Saturday, September 18, 2010

Inventor of The Club, James Winne, Dies


The inventor of The Club, James Winner, has died in a head-on collision in western Pennsylvania.

http://www.theclub.com/legacy.html

State police said the Tuesday crash on a rural road in Clarion County also took the lives of two other people when his sport utility vehicle and their car collided.

Winner, 81, invented the popular anti car-theft device, and his Sharon-based company, Winner International, sold more than 10 million of them. He also was widely known for his philanthropy in western Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, company officials said it was ``a very difficult time for all of us and the family would request that you honor their privacy.''

In the 1980s, Winner developed the steering-wheel lock known as The Club after his car was stolen. He sold the first one in western Pennsylvania before creating Winner International.

Winner also was interested in bettering the region. He said he wanted to make the area a tourist destination and create jobs after the loss of industry there. He bought and restored buildings, including the downtown Sharon home once owned by industrialist Frank Buhl, which Winner converted into a bed and breakfast.

Winner owned hotels, schools and businesses, including Winner Steel, which he eventually sold.

"Jim was just a great man and did more behind the scenes than people even knew,'' the Rev. Larry Haynes, who worked with Winner through the Shenango Valley Foundation community group, told the Sharon Herald.

Winner was born in the town of Transfer and worked on his family's farm from the age of 5. He attended school in a one-room schoolhouse before joining the Army at age 17.

Authorities said Winner's SUV crossed into oncoming traffic and struck the car. The other two killed were identified as driver Bobby Jarrett, 82, of Tionesta, and passenger Raymond Fair, 76, of Tylersburg. Winner also had a home in Hollywood, Fla.

Billie Mae Richards, Iconic Voice of Rudolph, Passes



A Christmas classic has been silenced.

The woman behind the voice of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer has died after suffering a stroke at her home in Canada. She was 88.

Actress Billie Mae Richards voiced the popular festive cartoon in the early 1960s and the TV special has since become a seasonal institution.

Richards landed the part thanks to her ability to speak like a young boy.





A veteran of Canadian radio, she's credited as Billy Richards in the Christmas show, narrated by Burl Ives.

Like most of the cast, Ms. Richards was a veteran of Canadian radio when the producers traveled north to assemble the voices for the program based on the 1949 song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Radio dramas were still going strong in Canada in the early 1960s, providing producers with a stable of voice actors, Ms. Richards told Filmfax magazine in 2005.

Her trademark — being able to speak like a young boy — was well-established when she took the part of Rudolph, the misfit reindeer who saves Christmas in the stop-motion animation production. She was credited as "Billy Richards," which further obscured her gender.

"Kids won't believe it when my grandchildren tell them that their grandmother is really Rudolph," Ms. Richards said in the Filmfax interview, but she said she could prove it by conjuring the voice on the spot.

Producers Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass also went to Canada because they could record the voices for the special more cheaply, according to Goldschmidt.

Narrator Burl Ives, who voiced Sam the Snowman, was the show's only celebrity. He also was the only actor to receive long-term residuals, a point that rankled Ms. Richards and other Canadians in the production as "Rudolph" became a classic that is still shown during the holidays.

She earned residuals for three years, a business deal she regarded as a "sore subject," Ms. Richards said in 2000 in Toronto's National Post.

Yet Rudolph remained her favorite part, Ms. Richards once said, and she reprised the role in two sequels, "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" (1976) and "Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July" (1979).

Whatever Rudolph did, "he's doing it for a reason," she said in the Filmfax interview. "That's why it's been so popular. That and Burl Ives, for heaven's sake."

Born in 1921 in Toronto, Ms. Richards was the daughter of a silverware salesman who had aspired to a stage career.

At 2, she was taking dance lessons and by 5 she was dancing and singing in stage revues.

During World War II, Ms. Richards joined the Canadian Navy and entertained troops in Canada and Europe.

