NASA has announced that the Mars rover Spirit will not be shut down. This is a great relief to us, and to all of the io9ers who cried out in pain when NASA suggested it would have to kill Spirit in order to make a $4 million budget cut requested by the US government. [AP via Yahoo! News]
A sad day for air travelers:
A federal appeals court has rejected a law requiring airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers trapped in a plane delayed on the ground.Apparently the ATA thought providing "food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers trapped in a plane delayed on the ground" was too onerous a requirement.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that New York's new state law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier. It was the first law in the nation of its kind.
The appeals court said the new law was laudable but only the federal government has the authority to enact such a regulation.
The law was challenged before the appeals court by the Air Transport Association of America, the industry trade group representing leading U.S. airlines.
Court overturns passenger rights law [AP] (Thanks to Brandon Savage!)
The brave, unflagging Mars rover Spirit, who has lived on the Red Planet for almost four years, has been given a death sentence by the U.S. government. Right now, the little robot is resting on a sunny slope, waiting out the winter and preparing to do more tests on the Martian atmosphere. But now it looks like Spirit has rolled on its six wheels and done science experiments for the very last time. The U.S. government has forced NASA, this country's national space agency, to cut its budget by 4 million dollars. And that means only one rover, Opportunity, will survive. To say that this is a tragedy is an understatement.
The Mars rovers have been one of NASA's most proud achievements, and the information they gather today can help future planetary colonists tomorrow. While NASA is planning to land another rover on Mars within the next year, it's a shame to shut down a perfectly serviceable rover that could be supplementing what the new rover will learn.
With the Earth population skyrocketing, and urban overcrowding only likely to get far worse over the coming decades, preparing to colonize other plants should be more of a priority than ever. And every time we shut down a NASA program like the rovers, we step backward, away from the goal of leaving Earth. We also hinder our search for knowledge beyond this planet.
If i thought that money being cut from NASA's budget were going to developing renewable energy or bettering urban environments, I wouldn't be quite so pissed off. At least in that case, the money would be going toward building a better future Earthside. But it's not. Instead it's being used to bail out Bear Stearns.
Why doesn't a philanthropist like Bill Gates or Paul Allen step forward and write a check to save Spirit?
Spirit is an awesome robot, with awesome developers and operators at NASA, who braved the elements and mechanical problems to help advance our understanding of Martian geochemistry and atmosphere. The U.S. government should be ashamed that it has effectively killed fifty percent of its only science lab on another planet.
Above,you can see a picture Spirit took of its own tracks in the dust.
Kthxbai, Spirit, kthxbai.
NASA Cut Means No More Roving for Mars Rover [AP via PhysOrg]
For me, buying a car is about as enjoyable as a root canal. And a story like this one just reinforces the low opinion I have of dealerships in general.
In a nut shell, a guy bid on eBay auction for a brand new BMW. The auction had no reserve and a minimum bid for $60k. The guy bid at that price, and the auction closed with a single winning bid: his at $60k. Later, the dealer called him and reneged on the deal, saying that the auction was “a mistake”. The guy countered that they had entered into a legal contract through eBay, that the dealership had adjusted their Buy It Now price twice (meaning they were watching the auction), that this wasn’t their first auction (they’re not novices), and that they’ve reneged before (a different car in a prior auction).
The guy, obviously, felt cheated. He posted on in a car forum, and his thread got picked up by autoblog (with 300+ diggs, but no front page yet … hmmm …) and reddit (and I suppose, now on Neatorama).
WhileI’m not big on Net vendettas, I can’t help but wonder at the new megaphone consumers now have. Big blogs like The Consumerist are filled with irate consumers with damning stories. Even the little guys can have their say (see the story of nissan.com and starbucked.com)
Obviously, there are two sides to the story and we haven’t (and probably won’t) hear from the dealership. So I’ll let you guys decide on who’s at fault and so on.
But what I’d like to ask you is this: what’s the thinking of big corporations on PR disasters like this one? Do they even care about Net protests? Or do they think Net protests will blow over in a matter of days and then it’s back to business as usual? If you work in a large company, I’d love to hear what you think.
Links:the original thread at M3Post (long)
Remember this morning when I posted about Sony charging $50 to not install bloatware on new PCs? Looks like Sony realized how jackassy it made them look, as it's going to be free as of tomorrow. Here's the full quote:
"Starting March 22, Sony will offer Fresh Start free of charge. We want VAIO users to have the best experience possible with our PCs, and we believe Fresh Start will help ensure that happens right out-of-the-box."Huzzah!
ByEvan Ackerman
Sick of all that crapware that inevitably shows up on new computers? Good news! Sony is taking steps to make sure that your expensive new system arrives clean, pristine, and free of useless junk. After all, doing so will “free up valuable hard drive space and conserve memory and processing power while maximizing overall system performance right from the start,” according to Sony. Brilliant! And how is Sony going to make your computing experience so much better? Easy! You pay them $50, and they won’t install all those stupid free trials and game demos and crap. Hey, thanks Sony!
VIA[ Engadget ]
Reason why I still don't like Comcast, and can't wait for Fios to get to my location
Comcast is now claiming that the FCC "has no legal power to stop the cable giant from engaging in what it calls 'network management practices' (critics call it peer-to-peer traffic blocking)," reports Ars Technica. In an amazing display of spin, Comcast writes that letting the marketplace "maximize consumer welfare" has been "enormously successful" as proven by the "Comcast customer experience"—seriously, we're not making up these phrases. On a less humorous note, the filing in which Comcast makes these claims also seems to imply that it will sue the FCC if it tries to enforce any changes on how Comcast blocks P2P traffic.
The three main points of Comcast's argument, which Ars Technica covers in greater detail, are:
1. "Congress has not given the FCC authority to act on this matter"
2. "The FCC's Internet Policy Statement does not give the agency the authority to deal with the issue"
3. "Regulating Comcast's ISP policies may violate the Administrative Procedures Act (APA)"
The article concludes that this may just be "legal saber rattling" on Comcast's part—but that it might also be "a warning to the FCC to expect a lawsuit following any action against ISP P2P blocking. FCC Chair Martin says he hopes to finish his investigation of Comcast by late June. "
"Comcast: FCC lacks any authority to act on P2P blocking" [Ars Technica]
(Photo:Monty Python)
Arthur C. Clarke, author of hundreds of books on science, science fiction, space, and even underwater exploration, died in his home yesterday at the age of 90. For many, Clarke embodied the future. He was a writer, the man behind epic tales such as "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Rendezvous with Rama," and a host of other sci-fi classics. He was an explorer, documenting his dives to the Great Barrier Reef in incredible detail. And he was a futurist, suggesting that satellites would be useful in making radio communication global long before Sputnik was launched, and predicting a world where we routinely watched men and women skyrocket into orbit long before anyone dreamt that such a thing was possible.
Perhaps one of the most prolific writers in modern history, Clarke was known to turn out several books a year. He wrote a number of sci-fi classics, but also published papers and non-fiction books on space travel and underwater exploration. Clarke postulated in 1945 that satellites in geo-stationary orbit could relay radio communications around the world within moments, and wrote about humanity's exploration of the moon before the Apollo missions were thought of. Clarke's science fiction visions slowly became science fact over the decades, and through it all he looked forward, dreaming of tomorrow.
Clarke was a farmer's son, working for the British government as a youngster and joining the Royal Air Force during World War II. After the war, he obtained his bachelor of science in Physics and Mathematics, but he was busy writing articles and stories about space travel and the future of humans in space while still in the midst of his academic career. Clarke was more than a scientist and a futurist, he was also an avid scuba diver: He choose to live in Sri Lanka after World War II so he could dive the Indian Ocean and travel to Australia to observe life in the Great Barrier Reef.
