Oh, don't be an Athol

I don't believe that anyone with a low sense of the pun has ever been able to resist mocking the name of one small Massachusetts town...but now, Comcast has had to apologize to Athol for picking on them. From CBS News (which also couldn't resist):

(AP) A cable sports network says it no longer will make Athol the butt of its jokes. Comcast SportsNet said Thursday it would pull a newspaper ad that leaders of the small central Massachusetts town called insulting and offensive.

The ad featured two side-by-side signs that together read: "We can pronounce Worcester ... without sounding like an Athol."

*snort*

Oh, don't be an Athol

I don't believe that anyone with a low sense of the pun has ever been able to resist mocking the name of one small Massachusetts town...but now, Comcast has had to apologize to Athol for picking on them. From CBS News (which also couldn't resist):

(AP) A cable sports network says it no longer will make Athol the butt of its jokes. Comcast SportsNet said Thursday it would pull a newspaper ad that leaders of the small central Massachusetts town called insulting and offensive.

The ad featured two side-by-side signs that together read: "We can pronounce Worcester ... without sounding like an Athol."

*snort*

Let's get to the important questions

Will boomerangs return in zero gravity? That's what STS 123 Endeavor's crew will try to find out. Pink Tentacle notes that Japanese astronaut Takao Doi will be bringing two paper boomerangs aboard for next week's mission...to see if the return-to-sender phenomenon works in space.

Let's get to the important questions

Will boomerangs return in zero gravity? That's what STS 123 Endeavor's crew will try to find out. Pink Tentacle notes that Japanese astronaut Takao Doi will be bringing two paper boomerangs aboard for next week's mission...to see if the return-to-sender phenomenon works in space.

Kinda pretty, kinda useful...wicked weird

Starship fragrance oil warmer. $19.95.



Via Nerd Approved.

Kinda pretty, kinda useful...wicked weird

Starship fragrance oil warmer. $19.95.



Via Nerd Approved.

Who can really *claim* pizza?

The pizza we know today wasn't really an Italian invention...unless you count Italian expats living in New York city. But even that influx only explains one type of pizza.

Pizza is pretty much an American thing. Or it was...until we re-exported the concept to the rest of the world, and they went...well, a little crazy. I've had pizza in several countries, and it's always fascinating to see how other nations take in the concept of pizza and make it uniquely their own.

Here are the "top ten crazy Asian pizza crusts." Funky (but I think I'll stick to very simple, relatively plain pizza).

Who can really *claim* pizza?

The pizza we know today wasn't really an Italian invention...unless you count Italian expats living in New York city. But even that influx only explains one type of pizza.

Pizza is pretty much an American thing. Or it was...until we re-exported the concept to the rest of the world, and they went...well, a little crazy. I've had pizza in several countries, and it's always fascinating to see how other nations take in the concept of pizza and make it uniquely their own.

Here are the "top ten crazy Asian pizza crusts." Funky (but I think I'll stick to very simple, relatively plain pizza).

Go Dilbert!

Who, me? an addict?

Go Dilbert!

Who, me? an addict?

This one hits home

The fiscal horror that was the sub-prime mortgage market's collapse is having ripple effects elsewhere -- and here in Boston, where the education game is one of our biggest businesses, that impact is in the area of student loans, reports the Boston Globe online:

The fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis is sending shock waves through the college loan industry in New England, limiting options for some students seeking assistance for the fall semester.

Amid a deepening credit squeeze and cutbacks in federal loan subsidies, New Hampshire's nonprofit student-loan agency said this week that it will no longer offer private loans. The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, which lent money to 42,000 college students last year, has so far failed to secure any financing for its loans, as skittish investors shy away from taking on debt.

That's a definite "yow," and it could have serious impacts on my students.

This one hits home

The fiscal horror that was the sub-prime mortgage market's collapse is having ripple effects elsewhere -- and here in Boston, where the education game is one of our biggest businesses, that impact is in the area of student loans, reports the Boston Globe online:

The fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis is sending shock waves through the college loan industry in New England, limiting options for some students seeking assistance for the fall semester.

Amid a deepening credit squeeze and cutbacks in federal loan subsidies, New Hampshire's nonprofit student-loan agency said this week that it will no longer offer private loans. The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, which lent money to 42,000 college students last year, has so far failed to secure any financing for its loans, as skittish investors shy away from taking on debt.

