Warren Buffett and Dan Gilbert (Quicken Loans) are offering one billion dollars for the perfect NCAA tournament bracket. Apparently there are also some prizes for the best 20 brackets.

Here's a Yahoo! article that mentions many good movies coming out in 2015.

Here's an LA Times article on living in an RV on the Upper West Side. These would've been our neighbors... if we had ever actually lived on the Upper West Side.

Rick Reilly has been showing over the last year or so exactly what made him such a celebrated writer. It's like he turned on a good-writing switch. Or got past some personal problems or whatever. Insightful, funny, positive, sarcastic. Well done, Rick!

CNN.com Steve Jobs File System Article

I remember being sad when I first read this. Reminded of it today. Loss of knowledge about file systems, when people didn't even understand them in the first place, is a bad thing. Steve Jobs is exactly right that the learning curve is vertical when it comes to learning file systems. Doesn't mean we should give up on learning them. We should make them more intuitive. Using iTunes as an example of an app that controls the file structure for you is a terrible example! There is no more difficult system to learn than that useless organization system.

This article says IBM predicts in 5 years we'll be using biometrics instead of passwords. I have a laptop from 2008 that has a finger print login, but in my opinion biometrics will eventually be less secure than passwords.

I highly recommend watching Batman: The Animated Series. The first season is on the WB website. (Their video player freezes a lot so good luck!)

It's practically impossible for local governments to go bankrupt, but these guys (Jefferson County, Alabama) have been trying for years and finally succeeded.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2011-11-09/alabama-county-bankruptcy/51146416/1

Never underestimate the officials' ability to ignore reality. Even after video replay the officials got this extra point wrong. Syracuse ended up winning their football game against Toledo as a result.

The "Counties Work" online video game can be found at this link, and hints at being a great outreach tool for teaching people how government works. Why not have an even more developed SIMS-like-game for local government or federal government? Seems like a good idea to me, though I'm the only one who would likely find it fun. You'd probably need some variation of a red-tape monster, or the meeting that just wouldn't end, even with a ctrl-alt-del.

I'm not the most "with it" guy. Just got turned onto Cleverbot. Check it out, suckers! It's a website that lets you have a (sort of) conversation with the, um, website. http://www.cleverbot.com.

Scott Adams writes the Dilbert cartoon. He opines in the Wall Street Journal that B students should learn entrepreneurial skillz. I hope the link keeps working--heaven forbid the WALL STREET JOURNAL provide perma-links.

Here's a link to a "Main Street" article that was featured on Yahoo! If you get rid of the dollar bill and only offer coins, the government would begin saving $500 million+ every year, starting in a few years. Do it. I know Americans want dollar bills, but it's getting less and less important to actually carry cash at all. It's time to save money.

Here's Obama's proposed 2011 Federal Budget in square form.

Article about Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray of Massachusetts pulling kids out of a burning van in Worcester.

We all know Worcester has the worst drivers in the country. This case, though, is one of a tire catching fire.

But, apparently the Lieutenant Governor has had to rescue people before in Worcester. He also used to be the mayor of Worcester. There's probably some conspiracy involving him and bad driving.

: )

Article about Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor and the NCAA rules game which is basically a joke.

Jeopardy! is going to pit Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings against an IBM computer.

So that Uranium Ore link goes to Amazon.com

Wanted to let you know that I'm enjoying www.dailylump.com. It gives you 4 stories hitting the headlines that day.

Uranium Ore.

Read the comments--pretty funny stuff!

Link about wireless radiation that affects us and how to protect yourself. Really interesting as I've had conversations with people recently about how many waves are coursing through our bodies.

Link from Wired about the evolution of the internet. I haven't read it all yet but it seemed link-worthy.

NY Times had an interactive thingy this weekend that you could tweak to see if you could balance the budget.

Here's an article that was featured on Yahoo! about naming companies. I've picked on random garbled letters before so I thought I should provide the link.

Read this story in the New York Times and you might also see the sappy movie potential. Down on their luck people getting kicked out of their homes (not houses, their HOMES!), and a down on his luck lawyer who used to work for the big bad mortgage banks. He salvages his own down on his luck life and takes on the bad guy banks, putting a nationwide stop to foreclosures. Redemption.

Or so the sappy movie goes.

An Onion article on the American Public hiring a lobbyist. Funny.

Article on whether your plastic storage container is safe. Basically, if the recycle number is 1, 2, 4, or 5, you're better off than otherwise. But microwaving can still cause chemical leakage. Scary.

Here's a Time article about China being able to communicate using Quantum Teleportation. Cool stuff.

Map of What People Say Where for Soft Drinks

You may have forgotten this one. Still fun to look at every once in awhile.

USA Today article on government salaries and benefits. It shows the average federal compensation being much higher than the private sector's average. What to me is more disturbing is the comparison between federal and private compensation growth.

I'm a fan of David Zinczenko's articles on Yahoo!. Here's the latest. They're about foods you might like and the terrifying ingredients they contain. Well-written, well-researched, etc., etc. In other words, they're the opposite of anything ever posted on this site! : )

Interesting case of people making brash decisions on (obviously) limited information. Article Link. The agriculture department asked for a resignation over some comments that a person made 24 years ago while in a different job. The evidence was from a video clip of the woman speaking, and no one apparently first tried to contact the farmers affected by her "racism".

Sorry for not providing more detail - I'm being lazy (just like everyone who reacted first and asked questions later).

An article on families that know how to save money. The theme, in my opinion, is really: "make a ton of money so you have the ability to save by either 1) owning your own (already successful) business, or 2) having both parents work. It would also help to have just 1 or no kids."

Although I love to pick on articles like these, there are actually some principles of saving that work no matter your income.

Yahoo Movies article mentions modern movie classics (90s and 00s) to watch. The Bourne Ultimatum is included.

Yahoo article on taxes. It says 47% of households won't pay federal income taxes in 2009.

Energy Efficient Yahoo article

The above link is an article discussing how to get the US government's energy efficient stamp of approval.

The problem being they don't verify energy efficiency. The article claims once the product is launched testing is then done. Classic "get the program set up and we'll figure it out later" organization. Granted, checking after product launch is probably still important because product specs could change before launching in market.

But this feels eerily similar to the recent health bill passage. Set it up, and we'll figure it out later.

Hopefully things work out, though, for the better.... I still haven't reviewed the health bill and all of its possible ramifications (and probably neither has Congress...).

see more Funny Graphs

CNN article on products with big markups.

Here's an article about who the Republicans may try to trot out as 2012 presidential competition to President Obama. Thune, a senator from South Dakota, is from Murdo.

This is relevant only because on a cross country trip in a 1990 Ford Bronco II, the Dime Brothers had their transmission go out and we ended up trading the Bronco in for a dumpy station wagon at a Ford dealership there. We were back on the road in a couple of hours.

Murdo was definitely a small town (population ~700).

Thanks to Zigga for this link.

Here's an article about a 50-car pileup. One of the comments: "This was a 2 car accident-the other 48 were personal injury lawyers."

Paul, would you like to comment on the following quote from this article:

"And Skype, which provides video chats for anyone with an Internet connection, lets us see and hear people who might be halfway across the world - for free.

"That's like the revolutionary thing that's happening right now," Levinson points out. "The idea that you can talk to someone and see their face and have a video conversation with them that doesn't cost anything - that would have been science fiction 10 years ago."

LeBron is encouraging NBA players to abandon the number 23 out of respect for Michael Jordan. He's going to switch to number 6 himself. I think that this allows people an escape for people to switch since Jordan's image is slowly fading into that of a jerk (especially since his hall of fame speech). And if everyone avoids 23, maybe in the future people will think it's because of Jordan's jerkiness instead of his basketball prowess.
Probably over-thinking this.

Extreme laptops ranging from ultra-light to super fast.

New (and funny) NFL logos from ESPN.com Page 2's Kurt Snibbe.

Funny comics.

Smithsonian article about Jackson Pollock's breakout painting, Mural. He apparently painted his name in the background of the work... but I think I can find my name in the painting too, which makes him an über-genius since he didn't even know me back in 1943!

To anyone who says there's not stuff to fix in the health care system (I'm not just talking about coverage), please read this article, which sites all sorts of current wasteful health care spending.

