Category: News

  • Gary Coleman Was Admitted to Hospital Because of a Serious Medical Condition

    Last Thursday, The former child star, Gary Coleman was said to be in a serious medical condition in a Utah hospital after injuring his head. Janet Frank, a spokeswoman for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo does not want to reveal any information regarding his condition, but stated that Coleman’s family can answer questions regarding what happened. However, the family didn’t want to discuss further about his condition.



    The actor is best known for his role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom, Diff’rent Strokes. He has congenital kidney disease caused by Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis. A Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis is an autoimmune disease where in there is destruction and alteration of the kidney which causes stunted growth. He had undergone kidney transplant and requires daily dialysis. This is a sad situation for Coleman since his health problem is getting serious. Only recently, he was reported that he had seizure after the set of “The Insider”.

    Gary Coleman was married to Shannon Price. It was a secret ceremony and she even was the one who proposed to him. Coleman says, “I don’t have issues with age, I have issues with intelligence…She’s more intelligent then I am and that’s what matters to me.” Price says, “He was really sweet and I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t grow up with Diff’rent Strokes. I actually didn’t like watching TV when I was younger.” The couple married secretly on August 28, 2007 on a Nevada mountaintop after meeting on the set of one of Coleman’s movies. The ceremony was extremely intimate. Coleman says, “Nobody was around but the minister, preacher, the videographers, the photographer, the helicopter pilot and us. That was all that was there. There was nobody else.” However, they divorced just after eight months of their marriage. Price says that Coleman has temper tantrums whereby he “stomps the floor and yells, ‘Meehhhh,’ and starts throwing stuff around…He bashes his head in the wall, too.”

    Coleman’s life has been miserable since he has many financial, legal problems and emotional problems. He was even arrested because he was reported about domestic violence.

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    3. Rodney Stuckey Hosipitalized

  • Faces of War: SEABEES

    The Navy’s Construction Battalion is known as the SEABEES (C-B’s… get it?) and they are among the most appreciated troops on a base.  That’s because they make things more comfortable for the troops by building almost everything… and almost anything.

    They often work “outside the wire”, constructing a Forward Operating Base or Combat Outpost from the ground up, laying the foundation, building the protective berms and walls, making wooden floors for the tents, hammering together structures for offices and chow halls and showers and bathrooms.

    They build tables and chairs, bunks and doors, bomb shelters and even barbecue grills (by cutting a barrel in half).

    Strangest request?  Petty Officer Jeff Conmy says “A dartboard.  In the shape of a human.”  And he arches an eyebrow.  Did he build it?  “No.  I said we can’t help you.  That’s what we told them.”  And he laughs.

    Conmy, a 23 year old from Ventura California, says he grew up playing with legos and always liked building stuff, so when he decided to join the Navy fresh out of High School, becoming a SEABEE was a no-brainer.

    He’s good with a torch and had welding experience so that’s his specialty here now.  He’s on his fourth deployment and 2nd tour of Afghanistan and when asked what he’s looking forward to most when he gets home, he says candidly “not taking showers with a bunch of men!’

  • Why Yesterday’s GDP Miss Was Meaningless And A Spending-Driven Recovery Is Well On Track

    Despite yesterday’s 1Q GDP data, which came in lower than consensus expected, Deutsche Bank is remaining adamant in their belief of a sustainable recovery ahead driven by consumer spending gains.

    Their key metric to focus on is the trend in jobless claims data, which they believe is forecasting upcoming American wage and salary gains, which will translate into consumer spending gains.

    Deutsche Bank:

    However, as the figure below highlights, wage and salary growth is highly correlated with the level of initial claims (91%), so the improvement in the latter suggests further W&S gains are likely. The recent revisions to Q1 GDP also included downward revisions to Q4 wage and salary income (by $30.3B), based on more complete tax records. On the margin this is negative for the consumer spending outlook, however, recent labor market improvements are likely to be the more dominant factor with respect to spending. As such, next week’s May employment report takes on heightened significance. We are projecting a +475k nonfarm payroll gain, or +225k excluding Census hires.