That's a definite "yow," and it could have serious impacts on my students.

Well, we might not have really blown up those people

In the "we'll only claim responsibility if it's not wicked bad PR" category, the Boston Globe reports,

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip—Hamas militants in Gaza backtracked Friday on their claim of responsibility for an attack on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that killed eight Israelis.

Ibrahim Daher, head of Hamas' al-Aqsa radio, said his station put out an earlier claim of responsibility prematurely.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, confirmed the group was not taking responsibility for the attack -- at least yet.

How do you not know if you blew up eight people at a seminary? The part that makes me want to just vomit:

"There may be a later announcement. ... But we don't claim this honor yet," he said.

Honor? It's a frickin' honor to kill people who care about their faith, their god? There are no words to explain how angry this makes me.

Well, we might not have really blown up those people

In the "we'll only claim responsibility if it's not wicked bad PR" category, the Boston Globe reports,

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip—Hamas militants in Gaza backtracked Friday on their claim of responsibility for an attack on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem that killed eight Israelis.

Ibrahim Daher, head of Hamas' al-Aqsa radio, said his station put out an earlier claim of responsibility prematurely.

Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, confirmed the group was not taking responsibility for the attack -- at least yet.

How do you not know if you blew up eight people at a seminary? The part that makes me want to just vomit:

"There may be a later announcement. ... But we don't claim this honor yet," he said.

Honor? It's a frickin' honor to kill people who care about their faith, their god? There are no words to explain how angry this makes me.

Boston's sister city in the south

smofbabe keeps telling me I need to come to Australia. And now I find out that Boston has a sister city in the south. The wicked south. The wayyyy down-under south. And here are some graphic comparisons between Boston and Melbourne.

Pretty cool. Well, pretty warm right now.

Boston's sister city in the south

smofbabe keeps telling me I need to come to Australia. And now I find out that Boston has a sister city in the south. The wicked south. The wayyyy down-under south. And here are some graphic comparisons between Boston and Melbourne.

Pretty cool. Well, pretty warm right now.

Politics often does require memory

Surray, Virginia has a little problem.

SURRY, Va. (AP) -- A husband went to the hospital. A wife passed away. Cancer struck. Grandchildren were born. The full-time job and the two young kids just got too overwhelming.

And so it came to be that in Dendron, no one remembered to run for Town Council or mayor this year.

"We forgot," said Ruth Sheffield, a current councilwoman in the tiny Surry County town of just under 300 souls. "We usually have a reminder and we didn't get that reminder. We should have known. It's our fault."

Via Fark.com.

Politics often does require memory

Surray, Virginia has a little problem.

SURRY, Va. (AP) -- A husband went to the hospital. A wife passed away. Cancer struck. Grandchildren were born. The full-time job and the two young kids just got too overwhelming.

And so it came to be that in Dendron, no one remembered to run for Town Council or mayor this year.

"We forgot," said Ruth Sheffield, a current councilwoman in the tiny Surry County town of just under 300 souls. "We usually have a reminder and we didn't get that reminder. We should have known. It's our fault."

Via Fark.com.

A Tigger's a Wonderful Thing!

So...galtine1 found this test that determined which Poohvian you most resembled. I never thought of myself as Tigger, but he was always so uplifting (if a bit scattered). I'm good with that.

Your Score: Tigger

You scored 16 Ego, 11 Anxiety, and 17 Agency!

And as they went, Tigger told Roo (who wanted to know) all about the things that Tiggers could do. ( And here's all about Tigger... )

A Tigger's a Wonderful Thing!

So...galtine1 found this test that determined which Poohvian you most resembled. I never thought of myself as Tigger, but he was always so uplifting (if a bit scattered). I'm good with that.

Your Score: Tigger

You scored 16 Ego, 11 Anxiety, and 17 Agency!

And as they went, Tigger told Roo (who wanted to know) all about the things that Tiggers could do. ( And here's all about Tigger... )

I am a terrible person

But you knew that. My terribleness this week is in the category of "terrible daughter," because I am tempted to buy these and decorate my mom's fridge the next time I visit her. Maybe my sister Lib's...



£12.99, via IWantOneOfThose.com.

I am a terrible person

But you knew that. My terribleness this week is in the category of "terrible daughter," because I am tempted to buy these and decorate my mom's fridge the next time I visit her. Maybe my sister Lib's...



£12.99, via IWantOneOfThose.com.