Cheney Gets DeFibbed

V.P. Dick Cheney went in the hospital this week for a new internal heart defibrillator. While he was under anestesia, he passed his duties onto his second in command: Satan.

Despite the new defibrillator, fibbing in the whitehouse is expected to continue without interruption.

Forbes Magazine: The 10 most dangerous vehicles

Drive a Buick Rendezvous, and you might have a rendezvous with death. Well, I may be overstating the point, but the Buick Rendezvous is singled out as the least safe in the group of the 10 most dangerous vehicle as published in the Forbes magazine article linked here. According to the article, recent safety data suggests that electronic stability control is a big factor in avoiding highway fatalities. Most vehicles still don't' have it.


Speaking of Rendezvous with Death
Meet Oscar the Kitty of Doom

According to CNN, Oscar, the resident cat at a nursing home in Providence, Rhode Island, can pick out which patient in the nursing home is going to be the next to die. If Oscar cuddles up to you, it's important to say "I don't want to go on the cart."

GM Full-Sized SUV Hybrids to get 20MPG in-town?

This fall, General Motors plans to introduce new hybrid versions of its GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicles. This is a different and more sophisticated hybrid system than the system that is currently featured on the Saturn Vue and Saturn Aura. The Saturn system is a "mild" hybrid based upon a belt-starter-alternator system. The new SUV system will be a full "dual-mode" hybrid. GM actually jointly developed the new system with BMW and Chrysler.

According to the USA Today article linked, GM plans to build 10,000 of the hybrid SUVs this year, and GM will likely subsidize part of the $10,000 incremental cost of the hybrid system.

Latest Poll: Obama whips Repubs
Other Dems - Not so much

In what seems like a game of rock paper scissors, the latest poll numbers show Clinton beating Obama, Obama beating Giuliani, and Giuliani beating Clinton.

If that ain't confusing enough, Edwards & Romney are ahead in Iowa.

Johnny, what can you make of this . . . "a hat, a broach, a pterodactyl"

PDF Spam - Why it's flooding your inbox

Here's a link to a PCWorld article describing the latest trend in spam, blank files with Adobe Postscript (.pdf) file attachments. Spammers have started sending pdf files because spam filters are getting better at filtering out the image messages that were all the rage earlier this year. There is apparently disagreement about whether these attached documents can harbor a payload that will harm or take over your system. It's better not to open a pdf file you weren't expecting.

Youtube video of the Day:
Deposition from hell


Mix an uncooperative witness, a man wearing a stocking cap, and Mama getting hit on the head with a lamp, and you get the deposition from hell at this link.

From the No Way file:
Ford Posts 2nd quarter Profit


With no thanks to the North American Market, Ford posted a $750 million profit in the 2nd Quarter of 2007. This is Ford's first profit in two years. While the North American automotive operations lost both money and market share. Ford was profitable abroad. Even its notoriously money-losing Premier Automotive Group made a slight profit. Ford Motor Credit broght a billion dollars to the bottom line. Cost-cutting played an important role in the profitability of the company.

Ironically, the reported profit couldn't have come at a worse time. Ford is seeking drastic cuts to its labor costs in the contract negotiations currently under way with the union. Tee better Ford looks financially, the less willing the UAW will be to make the big cuts.

Bush's Polyps not Cancerous

Word has come down that President Bush doesn't have colon cancer. As I understand it, the doctor had to send him the results in writing rather than face to face. The purpose was to avoid what happened the last time. The last time, the doctor said,"We have the results, it's benign." Whereupon George blurted out reflexively, "Bingo."

UAW Bargaining Season - I'm working on it check back tomorrow

Will it Blend - iPhone
Waste of a Phone or a Life?

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a series of videos on youtube called Will it Blend? Some smart marketers at a blender company called Blendtec decided to post videos of everything from a crowbar, to a stuffed animal, to a pile of glow sticks being pulverized in one of their blenders. If you cross the hype of the iPhone with the youtube fad that WIB had already become, and the Will it Blend iPhone edition has become ridiculously popular among bloggers with over 1.5 Google hits as of this writing. Just one version of the iPhone blending on Youtube.com has over 1.3 million views. Let's say, then that just 10 million people have spent a minute and half watching the iPhone blend. that's 28.5 person/years spent watching the iPhone blend. if the real total is 100 million people seeing the iPhone blend, then that's 285 years or about 3 and a half life times spent watching an iPhone blend. The worldwide web - it brings new meaning to life.

Watching the iPhone blend is a complete waste of time. The glowsticks, on the other hand, that was cool.