On his 90th birthday in December 2007, Clarke, suffering from post-polio syndrome and breathing problems that had plagued him since the 1960s, recorded a video message to his fans. He wished the world well, said his goodbyes, and expressed that he had lived a full life and had no regrets. He hoped that for all of our sakes we would find a way to live in peace (specifically referencing Sri Lanka's civil war), embrace clean energy to protect the planet, and continue searching for extraterrestrial life.
Clarke's books and articles forced readers to expand their horizons and stretch their imaginations. His non-fiction earned him the respect of scientists around the world, and his vision of the future commanded the admiration of two generations of fans. Clarke was an inspiration to people of all ages that dared look up at the sky in wonder or dream of exploring the depths of the sea or the vastness of space, and he'll truly be missed.
Arthur C. Clarke--the visionary science fiction writer who won worldwide acclaim with more than 100 books on space, science and the future--died March 18 in his adopted home of Sri Lanka, the Associated Press reported. He was 90.
A driver who was high on cocaine destroyed an entire cornfield in an attempt to escape from the police.
Four police cars were destroyed before the 35-year-old crashed into a ditch and was arrested, near the village of Dussen in the south of the Netherlands.
In testament to old world craftsmanship, Japan Steel Works is both a samurai sword maker and the only company in the world that's good enough with steel to produce the central part of a nuclear reactor's containment vessel in one piece, an engineering necessity in to order to reduce the risk of radioactive leaks. The company spends to much time and resources on each containment vessel that they can only produce four a year, flaunting a price tag starting with a $100 million down payment. [bloomberg via slashdot] [image]
ManyCL&P readers no doubt read Credit Slips regularly, but those who don't should read this post by Professor Warren. At a House Subcommittee hearing on credit card abuses and the credit card holder's bill of rights legislation, four consumers were unable to testify. Their elected representatives and the credit card companies had worked out an extraordinary set of conditions on their appearance. The four consumers were asked to sign releases so that the credit card companies could publicly disclose anything and everything about their credit card accounts, in the interest of "fairness."
Comcast wanted to charge Daniel $69.99 for 16mbps Internet access, or "Blast" level service, but he knew that he should only be paying $52.95. No amount of wrangling could convince the customer service reps otherwise, but after searching on the Comcast site, Daniel found documentation of the price and forced Comcast to honor it. Now he shares the PDF with us so others can get this deal as well. He was also able to get a $79.99 credit on his account to buy a new cable modem since the 16mbps service needs Docsis 1.5 or higher technology in the modem, so that's something to shoot for as well. Note, Blast is only available if you're in one of Comcast's the "select" "competitive" markets, I.e. wherever Verizon FiOS is. Inside, the full contents of the PDF splayed out...
A district attorney in Rockwell County, Dallas, is under scrutiny from the FBI due to a PC he built as a backup server -- using office money. Ray Sumo claims he was using the system for business, but the "server" actually seems to be a tricked out gaming rig, featuring two hard drives, seven fans, high end graphics and sound cards, WWII, and cables which "glow under ultraviolet light." Rod Gregg, the FBI examiner on the case says, "I would not configure a backup computer in that way," and added, "When I saw that, I did not think of anything related to a government agency." Charges of forgery, theft, and records tampering have been made against Mr. Sumrow due to his use of the district attorney's "fee fund," which is meant to be used for office supplies or employee salaries. Testimony will take place through the week, and prosecutors expect to hear how it was imperative to Mr. Sumrow's legal work that he, "Frag the crap out of dudes."
[Via Penny Arcade]
Image:a snapshot I took in 2006 of ethnic Tibetan nuns praying in a temple in Lhasa, Tibet. This small temple is very close to the site of large protests taking place this week. Some of the women in this temple told me that fellow nuns had been jailed, tortured, or "disappeared" for expressing spiritual allegiance to the Dalai Lama, and to the notion of Tibetan sovereignty.
