The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
A loose energy takes over today, slackening the tightened tendons in your neck and making you feel a lot more relaxed.
This is an appropriate day for sleeping in, slowing down and asking yourself, 'what's the rush?'
Everyone else may be on a tight schedule, but you know you've got plenty of wiggle room, so why not use it?
Take a long afternoon nap -- it will refresh you for the rest of the evening, and fill your mind with inspiring, amusing dreams.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
London, England, United Kingdom
Copenhagen, Kobehavn, Denmark
Gengenbach, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
Perth, Western, Australia, Australia
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Klanf, Selangor, Malaysia
Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia
Paris, Ile-De-France, France
Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Santander, Cantabria, Spain
Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
Grenoble, Rhone-Alpes, France
Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Athens, Attiki, Greece

as well as Slovakia, Malta, Bulgaria, Israel, Finland, Austria, Norway, Georgia, Mexico, Peru, Kuwait, Serbia, Bangladesh, Latvia, Greece, Scotland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Wales, Iran, Singapore, Poland, Taiwan, Sweden, Afghanistan, Belgium, Tibet, Croatia, Pakistan, Romania, Paraguay, Sudan, Vietnam, Argentina, Cambodia, Egypt, France, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Maldives, Qatar, Brazil, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, China, Iraq, Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Paupa New Guinea, Moldova, Venezuela, Germany, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Norway, Finland

and in cities across the United States such as Kirkland, Tampa, Gowrie, Norwood and more.

Today is:

Today is Friday, April 1, the 92nd day of 2011.

There are 273 days left in the year.

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

Poetry and the Creative Mind Day
Sorry Charlie Day
National Fun Day

and
April Fool's/All Fool's Day.

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

Welcome New Readers

Newest Flag Pirate Last Visited October 12, 1492
Well, what do you now we've been 'Pirated' for April Fool's Day!

April is ...

Confederate History Month

Grilled Cheese Month

International Guitar Month

International Twit Award Month

National Gardening Month

National Pecan Month

National Pet Month

National Poetry Month

Straw Hat Month

and

Testicular Cancer Awareness Month

So you can look forward to posts on these topics throughout the month.

April is Confederate History Month

April is Poetry Month

The Road Not Taken  

by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

And I Quote

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."

~ Edgar Allan Poe

Non Sequitur

Web buzzes over April Fools

Web buzzes over April Fools' Day jokes

Internet searches offer a clue to what pranks will be most popular this year. 

Watch out for fishy text messages 

Also: 

• Funny fake science stories
• Colbert preps 'Friday' gag
• Odd rubber duck tale

Twelve historic April Fools' hoaxes

Beetles in apples? Spaghetti growing from trees? Here are a dozen of the biggest pranks ever played, from "War of the Worlds" to Googles TiSP.

Read More

"Spaghetti harvest" and "San Serriffe Islands"

The BBC pulled off a famous April Fools' Day hoax in 1957 with a documentary about the annual spaghetti harvest in Switzerland. Women were shown harvesting strands of spaghetti from trees and laying them in the sun to dry as the narrator explained that a mild winter and elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil had farmers hoping for a bumper crop. Many viewers called the BBC, wondering where they could purchase a spaghetti tree. "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best," was the network's stock response. 

No one takes April Fools' Day as seriously as the Brits. In 1977 The Guardian informed readers in a seven page special about the discovery of a group of islands, San Serriffe. Located in the Indian Ocean and shaped like a semi colon, Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse were ruled by General Pica from the capital Bodoni, the paper stated. Only a handful of readers noticed that all the words were in fact printer's terminology.

Two selections from a gallery of April Fools' jokes posted at Der Spiegel online.

Wizard of Id

Joke's on the Northeast with April Fools' snow

A no-joke April Fools' snowstorm descended upon parts of the Northeast early Friday, a cruel prank on a region that was finally enjoying a reprieve from its long, white winter.

Full Story

Breaking News: Walker resigns as gov - "Just no fun anymore"

The controversial Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, has announced that he has resigned his elected position effective immediately and cited that after 89 days in office that given the current political and economic situation in Wisconsin, that "the job is just no fun anymore." Apparently upset over Judge Maryann Sumi's ruling stating in no ...

Full story

Yemenis hold largest protest yet against leader

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis packed a square in the capital and marched in villages and cities across the nation on Friday in what appeared to be the largest demonstrations in more than a month of demands the country's longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh step down.

Full Story

More disciplined Libyan opposition force emerging

Something new has appeared at the Libyan front: a semblance of order among rebel forces.

