Peeps in the Hood

There is a flock of Quaker parrots living in the Bronx. Several states ban ownership of Quakers because they tend to escape, flock together, and make life difficult for farmers.

A Shifty Way to Boost Your Memory

LiveScience reports on a study suggesting that moving your eyes back and forth improves memory. The theory is that this somehow causes the two brain hemispheres to interact.

Japanese Poodle Scam

Since sheep are rare in Japan, a company sold thousands of them to unwitting customers who thought they were getting poodles.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food. ... One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

Read the original article here.

The First Couple Gets Down

Here is a different camera angle: DancingBush.

Swept and Chase-d

I didn't have a chance to read the New York rags after the horrible pitching performance from the Yankees over the weekend. I wonder what rookie Chase Wright had to say about his inglorious achievement of surrendering back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns. Oi.

We'll see what happens in the rematch in the Bronx next weekend, but I have to imagine Boston fans are a tad concerned about the way the Yankees lit up Boston's starters. Sure, they outslugged the Yanks for three games, but the worst damage was off of a couple of rookies. Yanks built a lead in each game against the starters. Dice-K was just average and the Yanks seem to do okay against Beckett most of the time. On paper at least, the Yanks will get better arms once everyone is off the DL finally. And with Posada behind the plate calling the shots instead of the backup.

More on Google Bookmarks

I just noticed another feature of Google Bookmarks (see earlier post here): It just prevented me from creating a duplicate bookmark.

When you click on the special bookmarklet to save a webpage, Google remembers if you've already bookmarked it and also shows the labels or tags you've assigned to it. This is something that neither Backflip nor My Yahoo does currently.

A Web Site to Check Out

Someday when I have the time, I'll have to check out NetVibes. A serious-websurfer raves about it over at Slate.com as a way to cram lots of links and RSS feeds into a single, versatile, tabbed-page.

Why NBC Should Not Have Aired the Tapes

Just a week ago, NBC canned Don Imus because of three words he spoke. Such content was not appropriate. But the ravings a lunatic striving to make a name for himelf is deemed appropriate for the network.

I've been turning off the news whenever they start showing the pictures and video of the Virginia Tech sicko. NBC should have just described the "manifesto" to its viewers then turned it over to the FBI. There is nothing in there to help investigators and lots in there to insult the departed as well as their friends and families. I was surprised they aired this but shouldn't have been: few in the media have respect for others or shame for their own actions.

ABC News interviewed a psychiatrist who called the airings a "social catastrophe", and outlined several important reasons why NBC should not have broadcast that garbage.

If you really need a look into the mind of a disturbed individual, to understand where they are coming from, go and read Dostoevsky's Notes from the Underground and Crime and Punishment. Human nature hasn't changed over the past few centuries.

Google Bookmarks

In anticipation of losing the flexible functionality of bookmarks in the current MyYahoo page, I've been adding bookmarks to Google. This is a component of the Google Search History (beta) feature that I just rediscovered. Since I rely so heavily on my bookmarks in My Yahoo I ignored this until now. Since it looks like Yahoo will completely change the way My Yahoo users' bookmarks are organized, I thought I should look for another alternative and was reminded of Google's bookmarks in the Google Hacks book which described how easy it is to tag, sort, and search for your stored links. And it is.

I couldn't figure out a way to import bookmarks from another source so I've been adding some each day. The ones I set up in Yahoo are well organized in topical folders and subfolders so I've been trying to get through a folder a day.

Since I have to go through each one, it is at least a good opportunity to update some links that have been changed, delete others that I never use anymore, and rediscover some bookmarks I forgot about, like this Government Accountability Office report about the myriad insurance programs the federal government operates.

Google has a bookmarklet that you can drag up to your Bookmarks Toolbar, so that all you have to do is click on it to create a Google Bookmark for whatever page is in your browser. Each bookmark can be given various tags or labels that you create, and Google remembers which labels you've already created and provides for autcompletion to speed things along.

