Sesame Street: Smell Like A Monster [VIDEO]

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Only Grover could possibly be more cool than Isaiah Mustafa (The Old Spice Man). Brace yourself…



Google is making their awesome 411 service walk the plank

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Google is making thousands of phones cry this week by announcing they’re going to cut off their free 1-800-GOOG-411 service on November 12th of this year.

I mentioned this awesome service back in September ’09, and I’ve used it pretty much daily. It has been a lifesaver on my trips through the Texas yonderosa, and has consistently been on my top 10 speed dial favorites for over two years.

Google seems to be keel-hauling all ships that aren’t flying under the “Android” flag with this move, pointing out that you can still use Voice Input and Voice Actions on Android phones, but all other phones can suck it. (Actually, that “suck it” part was my interpretation of their press release about the Voice Input and Actions bit.)

Google still says “you can send a text message with the name and location of the business to 466453 (“GOOGLE”) and we’ll text you the information”, so that’s still something awesomely free.

I’m writing gblog@google.com to shamelessly plead for mercy myself.

Here’s the official press release from Google.

Monday Morning Music : 10/11/10

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Every Monday I like to post some music to start the week off on the right foot.

This week… a suggested soundtrack for driving in deep south Texas.

ZZ Top – Gimme All Your Lovin’



AC/DC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap



George Thorogood – Bad to The Bone



Melissa Etheridge – Bring Me Some Water (Live at the Kodak Theatre)



and finally, for the aftermath of the big gunfight scene… Zamfir – The Lonely Shepherd (from the Kill Bill Soundtrack)



News stories the mainstream media missed : 10/09/10**

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Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.

* When police arrived at a man’s house to investigate a domestic violence call, the male suspect quickly covered himself in fresh paint thinking it would prevent the police officer’s tasers from affecting him! Captain Brilliant then decided since he was invulnerable, he would “scuffle with the police”. Needless to say, hijinks ensued. The final score : Police = 1 | Sherman Williams = 0 [MILITARY.COM]

* Hands only CPR is the way to save lives now? Apparently keeping blood going to the brain > breathing. Plus you actually don’t have to trade saliva with a bleedy-hurty stranger. [YAHOO]

* White noise helps “inattentive” children learn. You know what else helps? A coupla’ good SMACKS on the butt with a old splintery wood paddle from a principal who’s had a real bad day. That seems to make “inattentive” children behave better, too! [SCIENCE CODEX]

* Men apparently tend to “Check out” in stressful fight-about-to-start situations, while women tend to “Show Increased Brain Coordination.” In other words, Supergirl think real gooder, and HULK SMASH!!!! Right? I think that’s kinda’ what they meant. [SCIENCE DAILY]

* European scholars are doing their best Monty Python impersonation when it comes to the US economy… RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! [TELEGRAPH.CO.UK]

* And in related news, do you remember musical chairs as a kid? When the music stopped, all hell broke loose? Kinda the same thing is happening now that the economic stimulus is coming to a halt. Doo dee doo dee doo dee dee doo… [NY TIMES]

* The UN has decided to fly a big-ass freak flag last week by appointing a… “space ambassador to act as first contact for aliens visiting Earth”. OK, with all the disasters and crap going on in the world, the UN actually sets aside the time to announce they’re gonna’ have a space ambassador? Howzabout we take care of stuff here on Earth first before opening a modern day Casablanca for the local galaxy, yes? [TIME.COM]

* And finally, isn’t one of the prophesies of the “end times” that “ye shall see crap movies, and the tech in them shalt be made real!” I think it goes something like that. Anyhow, the GI Joe “accelerator” suit from the same lame-ass GI Joe movie from last year is apparently getting close to being field-use ready. In other movie terms, we’re about to have a army of Iron Men, Mark I series. This is alllll sorts of awesome and alllll sorts of “oh hell no” kinds of bad at the same time. [AOL.COM]

** Actually upped on 10/10/10 for evil reasons all my own! Mu ha ha ha ha!!!!

If you haven’t seen the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson yet… [VIDEO]

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…check this video out.

Oh, and at around :56, the mythbusters show up.



Brilliant.

Check out his show’s website here.

Squirrely Squirrel you say?

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On the same day I saw Mr Sir-Loin, I also ran across Squirrely Squirrel.

Squirrely Squirrel


Either Squirrely Squirrel has a gun in his paw, or he’s about to whip out some serious nut-fu. And is it me, or is he also wearing a mask?

Squirrely Squirrel Close up


Obviously it’s the beer and wine at work.

Stopthisbill and stopthatbill .org .net and .com are now retired

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Waaaaaay back in January, I set up a website called stopthisbill.org (along with stopthisbill.net, stopthisbill.com, stopthatbill.org, stopthatbill.net and stopthatbill.com)

The whole point of that website was that I didn’t agree with the healthcare bill as it was written. I preferred a well thought out healthcare bill that was more aligned with the president’s campaign promises, and took its’ time to come to fruition after a great deal of intellectual analysis and careful, reasoned debate by congress and the input of hundreds of existing health-based agencies in the national and state government.

I did not like the piecemeal train wreck that was rushed through congress, and I definitely don’t like the slapdash version that passed into law.

The stopthisbill/stopthatbill site gathered a few signatures on the online petition and it also generated some interesting debate. I really do appreciate everyone who took the time to visit the site and those who emailed me to offer their opinions (one way or the other!).

But today, I decided it was time to pull the site down and move on to other projects. I am keeping the domain names, though. Just in case something comes up later.

Sir-Loin you say?

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I haven’t posted for awhile because I’ve been traveling all over Texas. Plus I’ve got major projects piling up that I’ve gotta’ blitz through as fast as I can, so my free time is actually somewhat less than zero right now.

Anyhow, on one of my recent travels through south Texas, I found the elusive Mr. Loin.

Mr. Sir-Loin.

Sir Loin


You know, with the stones to have a tag like “Howdy My name is Sir-Loin”, I kinda’ wanted to give them a try. But I didn’t have time for a sit-down lunch and wound up drivin’ through a local Whataburger instead. Maybe next time.

FTC says POM juice and supplements really don’t do much for you – files administrative complaint

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The FTC just dropped a bomb on POM products, saying their products really don’t do anything special.

The FTC’s administrative complaint says POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and assorted POMx supplements have a buncha’ “false and unsubstantiated claims. Specifically, the F.T.C. disagrees with claims the products will prevent or treat heart disease, prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction.”

It’s always the “erectile dysfunction” part, isn’t it? Don’t these companies know by now that putting an “erectile dysfunction” claim on a product is a big honkin’ 24-karat-gold invitation for the feds to come knocking?

Actually, that’s fairly disturbing on many levels.

Anyhow, the ugly comes with this next part… the FTC says POM “violated federal law by making deceptive disease prevention and treatment claims” and because the studies POM used “did not show heart disease benefit from use of its products” and “additional studies testing other touted benefits were allegedly not “blinded” or controlled or show POM Juice is more effective than a placebo”, the feds can now clobber POM on a as-needed-basis now.

By filing this complaint, the FTC has also summoned the FDA kraken, specifically by establishing “a proposed order that would prevent future law violations by requiring future claims to not be misleading and comply with Food and Drug Administration regulations for the claim.”

So here’s POM’s options… re-label all of their products, or kiss their flagships buh-bye.

My money is on the former.

Here’s the link to the article on Food Business News.

Monday Morning Music : 09/27/10

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Every Monday I like to post some music to start the week off on the right foot.

This week…

Papa Roach – Lifeline



Ozzy Osbourne – Shot In The Dark



Aerosmith – The Other Side



…and finally, Metallica – Fuel