Full Story

Libyans talk cease-fire

Rebels talk cease-fire as Gadhafi stumbles

Opposition forces lay out demands for Libya's leader even as they show off new weapons and equipment. 

Ultimate goal 

Also: 

• War the West didn't want
• U.S.: Rebels need training
• Attacks on Libyan woman
• Pentagon preps pullout
• Rebels strike oil deal
• Gadhafi's security abyss

Rebels talk cease-fire as aides quit Gadhafi

Showing improvement on the front lines, opposition forces lay out demands for Libya's leader.

Permission to protest 

The dark side of spring?

With birds chirping and temperatures warming , spring is finally in the air.

But for University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) environmental chemist Torsten Meyer, springtime has a dark side.

The dark side of spring? Pollution in our melting snow

Shut down or sleep?

What's best: Sleep or shut down?

Some people wonder if you can wear a computer out by turning it on and off a lot.  

Expert's simple advice 

Also: 

• Cool gadgets for spring
• When to splurge on gear
• Make your stuff last longer

Odds and Sods

No more saggy pants for Arkansas school children

Arkansas students who love their sagging pants should soon leave them at home. Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe signed a bill on Wednesday that bans students from wearing clothing that exposes "underwear, buttocks or the breast of a female." Arkansas educators have long complained about the drooping attire, such as young men wearing saggy jeans that ...

Dog rescued from floating house

A dog that survived in a house swept away to sea three weeks ago by the devastating Japan tsunami was saved on Friday by a coast guard rescue team flying over an island of debris.

Judge allows dead man's vote to stand in NY village election decided by 1 vote

The election was decided by one vote, and both sides agree that a dead man voted.

Teacher takes picture of student, then mocks her on Facebook

Teachers are supposed to help children, not mock them.

Thus comes the tale of a Chicago, IL student, who wore Jolly Rancher candies in her hair to school, only to have a teacher take a picture --- not because she thought the hairstyle was cute, but in order to post it to Facebook along with a mocking message.

Full Story

Facebook sued for $1B over 'slow' anti-Semitic page removal

It sounds like an April Fools' Day prank, but it apparently is not. Facebook, along with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have been sued for $1 billion (with a B) for intentionally delaying the removal of an anti-Semitic Facebook group in order to “further their revenues and the net worth” of Facebook. 

Full Story

The truth be told

What if they gave a tea party and hardly anybody came?

What if they gave a tea party and hardly anybody came?
They were expecting 'thousands' (if not tens of thousands) of mindless dolts to show up and what did they get ... maybe one hundred.

Rick Scott Hated In Florida

From the "Tell us something we didn't know" Department:

Poll: Floridians hate Rick Scott

No Money For Innocent Death Row Guy

The Supreme Court says: Exonerated inmate won't get $14M.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court made it more difficult to sue local prosecutors' offices for wrongdoing on Tuesday, overturning a $14 million verdict for a New Orleans man who came within weeks of being executed for a murder he did not commit.
The man, John Thompson, was convicted of a 1984 murder and a separate carjacking. He was set free 18 years later after his lawyers discovered that the prosecutors in charge of his trial had deliberately concealed evidence — a blood sample and police lab report — that could have proved his innocence. Prosecutors have a constitutional duty to disclose such evidence.
Writing for the court's 5-4 majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said that Thompson could not show that the New Orleans district attorney was "deliberately indifferent" to those such abuses because he could not point to a pattern of similar violations in previous criminal cases. Without that, Thomas wrote, the court could not conclude that the prosecutors' boss, former District Attorney Harry Connick Sr., was on notice that better training was needed to prevent violations.

Yes, Harry Connick Sr. is the father of Harry Connick Jr.

Just sayin'

Just sayin'

MarketWatch op-ed: tax the super-rich now or face a revolution

CEO pay soars while worker pay stalls

That clever headline comes from USA Today, and the underlying data is as bad as you think it is:

At a time most employees can barely remember their last substantial raise, median CEO pay jumped 27% in 2010 as the executives’ compensation started working its way back to pre-recession levels, a USA TODAY analysis of data from GovernanceMetrics International found. Workers in private industry, meanwhile, saw their compensation grow just 2.1% in the 12 months ended December 2010, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Two years of scaling back amid tough economic times proved temporary as three-quarters of CEOs got raises in 2010 — and, in many cases, the increases were substantial.

I've said before (along with many others) that stockholders no longer own companies — that's a myth held over from your daddy's generation.

