Smelly? On The Bus? It’s Jail For You!

 

 

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Smelly? On The Bus? It’s Jail For You!

via Dvorak Uncensored by Uncle Dave on 9/2/09

If it's good enough for buses, why not extend it to all public areas? Then maybe we can rid ourselves of those who go the other way and seemingly bathe in perfume. Or have bad breath. Or…

The [Honolulu] City Council is considering a bill that will make it illegal to "bring onto transit property odors that unreasonably disturb others or interfere with their use of the transit system, whether such odors arise from one's person, clothes, articles, accompanying animal or any other source."

Councilman Rod Tam, a co-sponsor of the bill, explained why it is needed:

"As we become more inundated with people from all over the world, their way of taking care of their health is different. Some people, quite frankly, do not take a bath every day and therefore they may be offensive in terms of their odor."
[...]
"There's the whole issue about at what point does it become illegal," [Chairman Gary] Okino said, noting that city attorneys are researching the matter. "How smelly does a person have to be? Just to base things on smell, I just don't feel good about that."
[...]
If convicted, a person could be fined up to $500, spend up to six months in jail, or be both fined and jailed.

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GMail Experiences Serious Outage

 

 

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GMail Experiences Serious Outage

via Slashdot by timothy on 9/1/09

JacobSteelsmith was one of many readers to note an ongoing problem with Gmail: "As I type this, GMail is experiencing a major outage. The application status page says there is a problem with GMail affecting a majority of its users. It states a resolution is expected within the next 1.2 hours (no, not a typo on my part). However, email can still be accessed via POP or IMAP, but not, it appears, through an Android device such as the G1." It's also affecting corporate users: Reader David Lechnyr writes "We run a hosted Google Apps system and have been receiving 502 Server Error responses for the past hour. The unusual thing about this is that our Google phone support rep (which paid accounts get) indicated that this outage is also affecting Google employees as well, making it difficult to coordinate."

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Customer Bills Companies For Time Wasted — Pret A Manger Actually Pays Up [F...

 

 

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Customer Bills Companies For Time Wasted — Pret A Manger Actually Pays Up [Funny]

via Consumerist by Meg Marco on 9/2/09

Pret A Manger is a sandwich shop. Paul McCrudden is an eater of sandwiches. The relationship seems uncomplicated. It probably was, at least until Mr. McCrudden decided to log all of his activity for six weeks and then send invoices for the time he spent interacting with brands. Some might call this an interesting social experiment. Others, a dick move. All we know is that Pret A Manger decided to pay him, and the letter they sent is hilarious. Oh, and the check is nice too.

Here's Mr. McCrudden's description of why he sent the invoices:

The way I see it, my time on this planet is limited and as such I want to spend it as wisely as possible. It frustrates me therefore that every day of my life I have to waste time standing in queues waiting to buy some product or service that, in the big scheme of things, I don't really care about. Take the Post Office for example. Whenever I go in there (and I try not to) I end up queueing for about five times as long as the actual time I spend at the counter sorting out those trivial things such as a parcel's size and weight. That's time that I'd prefer, in my limited, lucky period on earth, to be doing something else.

#sixweeks [via Bitter Wallet]

 

 

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Major ISPs Seek To Lower Broadband Definition

 

 

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Major ISPs Seek To Lower Broadband Definition

via Slashdot by Soulskill on 9/2/09

denobug sends word that major internet service providers in the US are seeking to redefine the term 'Broadband' to mean a much lower speed than in other developed nations. In recent filings with the FCC, Comcast and AT&T both came out in support of a reduced minimum speed. 'AT&T said regulators should keep in mind that not all applications like voice over internet protocol (VoIP) or streaming video, that require faster speeds, are necessarily needed by unserved Americans.' On the other hand, Verizon argued to maintain the status quo, saying that 'It would be disruptive and introduce confusion if the commission were to now create a new and different definition.' A public interest group called Free Press also filed comments with the FCC, recommending that the bar should be set significantly higher, and evolve in a way that corresponds with technological improvements.

