`When Ashlee Simpson tops the charts while a critically acclaimed ex-Beatle’s album fails to crack the top 200, eyebrows go up in the marketing world.
So what makes a hit?
A new study reveals that we make our music purchases based partly on our perceived preferences of others. [..]
Researchers found that popular songs were popular and unpopular songs were unpopular, regardless of their quality established by the other group. They also found that as a particular songs’ popularity increased, participants selected it more often.
The upshot for markerters: social influence affects decision-making in a market.’
`Desert bus is probably one of the best games ever. Unfortunately the game was never released, until now. 11 years after the planned release date Waxy is hosting a torrent for this mythical game. The game is part of a long-lost Penn and Teller videogame.
The goal of the game is pretty straightforward. You have to drive a Bus through the desert from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas. The hard part is that the whole trip is in real-time, so it takes 8 hours at least. And it gets even better:
There is no scenery or even other cars on the road, just plain desert, for 8 hours. Oh, and your bus veers to the right just slightly, so it’s impossible to just tape down a button and go do something else. Rumor has it that if you make it to Vegas, you score one point.‘
`Iran’s radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Thursday in Malaysia that Islam will be the dominant power in the “near future”, the official state news agency reported.
“The near future will be in the hands of Islam”, Ahmadinejad said after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur with the King of Malaysia. He cited the victory of the Islamist group Hamas in the recent Palestinian elections as a sign of the rise of Islamism in the world.
“History has shown that when Muslims become powerful, they do not use their power to the detriment of others, but use it in the service of peace and tranquillity”, Ahmadinejad said.’
`It certainly was not part of Britain’s plans to win the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq. But the Foreign Office has been apparently paying for an adult sex chatline in a Baghdad street for 17 months without knowing it.
The Foreign Office has had to tell MPs that an investigation into how a diplomat lost two satellite phones in Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism but more to do with a budding entrepreneur and a telephone porn network.
FO officials had already admitted that the lost phones had cost them £594,000 in unauthorised phone bills but it is now bracing itself for an extremely critical report from the Commons public accounts committee on how it came to pay phone bills, which at one stage hit £212,000 in one month, without asking questions.’
`Russia plans to hit a golf ball into Earth orbit from the International Space Station. If NASA approves the plan, the ball would set records for the longest drive ever made – but some experts warn that a mishap could cause “catastrophic” damage to the station.
The plan is part of a commercial deal between the Russian space agency and Element 21 Golf Company, based in Toronto, Canada. In the plan, the station’s next crew members, due to launch to the station on 29 March, will try for the record-breaking swing during one of three planned spacewalks by September 2006. [..]
In a worst-case scenario, the ball would remain at the same altitude long enough that its orbital plane shifted until it could hit the station side-on, says J C Liou, an orbital debris expert at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, US. “Then you could potentially have something similar to a head-on collision with an impact speed of about 9.4 kilometres per second,” Liou told New Scientist.
The force of such a collision would be equivalent to that of a 6.5-tonne truck moving at nearly 100 kilometres per hour. “So the outcome of the worst-case scenario could be quite catastrophic,” he says. But he adds that such a dire scenario is “highly unlikely” to occur.’
She gives some good advice.
(8.6meg Windows Media)
`The intrusion of cellular phone rings into theaters, schools and nearly every other nook and cranny of modern life may soon hit a wall.
Playing to the backlash against ubiquitous communication, a company called NaturalNano is developing a special high-tech paint that relies on the wizardry of nanotechnology to create a system that locks out unwanted cell phone signals on demand. [..]
His firm has found a way to use nanotechnology to blend particles of copper into paint that can be brushed onto walls and effectively deflect radio signals.
The copper is inserted into nanotubes, which are ultra-tiny tubes that occur naturally in halloysite clay mined in Utah. The nanotubes are about 20,000 times thinner than a piece of paper, too small to be seen with even a conventional microscope. At this size, which is near the molecular scale, materials have different physical properties than they normally do.’
`A company that fired a 13-year employee as his wife lay dying of brain cancer has offered the Pennsylvania man his job back.
Rug Doctor said the company has offered back pay and no break in seniority to former sales representative Bernard Chippie. But it’s unclear if he will take the carpet-cleaning company up on its offer.
“I don’t think the offer is one of compassion. They’re afraid of what I might do (a lawsuit),” he told The Tribune-Democrat.’
`People often ask me when they should teach the Good News to their housecats. I have but one answer: “What are you waiting for?”
A pet is a beloved part of your family, and as a Christian, you should do everything you can to guarantee that this valued member of your family receives the glorious eternal reward for which Christ gave His very life. Think of the alternative: your cat mired in darkness for eternity because you put off a 10-minute conversation.
My own cats accepted Jesus into their hearts before they even opened their eyes. The light of salvation has brightened their lives, but perhaps the most noticeable change has been in me. I am filled with warmth knowing their eternal souls have been saved.’
`Former British glam rocker Gary Glitter was jailed for three years for sex offences against two underaged girls by a Vietnamese court today.
The disgraced 1970s pop star stood accused of molesting two local girls aged 11 and 12 last year at his rented seaside bungalow in the southern resort town of Vung Tau, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.’
`In what is further evidence of the porn industry’s disdain of Christianity, an Internet-based sex toy company has begun selling items modeled after religious icons.
Web-based Divine Productions goes out of its way to promote products that clearly offend and mock Christianity and the Catholic Church. Through its website, the company is offering sex toys like a “baby Jesus b— plug,” a “jackhammer Jesus,” and a “diving nun.”
Gene McConnell is director of Authentic Relationships International, an organization that reaches out to men and women who are struggling with addiction to pornography. “It is clear that [porn] providers like this have to expose their customers to more destructive ideas to get their customers to come back for more,” he says.’
`An Italian parliamentary commission concluded “beyond any reasonable doubt” that the Soviet Union was behind the 1981 attempt to kill Pope John Paul II – a theory long alleged but never proved, according to a draft report made available Thursday.
The commission held that the pope was a danger to the Soviet bloc because of his support for the Solidarity labor movement in his native Poland. Solidarity was the first free trade union in communist eastern Europe.
“This commission believes, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla,” said a draft of the commission’s report obtained by The Associated Press. Wojtyla was John Paul’s Polish name.’
`Traces of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at eight times the level permitted in drinking water, it was revealed last night.
Tests conducted on 230 drinks on sale in Britain and France have identified high levels of benzene, a compound known to cause cancer, according to the Food Standards Agency. There is a legal limit of one part per billion of benzene in British drinking water. The latest tests revealed levels of up to eight parts per billion in some soft drinks.’
`A retired French colonel accused of trying to boost his children’s tennis results by drugging their opponents has admitted he spiked the water bottle of a rival player who later died in a car crash.
Christophe Fauviau, whose daughter Valentine, 15, is one of France’s brightest prospects, made his confession at the start of his trial in the south-western town of Mont-de-Marsan.
He is charged with the manslaughter of Alexandre Lagardere by unintentionally causing him to fall asleep at the wheel of his car. Mr Lagardere had earlier been overcome by drowsiness while playing Fauviau’s son Maxime in the final of a local tournament.
Fauviau, 46, a former helicopter pilot instructor with an exemplary military record, is also accused of administering toxic substances to 21 of Valentine’s opponents and six of her brother’s.’
`It’s a serious problem. Countless bovines have disappeared from dairy farms everywhere. And the numbers of missing cows are on the rise.
A rapidly growing collection of alien cow abduction evidence and documentation has been posted below.’
`Ground-based astronomy could be impossible in 40 years because of pollution from aircraft exhaust trails and climate change, an expert says.
Aircraft condensation trails – known as contrails – can dissipate, becoming indistinguishable from other clouds.
If trends in cheap air travel continue, says Professor Gerry Gilmore, the era of ground astronomy may come to an end much earlier than most had predicted.’
`A $400,000 federal government compensation payout to an 11-year-old Iranian boy who suffered psychological harm in Australian detention centres has been described by his lawyers as a “landmark outcome.”
The NSW Supreme Court today approved the compensation offer to Shayan Badraie who sued the immigration department on the grounds he was psychologically harmed while living at Woomera and Villawood detention centres between 2000 and 2002.
After months of hearings, the boy’s lawyers accepted an out-of-court settlement offer yesterday of “$400,000 by government solicitors”, a spokeswoman for legal firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman said.’
`A man showing off his OnStar system in his Cadillac Escalade found out the system worked too well. Ralph A. Gomez, 38, was being held Wednesday on $15,000 bond on charges of possession of an illegal narcotic within 1,000 feet of a church and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Gomez was showing off his OnStar system to his girlfriend, but the volume was set so low that he couldn’t hear the OnStar operator. OnStar comes on many new General Motors vehicles and allows a customer to contact an OnStar representative in an emergency or to get directions.