After the war, she studied at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto and went to work at the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

For 25 years, Ms. Richards performed in radio dramas and had her greatest success playing a boy called the Kid on "Jake and the Kid," which aired in the 1950s.

She went on to act in more than 25 film and television projects, including Care Bears movies and animated TV shows.

As it became clear that she would be remembered for giving voice to Rudolph, "she really embraced it," Goldschmidt said.

As Ms. Richards said on National Public Radio in 2004: "What better legacy can you leave than a show that everybody loves?"





Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Repurpose Old Circuit Boards into Deco


An old circuit board becomes a pencil holder and with clip for sticky notes.

More ideas here:

http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-13625_11-464243-2.html?tag=content;leftCol

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Apple iPod Nano 6th Generation (2010) Teardown

In September 2010, Apple unveiled the 6th generation iPod Nano (Model: A1366).

The new Nano is a significant departure from previous versions--resembling the new iPod Shuffle more than older Nanos.


As with the iPod Shuffle, the Nano isn't designed to be easily disassembled. But if you're working on a device that's already broken and out of warranty, you might not have anything to lose.

To disassemble the iPod Nano, you'll need a Phillips #00 or #000 screwdriver, a thin metal blade or plastic spudger, and a hair dryer or heat gun.

http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-13625_11-464855.html?tag=nl.e101

A Short Neurological Test


















1. Find the C below...
Please do not use any cursor help.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


2- If you already found the C, now find the 6 below.

99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
69999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999


3 - Now find the N below. It's a little more difficult.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMNMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM


This is NOT a joke. If you were able to pass these 3 tests, you can cancel your annual visit to your neurologist. Your brain is great and you're far from having a close relationship with Alzheimer.

Congratulations!-------
Eonvrye who can raed this rsaie your hnad.
To my 'selected' strange-minded friends:

If you can read the following paragraph, forward it on to your friends and the person that sent it to you with 'yes' in the subject line.
-------
Only great minds can read this: This is weird, but interesting! If you can raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid too. Can you raed this?
Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.
I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

thanks to Carolynn for this !

Saturday, September 11, 2010

65 Years Later

HIROSHIMA 1945

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We all know that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed in August 1945 after explosion of atomic bombs.
However, we know little about the progress made by the people of that land during the past 65 years.

HIROSHIMA - 65 YEARS LATER

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DETROIT - 65 YEARS AFTER HIROSHIMA .....

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cid:15.418834529@web180107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com
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cid:18.418834529@web180107.mail.gq1.yahoo.com
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Friday, September 10, 2010

Never Underestimate a Strong Doggie Paddle !



Every summer hoards of beach-goers swarm the Italian coasts, and each year, the Italian Coast Guard estimates they rescue 3,000 people.


Working along side them is a team of very specialized lifeguards who are responsible for saving many lives during these seaside months — the graduates of canine lifeguarding school.


"Dogs are useful in containing the physical fatigue of the lifeguard, to increase the speed at which casualties are retrieved, to increase the security of both the casualty and of the lifeguard," Roberto Gasbarri, coordinator of the Italian School of Canine Lifeguards, told the Associated Press.

The program is three years long and trains dogs to rescue swimmers in trouble. The lifedogs wear buoys or tow a raft on which the victim can hold on while the dogs pull them to safety. The pups are particularly useful in missions where they need to jump from helicopters or fast boats, as they are much more capable than humans in these extreme situations.


"The dog becomes a sort of intelligent lifebuoy," said Gasbarri. "It is a buoy that goes by itself to a person in need of help, and comes back to the shore also by himself, choosing the best landing point and swimming through the safest currents."
There are currently 300 life-saving pups deployed on the Italian coast lines. Most of the dogs tend to be retrievers, but the only requirement to become a lifedog is weighing more than 66 lbs.

"Being retrievers, they set out to pick up anything we tell them, be it a human being, an object, or a fish, and they bring it back to the shore," said lifeguard Monia Luciani. "They do not associate it with a physical activity, but it is rather a game for them."

XOXO and thanks to Doreen for this one...