Pretty good article on bad driving habits. The gist is, "Focus on driving" and "'Doing your thing' doesn't matter when driving is a community experience. Pay attention."

Article link to a story about police brutality against groundhogs. What really makes the story are the comments. Hilarious.

Article link about condo owners finding reason to hold up a development and claiming they were right and settling for a bazillion dollars even though they were offered way more than value originally because they were going to drag their feet and hold up the show just because they wanted to live the new "American Dream" of getting rich quick without justification because why should anyone earn it anymore when you can find a quarterback or corporation or hospital to sue where the legal headaches you create are worse than the parting of money?

(Would the above be a run-on sentence? Actually, would it be a run-on question?) : )

Funny T-Shirt

Saw the image on an ESPN.com profile and Google-searched it and found it's probably from a t-shirt. Fittingly, today is Friday the 12th.

Perfect Attendance Article

This Washington Post article posits that perfect attendance for 13 years of public education is practically unheard of.

I think there were something like 2 who had it in my graduating class alone (in a class of 135). Big whoop.

So the US is realizing it is facing digital threats finally. Here's a quote from an article on Yahoo: "David Powner, director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, told Congress last month that the U.S. has no recovery plan for a digital disaster."

Article Link

Doesn't it seem like something should have been put in place around 2000 when we were facing the "Y2K" issue? Different type of problem, but perhaps similar consequences, right?

Flynn testing the NBA draft waters

Hopefully Flynn comes back to Syracuse. Realistically the other two will be back.

Comparison article between Facebook and Walmart. Facebook has the potential to crush a lot of different web competitors (evite.com, classmates.com, email sites, Google even?). Nice article.

"Please turn off your electronic devices."

You've heard it before on flights, but now you know the reasons: Slate article.

Meat bracket article on ESPN Page 2

In a travesty of justice, Chicken Tails takes out Chicken Wings, then Lamb Chops, before finally losing to Bacon. In the final, however, Bacon loses to Standing Rib Roast.

The orange that ruled the world..

In honor of Syracuse's favorable tournament seed, please view the above video. I imagine it refers to an orange in some way related to Syracuse.

This article on school lunches in New Mexico is bothering me. Some people are up in arms over feeding kids a cheese sandwich. Ummm... why is the parent not sending their kids to school with peanut butter and jelly? It would probably cost less per day than the subsidized meals they're trying to pay for, and it would save the school district mounds of cash.

Schools should probably only be on the books for selling milk or juice since kids can't reasonably bring refrigerated items to school.

Time to start teaching parents responsibility... I bet they can afford cable TV or a cell phone!

I can't help but share this link and encourage you to read the comments. I was cracking up in the middle of the day reading them. It's about an older lady selling a baseball card at auction. Not sure how long the link will be active.

Here's an article (NY City Mystery Odor) about the discovery of the source of a mysterious odor infiltrating NYC. It's apparently some processing plants in NJ causing it. Now, I ain't no scientist or brain surgeon (could be, but I ain't), but was there ever any doubt that the smell was coming from New Jersey?

The Bacon Explosion - food that's going after our heart. Literally.

Yummy.

Here's a quote from a BBC article: "The EU last week accused Microsoft of harming competition by bundling its IE browser with its Windows operating system."

Wouldn't want a business trying to beat out other businesses, now, would we? Same crap as the Windows Media Player issue.

Wouldn't want that company that sells window washer fluid to throw in ice scrapers too!

This is a pretty good article for the ol' holiday spirit and whatnot. About a football team caring for another down and out one.

Awhile ago we were making posts implying that much of the economic downturn was due to prediction/pessimism. At that time, it seemed the only thing happening was that the housing market was "slowing down" - houses weren't selling for as much. Then the credit problems became more apparent, gas hit a zillion dollars a gallon, and people started changing their driving habits. Now, banks have failed, investment firms have failed, the stock market has taken a dive, and gas prices are now really cheap.