The CEO class runs companies for their own financial benefit. The fact that something of value is created is just a by-product, a means to an end. The real goal is just the skim. Proof? From the same article:

The sizable pay hikes came even though the economy’s recovery remains frail, unemployment is high and corporate profits last year were roughly flat, up 1.5%, from where they were in 2007 when the stock market peaked.

CEOs, VPs and the like exist to rake corporate cash into their pockets. Corporations exist to provide that cash, and as the above quote shows, every aspect of corporate control — including the supposed requirement to generate profits — is twisted to that purpose.

Blue Texan calls them our "Galtian overlords". Me, I think "Your Highness" will do just fine.

On The Job

'Sign Board Guy' still out of work

Laid off in 2008, investment banker Joshua Persky struggles to get back on his feet.  

His latest idea 

Also: 

• Jobless rate at 2-year low
• Who's hiring now  
• How to get a raise

Five hot careers for the future

An accelerating economy and two big technology trends make these fields most promising.  

How to train for them 

Also: 

• Five happiest careers
• Why I fired my dad  
• Retirement readiness

Warning about wages for future jobs

The economy is creating jobs that don't support a good standard of living, a study says.  

Salary predictions 

Also: 

• March employment jumps
• Rates may rise in 2011
• Investor outlook

Outdated myths about resumés

Don’t believe these resumé myths

You could hurt your job chances by following outdated rules that have fallen out of favor.

Omit your 'objective' 

Also: 

• One-page resumés?
• 15 job interview mistakes  
• Top firms to work for

Is this the best state to live in?

Unlikely choice for the best state to live in

You won't find pro sports or year-round sunshine, but this state is an economic powerhouse.  

One of the safest, too 

Also: 

• Happiest cities for workers
• Best retirement places  
• Where to raise a family

Eight of the Craziest Houses

 This contemporary house can be found in Orinda, Californi.

It’s called the “saxophone house.”  

See the rest

Culinary DeLites

10 of the most fattening supermarket foods

Choose a better frozen dinner than Marie Callender's 1,020-calorie creamy pot pie.

Skip the ice cream with 24 grams of fat 

Also: 

• Seven diet food rip-offs
• Desserts that fight fat 
• Diet-friendly fast foods

What to eat for healthy hair and nails

Apricots have vitamin A, which helps produce hair-enhancing sebum.  

Cashews contain protein-building zinc 

Also: 

• Nine hot new haircuts
• Spring's best nail colors 
• Foods for healthy skin

Are you getting ripped off?

Short Answer: YES

Are you getting ripped off? Cost of food up, package size down

The most money paid for items

The most money paid for items

A pair of century-old Levi jeans like these sold for a cool $60,000 on eBay.  

Priciest tooth, teddy bear, and more 

Also: 

• High-priced handbags
• Investments to enjoy  
• Products getting cheaper

Billionaire drops staggering sum on house

A Russian mogul's splurge on a lavish Calif. home is one of the biggest sales in U.S. history.  

No plans to move in yet 

Also: 

• More on the new owner
• Exec's 70,000-acre gift
• Millions in diamonds lifted

A Symbol of the American Entrepreneurial Spirit

The Mousetrap

“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” Sure, it’s an old saw, but it’s also literally true.

Between 1838, when the United States Patent Office opened its doors, and 1996, the year that Jack Hope wrote a story about the device for American Heritage magazine, more than 4,400 mousetrap patents were awarded in dozens of different subclasses, including “Electrocuting and Explosive,” “Swinging Striker,” “Choking or Squeezing,” and 36 others. That’s an average of more than two dozen patents every year for more than 150 years. What makes that number more spectacular is that 95 percent of those patents were given to amateur, or first-time inventors.
That’s more patents than have been awarded for any other device, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH), which is currently celebrating the mousetrap by displaying several different designs on the first floor of the museum in one of several long glass cases that greet visitors, both new and returning, when they enter the building.

Nicholas Jackson writes in The Atlantic about various mousetrap designs and how they represent the entrepreneurial spirit. Included is a gallery of some of the more interesting mousetrap patents recorded over the years.

Full Story

Fire station is a potential fire hazard

One Chillicothe firefighter has new job duties on each shift - walking around the firehouse to make sure the place isn't on fire.

Chillicothe Fire Station No.1, the only one staffed in the city following budget cuts, is officially considered a potential fire hazard.

The fire-detection and alarm system at the main station downtown on Water Street hasn't worked for at least a year, perhaps longer. And, the sprinkler system had not been inspected.