    Chart

    (Via Deutsche Bank, Household incomes to fuel sustainable recovery, Joseph LaVorgna, 27 May 2010)

    Join the conversation about this story »

  • Time for a Tea Party!

    tea with a twist.jpg
    The traditions of drinking tea are largely absent in American culture except for in the play of little children. Lisa Boalt Richardson, certified tea specialist, can change all of that with her two books!
    Tea with a Twist: Entertaining and Cooking with Tea

    The parties are simple to put together. Each tea includes easy-to-follow instructions and budget-friendly tips for brewing specialty teas, preparing delicious recipes, and decorating tables. Whether the cook chooses to pour tall glasses of the unusual bubble tea for fun-loving friends or hot, exotic masala chai tea for those seeking an adventure, it’s certain that tea time has a new twist!

    I love the layout of this book, and how it includes recipes for food to accompany each tea party idea. From a Mexican tea party to your basic iced tea, everything is covered. It is truly inspirational!

    The World in Your Teacup: Celebrating Tea Traditions, Near and Far

    Sojourners learn the history of tea and its influence on eight specific regions, including China, England, and Russia. From the many recipes Lisa has collected and Lauren has photographed, readers discover that a savoury honey scone is perfect with dark Kenyan tea and a rich almond cookie called a ghoriba tastes great with a glass of sweet Moroccan tea. And every tea party planner will appreciate the helpful tips to create fun and tasty teas for their family and friends.

    This books provides a cultural education for people like me that think of tea as something to drink when you are sick. It also includes recipes. I find the history fascinating. From Iran to France, readers learn cultural tips, as well as authentic ways to make teas.

    Disclosure: I was sent free samples of these products to review. No prior assurances were given as to whether the review be positive or negative.


  • 2011 Range Rover to get an Upgraded Engine

    Range Rover Sport

    The next edition of the Range Rover SUV will feature an upgraded engine as per a letter received by some German dealerships. The current model lineage is powered by a 3.6-liter V8 variant, however the 2011 model will feature a more powerful 4.4-liter V8 turbodiesel option. The better engine incorporation will make the Range Rover a more expensive vehicle in 2011 as it will be priced at €88,900, €3,000 more than the current generation model. The official press release of the 2011 Range Rover will be held on June 17 this year while in July, Range Rover will be celebrating its 40 years of existence, following which the sales will begin in October this year.

  • More Flash Based Game Topping for Your Froyo

    Kongregate, a web site featuring tons of Flash-based indie games that are free to play is joining the Froyo goodness with a new mobile site. It should a a good ay for those of you who are enjoying your 2.2 Android update can to waste some time.  M.kongregate.com is officially launched and ready to go with 100 games accessible to your Flash-enabled Android device.  (Is there an app for that on the iPhone, Steve?)

    Kongregate, who teamed up with Adobe during the completion of the beta phase of Flash 10.1, is considered a valuable partner in pushing Flash 10.1 forward.

    “Kongregate is a key contender in web-based gaming and a valuable partner in helping us demonstrate the capabilities of next-generation Flash technology for devices,” said Ricky Liversidge, vice president, Product Marketing, Flash Platform at Adobe. “Kongregate has been critical to delivering rich and compelling Flash-based game experiences for the rapidly expanding mobile games market.”

    With Froyo being dropped (whether officially or not), we are going to see an explosion of sites geared towards mobile Flash gaming, as it opens up a huge door of ad revenue for site owners.  Check it out with your Nexus One and leave comments on how it runs!

    Might We Suggest…


  • Novitec Rosso Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

    Novitec Rosso Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

    It’s been a while since we’ve seen a project from the German tuning firm Novitec Rosso, but they have now released their Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Upgrading Ferrari supercars for years now, Novitec brings us this finely tuned package with several performance and cosmetic changes. The cornerstone of the Novitec Rosso Ferrari program is a power increase and even sportier exhaust note with the ECU tuning and a stainless steel exhaust. Modified electronics allow the 5.7-liter Ferrari V12 to boost the power to 565 hp and 609 Nm of torque. At the track, this allowed the Maranello’s 612 Scaglietti to run from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 3.9 seconds, and accomplish an amazing top speed of more than 325 km/h.

    For the Ferrari exterior styling, Novitec Rosso added 20-inch alloy rims wrapped in Pirelli P Zero high performance tires in the front, and a 21-inch rim and tire combo at the rear. Enhancing the look even further are a set of black tail lamp covers, reflectors, and side markers to give it a stealthier look. Inside the Novitec Ferrari you will find tailor made seats with leather trim and a variety of flat-bottom steering wheels.