- - - - - - - - - -
The Chinese government this week dispatched military troops and police to important monasteries in Tibet to crack down on the largest protests by ethnic Tibetan Buddhist monks in the Himalayan region in 20 years. Witnesses are reporting that trucks full of troops have surrounded Drepung monastery in Lhasa, as police surround nearby Sera monastery. Snip from the Independent:
These two sites have strong symbolic significance, as they were the training grounds for the monks who led Tibet before the People's Liberation Army came in 1950 and ousted the Dalai Lama.Protests began on Monday as monks marked the 49th anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule that culminated in the Dalai Lama's exile. The protests are the biggest since the late 1980s, when riots led to martial law. Back then, China's current President, Hu Jintao, was the Communist Party chief in Tibet.
Signs of defiance in Tibet come just five months before the Olympic Games in Beijing, when the eyes of the world will be on China. Tibetan activists are expected to use the extra attention to highlight their cause.
Among the many reports today, this sad and symbolic story: two of the protesting monks from Drepung are in critical condition after stabbing their wrists and chests as a form of protest.
The two monks were identified as Kalsang and Damchoe, both originally from Kirti monastery in Sichuan province and now resident at Drepung monastery. Sources said the men had stabbed themselves in the chest, hands, and wrists. Both refused to be moved to hospital but were taken instead to the monastery clinic, the sources said."There're many other monks who hurt themselves in desperation, and protests are going on inside the monastery as of March 12 and 13," one source said. Another source described the two monks' condition as critical and said they were not expected to survive.
The pro-Tibet-independence advocacy group Students for a Free Tibet has a news coverage roundup of the protest inside Tibet, and a roundup of related video reports, including the clip above, which shows exiled Tibetan monks and nuns in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh protesting, and vowing to return by foot over the Himalayas to Tibet.
Previously on BB:
Protest inside Tibet captured on tourists' cameras Hacking the Himalayas: Xeni's stories and trek-blog from Tibet and India Boing Boing tv: Miss Tibet/Eames Elephants Google, China, and genocide: web censorship and Tibet
Thanks Boing Boing for the news
ForestEthics has started a petition to enact a Do Not Mail registry, similar to the one that's sort of in effect (when marketers choose to abide by it) for telemarketing. Their reasoning: junk mail is enormously wasteful and damaging to the environment. We agree, but we're in favor of the registry for the simple reason that less junk mail means fewer uninvited distractions, ID theft risks, and trash we'd have to deal with every day.
From ForestEthics' press release:
ForestEthics is urging Americans to sign a petition at www.DoNotMail.org demanding a national registry that will finally offer citizens control over the unsolicited coupons, credit cards, catalogs and advertisements that fill their mailboxes on a daily basis.The downside—we think a Do Not Mail registry would land a devastating blow against the USPS, which relies on all that crap to make any money. But seriously, we'd pay to support the USPS if it meant cutting junk mail in half.The production of the 100 billion pieces of junk mail that Americans annually receive requires more than 100 million trees, while producing as much global warming emissions as 3.7 million cars.
Junk mail distributed in the United States currently accounts for 30% of all the mail delivered in the world, though 44% of it goes to landfills unopened.
Polls consistently show that between 80 and 90% of respondents dislike junk mail and are eager to find a mechanism that will address their frustration and concerns about the problem.
Vermont State Representative Christopher Pearson, who is sponsoring Do Not Mail legislation in Vermont, added, "If our experience in Vermont is any indication, Americans are eager to assert their right to protect their privacy, their right to stop needless waste, and their support for a Do Not Mail Registry."
RELATED
"Stop getting junk mail" [DoNotMail.org]
"Phone numbers and websites to opt out of junk mail" [DoNotMail.org]
Prick!!!!!
David C. Richardson, the owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration in Providence, Rhode Island, overheard two customers speaking Spanish to each other, so he asked them to produce proof of citizenship. According to them, he then threatened to call Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and make a citizen's arrest, although Richardson denies he picked up the phone, but not that he made the threats. In fact, he says he's done this "fifteen or twenty times" in the past and refuses to do business with those who won't show their Social Security cards.
