prismatic feed every week, most coming from oddball [URL="http://collectivelyconscious.net"]quirkblogs[/URL] I’ve never heard of, referencing cool but suspicious-sounding studies that might or might not be the slightest bit legit and written in a style that you might call “excited New Age hippie,” and therefore, despite my own admiration for all things altered consciousness, not all that useful for tossing into the columnal mix.[/QUOTE][QUOTE]Could psilocybin become a wonder drug of the near future? Who knows. But one thing seems certain: There’s simply zero chance of these compounds being made in any way legal for the masses. Governments are just too terrified. What’s more, Big Pharma can’t trademark MDMA, or psilocybin, or DMT, or LSD, so of course it’s in their best interest to ensure they remain illegal, and keep you unduly scared of them. Can you imagine if some miraculous, easily available natural compound could eliminate the need for all those toxic, expensive medications, rehab clinics, self-help books and costly psychotherapists? Capitalism shudders.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=kladner;386944][URL="http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/11/03/magic-mushrooms-transform-your-brain/"]Mark Morford, Notes & Errata[/URL][/QUOTE]
Very pretty. (The picture.):smile:

Here's the other side of the coin, since the author of that link makes no reference to the dangers of consumption of magic mushrooms in uncontrolled circumstances:
[URL]http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/13/drugsandalcohol.uk[/URL]
[QUOTE]Calls for a re-evaluation [of the legal status of magic mushrooms in The Netherlands] arose after Gaelle Caroff, 17, from France, was killed by jumping from a building after eating psychedelic mushrooms while on a school visit to Amsterdam in March [2007]. Her parents blamed her death on hallucinations brought on by the mushrooms, though she had had psychiatric problems.
Since Ms Caroff's death other cases have been reported in the Dutch press. A British tourist, 22, ran amok in a hotel, breaking a window and slicing his hand badly; an Icelandic tourist, 19, thought he was being chased and jumped from a balcony, breaking both legs; and a Danish tourist, 29, drove his car wildly through a campsite, narrowly missing people sleeping in tents. Most mushrooms sold in Amsterdam are sold to tourists.
[/QUOTE]

I encountered this bit of Pro Wrasslin lingo in a political context today - which makes perfect sense since modern politics and its faux-partisan feuds to distract from the common underlying "best government money can buy" truth - increasingly resembles Pro Wrasslin, a.k.a. The One ad Only Original American Contribution to Theater:

[url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe[/url]

[Disclosure: during my wrasslin'-watching heyday in the mid-to-late-80s, my favorite heels were Brutus 'the barber' Beefcake and that paragon of wrasslin-Elvis-impersonation The Honky-Tonk Man, one of whose taglines was "Ah wuz boahhn awn a poohl taybul in Maym-phis Tay-nuh-see...". Good times.]

[QUOTE=Brian-E;386947]Very pretty. (The picture.):smile:

Here's the other side of the coin, since the author of that link makes no reference to the dangers of consumption of magic mushrooms in uncontrolled circumstances:
[URL]http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/13/drugsandalcohol.uk[/URL][/QUOTE]

Beyond doubt, some form of guidance should be present for the inexperienced. There are certainly some people for whom psychoactive substances are not a good idea. Still, while the cases described are sad and dramatic, I suspect that alcohol plays a much more detrimental role for for a much larger group.

[YOUTUBE]lwaJwaTyOB4[/YOUTUBE]

[url]http://i.imgur.com/oQBFaF1.gif?1[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;387334][url]http://i.imgur.com/oQBFaF1.gif?1[/url][/QUOTE]

My cat hated me when I did that.

[url]http://i.imgur.com/4kVh2C1.gif[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;387360][url]http://i.imgur.com/4kVh2C1.gif[/url][/QUOTE]

I watched that for entirely too many loops.

[url]http://www.smh.com.au/world/ten-dead-after-indian-surgeon-used-infected-instruments-to-sterilise-89-women-20141111-11kpa9.html[/url]

[QUOTE]India's National Family Health Survey in 2005-2006 showed that about 37 per cent of married women have been sterilised while only 1 per cent of men have had a vasectomy.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1274748[/url]

Not so much a hmmm... but a that-was-clever.

[url]http://japaneseemoticons.net/all-japanese-emoticons[/url]

haha, noob question: are the two guys pooping or are they getting something into their asses?