    [Source: carscoop]

    Source: Fancy Tuning – the latest car tuning news

  • Exclusive: EVO 4G Accessory Prices and Availability

    We’ve known for a while that the EVO would come to market with plenty of accessories. What we didn’t know was how much the ones we actually cared about would cost. Thanks to a friend over at Sprint, we now have a little more insight into some of the prices, and what will for sure be available come the June 4th launch date.

    • There will be a case, a body glove, and a pouch available at launch
    • Car kit will come soon after launch for $59.99
    • Media dock, also coming shortly after launch, will include HDMI cable and be $39.99
    • Standalone HDMI cable will be available at launch for $29.99
    • Charging holster will also come shortly after launch, but price is still unknown

    The charging holster may become a pretty hot item when it’s finally released, as the EVO isn’t getting such high marks in the battery usage category. The holster will allow the device to recharge as it sits comfortably at your waist-side.

    Overall, it’s nice to finally see Sprint putting all of its resources behind a worthy Android phone. Hopefully for them, it pays off. If we hear any more availability or pricing information, we will be sure to update this post. Hopefully, we’ll be getting some screenshots to back up the above prices and availability, sometime tomorrow.

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  • Volkswagen forecast 2010 sales in South Africa will grow twice as fast as the market

    2010 Vw Golf VariantBased on the strength of its new models, Volkswagen predicts that 2010 sales in South Africa will rise twice as fast as the market.

    David Powels, VW’s managing director in South Africa, said that deliveries in South Africa are expected to rise by 42% to 75,000 vehicles this year when compared to the 52,800 units sold in 2009. Meanwhile, the South African market overall is expected to increase by 20% in 2010 to 310,000 vehicles. There was an earlier forecast for sales of 290,000 cars. VW is relying on demand for the new Polo Vivo compact and Amarok pickup truck to achieve its goal of growing faster than the market. Last year, VW had overtaken Toyota Motor Corp.’s sales to become the biggest carmaker in South Africa. Notably, car demand has risen in the first quarter as economic growth accelerated to an annualized 4.6%, from 3.2% in the past three months, due to gains from the mining and manufacturing industries.

    [via autonews – sub. required]

    Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

  • 2010 Nissan Juke U.K. price announced

    Nisan JukeThe new Nissan Juke will go on sale in the UK this September. With a price that starts from £12,795, the Juke will directly rival the superminis, such as the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa and VW Polo, even if the Juke is larger and offers more features as standard.

    At the entry level, the Juke offers a petrol engine that delivers 115bhp — making it more powerful than the 1.6-liter unit fitted in the Note. The 1.5 dCi unit, the only diesel engine in the range, generates 108bhp. Diesel Jukes are priced from £15,145. Both engines are exclusively available with front-wheel drive. An optional CVT gearbox is offered for petrol models however both are fitted with manual ‘boxes as standard. Continued after the jump!

    The top-of-the-range Juke is equipped with a new 187bhp direct-injection petrol unit, available with both front- and all-wheel drive. The front-drive model has a six-speed manual ‘box, while the all-wheel drive variant has a CVT ‘box with a torque vectoring system — a first for a car in this segment. The all-wheel drive is priced from £19,995.

    Customers may choose from three trim levels: Visia, Acenta and Tekna. Being offered as standard equipment are the following: 16-inch alloy wheels, air-con, sports seats ESP and six airbags. The Juke is designed in the UK at Nissan’s Paddington Design Centre.

    The model is given SUV styling proportions, making it significantly wider and longer than a Micra. It measures 1570mm high, which means that it’s only 30mm taller. For its interior, the car’s fascia is much more conventional than the exterior. Its most prominent feature is the center console, which is painted the same color as the body and is believed to have been inspired by the fuel tank from a motorbike.

    Nissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan JukeNissan Juke

    [via autocar]

    Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

  • Samsung Mobile not deaf, responds to Behold II owners

    Bad news. Good news.  The T-Mobile Behold II will not receive Android 2.1, but it will receive a badly needed update to Android 1.6.

    In what appears to be a minor victory for upset Behold II owners, Samsung Mobile posted an official response to the wave of negative posts that hit the blogosphere this week. Samsung and T-Mobile are working to update the Behold II to Android 1.6 (which adds important features like Google Maps Navigation and Google Voice search). Customers will also get a couple of T-Mobile exclusives like the Swype virtual keyboard.

    After the 1.6 update, that is the end of the road for the Behold II. Samsung claims the phone “is not upgradeable beyond Android 1.6″.