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Marvel Smith Exits With Class

 

 

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Marvel Smith Exits With Class

via Goal Posts by Taylor Price on 9/2/09

Recently retired tackle Marvel Smith just concluded a conference call with the Bay Area media. He didn't have to. The 9-year pro from Oakland certainly didn't have to field questions on his personal health and the reasons for his retirement, but he did.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," Smith said of his decision.

The two-time Super Bowl Champion and one-time Pro Bowler with the Pittsburgh Steelers signed with the 49ers in late March hoping to win the starting right tackle position, but ultimately decided to end his career to preserve his personal health.

Smith has undergone a pairof back surgeries and he thought he could continue playing in San Francisco. However, it soon became apparent to Smith that it was too difficult to consistently compete on the practice field and in games.

"I thought it would feel better," Smith said of his back. "There wasn't anything helping me get better."

Smith said his primary focus is making sure he keeps himself healthy for the rest of his life so he doesn't have health issues down the road.

When asked about his fellow competitor for the starting right tackle position Adam Snyder, Smith had nothing but positive things to say.

"He's in the NFL for a reason," Smith said. "From what I saw he's definitely a quality lineman. I see him having a great season this year."

Smith also said he would follow the 49ers closely this season. Watching the team's last preseason game was actually therapeutic for him.

Looking back over his entire 9-year career Smith accomplished a lot. As a young boy growing up in Oakland, Smith could never have imagine what would happen in his future.

"I would have never believed that," he said.

 

 

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Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs?

 

 

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Where Have You Gone, Bell Labs?

via Slashdot by Soulskill on 8/30/09

theodp writes "Name an industry that can produce 1 million new, high-paying jobs over the next three years, challenges BusinessWeek. You can't, because there isn't one. And that's the problem. So what's the answer? Basic research can repair the broken US business model, argues BW, saying it's the key to new, high-quality job creation. Scientific research legends like Bell Labs, Sarnoff Corp, and Xerox PARC are essentially gone, or shadows of their former selves. And while IBM, Microsoft, and HP collectively spend $17B a year on R&D, only 3%-5% of that is for basic science. In a post-9/11 world, DARPA's mission has shifted from science to tactical projects with short-term military applications. Cutting back on investment in basic science research may make great sense in the short term, but as corporations and government make the same decision to free-ride off the investments of others, society suffers the 'tragedy of the commons,' wherein multiple actors operating in their self-interest do harm to the overall public good. We've reached that point, says BW, and we're just beginning to see the consequences. The cycle needs to be reversed, and it needs to be done quickly."

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Dad Builds 700 Pound Cannon for Son's Birthday

 

 

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Dad Builds 700 Pound Cannon for Son's Birthday

via Slashdot by samzenpus on 8/31/09

Hugh Pickens writes "The Charleston Daily Mail reports that machinist Mike Daugherty built his son a working cannon for his birthday — not a model — a real working cannon. 'It looks like something right out of the battle at Gettysburg,' says Daugherty. The 700 pound cast iron and steel howitzer, designed to use comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories with a steep angle of descent, has a 4-inch gun barrel that is 36 inches long mounted on a wooden gun carriage with two 36- inch diameter wheels and took Daugherty about two weeks to build at a cost of about $6,000. 'I've always been interested in the Civil War and cannons, so I thought it would be a good gift,' says Daugherty's 11-year old son Logan. Daugherty said he is not worried about the federal government coming to get his son's cannon because he spoke to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and found it is legal to own such a cannon because it does not use a firing pin and is muzzle loaded so the government does not consider the weapon a threat. Two days after the family celebrated Logan's 11th birthday, father and son offered a field demonstration of the new cannon on top of a grassy hill overlooking Fairmont, West Virginia and on the third try, the blank inside the barrel went boom and a cannon was born. For a followup they popped a golf ball into the gun barrel, lit the fuse, and watched the golf ball split the sky and land about 600 yards away. 'Any rebels charging up this hill would be in trouble with a cannon like this at the top,' Logan says."

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