Here is a long 3-paragraph quote from Tuesday Morning Quarterback that kind of gets at our previous ranting (taken from ESPN.com):

"Oh No! Gasoline Prices Are Falling! Just last winter, gas at $4 a gallon was said to represent a super-ultra emergency, and ExxonMobil profits were said to be obscene. Now gas is $2 a gallon and this is bad, according to CNBC economics bobbleheads, who last week warned the lower pump price will depress oil-company profits. Just last winter, rising consumer prices were said to represent a super-ultra emergency -- now that consumer prices are falling, that's supposed to be bad too, owing to the possibility of deflation. But innovation and rising labor productivity are supposed to drive down prices. Lower prices are a core goal of capitalist economics!

These points should serve as reminders that the mainstream media always present all economic news as bad. Higher interest rates? Bad for borrowers. Lower interest rates? Might cause inflation. Normally, the media's penchant for spinning all economic news as bad doesn't matter -- but right now it does, as pessimism more than logic seems to be driving the weak economy. Speaking as someone who pulled the election lever for Barack Obama (and whose daughter worked for the Obama campaign round the clock for months), I agree with John McCain's statement, "The fundamentals of the economy are strong." They are. McCain was right! Innovation is high. Labor productivity is high. There are no shortages of any resource or commodity. Pessimism is driving the downturn, and that pessimism is advanced by relentless media negativism.

Even the Wall Street Journal is spinning events in the most pessimistic light. A page one story declared, "Investors in the U.S. stock market have lost more than $9 trillion since its peak a year ago." But there is a distinction between a decline and a loss. The paper value of U.S. equities has declined $9 trillion since the peak in October 2007, but many investors have suffered no loss because they haven't sold. Many people's houses have declined in value in the last two years, but most people haven't lost a dime because they haven't sold -- just as many people's houses rose in value from 2002 to 2006 but most people did not gain, again because they did not sell. Doing nothing can be the smart move in a bear market, and those investors, individual or institutional, who have cleverly done nothing have incurred no losses and are likely to come out ahead in the long run. Yet some insist on claiming $9 trillion has been "lost." Exaggerating the negative only worsens the economic-confidence picture."

One other point - TMQ is in favor of requiring tax exempt organizations (or at least institutions of higher learning) to spend 5% of their endowments each year. In a down market wouldn't that be making those losses real, then? Yes, unless the endowment moolah is in fixed-return kinds of investments.

An Eco Scooter featured on Yahoo gets 180 miles per gallon. I assume if you wear a helmet mileage drops to 150. If you carry a heavy set of house keys, kiss another 20 miles good-bye. : )

Weird name, but great food: Ruth's Chris Steak House.

It's expensive, but yummy. I had the lamb chops. They were awesome. !!!. Okay - so I'm not cut out to be a food critic writer person. But this is all you need to know: lamb chops at Ruth's Chris=yummy.

Apparently the restaurant was called Chris Steak House when Ruth bought it. That's why it has a weird name.

Thanks to Steve we now have RSS. What does RSS stand for, you ask? What does it do, you ask?

It's used to make sites look like they're really cool and modern. Note the RSS symbol in your browser's address bar (at least it's in mine - I'm using Mozilla).

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the Earth Yet?

As some friends have reminded me, you'll want to bookmark this page.

CNN Video story on Dancing Matt

Here's a link to a video story from CNN about Dancing Matt.

So the world knows, friend Dan let us know about this guy weeks ago, and the general media is swooping it up now. Yesterday I heard WALK 97.5 (Long Island radio station) mention it in the morning.

DimeBrothers' favorite charity?

Why, that'd of course be The March of Dimes!

I've got a friend who's heading to work there, so I thought it an opportune time to link to them. Plus, the obvious reference to Dimes doesn't hurt.

Stock Market Recovery watch on CNN

Above is an article that is already predicting an upswing in the markets. If these predictions are anything like the predictions for the downswing, wait about 4 months and then start buying.

Here's an article about why expensive gas is a good thing. It's always nice to get perspective on how the dominoes might fall. Especially since we're used to only hearing about the first domino.

LA Times Article

Article regarding the forgiveness of school debt related to working in the public service for 10 years. See my previous article on the Public Service Academy for some more background.

Conclusion? 10 years is still a long time to have to pay back loans. Study and play hard in high school and try to go to college on the cheap--or go to a state school to help make ends meet.

Alright. I want a smart car. Wish they were cheaper...