    No reason was given, but we are pretty sure the phone is technically able to run Android 2.1. Our guess is that this comes down to money and someone doesn’t want to shell out the cash to have Samsung engineers spend their time upgrading all the hardware drivers so they work with the newer Linux kernel found in Android 2.1.

    For those who are wondering, we are still waiting to hear from T-Mobile on the fate of the G1 and original myTouch 3G. Both phones could also technically run Android 2.1, but T-Mobile has not offered an official death sentence to either phone.

    “Samsung Mobile and T-Mobile USA are planning to update the Behold II to Android 1.6 which provides access to Google Maps Navigation, Google Voice Search capability and quick search box for Android. The update will also supply additional benefits including Swype, an improved Media Player, updated core Android applications and improved Bluetooth capabilities. However, the Behold II is not upgradeable beyond Android 1.6.”Samsung Mobile

    If you are a Behold II customer, please let us know what you think. Does this news make you happy or sad?

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  • Citroen is betting on strong growth in China, as European sales drop

    2010 Citroen C3As the European markets become unpredictable due to the incentive programs ending or being phased out, France’s Citroen (which is part of carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen) is relying on the strong growth in China, Citroen managing director Frederic Banzet told Reuters.

    The effect of the global economic crisis on the auto industry has made it necessary for government to provide incentives to raise new-car sales. But these incentives have to end and as that is happening, carmakers are turning to emerging markets to sustain their growth. Banzet describes the environment to be “more uncertain than predictable.” However, he noted that China and the South American markets are exceptions since the company clearly sees continuing growth in those countries.

    [via autonews – sub. required]

    Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

  • “Whaddya Mean My Frozen Yogurt isn’t Official?”

    That’s what Ry Guy and ben1010 from Google are saying anyways.  According to these Google employees, the 2.2 build of Android that Nexus One owners are sporting right now isn’t the official release from the search giant.

    An article over at Slash Gear references information provided by the two Google employees on the Nexus One support forums,  reporting  that the build that Nexus One owners are manually upgrading to is not the official release. Though it was from Google, it was a test pre-release. The article does not state whether the official OTA release will be any different than the test build that’s floating around, but the Google employees do recommend waiting for the official release. On the other hand, they also say that those who manually update are not voiding their warranty and that they will still get the official release when it rolls out.

    The OTA update of Froyo is supposed to drop in a few weeks, so it will be interesting to see if there is any difference in the build that is out now, and the one that rolls out via carriers in the future.

    Might We Suggest…


  • 10 Most Notorious Womanizers in History

    Don Juan may be the original lady-killer, whose breeches no woman could resist, but he was a fictional lothario whose exploits were bound to the stage, or the libretto, or the page; or, perhaps, if we can find ourselves once again in this post-feminist, enlightened age, to the reveries of women desirous of a little… action. And though he has lent his name to any man who too keenly makes the fairer sex his prey, his adventures have been long outdone by the living.

    Genghis Khan (1162–1227)


    In fact, centuries before Don Juan first set hearts aflutter in Tirso de Molina’s 1630’s play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra, Mongolian warlord and disreputable dictator, Genghis Khan, was lending an unsettling gravitas to the term ‘lady-killer’. Though he is remembered today for conquering a people and founding an empire, his sexual conquests were no less devastating. The tyrant’s fondness for a fertile female has led Russian scientists to predict he has 16 million male descendants living today: the most loathsome of lotharios.

    Exploits: all of Mongolia

    Giacomo Casanova (1725 – 1798)


    Venetian adventurer and author, Giacomo Casanova, has long sparred with Don Juan (in Italian, Don Giovanni) for the name most synonymous with the art of seduction. Perhaps he was inspired by the exploits of his fictional progenitor, for he was apparently present at the first performance of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni in 1787. Regardless, Casanova proved many times over to be an adept, unscrupulous lover, who believed he was born for the opposite sex. His first sexual liaison was with two sisters, Nanetta and Maria Savorgnan, a precocious introduction to carnal pleasures and a taste of things to come.

    Exploits: 120 with women and girls mentioned in his memoirs, as well as many veiled references to male lovers.

    Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)


    Fernande, Eva, Olga, Marie-Therese, Dora, Francoise, Jacqueline: these are the names of the important woman in the life of seminal Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso. Though each of these women played a crucial role in the painter’s life and art, each was replaced by another, with all but one suffering some sort of mental breakdown in his wake. Post-Picasso, Fernande Olivier lived in sorrow until her death; Olga Koklova became his fitful stalker; Marie-Therese Walter hanged herself; Dora Maar became a recluse; Jacqueline Roque shot herself when he died; only Francoise Gilot, who began her affair with the sixty-something Picasso when she was 23, avoided an unhappy fate.

    Exploits: quite a lot; often fatal

    John F. Kennedy (1917 –1963)


    A beautiful wife (Jackie Onassis) and a sex-bomb mistress (Marilyn Monroe) were not woman enough for former US president, John F. Kennedy. The glamorous head of state once confided that if he went too long without a woman he’d suffer a clamorous headache; a fate he took pains to avoid. Linked to a string of high-profile women, including actresses Jayne Mansfield, Angie Dickinson, Kim Novak, Janet Leigh and Rhonda Fleming, he is suspected to have had several more encounters with women relatively unknown. Thanks to his dashing good looks and sexual precocity, coquettish young women would apparently more or less queue up at the door to the White House asking for Mr President.

    Exploits: more than Clinton

    Ian Fleming (1908 – 1964)


    It should come as no surprise that the creator of James Bond, the fictional spy who spends as much of his time gathering beautiful women as he does intelligence for the secret service, was himself a jet-setting womanizer with a predatory disposition. Evidently irresistible to women, Fleming could seduce them in four languages, and went about doing so with Bond’s aplomb. His friend Mary Pakenham once said: ‘No one I have ever known had sex so much on the brain as Ian.’ Yet, though he loved women, he evidently didn’t like them much, once telling a friend women were like pets or dogs; men were the only real human beings, the only ones he could be friends with.

    Exploits: various, sometimes involving whips.

    Hugh Hefner (1925 – present)


    For Hugh Hefner, womanizing is not so much a hobby as a career and a way of life. The Octogenarian founder of soft-porn magazine, Playboy, surrounds himself with as many scantily clad ‘Playmates’ as he can, promoting his lifestyle to his magazine readers, while blithely eschewing a more politically correct attitude towards women. Some say Hefner developed his errant ways after discovering his first wife had had an affair while he was away in the Army in the 1950s. One profile of the bon vivant claims his wife had allowed him to sleep with other women as recompense for her infidelity, in the hope it would save their marriage. Mistake: they divorced in 1959 – though her loss was the porn industry’s gain.

    Exploits: up to seven at a time, including Donna, Marilyn, Lillian, Shannon, Brande, Barbi, Karen, Sondra, Carrie, Izabella, Tina, Holly, Bridget and Kendra, to name a few.

    Wilt Chamberlain (1936 –1999)


    Wilt Chamberlain, the late American professional NBA basketball player, is as famous for playing the ladies game as he is for the ball game. His claim to sexual fame was that he had bedded some 20,000 women during his lifetime, which, if true, would mean he had slam dunked an average of 1.14 women a day. Though the claim brought him derision, being oh-so-unlikely, he was nevertheless a bona fide tomcat and interminable pick-up artist. Like Hefner, his extreme sex drive is thought by some to be down to overcompensating for female rejection during his teenage years.

    Exploits: 20,000 women if you can believe it.

    Jack Nicholson (1937 – present)


    Jack Nicholson, he of the pointy eyebrows and the rictus grin, is a lady-magnet whose magnetism no lady can resist. The Oscar winning actor is famous for his lascivious pursuit of leading ladies, allegedly bedding 2,000 women and spawning six children to five mothers. His longest relationship was with Angelica Huston, which lasted for 16 years, ending when the media reported that Rebecca Broussard had become pregnant with his child. His louche behavior has continued into his dotage – though at 71 he admitted ‘it’s not so nice when you are 71 and looking for some action’. Still, the old roué’s reputation is assured, and he once featured in Maxim magazine’s Top Ten Living Legends of Sex list.

    Exploits: actresses and models mainly, including Michelle Phillips, Bebe Buell, Lara Flynn Boyle, Angelica Huston, Lorraine Nicholson, Susan Anspach, Amanda de Cadenet and Amber Smith.