According to the article, Richardson is likely in violation of a state law that prohibits unfair sales practices, as well as state laws "prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race or national origin in places of public accommodation." Even the group that Richardson claims membership in—Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement (RIILE)—is trying to distance itself from Richardson:
"There's no way I can defend what he did. It definitely isn't the policy of RIILE to go around and use your RIILE card to intimidate people," said Gorman in a phone interview. "That's not something that RIILE would promote ... to make citizen's arrest."When asked what proof he had to suspect their status, he replied, "What proof is there? I think the majority of people who don't speak English in Rhode Island -- at least 51 percent or more -- are illegal aliens." Both customers are Dominican natives with U.S. citizenship.Genao said he is still upset over the encounter, which he called "loud in tone." Richardson called it "a discussion.""I told [Richardson] I'm a U.S. citizen by choice, whereas he was just born here," said Genao. "I have every right to be here. I told him his behavior was shameful. And he went on to say that a lot of these illegal immigrants are criminals and we have to stop them, and he said he did this for his country -- because it's going downhill, because of all these illegal immigrants.
"What[Richardson] should have done was say, 'Thank you for shopping with me.' That's all he had to do."
(Thanks to ElizabethD!)
"Store owner asks to see shoppers' Social Security cards" [The Providence Journal]
Thanks
Nice!!!!! About time Congress is doing something about Kevin Martin
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Gulp. FCC chairman Kevin Martin is prepping for a big ol' congressional probe this morning. Martin received a letter today warning that he is being investigated for, "management practices that may adversely affect the Commission's ability to both discharge effectively its statutory duties and to guard against waste, fraud, and abuse." Martin, you'll recall, was recently accused of being in Verizon's back pocket during its attempt to revise the 700MHz open-access rule. The investigation is prompted by allegations made by "credible" FCC employees, both current and former, so far reaching -- including its handling of Comcast and the so-called, 70-percent ruling -- that Ars Technica expects it to turn the "FCC upside down." Martin has two weeks to deliver "a truckload" of records to Congress before this revolution gets televised.
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I will be doing the same
Reader Jordan says that Gillette is adding a razor blade to their 4-pack. And raising the price $5.
A couple of weeks ago, I was at Target, and I saw that all of their Mach 3 cartridges were on clearance. As a Mach 3 user, I was kind of concerned as to what was going on. I hoped that they weren't discontinuing the Mach 3 and Mach 3 turbo and forcing everyone to buy their newest razor.Last night I was at the grocery store and wandered down the shaving aisle, and lo and behold, Mach 3 razors now only come in a 5-pack. Not only that, the price has been jacked way up. A 4-pack of Mach 3 turbo blades was about $8.99. The new 5-pack costs $13.99. So they give you one extra razor for 5 bucks. Thanks, Gillette. I am now switching to Schick.
Ouch.
Thanks Consumerist for the news
Yesterday, Go Daddy pulled the plug on RateMyCop.com, which has been criticized by law enforcement officials for allegedly putting police officers in danger by listing their names and in some cases badge numbers. Visitors can then add comments and post critiques or praise about specific cops in their area. The website collected its officer data via public information requests, and no personal information is used, nor are undercover agents revealed. Still, law enforcement officials are upset at the exposure. When the site's owner, Gino Sesto, called Go Daddy, he was first told it was removed due to "suspicious activity," but then the reason was changed by a supervisor to an exceeded bandwidth cap, which Sesto disputes. Go Daddy isn't talking to the media because of its privacy policy. The site, however, is already back online with a different hosting company.
One Consumerist reader sent Go Daddy the following letter this morning to voice his concerns that the company might be selectively censoring content (which certainly is within Go Daddy's right, but might turn off some customers):
I am writing to express my concern over Go Daddy's recent action in taking down the "RateMyCop.com" site hosted for one of your customers. Recent media attention has raised some controversy and your action was to suspend the site and post an "oops" page asking for the site's owner to contact you.While I'm not necessarily a fan of "RateMyCop" or its message, the content of this site did not violate any laws, nor did it violate any normal standards of decency. That Go Daddy would censor this site, without warning or consultation to the site's owner, is deeply troubling to me.