To avoid being ordered to vacate its only station, the department now must assign firefighters - who can perform no other duties - to a 24/7 "fire watch."

A 1830-Era Shipwreck Found in Lake Michigan

The 60-foot, single-masted sloop was found at a depth of 250 feet.  

Read more 

How The Bicycle Empowered Women

Wheels Of Change

A new book, National Geographics '' Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)' tells the riveting story of how the two-wheel wonder pedaled forward the emancipation of women in late-nineteenth-century America and radically redefined the normative conventions of femininity.

Portrait

Hillbilly ca 1886

Fabled creatures whip up buzz

Fabled creatures whip up flurry of buzz

A grainy "sighting" caught on film and a researcher's bold claim ignite intrigue.

'Truth' behind elusive chupacabra 

Also: 

• Fierce new T. rex cousin
• Radioactive boars a lesson
• Intriguing alien life theory

Ziggy

How plants make their own sunscreen

Scientists identified the 'photoreceptor' in plants that recognizes the presence of UV-B wavelengths in sunlight

Scientists have discovered how plants know when to make their own sunscreen to protect themselves from harmful solar rays.

How plants make their own sunscreen

Plastic made of feathers unveiled

Plastic made of feathers unveiled

The millions of tons of chicken feathers discarded each year could be used in plastics, researchers say in a report to the American Chemical Society meeting.

• In defense of plastic

Massive Home Aquarium Can Hold 4,800 Gallons

In the basement of Jack Heathcote five-bedroom home, you can find the largest aquarium in Britain. In measures approximately 13 by 13 by 7 feet and can hold 4,800 gallons when filled to capacity. Heathcote has to clean it by hand (pictured) by diving in with the exotic fish from all of the world that he’s collected:

Three of the walls of the tank are the foundation walls of the house and a large section of floor was removed by the bay window to allow access. Downstairs a wall of glass has replaced the brick wall, and behind it are some of the largest fish kept in captivity.
And the collection in the tank – which includes some valuable species – consists of two chainsaw doradids, three 2ft long Pacus, some Pangasius, a Red tail hybrid catfish, two alligator gars, eight enormous stingrays and two Fly River turtles.
They will soon be joined by two silver arowanas, which are more commonly found in the Amazon River Basin.

You can view several large pictures of the aquarium at the here.

Knut the polar bear drowned after brain swelled

Germany's celebrity polar bear Knut died from drowning after collapsing due to swelling of his brain and falling into his enclosure's pool, an expert said Friday.

Full Story

Huge New Dinosaur Was Cousin of T. rex

Paleontologists find one of the largest-ever carnivorous dinosaurs who was also a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex. Read more

Vulnerable Gorilla Owes Fate to Climate Change and Humans

A now critically endangered group of gorillas had split off into its own subspecies about 17,800 years ago, say researchers, who concluded that the evolution of the animal, the Cross River gorilla, was shaped by ancient climate change and, more recently, humans.

Full Story

Mountain Lion Climbs Saguaro

In Arizona: Mountain Lion Photographed Atop Giant Cactus.

It was no doubt a painful climb for the mountain lion up a 30-foot saguaro full of prickly spines. Wildlife experts said the animal looks like an adult male, weighing between 75 and 100 pounds. They believe it was chased by hunting dogs.
"There was a houndsman out trailing mountain lions and treed that mountain lion -- caught up with it -- and that was the only place for it to go to get away from the hounds,” said Babb. “Mountain lions in that situation typically climb a tall tree, and in the absence of tall trees in the area, I guess the saguaro just had to do."
Babb said that while mountain lions are typically the top of the food chain in most of Arizona, it’s not unheard of for one to get chased up a tree by a pack of wolves or javelina, or even another lion.
It is legal in Arizona for hunters to buy a permit and kill one mountain lion a year.

Full Story

Gorillas get iPads to aid alertness and keep them happier in zoos

Gorillas prods the new toy which scientists hope will transform the way primates are kept alert and happy in zoos - an iPad.

Animal behavior experts handed out the gadgets to five apes in an experiment. The super-smart gorillas quickly learned to turn the screens on and off and seem fascinated by the colors and pictures.

Amazingly not a single one of the five tablets which download apps has been broken since being given out at Port Lympne wild animal park three weeks ago.

Head keeper Phil Ridges said yesterday: "We thought they would bang them on rocks but they carry them round as if they were babies." Boffins at the University of Kent, Canterbury, are behind the trial, which is being monitored by Apple.

Animal Pictures