    Warren Beatty (1937 – present)


    Warren Beatty beats even Jack for the mantel of Hollywood’s most notorious womanizer. Now in his seventies, and happily married to actress, Annette Bening, in his relative youth the Oscar winning actor and director was unrivalled in his lady-winning ways. At the outset of his career he allegedly dated Natalie Wood while making Splendor in the Grass, abandoning her in a restaurant after making a successful pass at a waitress. He went on to date, and bed, and kiss and grope so many women that Woody Allen once joked that if he believed in reincarnation he would come back as Beatty’s fingertips. In 2009 a biographer claimed that Beatty had slept with around 12,775 women, though Beatty disputes the figure. It is widely rumored Beatty is the subject of Carly Simon’s hit song You’re So Vain, though she has never confirmed this.

    Exploits: too many mention, but, for starters: Julie Christie, Jacqueline Kennedy, Joni Mitchell, Bianca Jagger, Diana Ross, Diane Keaton, Maria Callas, Faye Dunaway, Princess Margaret, Linda McCartney, Vivien Leigh, Vanessa Redgrave, Brigitte Bardot and Cher.


  • Tom Cruise Dead: No More Tom Cruise?

    Tom Cruise or Thomas Cruise Mapother IV in real life was born on July 3, 1962. Is Tom Cruise dead? The popular actor and film producer will be surely missed by his fans once the “spreading news-Tom Cruise dead” is proven true! The famous actor has made every of his movie a hit. Almost every film he appeared at has achieved blockbuster status having a box office revenue totaling $100-million or more in the U.S.



    Tom Cruise is still alive and the “Tom Cruise dead” news is just a rumor. No official announcement or report has been released proving that Tom Cruise died. This could be just part of the promotion of his upcoming movie with Cameron Diaz. Knight and Day is an action comedy film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. It was in “Vanilla Sky” filmed in 2001 where the two celebrities starred together on-screen.

    Tom Cruise has been a nominee for three Academy Awards and triumphed three Golden Globe Awards. His pilot main role was the 1983 film Risky Business that is described as “A Generation X classic, and a career-maker” for the actor. Tom Cruise also played the role of a heroic naval pilot in a successful 1986 movie Top Gun Tom Cruise continued in this genre playing a secret agent in a series of Mission: Impossible action films in the 1990s and 2000s. Tom Cruise also starred in many other successful films such as Jerry Maguire (1996), Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004) and War of the Worlds (2005).

    Related posts:

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  • Rooting for The Joshua Tree

    Capt Guide, the Marine at the helm of the Navy Construction Battalion at FOB Payne in Afghanistan thinks it is important for the “Seabees” to have something to love, honor, and nourish.

    “Since pets are not allowed in the theater, he sent guys out to the river valley to find us a tree,” said Seabee CECS (SCW) Thurmond Oliver, who is on his 6th deployment. The whole C.B. detachment was sent in as part of President Obama’s order to send 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan.

    Oliver says the first tree the guys brought back was worse than the Charlie Brown Christmas tree. “It looked liked the guys planted it upside down. It was not up to Captain Guide’s standards,” he said.

    So the Captain sent the Seabees out to find another.

    “The second one was a good lookin’ tree. But it came with a visitor.” Oliver said referring to the poisonous Viper snake that had hitchhiked in on the tree’s branches.

    The Seabees built a large, wooden planter for their tree and set forth caring for it. It was doing well, until one fateful day.

    CECS (SCW) Thurmond Oliver

    “The guys were taking turns watering the tree,” Oliver explained, “and one day the Seabee whose turn it was used water from the showers. That’s chlorinated. Naturally, the tree died. So, here we have tree number three.”

    The guys made a wooden sign for their pet project, calling it “The Joshua Tree”.  But that’s not a reference to the funky looking trees that grow at the national park near the Marine combat center in Twenty-nine Palms, California.

    “Captain Guide’s first name is Joshua, so we named it after him. It’s his legacy. It was his dream that we’d have a tree,” said Oliver.

    Things are not looking good for Seabee tree number three. Due to a road job outside the wire, it hasn’t been properly watered in a few days. The leaves that were once green are turning brown, blending in with the dust and dirt all around them.

    “I think it’s doing as well as that snake on a board over there,” Oliver joked, pointing to a snakeskin nailed to a 2×4 piece of wood.

    But Capt Guide is not giving up hope.

    “I have faith in that tree. We’re gonna bring her back,” he said, “We’re gonna baby her.”

    The guys are using coffee grounds as fertilizer in hopes of perking the tree back up.