Smart Car USA

Basic model starts at $11,590. A useful model (you know, with power steering) would cost around $14,000.

What it will take.

A former deputy county executive in Erie County, NY (home to Buffalo) writes very eloquently on government regionalization, consolidation, the use of federal dollars as a carrot and stick method to induce change, and briefly at the end, the legacy of baby boomers.

How the government spends your taxes.

I've been holding onto this link for awhile. Food to chew on, anyway.

The best video that you'll ever want to see. The joke is to tell you it's something you actually want to click on.

-----------------------
'Rickroll' prank comes to Baltimore

BALTIMORE (UPI) -- Almost 50 people sang the lyrics of British pop star Rick Astley in Baltimore during the weekend as part of a "rickroll" prank, fans say.

Fans either sing or redirect Internet browsers to recognize Astley's 1980s hit song, "Never Gonna Give You Up." The Baltimore Sun said Sunday.

"I'm in love with this song," said Ryan Goff, who organized the "rickroll" event Saturday at the city's Inner Harbor. "I thought I'd be absolutely sick of it, but I like it more. I'm working on singing it backward."

Traditionally a "rickroll" takes place online when unsuspecting browsers click on a serious-sounding link only to watch a video of Astley singing his hit.

For Goff, and others like him, the online bit was not enough. Soon Astley fans were taking to the streets to share their love of the pop star with strangers, the Sun reported.

"It's grass roots; you've got to make the best of it," Goff said. "It's all in the spirit of Rick."


Copyright 2008 by United Press International

There is a Yahoo article with the headline: Harvard gets record $100 million gift from Rockefeller.

I happen to have the transcript of the call that initiated the donation:

[caller]: Hi, my name is Mindy and I'm a student here at Harvard. Would you like to contribute a hundred towards senior class opportunities to study culture?

[Rockefeller]: Sure why not. 100 million. I'm not the first today to donate 100 million, am I? *cough* *hack!* - Where Are My Pills?! ... (unintelligible)... I'll send you a check.

[Mindy to herself]: I'm working on commission, right?

Here's a link to an article on finding missing money.

The current national debt is 9.5 trillion dollars. That means everyone would owe over $30,000 this year, on top of their taxes, to pay it off.

One funny article headline from Reuters a couple of years ago: "US Debt: At least it's not $1 zillion".

Philip Agee Dies in Cuba

Actually, this is a pretty old story by Internet standards, being over a month old. This guy blew the lid on CIA procedures and practices, not necessarily a bad thing, but in the doing, outed tons of agents, which is definitely a bad thing.

He said, "Reforms of the FBI and the CIA, even removal of the President from office, cannot remove the problem. American capitalism, based as it is on exploitation of the poor, with its fundamental motivation in personal greed, simply cannot survive without force - without a secret police force." So capitalism within the U.S. can't survive without a secret police force operating outside of it? Not logical.

He seemed to forget that socialist states are propped up by force, namely a lack of federal democracy and free speech. And that a secret police force, by itself, is not necessarily evil. And that even socialist states have secret police forces, though he excused this because their actions did not go as far as the United States' secret police force.

Public servants are moral actors. When they act immorally, the results also lack moral standing. See, for example, much of the CIA's history. But, alas (and vastly too simply stated): two wrongs do not make a right Mr. Agee. Outing secret agents puts lives in danger.

If you aren't watching Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fox then you're missing a good show! You can catch episodes at Fox.com but you'll have to download Fox's video player. It's a quick download.

Happy Groundhog Day everyone. It was cloudy in Punxsutawney this morning, yet the groundhog still managed to see his shadow, which means "six more weeks of winter." LIES!!!!

Read my original article that details more Groundhog Day conspiracies.

Really old computer ads.

I was just watching ABC's Providence affiliate. They were doing a story on toys not made in China and how parents are looking harder for said toys, which are tough to find because 80% of the toys in our country were made in China. They interviewed several people, including Soleil Moon Frye. Now you and I know Soleil as "Punky Brewster" from the 80's sitcom. ABC's Providence affiliate knows her simply as "Store Owner" for the purposes of their story. That's disappointing reporting. To learn more about Soleil, visit our affiliate, Theresjustnowaythatstrue.com here.

It's that time of year again. Visit Elf Yourself to turn yourself into an elf.

Here's a link to a traffic article by Jon Gromer. Not sure how long it'll be active, but one good point that was brought up involved people wanting to be in the left lane perhaps because cars wouldn't be whizzing by their windows on that side (they'd be on the opposite side of the car in the right lanes).

Here's a link to an article on personal responsibility. A cell phone went off, a room full of convicts wouldn't "snitch" and the perpetrator wouldn't admit guilt... so the judge locked up everyone. It must have been frustrating for the judge to be sitting there and witnessing what is essentially a prison culture kind of a thing - no snitching, and no admitting of guilt. Extreme punishment, yes. But frustrating for the judge, too.

Article on Driving Knowledge

Here's a link (not sure how long it'll be active) to a report on how knowledgeable drivers are around the country. The most surprising result? Idaho is rated at number 1. I lived in Utah for awhile and had the unfortunate opportunity to drive around a lot of Idahoans. Many drove with a total disregard for the world around them. In my opinion, only the Massachusetts drivers that hail from Worcester are anywhere close to surpassing Idaho's awfulness.

But at least MA is ranked 48th. Idaho is number 1! I demand a retest! A test that actually takes into account driver awareness!

This is a website (Woot.com) that offers one deal a day, and sometimes offers a grab-bag like deal which I don't understand because I haven't researched it well enough.

So each day, one product is for sale, at a really cheap price. I think it's a great idea because it'll keep people going back to the site every day. Today a 7 mega pixel camera is for sale for $99 plus $5 for shipping. The same camera on Polaroid.com is available for $184.99. (By the way, Polaroid is selling 10 mega pixel cameras - I didn't even know they existed! Of course, I'm not that up-to-date with technology. Have you guys heard of that site called "Goo-gull"? I hear it's popular.)

"Customer Disservice: Because we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied"

Despair Website.

Here's a blurb stolen from PurpleGables.Wordpress.com:

"What’s RapLeaf, you say??

RapLeaf is a creepy stalker's dream come true. It's basically a website where you go and type in someone's email address and, like magic (evil, black magic, that is) you get a page with links to every single place that person has a web presence - blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, flickr photos, you name it."

Here's the link.

I tried it and got nothin' on me. But I didn't ask them to get back to me in an hour (as they offer to do). I guess that gives their evil machines time to scour the web searching for your soul.

Via CNN's Political Ticker via the LA Times: This Link to a website that's meant to help you decide who to support in next year's Presidential elections.

Yahoo "pick of the week" article on lip balm addiction. They are so behind the breaking news.

Another ESPN page 2 article referenced bacon. It's from DJ Gallo and talks about hockey. I understand if no one wants to click on the link, then.

This blog post can be found at CNN.com. I'm not sure how long it will be active, or how much or little you'll have to scroll down to find it, but the post is in regards to bacon. Thus, this is an issue we cannot ignore!

This article actually makes me want to watch a boxing match! (Watch it, but not pay for it.)

Thanks to Steve for cool new buttons when you post a message. You can make text bold, italicized, underlined, and add a hyperlink by simply highlighting your text and pressing the applicable button.
Also, "carriage returns" are now recognized in posts. These upgrades are surely the reason that Iran has let the British captives go. As this site becomes more and more developed, we shall see peace impose its will across the globe (peacefully of course).

Of course nothing in this essay is an exaggeration of any kind. But it is an attempt to mimic the greatness of the infamous college essay from Hugh Gallagher.

This is a great waste of time. You can do it with any category of words. Useless business catch phrases work best, though. Sample attached. For the meat and potatoes, check out this cool bingo site.

I just registered Dime Brothers on Technorati, and maybe we'll be randomly chosen to appear on their main page... or not. They're a website that tracks blogs and stuff. Anyway, according to Technorati, The Dilbert Blog is the 59th most linked to blog on the infer-may-shun supranet dealio. Please visit it
here. This won't count as one of those links, though, because I think their Spiders are inferior (their web programs that search for links and stuff).

I'm providing a link to Dime Brothers, just in case you'd like to visit the site. Ha ha. There's some html code you need for links that Steve happily provided (and I think my brother, too, but for MySpace usage).