WALL•E

Just go see it!
IMDb info

Giraffe helps animals escape from circus

Amsterdam, Netherlands -- Amsterdam police say 15 camels, two zebras and an undetermined number of llamas and potbellied swine briefly escaped from a traveling Dutch circus after a giraffe kicked a hole in their cage.

Police spokesman Arnout Aben says the animals wandered in a group through a nearby neighborhood for several hours after their 5:30 a.m. breakout.

The animals were back at the circus later Monday after being rounded up by police and circus workers with the assistance of dogs. Aben says neighbors fed some of the animals - which he said was a bad idea - but they were tame and nobody was hurt.
Says Aben: "You have to imagine somebody rubbing his eyes first thing in the morning and saying, 'Am I seeing things or is that 15 camels walking past?'"

Thanks Dave for sending me the story.

Back to Honda Civic

Yep, the Mustang is gone but extremely missed. However, due to lame government happenings & the useless preventing of that free oil up in northern ice country, our gas prices aren't coming down soon. So...no issues here with the new Civic, especially if I get a chance to head near the coast.

8 Online Resources For Learning New Languages

First off, all of these are completely free. If you're really interesting in learning a new dialect and don't have the money to spend on the classes, then check out the sites below for more information. Remember, just because you don't pay for it doesn't mean it's worthless. Most good information you get for free is good or better than paid for information.

BBC Languages - Comprehensive online courses for French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, and Greek, with slightly briefer introductions to several other languages. This is the best option for starting a new language from the beginning as the curricula are well designed, very complete, and have features of a self-study program.

MIT OpenCourseWare - The Languages and Literatures department features courses in languages such as Chinese, Japanese, French, German and Spanish in addition to culture topics. They all include a detailed study plan to aid the self-learner in structuring a home course.

Internet Polyglot - The Internet Polyglot provides study materials for twenty-one languages. The unit-based materials available are ideal for a student already familiar with the basics of the language and interested in practicing specific areas and applications.

The Open University LeaningSpace - Similar to the Internet Polyglot, the LearingSpace provides unit-based study materials with a primary emphasis in French and Spanish.

Language Learning Podcasts - To find podcasts, iTunes users can navigate to the “education” category of the iTunes Music Store. Other listeners can browse popular podcast databases like Odeo or The Podcast Directory. A highlight of some of the more popular language podcasts includes Learn Greek, The French Podcast, ChinesePod, A Taste of Russian, and the Cherokee Language Podcast.

Madinah Arabic Language Course - Focusing on both spoken and written Arabic, this course takes the student from the first introductions through the advanced beginner level.

Livemocha - Livemocha is a social networking community focused on learning foreign languages. It provides free online courses in German, Mandarin Chinese, French, Spanish, and Hindi with plans to expand to other languages in the future. In addition to the online courses, available from introductory to intermediate levels, Livemocha provides an active community of language learners and native speakers willing to work with you and give help when needed. This community based approach makes Livemocha one of the most useful tools for the self-study of language.

Something Completely Different - Travelers interested in learning a more obscure, or even endangered language, should begin their research at the Ethnologue, an online database of all of the world’s 6,912 known living languages.

Double the weekend!

The day is Wednesday & the workweek is done for me. Tomorrow, I am doing a little house hunting around the area then maybe having some relaxing time around the pool in Raleigh or elsewhere.

I also added some of the pictures that I took at the wedding this past weekend and some from the weekend before, near a relatives house. Check'em out.

Bugs that eat waste & make us gas?

Exactly, now scientists in Silicon Valley have genetically altered bacteria in order to possibly help out with our huge energy crisis on gas. The idea, simply, for "bugs" to eat waste & give us fuel in return. Instead of barrels of oil climbing to even higher prices, we will depend on this research for a better alternative. Better yet, the fuel acquired by these bugs would be carbon negative, or cleaner than the air outside the car. Click the fuel to read the article.

"...the bugs excrete a substance that is almost pump-ready."

Varying Impact of Gas Prices

Click the map to look at three different impacts from the fast rise in gas prices throughout the county...from percent of income on gas, to gas average prices, to median income. How about all those new shiny electric vehicles coming sooner?

National Doughnut Day

Being the fattest country in the world carries its retarded holidays. Enjoy this one, brought to us by Krispy Kreme.

Even better, save your gas, walk or run to your local KK and pass on the doughnut altogether to combat this top honor of being the world's "biggest" country.

How to Make a Paper Snap

It's been years since...but make one for the fun of it, to either annoy a small dog or someone in the office. I already have.

If you can't remember how to fold one, try out wikiHow for instructions.