Study Finds Women Wear Shoes That Cause Pain

I saw this heading on the NYT and thought for sure it was for an Onion article.

-janelane

Vital Signs - Study Finds Women Wear Shoes That Cause Pain - NYTimes.com

In a little more than a year, Google Chrome, the search company's speedy and innovative Web browser, has managed to win over about 3 percent of Internet surfers. Is that good or bad? It's certainly not a blockbuster, but consider the hurdles Google faces. Unlike Internet Explorer or Safari, Chrome doesn't come pre-installed on any computers. True, Mozilla Firefox faces the same problem—but Firefox, which now has about 23 percent of the market, has been around since 2004. You might also argue that Firefox captured an easy market—people who were sick of IE and wanted something better. Chrome can't do the same; everyone who wanted to leave IE has done so already, and the only folks left to convert are those who don't know any better.

I'm not saying that these IE holdouts are merely ignorant about the alternatives. The problem goes deeper than that: They don't even know they're using IE. They don't know they're using anything in particular — many people think that when they click on the blue IE icon, they're clicking on "the Internet." As Brian Rakowski, director of product management for Chrome, puts it, "People just don't know what a browser is."

There are no hard numbers on this, but Rakowski's not kidding. Ask your tech-unsavvy friends or your parents which browser they use, and chances are you'll get a quizzical look and an answer like, "I use Yahoo—or is that not a browser?" That's what one woman told a Google rep who was stopping people in Times Square this spring to ask a simple question: "What is a browser?"

Many people gave answers like, "It's what I search through—like, to find things." Or, "A browser is when you know what you're looking for, and a search engine is when you're searching for something." Only 8 percent of people in the admittedly unscientific survey could answer the question correctly.

You don't have to try to follow the healthcare, climate change or Gitmo legislation to know that the world is full of and run by idiots.

What are a bunch of intelligent Meme-ers to do?

-janelane, misanthropically

Google's ingenious plan to spruce up outdated versions of Internet Explorer. - By Farhad Manjoo - Slate Magazine

Since man first touched the moon and brought pieces of it back to Earth, scientists have thought that the lunar surface was bone dry. But new observations from three different spacecraft have put this notion to rest with what has been called "unambiguous evidence" of water across the surface of the moon.

At least they found it somewhere.

-janelane

SPACE.com -- It's Official: Water Found on the Moon

''Whether the issue is improving the involvement of young women and girls in education, to climate change and all political, economic, and social issues in between, I think empowering women is central to what the world has to do in the 21st century,'' he said.

You're damn right.

-janelane

Global Initiative Takes on Gender Inequality - NYTimes.com

Issued by The National Weather Service
Atlanta, GA
11:22 am EDT, Tue., Sep. 22, 2009

... FLOOD WARNING EXTENDED UNTIL WEDNESDAY EVENING... THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER NEAR VININGS AT PACES FERRY... * UNTIL WEDNESDAY EVENING. * AT 10AM TUESDAY THE STAGE WAS 24.8 FEET AND FALLING. * MAJOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE. * FLOOD STAGE IS 14.0 FEET. * THE RIVER WILL CONTINUE TO FALL TO BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON. * AT 23.0 FEET... EXTENSIVE FLOODING OCCURS. THE 100 YEAR FLOOD IS BETWEEN 23 AND 24 FEET. MANY HOMES AND BUSINESS ARE FLOODED OUT.

Atlanta's under water this week and many homes have been wiped out. Since hardly anyone in Atlanta has flood insurance, much less if they're outside the 100-year flood elevation, a lot of people could use your help. Donate to the Redcross Atlanta Relief Fund.

-janelane

Local Weather Alert for Atlanta, GA - weather.com

Random Thoughts of the Day:

I *heart* Dr. Cross. This was a great way to start my day. :-)

-janelane

Random thoughts (not written by me, but I can relate to many of them)

If you think for a moment that a year from now, the hot new trend will be going purple and we'll have forgotten all about this eco mumbo-jumbo, think again. If we continue living irresponsibly, depleting our planet's resources and churning out non-biodegradable waste like there's no tomorrow, then before we know it, there really will be no tomorrow.

Food for thought for everyone who hears "green" and sees red.

-janelane

Greenwala - 9 Misleading Myths About Going Green

In this year's economic stimulus package, the United States government allocated $4.5 billion to developing technologies for the "smart grid," a revamped delivery system for electricity. Advocates envision a digital system that can make energy-saving adjustments to power flow. Several million networked meters have already been distributed in the United States.

But critics say that rushing to roll out this system could give rise to security problems. At a recent conference, Mike Davis, a senior security consultant at the Seattle-based research company IOActive, gave a presentation on a proof-of-concept cyber attack that could potentially allow an attacker to shut off large numbers of meters remotely. Researchers say now is the time to test the smart grid and get security right.

Get something right the first time? Un-likely.

-janelane

Technology Review: Meters for the Smart Grid

Patrick Swayze, the balletically athletic actor who rose to stardom in the films “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” and whose 20-month battle with advanced pancreatic cancer drew wide attention, died Monday. He was 57.

R.I.P.

Patrick Swayze, Actor With Physical Grace, Is Dead at 57 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

Goliath (Six Flags Over Georgia)

Funnest. Rollercoaster. Ever. And with no loops!

Goliath (Six Flags Over Georgia) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia