The Daily Drift

The Daily Drift

Today's horoscope says:
There have been some big changes with some of the people you love most in life -- check in on them to see what's up.
You may be surprised to learn of a new arrival.
Get all the gritty details you can, as quickly as you can.
The wheels are turning in your mind -- but your outlandish ideas may not be so outlandish after all.
Keep pushing on just to see how far you can go.
Act on your deepest convictions and the results will always be genuine.

Some of our readers today have been in:

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Almeria, Andaluca, Spain

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Athens, Attiki, Greece

Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey

London, England, United Kingdom

Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany

Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

Tours, Centre, France

Swindon, England, United Kingdom

as well as Italy, Scotland, Wales and in cities across the United States such as South Bend, Lexington, Sparta, Toledo and more.

Today is:

Today is Wednesday, October 13, the 286th day of 2010.

There are 79 days left in the year.

Today In History October 13

Today's unusual holidays or celebrations are:

National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work (& School) Day

International Top Spinning Day

Don't forget to visit our sister blog!

They're Free

First trapped miner pulled to surface

The first of the 33 miners trapped since Aug. 5 is pulled through a 2,000-foot escape shaft.  

Young son reacts 

Also: 

• Watch rescue live
• Biggest risks of rescue
• More on the capsule

Chile rejoices as freed miners emerge

The miners jubilantly embrace wives, children, and rescuers after surviving 69 days underground.  

'Extraordinary luck' 

Also: 

• Watch rescue live
• Photos from scene
• Will jobs await miners?

Last trapped miner pulled to surface

The 69-day ordeal and history's longest underground captivity ends with the 33rd man's rescue. 

Crowd erupts 

Also: 

• Watch rescue live
• Photos from scene
• Reason for sunglasses

A Tax-Free Retirement

A smart way to save for retirement

Owing less to the IRS is just one reason to consider putting money away in a Roth IRA. 

Tax-free withdrawals 

Also: 

• Advice you can trust
• Making 401(k) choices
• Roth IRA rules

'Rollback' backfires

Walmart's 'rollback' strategy backfires

The company changes course after steep price cuts have an unintended effect.  

Food prices hit 2-year high 

Also: 

• Find online coupons
• Walmart's iPad rollout
• Gap ditches new logo

Tough Times in the Recovery

Is this what a recovery feels like?

Like many other families, the Wheatons are struggling with less pay and more bills.

'This can't be happening to us' 

Also: 

• Tax cut compromise
• Surviving on one income
• Low unemployment

Woman Receives One-Billion-Dollar Electric Bill

It's tough for some to make ends meet and pay their bills on time. 
So imagine the surprise of a Georgia woman, when her utility bill asked for one-billion dollars!

When Scarlett Hall sat down to pay her bills, she realized it was probably going to take quite a few Benjamins to pay a billion dollar electricity bill. 

The amount due, $1,016,500,130.09.

Hall lives in Acworth, Georgia, in a home with her husband and three children. 
She's had high power bills before, but nothing like this. 

(Talk about it being tough to make ends meet.)

Knowing this bill had to be a mistake, Hall called Cobb Energy where a customer service rep was able to correct the bill, bringing it down to a more reasonable and accurate $287.

The truth be told

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Repugicans’ ‘scary’ immigrant photo depicts Mexicans in Mexico, photographer reveals

A photograph that has appeared in two high-profile repugican campaign commercials, used in both cases to depict what some have called "scary" illegal immigrants, is actually a photo taken in Mexico, depicting three Mexican farmers whose crops were destroyed, a British photojournalist has revealed.
And he isn't exactly happy to see his work reproduced in such a manner.
The photo, which was available through Getty Images, carries a caption describing the men as "Mexican citizens photographed in their own country," explained photographer Chris Floyd, in an update to his blog.
In spite of this, repugicans Sharon Angle, a Senate candidate from Nevada, and David Vitter (reptile-LA) have both featured the image in advertisements castigating alleged support of illegal immigrants by their political opponents.
"The fact that these men were Mexican citizens photographed in Mexico kind of negates their claims," the photographer wrote.

Spanish Second Most Common Spoken Language, Third Most Common on the Web

In research just released by Applied Economics professor Jose Luis Garcia Delgado, Spanish language is second in the number of speakers behind English.

Full Story

Grammar rules to keep in mind

Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re old hat)
Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
Be more or less specific.
Remarks in brackets (however relevant) are (usually) (but not always) unnecessary.
Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
No sentence fragments.
Contractions aren’t necessary and shouldn’t be used.
Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
Do not be redundant; do not use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous.
One should NEVER generalize.
Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
Don’t use no double negatives.
Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
One-word sentences? Eliminate.
Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
The passive voice is to be ignored.
Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary. Parenthetical words however should be enclosed in commas.
Never use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice.
Kill all exclamation points!!!
Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shaking ideas.
Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.
Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer in a million can use it correctly.
Puns are for children, not groan readers.
Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
Who needs rhetorical questions?
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.

Laptop spying suits settled by school district for $610,000

Two lawsuits in the so-called "laptop webcam spying" incident involving the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania have been settled, for $610,000.

Full story

Unwired

New Bugatti is fastest car

Inside the world's fastest supercar

The old Bugatti Veyron cost $1.6 million, with a 1,001-hp engine and 253 mph top speed.  

New one is even faster, pricier 

Also: 

• $1.8 million Ferrari 599XX
• Latest wild concept cars
• Definition of horsepower

A new hotel for Harlem

Hotel arrival brings a new buzz to Harlem

The historic New York City neighborhood sees the opening of its first major hotel since the 1960s.  

Its target customers 

Also: 

• Explore the Aloft
• Area's important history
• More on hotel chain

How we make up our minds

How to be a better decision maker

The first step is determining whether you think in black-and-white terms or shades of gray.

Two shortcuts you can take 

Also: 

• Make changes that stick
• Dealing with life's chaos
• Search: Coin-flip trick

Tuesday Is The Most Miserable Day Of The Week

Did you feel miserable yesterday? That's because Tuesday is the shabbiest day of the week. Conventional wisdom has been turned on its head by researchers at the London School of Economics, who have been monitoring the moodswings of 22,000 people. The results have shown that Tuesday is when most people are at their lowest ebb.

George MacKerron, of LSE's Department of Geography and Environment says: It seems plausible that on Monday the weekend has not quite worn off. By Tuesday they are well into the working week and the following weekend is not yet in sight.

Ziggy

Strong reaction to high prescription costs

Strong reaction to high prescription costs

Growing numbers of customers aren't bothering to pick up their medicines due to the price.  

Co-pays as high as $100 

Also: 

• Court hears vaccine case
• Natural cold remedies
• Drugstore savings

Shoe

Upping the cute factor

Awwww

Car-eating Rabbits at Denver Airport

Imagine landing at the airport and finding that hungry rabbits have eaten your car. Well, not the entire car, just the parts that make it run. That’s happening more and more at the Denver International Airport.

A vacationer returned after a nine day holiday only to find that his brand new VW Jetta would hardly crank. When he got it started he sought the help of the dealer, as anyone would, knowing that it is covered under the bumper to bumper warranty.
The service representative quizzed the owner if he had just picked up the Jetta from DIA and the gentleman responded, “Well as a matter of fact I did.” The culprit, according to the dealer, are rabbits who have combined exercise and a healthy diet to ensure against early onset cardio vascular disease.
The bunnies are feasting on rubber coated wires and other delicacies that may be infused with soy oil during the manufacturing process.

In the case of the VW Jetta, the warranty does not cover damage caused by hungry rabbits.

Full Story

Awesome Pictures

Flying Fish

Dolphins Rule!

Swimmers have told how a pod of dolphins protected them from a great white shark off the northeastern coast of New Zealand.

Rob Howes and three other lifeguards were on a training swim about 100 meters offshore at Ocean Beach, near Whangarei, when the dolphins raced in and herded the group together.

“They started to herd us up, they pushed all four of us together by doing tight circles around us,” Mr Howe said.

When he tried to drift away from the group, two of the bigger dolphins herded him back.

He then saw why. A three meter long great white shark was cruising toward the group about two meters below the surface.

Full Story

Humpback Whale's Journey Breaks Distance Record

 

Photo: mikebaird / CC

What could drive a female humpback whale to travel a quarter of the world, shattering mammal migration records? The quest to find a mate, of course. The whale's journey took her from the coast off south Brazil all the way to waters of eastern Madagascar -- an incredible 6,125 miles. And it's not just feat of endurance that is impressive to researchers; Studying the epic trek may help biologists better understand the lengths that whales are willing to go to for a change of scene.

Article continues: Humpback Whale's Journey Breaks Distance Record

The Life and Death of a Dinosaur

Where Dinosaurs Died Reveals How They Lived   

Dinosaur graves speak of life.

B.C.

Where To Get Your Happy Pills In Spain

 

image credit

Ah those crazy Spaniards and their drug legislation. These pictures are from Barcelona in Spain where - unbelievably - you can buy your (so called) happy pills by simply walking in off the Avinguda del Portal de l'Angel and helping yourself.

Creating a dreamlike undersea world

Artist's dreamlike undersea world

A surreal community of 400 lifelike statues is being created on the ocean floor near Cancun.

Take a tour 

Also: 

• More on the artist
• Wakeskating in Turkey
• Novice's huge catfish

Nine Magnificent Manmade Mazes

 

image credit

If you love solving puzzles then you'll go gaga over these complex masterpieces. Attracting visitors near and far, each of these nine mazes - made of cornstalks, flowering plants, hedges and more - are magical adventures for gamers, history buffs and lovers of landscape architecture.

The Ten Coolest Future City Concepts

10 Coolest Future City Concepts.