Fingerprint test reveals than you think

Fingerprint test reveals if owner has touched drugs, explosives, and poisons, etc.

In today's edition of the journal Science, R. Graham Cooks, a professor of chemistry at Purdue University, describes a mass spectrometry technique that to test fingerprints to learn what the person has been touching, including drugs, explosives, and poisons.

Because the spatial resolution is on the order of the width of a human hair, the Desi technique did not just detect the presence of, for instance, cocaine on the surface, but literally showed a pattern of cocaine in the shape of the fingerprint, leaving no doubt who had left the cocaine behind.

Fingerprint test tells much more than identity

California Supreme Court: Non-compete clauses are not enforceable

This is great news for workers ...

The California State Supreme Court has ruled that non-compete clauses in employment contracts are not enforceable in California. I'm reminded of the study from the Duke Center for the Public Domain that concluded that the reason that the tech corridor on Route 128 near Boston had grown so much more slowly than Silicon Valley was that Massachusetts has enforceable non-competes, while California does not. The researcher concluded that in California, the best talent moved to the best companies, while on Route 128, crummy companies could lock up great people for years at a time through non-compete agreements.

Note that none of this invalidates confidentiality agreements -- you're still not allowed to disclose secrets -- but you're allowed to work for whomever will hire you, without the cold dead hand of your last boss tugging on your belt.

Californians have the right to move from one company to another or start their own business and can't be prohibited by their employer from working for a competitor in their next job, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

In a unanimous decision, the justices said state law since 1872 has forbidden what are called non-compete clauses that restrict management employees' options after they leave a company.

State Supreme Court rejects noncompete clauses

Daily Funny

Mildred was a 93 year-old woman who was particularly despondent over the recent death of her husband, Earl.
She decided that she would just kill herself and join him in death.
Thinking that it would be best to get it over with quickly, Mildred took out Earl's old Army pistol and made the decision to shoot herself in the heart, since it was so badly broken in the first place.
Not wanting to miss the vital organ and become a vegetable and a burden to someone, she called her doctor's office to inquire as to just exactly where the heart was located.
"On a woman," the doctor said, "your heart would be just below your left breast."
Later that night, Mildred was admitted to the hospital with a gunshot wound to her knee.

Did you know that ...

A non-United States citizen of exceptional merit may be declared an Honorary Citizen of the United States by an Act of Congress, or by a proclamation issued by the President pursuant to authorization granted by Congress.

As of 2008, only six people have had this honor bestowed upon them?

The six people who have had this honor bestowed upon them (only two of them were so honored during their lifetime) are -

General Lafayette,
a Frenchman who was an officer in the American Revolution, posthumously, (1824, 2002)

Winston Churchill,
British Prime Minister during World War II , (1963)

Raoul Wallenberg,
Swedish diplomat who rescued Jews in the Holocaust, posthumously, (1981)

William Penn,
17th and 18th century proprietor and governor of the American colony of Pennsylvania, posthumously, (1984)

Hannah Callowhill Penn,
second wife of William Penn and administrator of Pennsylvania, posthumously, (1984)

Mother Teresa,
Albanian Catholic celebrity fundraiser. (1996)

As of this moment ...

4,134 brave men and women are gone.

4,134 families have been destroyed

Support our troops ... Bring them home now!

There is something the 'fiscal conservatives' aren't telling you ...

The fact they are not 'conservative' about anything let alone anything to do with 'fiscal'.

What is old is new

This going a wee bit far ...

Stasi-Themed bar in Berlin

"Relive the good old days of East German secret police at Zur Firma, a new bar in Berlin equipped with an interrogation table, fake security cameras, and prison cells. You can buy a beer and apply for an ID card at the theme bar."

Make a day of Cold War anti-nostalgia with a visit to the Stasi Museum around the corner, which shows off the offices of the last minister of the secret police who flourished before the Wall came down. There are even prison cells to reenact the fates of those who were brought to the grim, blocky building.

When that display becomes too much, buy a beer and apply for an ID card at the theme bar, called "The Company" or "At the Firm." The cards will mark you as a Stasi informant, but also get you a ten percent discount--not at all offensive to the victims of the reign of terror perpetrated by the secret police.

Paranoia Travel: Get Spied on at This Scary German Bar

Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter

The latest research suggests that while we are peacefully asleep our brain is busily processing the day’s information. It combs through recently formed memories, stabilizing, copying and filing them, so that they will be more useful the next day. A night of sleep can make memories resistant to interference from other information and allow us to recall them for use more effectively the next morning. And sleep not only strengthens memories, it also lets the brain sift through newly formed memories, possibly even identifying what is worth keeping and selectively maintaining or enhancing these aspects of a memory. When a picture contains both emotional and unemotional elements, sleep can save the important emotional parts and let the less relevant background drift away. It can analyze collections of memories to discover relations among them or identify the gist of a memory while the unnecessary details fade—perhaps even helping us find the meaning in what we have learned.

Read more from Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter

Krispy Kreme Grass Flip Flops

Wooooo Hooooo, the sun is finally here and in response to this minor miracle trendy doughnut makers Krispy Kreme have come up with with an ideal solution to those ’stuck-in-the-office-blues’ by offering stressed out city workers the chance to have that feeling of a summer lawn beneath your bare feet all day long. The world’s first grass flip flops can be kept for over four months if looked after and will certainly give you a spring in your step.

Read more from Krispy Kreme Grass Flip Flops