    “It gives the guys something green to look at,” Capt Guide said, admitting having the tree named after him is a bit embarrassing.  But he’s willing to take some ribbing for the good of the cause.

    “As fun and entertaining this is, having a living tree is meaningful around here.”

    Capt Joshua Guide with The Joshua Tree

  • Recipe: Mangoes and Sticky Rice

    Mangoes and sticky rice – oh how my heart swoons!  After a heated meal of Thai food – heightened by the bright flavors of kaffir lime, lemongrass and painfully hot chili peppers – nothing soothes the palate quite like a warm bowl of gently sweet and slightly salty mangoes and sticky rice. I like to serve this dish after a meal of coconut shrimp soup with chilies and lime or even on its own as a breakfast.  It satisfies like little else, and like many of the desserts featured at Nourished Kitchen, it is only mildly sweetened with natural and unrefined sweeteners.

    Mangoes and sticky rice is classically served with polished, refined white rice, but the dish’s nutrient profile can be improved by using sprouted or soaked brown rice without compromising the ultimate flavor or texture of the dish.  Like all grains, brown rice contains antinutrients which bind up minerals preventing their full absorption and the simple act of soaking or sprouting rice can improve the body’s ability to better absorb grain’s full complement of minerals – particularly zinc and iron. You can read more about soaking grain or learn the benefits of sprouted grain.  This recipe for mangoes and sticky rice is also rich in coconut oil – a remarkable and wholesome fat that’s rich in lauric acid – a fatty acid known for its antimicrobial activities and that is thought to boost the immune system.

    Mangoes and Sticky Rice

    Faintly sweet and slightly salty, mangoes and sticky rice is a classic Thai dessert – often served as a special treat at the end of the meal.  This beautiful combination of sweet-salty coconut milk and ripe mangoes nourishes the body and satisfies the tastebuds.  The sweet-salt flavor is essential to the true and classic flavors of this dish.  Don’t forget, if you like this and other recipes from Nourished Kitchen, please consider signing up for How to Cook Real Food – our new online cooking class.(…)
    Click here to read the rest of Recipe: Mangoes and Sticky Rice (351 words)


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  • Nanotech and optics

    Very cool findings about light-activated nanoshells.

    The release:

    Optical Legos: Building nanoshell structures

    Self-assembly method yields materials with unique optical properties

    IMAGE: Heptamers containing seven nanoshells have unique optical properties.

    Click here for more information.

    HOUSTON — (May 27, 2010) — Scientists from four U.S. universities have created a way to use Rice University’s light-activated nanoshells as building blocks for 2-D and 3-D structures that could find use in chemical sensors, nanolasers and bizarre light-absorbing metamaterials. Much as a child might use Lego blocks to build 3-D models of complex buildings or vehicles, the scientists are using the new chemical self-assembly method to build complex structures that can trap, store and bend light.

    The research appears in this week’s issue of the journal Science.

    “We used the method to make a seven-nanoshell structure that creates a particular type of interference pattern called a Fano resonance,” said study co-author Peter Nordlander, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice. “These resonances arise from peculiar light wave interference effects, and they occur only in man-made materials. Because these heptamers are self-assembled, they are relatively easy to make, so this could have significant commercial implications.”

    Because of the unique nature of Fano resonances, the new materials can trap light, store energy and bend light in bizarre ways that no natural material can. Nordlander said the new materials are ideally suited for making ultrasensitive biological and chemical sensors. He said they may also be useful in nanolasers and potentially in integrated photonic circuits that run off of light rather than electricity.

    The research team was led by Harvard University applied physicist Federico Capasso and also included nanoshell inventor Naomi Halas, Rice’s Stanley C. Moore Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of physics, chemistry and biomedical engineering.

    Nordlander, the world’s leading theorist on nanoparticle plasmonics, had predicted in 2008 that a heptamer of nanoshells would produce Fano resonances. That paper spurred Capasso’s efforts to fabricate the structure, Nordlander said.

    The new self-assembly method developed by Capasso’s team was also used to make magnetic three-nanoshell “trimers.” The optical properties of these are described in the Science paper, which also discusses how the self-assembly method could be used to build even more complex 3-D structures.

    Nanoshells, the building blocks that were used in the new study, are about 20 times smaller than red blood cells. In form, they resemble malted milk balls, but they are coated with gold instead of chocolate, and their center is a sphere of glass. By varying the size of the glass center and the thickness of the gold shell, Halas can create nanoshells that interact with specific wavelengths of light.

