[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, that doesn't fly in the States. Who wants to walk around with a pocket full of change?
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They keep trying to make us change. Austin is a "test city" for the newest dollar coin and they've had ads on TV and the radio. Of course, we've been a test city for around 6 months or more and I have yet to see one of these new dollar coins. I guess if I really wanted to, I could go get change at the post office - that was the only place I ever got a Sacajawea dollar. And, as LJ said, I wasn't thrilled about carrying those around.
There are benefits of the coin. They stay in circulation longer and can be reminted/recycled, whereas the paper money gets torn and taken out of circulation longer and then gets destroyed or shredded and sold as souvenirs. The govenment's position is that the coins will be less expensive to produce. The savings was pretty big, from what I recall of the news story I heard on NPR last year. They also mentioned that dollar coins will make it easier for the visually imparied to keep track of their money. The repoprt said they also plan on making several new dollar coins every year, meaning collectors will want to hunt each version and hang onto some. But even though I heard about all the practical reasons to make the change in a single news story, none of the ads from the government have mentioned any of these practical reasons. I think the campaign is a failure and will result in yet another failed dollar coin.
Which means I'll keep using my credit card to pay for things at the post office so I don't end up with a purse full of dollars.
~Missi
http://tinyurl.com/yhy333s
Miss Informed in 2016! She can't be worse than all those other guys!
Yeah I see the US changing over to the dollar coin the day that they convert to the Metric system..... >.>
@Radmind - Justice Server
ClintarCOH - Twitter
ClintarCOH - Twitter
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[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, that doesn't fly in the States. Who wants to walk around with a pocket full of change?
[/ QUOTE ]
Not this guy, that's for certain. I have a coffee can full of assorted change sitting on top of my desk. Any time I come home with any amount of change? Straight on in and forgotten until I need money. Then it gets wrapped and deposited into my checking account 
The day they switch to coins for the dollar is the day I start simply using my check card for everything.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Venture
I'd never use a nuke in a superhero universe. You nuke a city, you kill 1.5 million people minus one. The last guy not only gets superpowers from the explosion, but ones that let him survive a nuke...and wow, is he torqued off
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PPD Mastermind
I love my debit card.
Coins usually end up on, then eventually under my desk until I vacuum, then they get picked up and put in a jar for about4 to 5 years before I get around to taking them to the bank
I still have an assortment of Euro coins up to 2 sitting around from deployment... not to mention Seychelleian(SP?) rupees, Bahraini Dinars, and various other coins and bills. Honestly, foreign money is one of the more irritating parts of the Navy.
That said, I still doubt dollar coins will catch on well in the US. I mean, strippers don't really like coins, and most of them really aren't worth a fiver.
Global- @SailorET, Justice Server
Sheryl Fiero, 50 AR/Devices Blaster
Louise Fiero, 50 Merc/Traps MM
Various assorted alts
Proudly serving in our military so you don't have to.
[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, that doesn't fly in the States. Who wants to walk around with a pocket full of change?
[/ QUOTE ]
Juuust got paiiid today....
Got me a pocket full of chaaange....
On Justice
Super Goober, Scrankster, Dusty McFluffy, SuperHappyFun and others
_____________________________________________
Daily affirmation: net helpmsg 4006
I'm going to need a hacksaw. -- Jack Bauer
I just lost my chicken - Bubbles
Aaawwk! I can feel it in my choadies - Hank Venture
Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality
Jan. 15, 2009 -- An invisibility cloak for visible light could be made within six months (...and that was back in January! ~ Missy), say scientists from Duke University, who, in a new paper published today in Science, explain how to hide objects from a dramatically extended range of wave lengths.
"I think that within six months it's certainly viable [a cloak for visible light]," said David Smith, a professor at Duke University and author of the Science paper.
"A large number of folks are looking at it, and I think it's a matter of coupling the right material to the right device."
A metamaterial is a material with unique properties that derive from its physical structure, not its chemical make up. To manipulate light, the microscopic surface of a material must be much smaller than that of the wave length of light being used.
Smith's original 2006 invisibility cloak provided invisibility to longer microwaves, letting them flow around the object and regroup on the other side. As you move through microwaves and into the infrared (and soon, visible light) wavelengths become shorter, so the microscopic structure of the material has to get even smaller.
Advances in nanotechnology are making it easier to create ever smaller structures that can manipulate ever smaller wavelengths, said Smith.
To conduct the experiment, the scientists assembled a roughly 20- by 4-inch platform and covered it with the mirror-like metamaterial. Then they covered a roughly 1-square-inch rounded bump in the same metamaterial, placed it on the other surface, and shined infrared light on the set up.
Any normal curved material would scatter the light at a variety of different angles. The metamaterial covered bump instead reflected light back towards the source like a flat surface would do, hiding the bump underneath.
The Duke cloak does have its limitations. It only works in two dimensions. Both the background and the hidden object must also both be wrapped in the metamaterial.
It also has advantages. Unlike Harry Potter's one-of-a-kind invisibility cloak, a real invisibility cloak will likely be cheap and easily reproducible. It took Smith and his colleagues about nine days to design and implement the experiment.
The scientists used hobby-level circuit boards; Smith's rough estimate was that it took about $1.00 in circuit boards to cloak the one-inch bump on the metamaterial.
"If you were to commercialize this technology it would cost next to nothing," said Smith.
Hiding a small bump is great for science, and for hiding things in general, but invisibility technology has a much wider range of uses besides mere concealment.
Just as one example of many, Smith says that cloaking technology could remove cell-phone interference in buildings, letting people have clear conversations even inside an elevator.
"We are just scratching the surface," said William Padilla, a professor at Boston College who is developing a metamaterial to hide objects in the terahertz range. "There are hundreds of possible applications for this. We just need to think creatively about how it can be used."
Here's an update from March
~Missi
http://tinyurl.com/yhy333s
Miss Informed in 2016! She can't be worse than all those other guys!
Womens locker room, here I come!
[ QUOTE ]
Womens locker room, here I come!
[/ QUOTE ]
You encapsulated the entire thing right there. Bravo, sir and well done.
"His Imperial Majesty's Minister of Restraints and Leather" -LHF
Two naughty acronym teams / Ascension / Convenient / Artic and the Chillz / Fap / Other teams I can't remember (sorry.. mind is goin')
[ QUOTE ]
Womens locker room, here I come!
[/ QUOTE ]
We have to wait until they figure out one that's immune to moisture.
Global- @SailorET, Justice Server
Sheryl Fiero, 50 AR/Devices Blaster
Louise Fiero, 50 Merc/Traps MM
Various assorted alts
Proudly serving in our military so you don't have to.
Pancake winner dies in all-you-can-eat contest
The winner of a pancake-eating contest dropped dead after gorging himself on 43 of the cream and banana stuffed desserts.
Boris Isayev, 48, from west Russia, collapsed to his knees and died on stage after stuffing himself with pancakes in a competition to mark the end of the regions Pancake Week.
"He had really enjoyed the pancakes but then he started foaming at the mouth and went down like a sack of stones," one witness said.
"We have seen people fainting [during such contests] before," she added.
Onlookers tried to revive the man, but he died on the stage.
Witnesses apparently described Isayev as the most active participant in the contest" adding that he "ate all the types of pancakes on offer and won fairly.
The exact cause of death is not clear but doctors believe he choked after a piece of pancake got lodged in his throat.
Sometimes, you can simultaneously win AND lose.
Global- @SailorET, Justice Server
Sheryl Fiero, 50 AR/Devices Blaster
Louise Fiero, 50 Merc/Traps MM
Various assorted alts
Proudly serving in our military so you don't have to.
Thai fireman in 'spider-man' rescue of autistic boy
AFP
Tue Mar 24, 4:37 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) A Thai fireman turned superhero when he dressed up as comic-book character Spider-Man to coax a frightened eight-year-old from a balcony, police said Tuesday.