I have been a Go Daddy customer for many years, and recently went through significant steps to transfer the last of my domains from previous registrars/hosts to consolidate under Go Daddy. I am now seriously considering taking my business elsewhere.
My domains are "hobby" websites, which I'm sure makes them very profitable for Go Daddy because I pay for Premium level services but place very little load on your systems, in that traffic is steady but not massive. I pay for this type of hosting so that I have absolute control over the content and presentation of my domains, free from advertising, bias, or other restrictions.
If Go Daddy is going to insist that constitutional protections extending to publications on other media do not apply when published on Go Daddy's servers, then I'm afraid I will feel the need to publish my speech elsewhere. And I promise to do so in as noisy and spectacular a manner as possible.
I look forward to hearing your response, and furthermore hope that you will reconsider your policies regarding censoring the content of the sites you are paid to publish.
"GoDaddy Silences Police-Watchdog Site RateMyCop.com" [Wired]
Bullshit!!!!
ASHLAND, Ky. (WSAZ) -- A mother says the straws she bought for her three-year-old daughter were shaped like a male sex organ.
Andrea Bailey says she went shopping at the Ashland Wal-Mart on Thursday, February 28th, and bought a package of fun straws for her three 3-year-old daughter, Ashlynn.
Bailey says Ashlynn came in and used one shaped like a heart. A couple others in the package, though, were shaped like something different.
“There are two of them that are shaped like the male private area,” said Bailey. “I called Wal-Mart and they very rude with me about it. They acted like I was lying, like I was making it all up. You know, I would never make something up like that, especially about my little girl. But, that's just how they treated me and it’s just not right.”
A communications representative at Wal-Mart corporate headquarters e-mailed us a response.
"At Wal-Mart we take customer questions and concerns seriously,” said the spokesperson in a statement. “After being contacted on this matter, Wal-Mart pulled the product in question from our shelves and is investigating the claim. Of course, our customer is welcome to return the item for a refund, if they would like."
Andrea Bailey says her concern is not the $1.69 she paid for the straws, but what might happen to other families with kids a little older than Ashlynn.
We searched at three other Wal-Mart stories in three different states last week, and found no fun straws on any shelves.
A Wal-Mart corporate communications spokesperson told us the regional stores were aware of the flap, and Wal-Mart was reviewing the product.
Do you think the straws look like male sex organs or rocket ships? Comment on this story with your answer.
Admits relationship 'difficult'
By Nick Farrell: Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 8:01 AM
THE somewhat cosy relationship between Comcast and the FCC appears to be down the toilet over the matter of network controls.
Comcast CFO Michael Angelakis has admitted that he has a problem FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. Martin has ignored the lobbying from Comcast and told it that it has to stop disrupting some of its subscribers' Internet transfers.
Angelekis told the Bear Stearns' annual media conference that he had a good relationship with everyone else on the FCC other than Martin. He said that the relationship was really too bad.
Part of this might have something to do with the fact that Angelakis wants to disrupt his punters' peer-to-peer transfers without telling them about it.
If the Owl people are secretly running America, we would expect to see Martin committing suicide soon by shooting himself in the back of the head six times. µ
L'Inq
Allyinsider
HaHaHaHa am I glad I am an atheist
In case the original 7 deadly sins aren’t enough for you, the Vatican has come up with seven additional "social" sins to be wary of:
The seven social sins are:
1. “Bioethical’ violations such as birth control
2. “Morally dubious” experiments such as stem cell research
3. Drug abuse
4. Polluting the environment
5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor
6. Excessive wealth
7. Creating poverty
Another reason not to watch the next Olympic games that will be played in China
To
prepare for the Olympic Games, China has mounted an aggressive campaign to rid Beijing from … cats!The cull comes in the wake of a government campaign warning of the diseases cats carry and ordering residents to help clear the streets of them.