Added Some Links

Added a link to the JihadWatch blog, which keeps an eye on what the radical Muslims are up to around the globe, and its companion site, DhimmiWatch, which tracks the West response (which all to often capitulatory) to Islamic extremism.

Fred Fever!

The more Giuliani talks, the less-suited he becomes to head the Republican Party and the nation. In light of the conservatism of primary voters, it was certainly bold of him to proclaim support for public funding of abortions. But then to tell the conservatives that they need to get over their conservatism isn't effective leadership. I doubt that primary voters will bury their key values to support a candidate who vows to fight terrorism. The ongoing cultural war is just as important.

Bring on Fred Thompson!

Gmail Tip

I've been reading Google Hacks 3rd Edition (by Rael Dornfest, Paul Bausch, and Tara Calishain) and learned this handy tip for Gmail.

If you are trying to enter site where you have to register your email but don't want to be deluged with emails and newsletters, simply use your gmail account and append a special prefix ending in a plus sign in front. For example, to register for the Washington Post, enter washpo+youremail@gmail.com. The email address will work as normal, but then you could set up a filter to either delete or track any email that you get from the Washington Post.

You could also use this feature to see who is trading or selling your email address to others.

Regarding Imus

I have always disliked Imus personally, but would tune in to the show on occasion. Regarding his current crisis, Patrick Buchanan has crystallized my thoughts most eloquently.

Except to add, who the hell made Sharpton and Jackson Reverends anyway? What kind of church would bestow the honorary title of Reverend upon someone such as Sharpton who is so forthrightly unapologetic about the harm he has inflicted directly and indirectly to others? Or, upon Jackson with his bastard "love child" and shakedowns?

You've Got to Be Kidding Me

A hospital in the once great Britain banned staffers from distributing hot cross buns on Easter for fear of offending non-Christians.

Idol Rant

I'm starting to get sick of nearly all the contestants at this point in the show.

Melinda and Blake are the only two whose singing I can tolerate. Melinda is a fantastic singer but her whole "you *really* like little ol' me?!" routine is grating and strikes me as insincere. Blake does a good job of mixing it up and not sounding the same each week.

Lakisha seems genuinely sweet but I think she over-sings every song, except for last night's which she uncharacteristically under-sang. She didn't quite fill it out. Maybe the band was just too loud.

Jordin seems to be the front-runner right now, which I don't quite get. She misses as many notes as she hits. And she absolutely must stop saying "I love you!" to the camera and making those goofy faces whenever she is on stage in the background.

Nosferatu, Nasal Boy, and the Bada Bing Girl were all forgettable.

The judges were disappointing last night, too. They go in with such low expectations for that weird little Indian girl that they don't trash her like they should.

These Guys Are Good

Two voice actors from the Simspons were on with their old buddy Conan O'brien performing some samples of their work. It is fascinating to see them switching from voice to voice.

Sopranos Reading Assignment

The Smithsonian Magazine conducts an interview with the chief of the FBI's organized crime unit about the history of the mafia. Apparently, he doesn't watch The Sopranos. With his background, he doesn't need to.

Hats Off to the Mathematicians

From LiveScience:

The New York Yankees will win a whopping 110 games this season, more than any other major league team, according to a mathematician who applies math to real-life situations.

Using his computer model, he also discovered that in order to maximize runs, pitchers should bat eighth in the order, rather than ninth.

Improbable Commercials

Interesting commercials from Bangkok Insurance via iFilm.com.

A Vision of the Future?

These head scarfs, or worse, could become mandatory if the Party of Appeasement has its way.

DocuTicker

I just discovered search guru Gary Price's Docuticker:

DocuTicker offers a hand-picked selection of resources, reports and publications from government agencies, NGOs, think tanks and other public interest organizations.

I'm not wild about its font and colors (I suppose it is better than his old website, Direct Search) but it is a good reference source nonetheless. It is browsable by various categories.

There is an RSS feed for the site as a whole, if it is possible to get RSS feeds for any one of the categories, I couldn't figure out how.

Yikes!

(... in Concord, N.H., Friday, March 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

This looks like it could be the poster from a 50s era horror flick.