If there is no response, OnStar contacts police.’
`Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark., had been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport Hospital on Sept. 20, 2003. Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled together and who had been given nothing stronger than Tylenol all day, begged, according to court papers, to have the shackles removed.
Laura Strange, a California inmate, shackled to her bed before the state enacted a law banning the practice during labor, delivery and recovery.
Though her doctor and two nurses joined in the request, her lawsuit says, the guard in charge of her refused.
“She was shackled all through labor,” said Ms. Nelson’s lawyer, Cathleen V. Compton. “The doctor who was delivering the baby made them remove the shackles for the actual delivery at the very end.”‘
`Naked Rambler Stephen Gough has been jailed for two months for appearing naked in the dock from custody.
Mr Gough, from Eastleigh in Hampshire, completed his second naked trek from Lands End to John O’Groats last week.
He had been arrested on Wednesday for walking naked into Edinburgh Sheriff Court to face previous charges.’
`They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.
And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges’ behavior was found questionable.
And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn’t call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn’t try to sneak a machine gun through customs.
They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast. [..]
They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn’t move until the threat alert is lifted.’
`Several groups around the world have gained approval to develop implants that can monitor and control the behavior of a wide range of animals.
In the United States a team funded by the military has created a neural probe that can manipulate a shark’s brain signals or decode them. More controversially, the Pentagon hopes to use remote-controlled sharks as spies.
The neural implant is designed to enable a shark’s brain signals to be manipulated remotely, controlling the animal’s movements, and perhaps even decoding what it is feeling.’
`This summer a Gristedes store on Roosevelt Island in New York will get half of its power from six tide-powered turbines in the East River. Unlike dam-based hydroelectric generators, which depend on rain or snowpack to keep current flowing and which shut down during droughts, newer “hydro- kinetic” systems exploit less capricious natural forces. “Lunar power” is the term offered by experts such as George Hagerman, a senior research associate at Virginia Tech and co-author of a recent EPRI marine-energy study. “You can’t know if the wind will be up in an hour,” he says, “but you can predict the tide 1,000 years from now.” “It’s local, reliable, renewable, and clean. Plus, it’s out of sight,” says Trey Taylor, president of Verdant Power LLC, the Arlington (Va.) startup developing the East River site.’
All that cocaine seems to have taken its toll aswell.
Not for work.
`WElL I GOT NEWS FOR U MISTER I GOT MORE FIREWALL POWERS NOW SO IM SECURE AND IM USING WINDOWS 98 SO IM REALLY SECURE FROM HACKERS LIKE YOU SO YOU BETTA JUST GIVE UP CUZ U GOT NO HOPE MISTER.’
Guess how old people are from a photo.
I guessed some topless 52 year old woman was 30 and now I feel awful. :)
`The mother of a disabled teen complained to the American Civil Liberties Union after she and her son were kicked out of a movie theater because he was laughing too loudly.
Susan Brown said she and her 19-year-old son, Matt, were asked to leave an AMC Woodlands 20 theater during a showing of “The Pink Panther” Sunday. An AMC spokeswoman said several patrons complained about the teen’s outbursts. [..]
“Here’s a child that was laughing at a comedy,” she said. “His way of expressing delight and joy at this movie was laughing, but because his communication technique got in the way of someone else’s space, he had to leave.”‘
`A woman pleaded guilty Monday to attempted murder charges for trying to hire a hit man to rob and kill four men for what she thought was cocaine, but turned out to be cheese.
Jessice Sandy Booth, 18, hatched the plot after she visited the home of the men, and mistook queso fresco – a white, crumbly cheese common in Mexican cuisine.
But the hit man she hired turned out to be an undercover police officer.
“They asked her numerous times ‘Do you really want to go through with this?'” prosecutor Paul Hagerman said. “They gave her numerous chances to back out, but she said she was serious. She said she needed the money for modeling school.”‘
Shock Absorber is some brand of bra, apparently. And this is the bounceometer that simulates boobies bouncing about.
`A Baton Rouge hospital, hoping to get to the bottom of an office prank, is ordering 25 employees to undergo DNA testing or be terminated.
Leaders at Woman’s Hospital say a man who works in Building Operations returned from several weeks off to find that someone had placed urine in his toolbox.
After hearing of the incident, hospital administrators sent a memo to 25 employees who also work there telling them that DNA testing would be done unless someone came forward admitting guilt. Since no one came forward, the hospital said the DNA testing will begin within the next few weeks.’