[SIZE=5](ಥ⌣ಥ)[/SIZE]

Bah, that's the Peka-face

I was just copy/pasting one emoticon from Danny's link, I could not stop it. For me it looks more like kermit in love, especially due to the heart shaped eyes. Without parenthesis it looks like Paul (:paul:) the black line being the mustache..

I think I will adopt it as my signature... hehe. Double BO.

[SIZE=5]ಥ⌣ಥ[/SIZE]

P.S. I always wondered why Dubslow's avatar looks like the [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_Orifice"]BO logo[/URL] too, but didn't dare to ask... :razz:

[url]http://i.imgur.com/HkKP9hw.gif[/url]

[QUOTE=LaurV;387689]haha, noob question: are the two guys pooping or are they getting something into their asses?[/QUOTE]

Why must it be both in or both out? (I thought it was the Feynman diagram for a fecal transplant operation, you know, similar to the way they used to do blood tranfusions, directly from donor to recipient.)

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;387733][url]http://i.imgur.com/HkKP9hw.gif[/url][/QUOTE]

Can't make out from the small image (even after full-screening it) what exactly is happening there.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;387733][URL]http://i.imgur.com/HkKP9hw.gif[/URL][/QUOTE]

WTF is going on? Hockey stick super-glued to helmet? :huh:

[QUOTE=kladner;387761]WTF is going on? Hockey stick super-glued to helmet? :huh:[/QUOTE]

The stick is pinched behind his face shield.

[QUOTE=Mark Rose;387764]The stick is pinched behind his face shield.[/QUOTE]
Neat trick that!

If you can't say anything nice ...
 

... [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30100973"]don't say anything at all[/URL].

[QUOTE=xilman;388042][[B]If you can't say anything nice ...[/B]]... [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30100973"]don't say anything at all[/URL].[/QUOTE]
Hmmmm indeed.

While the hotel's policy of fining people for writing bad reviews is draconian, probably illegal, and in my opinion downright unreasonable, I must still confess a little sympathy for the hotel management here. Speaking generally (and this may well be inapplicable to couple in the article angry about their fine), some people seem to think it's normal when staying in a hotel to look around for anything that isn't perfectly to their taste (they'll inevitably find [I]something[/I], however good it all is) and then, instead of either shrugging their shoulders and concentrating on the many good things or otherwise asking the staff for it to be put right then and there, to write negatively about it on a review site. They may do that without a second thought and then quickly forget about it and get on with their own lives, but the review stays there, gets read by thousands of potential hotel customers, and has a severe effect on the hotel's business.

Good News!
 

[QUOTE=xilman;388042]... [URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30100973"]don't say anything at all[/URL].[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-2840553/Hotel-fines-guests-bad-review.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490"]Hotel to refund[/URL], and scrap policy.
[QUOTE]Simon Calder, travel editor at The Independent, told BBC Breakfast the incident was "completely out of order" but added: "I must say, of course, there is an element of you get what you pay for."
The hotel could not be reached for comment. Its website appeared to be down.
[/QUOTE]I am afraid that I cannot sympathize with the hotel, at least on the information I've seen. The idea that it thinks it can charge almost triple the room rate for a negative opinion is repulsive. I [U]would[/U] like to know just what the complaint involved.

EDIT: [URL="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/couple-fined-100-hotel-bad-review-094919601.html#RKQKMoM"]Details of the couple's complaints.[/URL]
[QUOTE] Mr and Mrs Jenkinson, from Whitehaven, Cumbria, had written that the hot tap and kettle in their room did not work, the drawer fronts fell off and there was no phone.


They said they were told by hotel staff that the room was wired incorrectly but the hotel could not afford to put it right.


They added: "The wallpaper was peeling off the walls, the carpet was thin, dirty and stained.


"The bed was something else, it must have come out of the ark, the base was all scuffed and dirty and the springs in the mattress attacked you in the night.


"The curtains were tattered and filthy, there were polystyrene tiles on the ceiling which are a fire hazard."


At the end of the review, they advised others to stay away, adding: "This place should be shut down, I don't know if they are ever inspected, but if so, I don't know how this place has passed! "If you are offered this place to stay for a fortnight for 10p, you are being robbed!!"