Teachers at a special needs school in Bangkok alerted authorities on Monday when an autistic pupil, scared of attending his first day at school, sat out on the third-floor ledge and refused to come inside, a police sergeant told AFP.
Despite teachers' efforts to beckon the boy inside, he refused to budge until his mother mentioned her son's love of superheroes, prompting fireman Sonchai Yoosabai to take a novel approach to the problem.
The rescuer dashed back to his fire station and made a quick change into a Spider-Man costume before returning to the boy, he said.
"I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you and I told him to walk slowly towards me as running could be dangerous," Somchai told local television.
The young boy immediately stood up and walked into his rescuer's arms, police said.
Somchai said he keeps the Spider-Man costume and an outfit of Japanese television character Ultraman at the station in order to liven up school fire drills.
I was wondering why he had a Spider-Man costume handy.
I'm glad they cleared that up at the end of the article.
Heard today in the hallway at work:
"DENNY'S is offering a breakfast special in honor the "octomom," Nadya Suleman. It's eight eggs, no sausage, and the guy in the next booth has to pay for it."
On Justice
Super Goober, Scrankster, Dusty McFluffy, SuperHappyFun and others
_____________________________________________
Daily affirmation: net helpmsg 4006
I'm going to need a hacksaw. -- Jack Bauer
I just lost my chicken - Bubbles
Aaawwk! I can feel it in my choadies - Hank Venture
[ QUOTE ]
Thai fireman in 'spider-man' rescue of autistic boy
AFP
Tue Mar 24, 4:37 am ET
BANGKOK (AFP) A Thai fireman turned superhero when he dressed up as comic-book character Spider-Man to coax a frightened eight-year-old from a balcony, police said Tuesday.
Teachers at a special needs school in Bangkok alerted authorities on Monday when an autistic pupil, scared of attending his first day at school, sat out on the third-floor ledge and refused to come inside, a police sergeant told AFP.
Despite teachers' efforts to beckon the boy inside, he refused to budge until his mother mentioned her son's love of superheroes, prompting fireman Sonchai Yoosabai to take a novel approach to the problem.
The rescuer dashed back to his fire station and made a quick change into a Spider-Man costume before returning to the boy, he said.
"I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you and I told him to walk slowly towards me as running could be dangerous," Somchai told local television.
The young boy immediately stood up and walked into his rescuer's arms, police said.
Somchai said he keeps the Spider-Man costume and an outfit of Japanese television character Ultraman at the station in order to liven up school fire drills.
[/ QUOTE ]
On a scale of '1' to 'Awesome'.... That's Awesome! ^.^
-Castle Approved Since March 2009!
-Off the Cape is CURRENTLY RECORDING NEW CONTENT! Once edits, templates, and the new site are up we'll be back to bi-weekly podcasts complete with rampant, wild, unfounded CoH speculation!
[ QUOTE ]
I was wondering why he had a Spider-Man costume handy.
I'm glad they cleared that up at the end of the article.
[/ QUOTE ]
This is what I was thinking. 
"His Imperial Majesty's Minister of Restraints and Leather" -LHF
Two naughty acronym teams / Ascension / Convenient / Artic and the Chillz / Fap / Other teams I can't remember (sorry.. mind is goin')
This isn't really news, but I randomly encountered an ad for this. The song list made me stop and scratch my head.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undenia...ipmunks_album)
Here is another one of those great face-palm stories.
Woman arrested 3 times in 3 days for drunk driving
30 days in jail and fined more than $3,000? Why the hell haven't revoked her license?!?
I was surprised she was even on the road again and not in a cell.
Normally I'm on the side of the police, but this wasn't right. The guy did break the law, but the officer did not handle the situation properly, IMO. If you do a search on YouTube for 'Ryan Moats,' you can see the dashcam video.
[ QUOTE ]
Police officer, who delayed Texans' Moats as relative died, placed on leave
Associated Press
DALLAS -- A police officer was placed on administrative leave Thursday after pulling over an NFL player who was rushing to see his dying mother-in-law, drawing his gun, threatening the player with jail and holding him in the hospital parking lot as the woman died.
Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle apologized to the family of Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats over the March 18 incident and announced that Officer Robert Powell would be on paid leave pending an internal investigation.
"When we at the command staff reviewed the tape, we were embarrassed, disappointed," Kunkle said. "It's hard to find the right word and still be professional in my role as the police chief. But the behavior was not appropriate."
Police officials said Powell told his commanders he believed he was doing his job and that he drew his gun but didn't point it. Kunkle said Powell wasn't necessarily acting improperly when he pulled out his weapon, but that once he realized what was happening, he should have put the gun back, apologized and offered to help the family in any way.
"His behavior, in my opinion, did not exhibit the common sense, the discretion, the compassion that we expect our officers to exhibit," Kunkle said.
Moats' wife, who was in the car along with other relatives, said Powell pointed his weapon at her.
"He was pointing a gun at me as soon as I got out of the car," Tamishia Moats told The Dallas Morning News.
The Moats family didn't immediately return messages left by The Associated Press.
Powell, a three-year member of the Dallas police force, stopped Moats outside Baylor Regional Medical Center after Moats rolled his sport-utility vehicle through a red light. Video from a dashboard camera inside the officer's vehicle, obtained by Dallas-Fort Worth station WFAA-TV, revealed an intense exchange in which Powell threatened to jail Moats.
Powell ordered Tamishia Moats to get back in the SUV, but after pausing for a few seconds, she and another woman rushed into the hospital. Tamishia Moats was by the side of her mother, 45-year-old Jonetta Collinsworth, when she died a short time later from breast cancer.
"Get in there," said Powell, yelling at 27-year-old Tamishia Moats, as she exited the vehicle. "Let me see your hands!"
"Excuse me, my mom is dying," Tamishia Moats said. "Do you understand?"
Ryan Moats explained that he waited until there was no traffic before proceeding through the red light. When Powell asked for proof of insurance, Moats grew more agitated and told the officer to go find it.
"My mother-in-law is dying! Right now! You're wasting my time!" Moats yelled. "I don't understand why you can't understand that."
As he argued with Moats, the officer grew irritated. "Shut your mouth," said Powell, 25. "You can either settle down and cooperate or I can just take you to jail for running a red light."
By the time Moats, 26, received a ticket and a lecture from Powell, about 13 minutes had passed. When he and Collinsworth's father entered the hospital, they learned Collinsworth was dead.
"I really felt bad for them because I know they were just in tears," Jordan Woy, Moats' agent, told The Associated Press. "Not only were they really sad about (Moats) ... not getting a chance to see the mother-in-law, but you get shaken up when you're in that sort of situation."
The Moats family, who are black, said they can't help but think that race might have played a part in the white officer's behavior toward them.
"I think he should lose his job," Ryan Moats said.
When the exchange was at its most contentious, Powell said he could tow Moats' SUV if he didn't have insurance and could arrest him for fleeing because he didn't immediately stop when the officer turned on his sirens. The pursuit lasted a little more than a minute.
"I can screw you over," Powell said. "I'd rather not do that. Your attitude will dictate everything that happens."
The exchange soon ended, and Powell returned to his cruiser to write a ticket. A few minutes later, another officer approached Powell to tell him a nurse said the mother-in-law was dying right then and Moats needed to get into the hospital.
"All right. I'm almost done," Powell said in response.
The ticket issued to Moats was dismissed, Dallas Police spokesman Lt. Andy Harvey said.
[/ QUOTE ]
That story and video made me sick with anger. I concur that the officer handled the situation completely the wrong way. There was *no* reason to delay Moats that long, particularly when informed of the extraordinary circumstances. It was such an abuse of power and and I feel that he should be stripped of his badge and fired.
Change gremlins?
"His Imperial Majesty's Minister of Restraints and Leather" -LHF
Two naughty acronym teams / Ascension / Convenient / Artic and the Chillz / Fap / Other teams I can't remember (sorry.. mind is goin')