    “Nanoshells were already among the most versatile of all plasmonic nanoparticles, and this new self-assembly method for complex 2-D and 3-D structures simply adds to that,” said Halas, who has helped develop a number of biological applications for nanoshells, including diagnostic applications and a minimally invasive procedure for treating cancer.

    ###

    Additional co-authors of the new study include Rice graduate students Kui Bao and Rizia Bardhan; Jonathan Fan and Vinothan Manoharan, both of Harvard; Chihhui Wu and Gennady Shvets, both of the University of Texas at Austin; and Jiming Bao of the University of Houston. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Department of Defense, the Robert A. Welch Foundation, the Department of Energy and Harvard University.

    PhysOrg covers this story here.

  • The F-22 and F-35 Killer Finally Captured In Action [Aircrafts]

    Feast your eyes in these detailed videos of the beast that is designed to match-and-crush 5th generation American combat jets. It’s the Sukhoi PAK-FA, and it comes loaded with some amazing technology from the other side of the fallen wall. More »










    F-35 Lightning IIMilitaryAviationUnited StatesAircraft

  • YouMail Visual Voicemail Plus Updates To v2.0.0.4, Free Visual Voicemail Enhanced

    YouMail updated it’s BlackBerry application to v2.0.0.4 and it’s a great update. YouMail is visual voicemail that is free and gives you an easier way to view, organize, and listen to your voicemails. YouMail has been listed as the #1 productivity app in the BlackBerry App World. What’s new? I’ve got the newest features and some screenshots.

    What’s new? According to the press release it’s the following new features:

    Streamlined User Interface

    • The main screen now shows the number of new messages and each caller’s photo or avatar, which can be imported automatically from Facebook.
    • The message play screen supports fast-forward and rewind, allowing users to get through their messages even more efficiently.

    Enhanced Organization Tools

    • Users can access any folder directly from the App, not just the Inbox, including standard Saved, Spam and Trash folders, as well as user-created folders.
    • Users can turn their voicemail box into a “To Do” list by easily flagging messages for follow-up directly in the App.

    Improved Transcription Experience

    • The play screen now shows more of the transcribed message text, lessening the need to scroll.
    • Users can copy and paste directly from the transcription, allowing them to easily insert message text into searches or responses.

    Faster Voicemail Follow Up

    • The YouMail App is now integrated with the phone’s default SMS client, enabling users to easily reply to voice messages using TXT messages.
    • Simpler menus allow users to easily forward and reply to voicemail while including the original voicemail as a MP3 or WAV file.

    YouMail originally has the following features:

    • YouMail unlocks your mobile voicemail
    • Scroll through and play your voice messages in any order.
    • Forward them, save them forever, even organize them in folders.
    • Block unwanted voicemails.
    • Access your voicemail through e-mail or any computer.
    • Even set up personal greetings that are heard only by specific family, friends, or co-workers.

    I’ve used YouMail and I really like the customization it has. You can choose different types of answering messages, have fun with them, and keep your voicemail on your phone. It’s so easy to use and it’s free. It works with several carriers as well. You can download the app from BlackBerry App World or from YouMail itself. And if you’d like transcription, it is available for a small subscription fee.

    Here’s what I love about the YouMail after the update (some was available prior to). There are pictures associated with the voicemails. You can see who it’s from, the phone number, time and date. You can click you options button and access Check Messages, Forward, Reply, Delete, and Move To. You can Mark New, Flag, and Copy URL. You can select a folder. Also, you have About, Help, Settings, and the YouMail Store.

    In Settings you can pick General, Account, Alerts, Audio, Connection, Greetings, Contacts, Storage, Setup, Activate/Deactivate. You can set the types of voicemail for what or when. You set up how you want to be alerted. You set up the Greetings, upload your contacts. So if you want voicemail your way, this is what you’re looking for.

    Download your free copy of YouMail from BlackBerry App World here

    Download your free copy of YouMail from YouMail itself here

    You’re reading a story which originated at BlackBerrySync.com, Where you find BlackBerry News You Can Sync With…

    This story is sponsored by the new BlackBerry Sync Mobile App Store. Grab your free copy today at www.GetAppStore.com from your BlackBerry.

    YouMail Visual Voicemail Plus Updates To v2.0.0.4, Free Visual Voicemail Enhanced

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