[B]The Wilkinsons were not the only ones to find the Broadway Hotel falling well short of par, with it being rated 858 out of 894 hotels in Blackpool on TripAdvisor, and more than half of reviews rating it as "terrible".[/B]


One review, posted by Jeanette M in November, said staff were "drinking cans of strongbow while serving breakfast", while Jessica of Sheffield described mouse dropping-stained carpet and a net curtain "brown in muck" and concluded that "prison would be better".


When Sky News contacted the hotel, [B]nobody was answering phone calls.[/B]
[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE] the springs in the mattress attacked you in the night.[/QUOTE]This is priceless! I have to remember it, haha..
Thanks for sharing.

P.S. And no, I don't sympathize with [STRIKE]that hotel[/STRIKE] those robbers. The place should be shut down!

We stayed in a place once which had the angle-cut, very sharp ends of springs coming out of the mattress. When we complained in the morning, they hauled the mattress to another cabin and brought us the mattress from there. We have not been back.

Was it at a yoga retreat? ^_^

[QUOTE=kladner;388100]We stayed in a place once which had the angle-cut, very sharp ends of springs coming out of the mattress. When we complained in the morning, they hauled the mattress to another cabin and brought us the mattress from there. We have not been back.[/QUOTE]

I once stayed at this address in New York [SPOILER]342 west 71st street new york ny[/SPOILER]. Google it, then check out the 1 and 2 star reviews on yelp or trip advisor (look at the pictures there). The room was tiny, ~2.25m x 3.25m. The common bathroom had chicken bones in the trash. The hall ways are best describe as a warren and fire trap. The main steps inside were so worn that they pitch dangerously forward. I have attached some files to show 1) that I was there and 2) just how small the room was.
:yucky:

I think that most prison cells are bigger.

[QUOTE=Batalov;388102]Was it at a yoga retreat? ^_^[/QUOTE]

Nothing so elevating, I'm afraid.

Well, there, you know, a bed of nails would have made sense... :rolleyes:

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;388137][URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel[/URL][/QUOTE]

Such accommodations have figured in futurist (sci-fi) novels, by William Gibson, I believe.

I've seen these in [URL="http://aeroexpress.ru/en/press_releases/news20091125.html"]Sheremetyevo[/URL]. Evil tongues say that one of them is where Snowden spent those 39 days.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;388137][url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel[/url][/QUOTE]

That would be nice in airports if one is stuck overnight or just want a couple of hours of near silence while waiting for a connecting flight.

[QUOTE=kladner;388056][URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-2840553/Hotel-fines-guests-bad-review.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490"]Hotel to refund[/URL], and scrap policy.
I am afraid that I cannot sympathize with the hotel, at least on the information I've seen. The idea that it thinks it can charge almost triple the room rate for a negative opinion is repulsive. I [U]would[/U] like to know just what the complaint involved.

EDIT: [URL="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/couple-fined-100-hotel-bad-review-094919601.html#RKQKMoM"]Details of the couple's complaints.[/URL][/QUOTE]
Mildly amusing review of the same hotel:
[B]Please don’t fine me, I’m a journalist[/B]
[URL]http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/nov/21/night-blackpool-broadway-hotel-tripadvisor[/URL]

In a similar vein:
[QUOTE]Venice city authorities plan to introduce new restrictions on the use of wheeled luggage in a bid to reduce noise pollution in the lagoon city, local media reported Thursday. Under the plans, from May 2015 tourists will be allowed to use only trolley bags sporting pneumatic casters, while the more common and noisier plastic or solid rubber wheels will be banned. Infringement fines will range from 100 to 500 euros[/QUOTE]Article: [URL]http://www.gazzettadelsud.it/news/english/117314/Venice-to-ban-trolley-bags-with-noisy-wheels.html[/URL]

Longest roller coaster?
 

[YOUTUBE]qhIF-7UPDCw[/YOUTUBE]

[QUOTE]A group of 5 people travel at speed down an abandoned railway line from Cisneros to Anolaima in Colombia. Transportation is just a platform with wheels and a brake - no engine, just gravity. A drop of over 2500 feet in 14 miles through a tunnel.[/QUOTE]

A bit inconscient and/or irresponsible. They should at least wear helmets. A small stone or unseen obstacle on the tracks (with all that vegetation) and they should all lay on their bellies on the traverses... :smile:
Saying "Hauch!"...

