Sweden's famous Ice Hotel says it will start including tickets for Virgin Galactic's space trips in its offerings to tourists. The trips, from nearby Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, will start in 2012 if tests with Virgin's spaceships go according to plan.

Sweden's Ice Hotel starts selling tickets to space

Britain's Air Transport Users Council said Tuesday that more than 40 million bags were misplaced by airlines in 2007. Of those more than 1 million pieces of luggage were irretrievably lost.

The council said in a report that the annual number of mishandled bags was rising and could be as high as 70 million by 2019.

Consumer group: airlines lose millions of bags

March 12th, 2009: I got tons of emails about yesterday's comic, most suggesting the more positive Stayin' Alive as your CPR soundtrack instead of Another One Bites The Dust. I think it's great that we've got these two opposite-themed songs to choose from, but I still think Queen's song is better for CPR though! Another One Bites The Dust has exactly 100 BPM (Stayin' Alive has 103) and the beat in Queen's song is easier to keep in mind and more consistantly at the foreground of the song. Plus, Stayin' Alive has that long "Staying Aliiiii-hiiii-iii-ai-aiiiive" part where it's harder to keep track of the beat!

But I believe this comes down to a matter of personal taste. I promise you this: if I ever come across you performing CPR while belting out the also 100-BPM Quit Playin' Games With My Heart - I will not judge! It turns out that there are tons of thematically-appropriate songs to choose from, which affords you the opportunity to both save a life AND adjust the song you sing for maximum appropriateness in every situation.

qwantz.com - dinosaur comics - March 11 2009

Later this year, a double-rigged crane will hoist a giant power turbine part way up One Penn Plaza, a black monolithic skyscraper next to Madison Square Garden. When the natural gas-powered generator on the 12th floor starts, it will not only produce some 6.2 megawatts of electricity — enough to power up to half the 57-floor building on a busy day — but it will also siphon off excess steam and use it to help heat and cool the 37-year-old skyscraper.

Square Feet - Manhattan Towers Gather Their Own Heat for Power - NYTimes.com

Every time I see the Seattle Monorail (and it is often on my commute), this tune goes through my head.

noteworthy wrote:

Ah, the monorail [mp3]:

Lyle Lanley: That's right! Monorail!
[crowd chants `Monorail' softly and rhythmically]
Miss Hoover: I hear those things are awfully loud...
Lyle Lanley: It glides as softly as a cloud.
Apu: Is there a chance the track could bend?
Lyle Lanley: Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
Barney: What about us brain-dead slobs?
Lyle Lanley: You'll all be given cushy jobs.
Abe: Were you sent here by the devil?
Lyle Lanley: No, good sir, I'm on the level.
Wiggum: The ring came off my pudding can.
Lyle Lanley: Take my pen knife, my good man.
                I swear it's Springfield's only choice...
                Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
All: [singing] Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: What's it called?
All: Monorail!
Lyle Lanley: Once again...
All: Monorail!
Marge: But Main Street's still all cracked and broken...
Bart: Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken!
All: [singing] Monorail!
                Monorail!
                Monorail!
                [big finish]
                Monorail!
Homer: Mono... D'oh!

RE: LA's future is up in the air

GOLD STAR.

Perl operators as the periodic table. Brilliant.

page about this

Periodic Table of the Operators of Perl

It won't be long after these products launch that you'll see them popping up in dorm rooms and frat houses, finally creating an alternative to beer pong.

Cool tech making its way into toys.

STAR WARS: The Force Trainer

A little immature in content, but funny still.

I started out modest by signing with a line or an "X". Occasionally I would do last name first. After a couple of months, I became bolder. I wrote goofy shit, drew pictures, etc. Here's a list of some of my favorite signatures over the past few months...

I have "PLEASE CHECK PHOTO ID" on most of mine, and am always amused when a human pretends to compare my (earnest) physical signature with the card. Maybe I should start signing it "PLEASE CHECK PHOTO ID" to be consistent.

When Your Credit Card Signature Fun Backfires

every year i try to get an awesome gift for my fiance and i fail so bad.

so i had some questions and would like input from like-minded people...

Some interesting and helpful comments into why women claim men are hard to shop for.

pittsburgh: gifts for men

Recognizing that about 85% of our employees have at least some stock options that are underwater (i.e., have an exercise price higher than the current market price of our common stock), we plan to offer our employees the opportunity to exchange those options.

Interesting response to the problem...

Official Google Blog: Announcing Google's Employee Option Exchange Program