Cat owners, terrified by the disease warning, are dumping their pets in the streets to be picked up by special collection teams.
Paranoia is so intense that six stray cats -including two pregnant females - were beaten to death with sticks by teachers at a Beijing kindergarten, who feared they might pass illnesses to the children.
China’sleaders are convinced that animals pose a serious urban health risk and may have contributed to the outbreak of SARS - a deadly respiratory virus - in 2003.
Butt he crackdown on cats is seen by animal campaigners as just one of a number of extreme measures being taken by communist leaders to ensure that its capital appears clean, green and welcoming during the Olympics.
The cats are then taken to what animal activists are describing as "death camps" on the edge of Beijing: Link
Bullshit....
Act mouthwash may look like it comes in two sizes, but according to Mouseprint, the large and small bottles are actually entirely different products. The labeling looks largely the same until you get to the active ingredient. The small bottle contains .05% of sodium fluoride while the large bottle contains .02%. Hit the jump for Act's sneaky explanation.
Now who would ever expect that a different size bottle would have a different strength of the active ingredient? In fact, if you look at the larger bottle, there is a "2x" on it. Without reading carefully, one might assume that "2x" means twice the strength or twice the size, but certainly never half the potency. A closer examination reveals that is says "2x a day". Okay, so you can use the product twice daily.Who in their reasonable mind would expect a larger bottle to contain anything other than more product? Act is reaping undeserved profit while consumers think they are getting protection that just isn't provided.As it turns out, the company says the smaller bottle is a once a day product, and the larger one is a twice a day product. Apparently you get the equivalent amount of fluoride using the diluted version two times a day.
We guess Act and Listerine share the same rotten marketing team.
Act Fluoride: Twice the Size, Half the Strength [Mouseprint]
PREVIOUSLY:Thought Process Behind Listerine Label Finally Revealed
Why would you want to get rid of it? That is so coooool.
When Scot Simpson bought the circa 1953 house in Charlottte NC, little did he know that he would find an 8-by-12-foot bunker buried beneath his lawn mower shed.
“The bomb shelter was built about 1960 or 1961″, said Earle Heath, who still lives next door. Heath was 12 or 13 back then. “The owner of the house was in the construction business”, he said, “and sent workers over to dig the hole and pour the concrete”.
That would have been just before the Cuban missile crisis, when many Americans feared nuclear Armageddon.
Simpson would like to get rid of the poured concrete and steel bunker, but doesn’t know what’s involved in getting rid of it.
Source:Charlotte Observer
HAHAHA.....
That’s Israeli fisherman Novon Mashiah, who thought that it would be a good idea to pose with a 12-foot crocodile. Here’s what happened:
The crocodile had swum towards the boat hoping to be fed fish. "I was shocked, the animal clearly wanted to kill me," said 27-year-old Mr Mashiah.
"One minute I was leaning over the boat teasing it for a picture. The next minute it burst out of the water with incredible speed.
"I jumped back and the croc landed on the boat and then slapped into the water. I was shaking."
MrMashiah’s friend Doron Aviguy, 22, took the photograph from a bigger boat nearby. The two Israelis are working as fishermen on the South Alligator River in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Mr. Mashiah said: "They come near the boat all the time, probably because we are fishing. I was laughing, but it wasn’t funny in the end. I didn’t realize that crocs were so aggressive."
Link (with much better, bigger pics)
The justices pose varying questions during arguments over the constitutionality of California's ban on same-sex marriage. They have 90 days to reach a decision.
The California Supreme Court appeared divided today over the constitutionality of the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
The courtroom was packed for the long-awaited hearing, with lawyers for various sides taking turns at the podium. Attorneys for same-sex couples and for San Francisco argued that the state marriage law violated equal protection rights and anti-discrimination laws, while lawyers for the attorney general's and governor's offices, and for pro-family and religious groups, insisted that cultural tradition justified a ban on gay weddings.