OTOH, they are lucky, if that should be in Romania, all the iron an wood should be long time gone, made into pots and buckets by the local gipsies... :wink:

[URL="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/11/25/misspelled-710-freeway-sign-taken-down/"]Misspelled 710 Freeway Sign Taken Down[/URL] CBS Los Angeles
[QUOTE]Olimpic Blvd[/QUOTE]

When I was working for the US Government in the 1980s as a Computer Systems Programmer, next door to our building was DODCI, the Department of Defense Computer Institute. They had placed an order for a large number of binders (three-ring notebooks) for their students. Emblazoned on the front of the binders was
[SIZE=7]D[/SIZE][SIZE=5]epartment[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]O[/SIZE][SIZE=5]f[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]D[/SIZE][SIZE=5]efense[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]C[/SIZE][SIZE=5]ompter[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]I[/SIZE][SIZE=5]nstitute[/SIZE]

We found them in the dumpster with the front covers cut off the binders, probably in hopes that no one would notice the misspelling of computer.

Huh? It hurts my eyes long before reading your post! Maybe because I am not a native speaker, and I am still inputting the words into the central processing diode, letter by letter, haha... But I swear I wanted to post to tell you about spelling mistake before reading your "fine pitch" (by comparison) line that concludes the message. :wink:

This page:
[url]http://www.nasa.gov/content/new-display-counts-down-for-new-generation/index.html[/url]
refers to the old familiar countdown clock at Kennedy as "analog" twice.
In [URL="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/STS-121_Launch.jpg"]this view[/URL] of the old one it is clearly a digital clock.

[URL="http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/12/02/fbi-seizes-documents-in-la-school-district-ipad-scandal"]FBI Seizes Documents in L.A. School District iPad Scandal[/URL]
[QUOTE]The FBI seized "20 boxes" of documents from the L.A. Unified School District in an apparent investigation of the system's procurement of iPads that was part of a $1 billion program to get every kid connected to the internet in class and on-the-go, district Superintendent Ramon Cortines said this afternoon.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=only_human;389100][URL="http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/12/02/fbi-seizes-documents-in-la-school-district-ipad-scandal"]FBI Seizes Documents in L.A. School District iPad Scandal[/URL][/QUOTE]
From one of the related articles (emphasis mine):
[QUOTE]His initiative to spend a billion dollars in [U]school construction bond[/U] money on iPads for every student and teacher [/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=only_human;388448][URL="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/11/25/misspelled-710-freeway-sign-taken-down/"]Misspelled 710 Freeway Sign Taken Down[/URL] CBS Los Angeles[/QUOTE]

As a [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadgeek]roadgeek[/URL] aware of the many questionable practices behind Caltrans signage (not the least of which being their curmudgeonly attitude toward mile markers and exit numbers (which appear in each of the other 49 states)), I am quite frankly surprised that they simply didn't take a sticky letter "Y" and place it over the offending letter "I".

[QUOTE]The FBI seized "20 boxes" of documents from the L.A. Unified School District in an apparent investigation of the system's procurement of iPads that was part of a $1 billion program to get every kid connected to the internet in class [B]and on-the-go[/B], district Superintendent Ramon Cortines said this afternoon.
[/QUOTE]

The bolded part is always what bothers me with these programs. If the school system is paying the full cost of the iPad, it should remain property of the school system and on school grounds. If they want to *subsidize* the purchase of an iPad for the percentage of time that it would be used for educational purposes, then fine. But to grant free-of-charge these delicate, expensive devices to students (I assume all the way down to elementary level) where they can be lost, broken, stolen, (God forbid) sold for drugs, or be used (in poorer families) by the parents more than the students, is IMHO an inappropriate use of funds, never mind any misappropriation of the funds in question. Ever see the condition of textbooks at the end of the year? Imagine how an iPad might look at the end of the year! Who picks up the repair/refurbishment/replacement bill?

