- Oops. Even the world’s biggest Internet search engine
drops the ball at times and Google showed the capacity to do so in memorable fashion
on Thursday when its Google Maps service temporarily renamed a popular Berlin
square after Nazi dictator and world’s worst human Adolf Hitler. For reasons
that even Google is not sure of the map named the street along one side of the
eponymous Theodor Heuss Platz (Square) after the madman who seized power, ran
roughshod over Europe and presided over the murder of 6 million Jews. Google
responded to the error the only
way a company can when it unintentionally invokes the name of a genocidal
scumbag who attempted to exterminate an entire race of people. “We were made
aware of a wrong and inappropriate Berlin street name on Google Maps and have
corrected this as quickly as possible,” Google said in a written statement. “We
apologize for this error.” Google did not say how long the erroneous map was
online, but users reported seeing it for a period of several hours. When asked
how the mistake happened, Google admitted it had no explanation for the foul-up
but said it would investigate the error. One possible explanation is that the square
carried Hitler's name after his rise to power in 1933 until the end of World
War II, but when the war ended and a defeated Germany tried to pick up the
pieces and move on, Deutschland residents were curiously eager to move away
from all ties to Hitler. In 1945, the square’s name reverted to Reichskanzlerplatz,
which it was known as prior to Hitler’s reign of terror. In 1963 it was renamed
after the country’s first president, Theodor Heuss, who died that year. Reviving
the ugly memories of one of the worst periods in world history is rarely a
positive addition to any week………
- This is what Harvard is here for. Gather the smartest
people in all of academia, give them a beautiful campus, lots of money and
plenty of built-in institutional arrogance and they need to churn out
world-changing ideas and inventions. Harvard professor Takao Hensch, who specializes in
molecular and cellular biology, is living up to that calling with his claim that
he can teach adults absolute pitch by giving them a pill normally used to treat
epilepsy. Hensch claimed that a pill intended for epilepsy sufferers reverts
the capacity for learning to that of a 7 year old. With a person’s mind
reconfigured, they theoretically become easier to teach and the professor used
absolute pitch as his first test case. He attempted to take people who were not
good singers and help them attain the sort of perfect pitch that music legends
like Ella Fitzgerald and Michael Jackson are said to have had. People with
perfect pitch have the ability to identify or re-create a musical note without
the benefit of a reference tone. For his research, Hensch administered the
epilepsy drug Valproate to test subjects with no musical training and asked
them to train their ears using online tasks before being tested on their
ability to discriminate tone. The results were even more pronounced than the professor
expected. "It's quite remarkable since there are no known reports of adults
acquiring absolute pitch,” Hensch said, adding that he believes his research
could lead to further skills being taught, including languages. "I think
we’re getting closer to this day, because we are able to understand in greater
cellular detail how the brain develops throughout development." To explain
the results of his work, Hensch postulated that life experience plays a bigger
role than genetics in determining who can learn absolute pitch and therefore, Valproate
helps in the process………
- The end is imminent for one of HBO’s most popular series. The
cable network has confirmed that “Boardwalk Empire” will end this year. Its
fifth season will be its last and that means star Steve Buscemi and his cast mates will need
to find their next gig soon. “Empire” has achieved success both in the United
States and United Kingdom, but show creator Terry Winter explained the decision
to end its run without really explaining much of anything. "We've decided
to wrap up the series after such a great run and look forward to bringing it to
a powerful and exciting conclusion,” Winter said. Umm….OK? HBO programming
president Michael Lombardo also weighed in on the decision by blowing smoke up
Winter’s ass and issuing all manner of glowing words about how much his network
has enjoyed being a part of the “Boardwalk Empire” experience. "It has
been an incredible honor to bring this powerful and groundbreaking series to
our subscribers. Terry Winter has created one for the ages,” Lombardo said. “Empire”
has cashed in on the trend of retro series glamorizing certain periods in
history and alongside “Mad Men” and “Downton Abbey,” its depiction of Atlantic
City during the Prohibition era has resonated with viewers looking for a ride
back to the time of speakeasies and flappers. Buscemi's Enoch "Nucky"
Thompson stars as a corrupt politician who controls the notorious party town by
moonlighting as a gangster. The show has a star-studded past and present, as Martin
Scorsese directed the show's pilot episode and serves as an executive producer
on the series. It has won 17 Emmys since it first broadcast to go with a rabid
fan base and much critical acclaim……
- The fortunes of the Kohl’s department store in
Biddeford, Maine are going down…literally. The 88,000-square-foot building located at the Gateway Plaza in the thriving
epicenter of the metropolis that is Biddeford is closing due to what the city’s
code enforcement officer called "structural deficiencies." That term
is a bureaucratic way of saying that the store is slowly sinking into the
ground. City officials became aware of a sinking problem in 2007, just four
yeas after opening. Enforcement Officer Roby Fecteau said the company hired
structural engineers, who found cracks in the floors, and walls and ceiling
tiles coming away from their frames. That examination clued company officials
in to the fact that there was a much bigger problem on their hands. “We’ve
taken steps; We contacted their legal counsel, we made sure that during the
winter months the roof was maintained at all times, there was no snow-load
whatsoever, to ensure that the snow is not going to force more settling,”
Fecteau said. When a building that is less than a decade old begins sinking
into the earth below, the natural tendency is to assume that either a) the site
was poorly chosen and the land wasn’t suitable for building or b) someone
f*cked up in the design and construction process. Here, the latter of those
options is to blame. According to Fecteau, improper fill was used prior to
construction and that caused the sinking problem. “What was happening in this
area, the preload wasn’t the right mixture so it actually started the building
sinking,” Fecteau explained. Kohl’s announced that it will close the store in
February, tear the building down and build a smaller store 150 feet away. In
spite of the sinking issues, Fecteau insisted the building was never in
jeopardy of failure or collapse. The current building cost $2.8 million to construct
in 2003, but the new, smaller store will cost a robust $3 million………
- As always, disgraced New York Yankees third baseman and
known steroid cheater Alex Rodriguez is all about Alex Rodriguez. Fraud-riguez
is awaiting arbitrator Fredric
Horowitz on his 211-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball’s
steroid policy and in keeping with his customs, A-Fraud’s decision on whether
to accept Horowitz’s decision or fight it will come down to his own bottom line
instead of what’s best for his team. According to sources, the embattled slugger
has discussed the possibility of accepting a reduced ban without attempting to
get an injunction delaying his punishment. The line of demarcation seems to be
100 games, with anything less than that being palatable and anything about that
number being a reason to pursue a temporary restraining order against
Horowitz's ruling in federal court. It’s so wonderfully A-Fraud to consider the
financial implications of a situation rather than fighting to get back on the
field so he can help his team. Taking the case to court is expected to cost
A-Fraud eight figures in legal fees and other costs, while a 100-game suspension
would cost him $15,425,000 of his scheduled $25 million salary for 2014. Of
course, paying $10 million to fight the suspension does not guarantee that the
ban will be shortened or overturned, so A-Fraud could waste that chunk of cash
and still lose another eight-figure amount sitting out an entire season. He has
already paid a ton of money to a team of attorneys and advisors and is fully
aware of his options, so maybe this softening stance is a signal that someone
is getting through to A-Fraud. His tone now is markedly different than it was
just two months ago. "I shouldn't even serve one inning," he said in November
after storming out of the hearing room upon learning that MLB commissioner Bud
Selig would not have to testify before Horowitz. Perhaps reality is
finally setting in for someone who has been delusional for far too long now………
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