- So what do you do when you heavily censor the online mapping and information technologies the rest of the world has access to? Start your own official online map service, that’s right! Playing the role of oppressive regime in this one would of course be China, where Google is Public Enemy No. 2 (right behind human rights). In a country where Google Maps is only available in heavily censored form, China’s State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has launched a service called Map World. To be fair to the Chinese, Map World is fairly straightforward and easy to use, even if its text is all Mandarin Chinese. The service allows users to explore and search for specific locations and is simple to navigate. Just like Google maps, a zoom slider on the left and various viewing options (map or satellite) fill the upper right corner. The one weak area is when users zoom in to the closest view of specific regions. Unless those regions are in China or Taiwan, users will see only a blank page after a certain zoom level. In China and Taiwan, the images are available in higher resolutions. The 2-D portion of the service is also fairly similar to Google maps and appears to function well with most Web browsers. The State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping claims that the service’s 3-D viewing tool is similar to Google Earth, but some users have complained that it is not functional on their browser. The introduction of this new service doesn’t bode well for Google Maps in China. According to national media in China, 31 companies have been granted a mapping license, including Nokia, Baidu, Alibaba and others, but Google China hasn’t officially submitted an application. With the strained relations between the company and the Chinese government, one wouldn’t expect to see such an application submitted or approved any time soon……….
- Planning on traveling through either of New York’s main airports in the weeks or months ahead? If so, you’re in for some real fun because the Transportation Security Administration is installing new body scanners at both airports that will show security personnel much more than potential security risks, if you catch my drift. Backscatter x-ray machines are being installed at John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports and if you don’t know what backscatter x-ray machines are…..well, let’s just say they see through passengers’ clothes. Security personnel will see a chalky, detailed – and naked – outline of each passenger from the front and back. If you object to such an invasive scan, you can always fly through nearby Newark Airport, which will reportedly have a more G-rated model. The scanners at Newark will instead detect objects hidden under clothes with radio waves. Overall, response to the announcement of more invasive scanners at JFK and LaGuardia was met with acceptance from travelers, with many saying that as long as the new scanners make air travel safer, they have no objection. Anyone who refuses to full-body scan and accompanying invasion of privacy will have another option: a pat down by a TSA officer. So far, nearly 300 of the new scanners have been put in place at 61 airports since March. Odds are that if you fly on anything more than a regional flight between two smaller cities from here on out, you’ll be subjected to a full-body scan or two during your trip………
- How does a porn star, a past-his-prime comedian and an insane comedian/actor who has been in some of the most absurdly awful films of the past two decades all coming to Broadway sound? If plays and musicals are your thing, then Manhattan is obviously the place to go and it’s the next stop for three big Hollywood names who will be taking the stage on Broadway in the weeks ahead. The porn star would be none other than famed adult film skank Jenna Jameson, who may fill an ideal role for her as the strip club owner in the musical Rock of Ages. If ever there was a role that fit a person perfectly, this would be it. Jameson has taken off her clothes for money more times than……well, she’s done it a lot. Playing a strip club owner is about as much of a stretch for her as playing the greatest basketball player of all-time in a play would be for Michael Jordan. As for the past-his-prime comedian……that would be noted loudmouth Chris Rock, who will appear in The Motherf–ker With the Hat as a parolee’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. The last part of this unlikely Broadway trifecta is Robin Williams, the certifiably insane actor and former comedian who has been in good movies (Patch Adams) and terrible ones (Jumanji and The Birdcage, to name two of many) and has now been confirmed to play the title character in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Quite the trio, I have to admit, and something tells me that a lot of the pervs, er, fans who have followed Jameson during her career laying down on dirty mattresses and taking it from strangers on camera for money will want to see her do her thing on stage once Rock of Ages begins………