[QUOTE=Chuck;388484]When I was working for the US Government in the 1980s as a Computer Systems Programmer, next door to our building was DODCI, the Department of Defense Computer Institute. They had placed an order for a large number of binders (three-ring notebooks) for their students. Emblazoned on the front of the binders was
[SIZE=7]D[/SIZE][SIZE=5]epartment[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]O[/SIZE][SIZE=5]f[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]D[/SIZE][SIZE=5]efense[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]C[/SIZE][SIZE=5]ompter[/SIZE]
[SIZE=7]I[/SIZE][SIZE=5]nstitute[/SIZE]

We found them in the dumpster with the front covers cut off the binders, probably in hopes that no one would notice the misspelling of computer.[/QUOTE]

Nowadays, they'd use them anyway. I often point out glaring misspellings to businesses and organizations (e.g. a huge sign for "billards", a Midas offering "alingments", and a board at a community clinic declaring that "the docter is in!"). In recent years, the answer I have gotten is that everyone is so busy/moving so fast/etc. that these kinds of errors simply don't get noticed. I'm sorry, but if you have a huge 50+ square foot sign printed in two-foot-tall lettering, "those kinds of errors" stick out like a pimple on prom night. One excuse I have heard, incredibly, is that some of these misspellings are "on purpose" to attract the public's attention. Advertising through patent ignorance and stupidity, in other words.

The craziest (and sadly, multi-thousand-dollar) error that I have ever come across was at a stone engraver's shop in Maine. He had engraved a beautiful imported marble bench for a family and it was all ready to be installed at the cemetery. The engraver was proud as punch. Until I informed him that Ruth probably didn't go by "RTUH" very often, nor is the fall season known as "AUTUMA". Once you've chiseled your mistakes into stone, there's no going back. He was thankful I pointed it out to him, but not so happy about having to procure another 5-ton block of marble from Italy.

One thing I don't understand about the binders - another example of government waste (another story for another time) - is why they didn't simply remove and replace the misspelled cover pages from the plastic sheaths on the fronts of the binders. I have many three-ringed binders that I have repurposed over the years by doing just that. No need to cut the whole cover off and throw them away.

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;389161]... One excuse I have heard, incredibly, is that some of these misspellings are "on purpose" to attract the public's attention. [/QUOTE]
That and sex will get public's attention for sure.

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;389155]As a [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadgeek]roadgeek[/URL] aware of the many questionable practices behind Caltrans signage (not the least of which being their curmudgeonly attitude toward mile markers and exit numbers (which appear in each of the other 49 states)), [/QUOTE]
A real roadgeek would know that California was exempted from the federal law that required numbered exits.
[url]http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jan/16/local/me-22909[/url]
[QUOTE]The Federal Highway Administration has required such a numbering system for all states since the late 1950s. But at that time, California had already built an extensive freeway system and thus was exempt from the federal guidelines.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;389161]One thing I don't understand about the binders - another example of government waste (another story for another time) - is why they didn't simply remove and replace the misspelled cover pages from the plastic sheaths on the fronts of the binders. I have many three-ringed binders that I have repurposed over the years by doing just that. No need to cut the whole cover off and throw them away.[/QUOTE]

The lettering was printed directly on the plastic front covers.

Some of us enterprising young federal employees climbed in the dumpster in the alley and took out some binders as souvenirs. That afternoon a directive came out from the front office that no one was to take anything out of the dumpster.

[url]http://buffalobillgates.tumblr.com/[/url]

[url]http://i.imgur.com/Dn4YNJ1.gif[/url]

@Xyzzy: [SIZE=5][B][COLOR=Red]Wow[/COLOR][/B] and [B][COLOR=Magenta]Wow[COLOR=Red]!

[/COLOR][/COLOR][/B][COLOR=Magenta][COLOR=Red][COLOR=Black][SIZE=2]The kitty is just too precious!

Mickey Maozedon echoes a Kliban Cat comic. I tried to track it down, but didn't find it. In it, there are two cats in Red Army jackets. One says, "Mao", while the other looks at a hole in the wall with little black things scattered around, and says "Mousy Dung." :smile:
[/SIZE][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][B][COLOR=Magenta][COLOR=Red][/COLOR][/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]

[URL="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-30490396"]Brazil Olympics: Super-bacteria found in Rio sea waters[/URL]
[quote]Lots of things there that you can drink,
But stay away from the kitchen sink.
The breakfast garbage that you throw in to the Bay,
They drink at lunch in San Jose.

So go to the city, see the crazy people there.
Like lambs to the slaughter,
They're drinking the water
And breathing the air.[/quote]

I lived for one year in Rio de Janeiro near Guanabara Bay (100 m), I can assure it is a lot polluted, the water is green. If you preserve your health and safety don't go to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics. Or you gonna be ill or mugged or murdered. Please do not go there.

