Talk about a rudder throw! Mike sent this with the notation, “And you think you’re a good pilot… whew!”

Impressive, but to be honest, Mike, I think it’s “CG” trickery. For one thing, right after the starboard wing “falls off”, the plane begins to spiral (counterclockwise) “into” the remaining wing which, I believe, would be aerodynamically impossible. In addition, and this is purely speculative, the plane looks a little “wrong” when it first lands, a little too “CG”. I’ll do some research into it, but you’re a pilot; what do you think?

Anyone else have an opinion?

It’s been a hectic year and Dawn and I are sorely in need of some rest and relaxation, so we’re taking next week off. That means no posting until we return and I finish the installation of our new computer (it’s coming along nicely, but transferring data files from the old system has been problematic since some appear to be corrupted). Hopefully we’ll return refreshed and ready to tackle the myriad projects screaming for our attention.

Meanwhile, why not leaf through the Archives? There are bound to be posts you missed.

See you in about a week!

For those of you wondering why IM has been “quiet” the last few days, the reason is twofold: first, it’s been a hectic month with so much going on I haven’t had much time for blogging. It’s just as well, because my primary computer has been complaining that its drive is overloaded, it’s suffering from a software conflict, or worse. Since I don’t want to court disaster, blogging has been more or less suspended until I install a new iMac, hopefully by the middle of next week. So bear with me, gentile readers. IM will be up and running as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, here’s a quickie from Mike…

Two Iraqi spies met in a busy restaurant after successfully slipping into the U.S.

The first spy starts speaking in Arabic.

The second spy shushes him quickly and whispers, “Don’t blow our cover! You’re in America now! Speak Spanish!”

Enjoy the weekend! See you next week!

Total time spent online is up 24.3%. At least that’s the conclusion reached by Jay Meattle after, I assume, conducting a thorough study. To graphically illustrate his conclusion, Jay provided this handy graph but neglected to mention the source data used in its construction. Perhaps it’s provided elsewhere on his site. Nonetheless, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since we all sort of assume that we spend too much time online and, after all, it’s a pretty impressive graph. Check it out:

From the graph and presumably the data it depicts, Jay concludes:

“We are spending more and more time consuming information online. Logically, since time is finite, online advertising spend[ing] should follow a similar trajectory with marketers allocating their ad budgets in proportion to where people are spending their time.

Needless to say, this is a time of considerable opportunity for online media properties and online marketers!”

Well, sure. But shouldn’t we at least consider what kinds of online activity are included in the data? I mean, I think we can all agree that a great many people use the internet as their primary news source. My readers (ahem) probably fall into this group. If they weren’t online, they would be reading Time or Newsweek in paper format thereby contributing to deforestation. So let’s classify them as “green” onliners. And some are online to post the aforementioned news stories, also “green” onliners but sub-categorized as “producers” vs. “consumers”.

Then there are ‘net “surfers”, free spirits who simply ride the internet waves in search of the next “big one” but contribute little beyond clever cryptic comments like “Awesome dude” and “LOL”. If they weren’t online, they would be watching cable TV or skateboarding…

Click to read more ...

Thanks James!

In 2006, American stand up comedian and juggler Chris Bliss enjoyed widespread fame when an online video of his juggling finale became a viral internet sensation. The five minute video shows his energetic finale where he juggles three balls to Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End by The Beatles. It was widely circulated via email and blogs with an estimated 20 million viewings within 40 days. He later expanded his brief juggling act to include stand up comedy.

The first video below offers a taste of Chris’ “Smart Comedy for the Information Age” act, and the second is the juggling finale that made him famous. Sit back and enjoy!

HT: Michael

This photo from Zeke screams for a caption. Anyone?

Does anyone else think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sound more like cartoon characters than mortgage finance companies? Kind of like Homer Simpson or Wile E. Coyote but not so funny…

Senate Democrats apparently think all that’s needed to entice a dozen more Republicans to sign on to their $750 billion bailout plan is to ring Pavlov’s “tax credit” bell. Doubling FDIC insurance on bank deposits and seasoning the package with a few tax credits, they reason, will be like tossing fresh liver to a starving dog. Never mind that most Americans are adamantly against the bailout and that, above all else, politicians want to protect their comfortable seats on the hill. But Democrats are betting a few “treats” will make Republicans forget who they work for, roll over and beg for more.

Sad thing is, that well may be all it takes.

The Internet is ablaze with a grand idea. Instead of bailing out AIG to the tune of $85 billion, why not divide the money among all 200 million or so U.S. adults? That gives $425,000 to every man and woman — $297,500 after taxes — at least according to the dozen or so emails I’ve received from readers including, most recently, my goombah, Michael. Great! Where do I sign up?

There’s just one small problem with the proposed plan: It only works out to $425 per person, not $425,000. Someone needs a refresher course in decimals. Oops.

Here’s the email:

I’m against the $85,000,000,000 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18 and older. Our population is about 301,000,000 counting every man, woman and child, so 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and older. So dividing 200 million into $85 billion equals $425,000. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18 and older as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would not be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every eligible individual would pay $127,500 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500 in their pocket. A husband and wife have $595,000.

What would you do with $297,500 - $595,000 in your family?

Click to read more ...