- There are a few basic rules for getting a tattoo, even beyond the existing laws and regulations that individual states place on tattoo parlors and potential customers. For starters, one should never, EVER get tatted up while drunk or in a state anywhere close to drunkenness. If you have a BAC of higher than .01, then wait until you sober up to get inked. I know, some people are uneasy about getting a tattoo and think that having a slight buzz will help, but that’s a bad idea. Secondly, don’t tat while angry. Skin art gotten while mad is extremely likely to be accompanied by major regrets soon after being done. Thirdly, do not EVER fall asleep during a tattooing session. Having been through the experience, I don’t understand how anyone could sleep through what is a fairly painful process, but some people have that tolerance for pain. However, just because you possess a skill or talent doesn’t mean you should use it and in this case, using it is a terrible idea. So if you abide by those three rules and have an IQ above 50, then you should have no problems getting the ink you want on your shoulder, back, ankle, wrist, chest, arm or calf. Thus, I have to assume that Chicago White Sox fan Gina Bebis violated one of these rules when she decided to use part of her body as an homage to her favorite team. On June 5, the White Sox were on the verge of a hot streak that would vault them into first place in the American League Central and Bebis was inspired to have the White Sox logo surrounded by purple clovers tattooed on her thigh. She went in, presented her design to a tattoo artist and set up a time to have it done. All went well….right up to the point when she looked in the mirror and realized that her new ink was backwards…..uh-oh! She was upset enough to a) immediately undergo laser removal sessions for the tattoo and b) sue the tattoo parlor and the artist for an amount not to exceed $50,000 for the cost of the laser removal, the cost of a cover-up tattoo, and money for the pain and suffering she endured from the laser treatments. The suit alleges that the artist prepared a proof of the design, which was approved by Bebis, and the artist proceeded to ink the tattoo on Bebis' thigh. In the suit, Bebis and her attorney make it clear that they assign the blame for the backwards tat to artist error. "Yes, it seems [the artist] applied the proof flipped over, and that is how it ended up backwards," said Bebis' attorney, Daniel Fabbri. "We can only speculate as to that, since it is such an obvious mistake on his part, we can't come up with any other possible way he did this." For those unfamiliar with the tattooing process, here’s how it works: once an artist lays out a design, it is stenciled on the body and approved by the person receiving the tattoo. Also, depending on the size and intricacy of the tattoo, an artist may stop one or more times during the process to grab a breath of fresh air and allow the customer to move around after having to sit still for so long. At any point in the process, a sober, semi-intelligent and awake person could look at the tattoo in progress and see that it was….well, backwards. Something tells me that when the truth comes out about Bebis and her tattoo experience, we’ll find out that she violated one or more of the fundamental rules of tattooing………
- It has been too long since a proclamation of environmental gloom and doom has come crashing down on the world. Where are the naysayers telling us that we’re slowly but surely ruining this planet and that future generations are going to curse us with vitriol for the havoc we’re currently wreaking on the world? Oh, there you are, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration! Thanks for stepping up and painting a sufficiently bleak environmental picture in your annual Arctic Report Card (which a parent must sign and return, I believe). "There is evidence that the effect of higher air temperatures in the lower Arctic atmosphere in fall is contributing to changes in the atmospheric circulation in both the Arctic and northern mid-latitudes," wrote the report's authors, a team of 69 international scientists. In other words, the Arctic's warming trend is beginning to affect the climate farther south. For residents of those areas, the results can be seen in extreme cold and big snowfalls. Both can be blamed on the Arctic changes, according to NOAA. “Beyond affecting the humans and wildlife that call the area home, the Arctic's warmer temperatures and decreases in permafrost, snow cover, glaciers and sea ice also have wide-ranging consequences for the physical and biological systems in other parts of the world," NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said. The report lays out some chilling statistics, including the fact that this year's September ice cover was the third-smallest recorded since microwave satellites started taking measurements in 1979. September is the time of the year when sea ice reaches its minimum and this year’s figures indicate that we’re heading in the wrong direction when it comes to global warming. “The last four summers have experienced the four lowest minimums in the satellite record, and eight of the 10 lowest minimums have occurred during the last decade," the report card said. Making matters worse, the small amount of sea ice we do have appears to be much younger than two decades ago. That means ice surviving from year to year is melting away to a fraction of its former mass, which simply put, is bad….real bad. In Greenland, the Arctic's beautiful glacier-covered land mass, the past year was marked by record-setting high air temperatures, ice loss and glacier area loss, the report said. "A combination of a warm and dry 2009-2010 winter and the very warm summer resulted in the highest melt rate since at least 1958 and an area and duration of ice sheet melting that was above any previous year on record since at least 1978," the authors wrote. They piled on by writing, "a clear pattern of exceptional and record-setting warm air temperatures is evident at long-term meteorological stations around Greenland.” Thanks for the enviro-pick-me-up, y’all………
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