[url]http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/327080/couple-close-death-after-night-stuck-keyless-car[/url]

[QUOTE=NBtarheel_33;389161] I often point out glaring misspellings to businesses and organizations [/QUOTE]

Some years back our local lumber store had the sign "Renovations in progress. Please [B]bare[/B] with us"

[url]https://imgur.com/gallery/88sxbVr[/url]

[URL]http://www.kait8.com/story/27676543/christmas-1914-the-day-even-wwi-showed-humanity[/URL]

[QUOTE]Once British Gen. Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien had heard of it on Dec. 27, 1914, he wrote in a confidential memorandum that "this is only illustrative of the apathetic state we are gradually sinking into." He threatened disciplinary action to avoid a repeat.[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/23/ohio-homeowner-told-to-take-down-his-zombie-nativity-scene/[/url]

[YOUTUBE]oF0pMILT7_Y[/YOUTUBE]

[url]http://i.imgur.com/LJF6ofQ.gif[/url]

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;391028][URL]http://i.imgur.com/LJF6ofQ.gif[/URL][/QUOTE]

Great double take material, Mike!

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;370504]We are nowhere near George with this wretched game, but we hit 2048, so at least we can quit with (some) dignity.

:razz:[/QUOTE]The Warden hit 4096 a few days ago. She is not very interested in games involving numbers but she seems to like this one.

[QUOTE=Xyzzy;391192]The Warden hit 4096 a few days ago. She is not very interested in games involving numbers but she seems to like this one.[/QUOTE]Best I've done so far is 8192 (best score of 103272) which I've mamaged precisely twice.

Still nowhere near as good as George:

[i]I thought I was
the sliding block king.
But I ust handed my
2048 crown to him.

Even on my favorite platform
He can beat my best.
His disciples lead him in
And he just does the rest.
He's got crazy flipping fingers
Never seen him fall.[/i]

[url]http://nypost.com/2014/12/30/united-airlines-suing-22-year-old-computer-whiz/[/url]

Aw crap, the kid re-discovered the trick that I've been occasionally using for years... :rolleyes:

Note: obviously you can never use the reverse trick - if you don't show up for the first (or any) leg of travel, you are done; the trip is cancelled.

The article wasn't very clear about what the trick is. Will you explain on how it works?

You buy a two-leg flight (especially with a layover, and maybe a horrible red-eye for the 2nd leg -- the airline sells the two leg trip cheaper than the straight simple flight) but you only want to use the first leg.

A decade ago, when one-way trips were frequently more expensive (airlines had done that to themselves! it was a policy!) than the round-trip, the simplest version of this trick was to buy r/t and toss the return ticket.

I've no sympathy for United at all. As is well known, United break guitars.

[url]http://deep-dark-fears.tumblr.com/[/url]

[QUOTE=Batalov;391259]You buy a two-leg flight (especially with a layover, and maybe a horrible red-eye for the 2nd leg -- the airline sells the two leg trip cheaper than the straight simple flight) but you only want to use the first leg.[/QUOTE]We haven't flown since 1995 and that wasn't even on an airline. In fact, we have never even purchased a ticket. (Uncle Sam always footed the bill.)

Now that we really think about it, we have jumped out of more aircraft than we have landed in!

Anyways, thanks for the explanation. The Warden flies a lot so we will pass the tip to her.

[QUOTE=Batalov;391252]Aw crap, the kid re-discovered the trick that I've been occasionally using for years... :rolleyes:

Note: obviously you can never use the reverse trick - if you don't show up for the first (or any) leg of travel, you are done; the trip is cancelled.[/QUOTE]

Not sure if this loophole still exists but our company sometimes employs out of Province Contractors who worked 1 week on site / 1 week remote.

I recall in the 1990's flights with Saturday layovers were cheaper than without...thinking if you stayed a weekend you would spend money there and help the local economy.

So they would book overlapping round-trip tickets and split them for use, for example:
Book tickets as follows.
Depart Dec 1; Return Dec 12.
Depart Dec 8; Return Dec 19.
Depart Dec 15; Return Dec 26

And use them as follows without having to stay the weekend:
Depart Dec 8; Return Dec 12.
Depart Dec 15; Return Dec 19
etc.