Weight Loss Plan

 A man calls a company and orders their 5-day, 10 lb. weight loss program.
 
The next day, there's a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck.

 She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company.
 
 The sign reads, "If you can catch me, you can have me."
  
Without a second thought, he takes off after her.
 
A few miles later huffing and puffing, he finally gives up.
 
The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens.

 On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 10 lbs. as promised.

He calls the company and orders their 5-day/20 pound program.
 
The next day there's a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, "If you catch me you can have me."
 
Well, he's out the door after her like a shot.
 
This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck.
 

So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.

Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another
 20 lbs. as promised.

He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/50 pound program.

"Are you sure?" asks the representative on the phone. "This is our most rigorous program."

"Absolutely," he replies, "I haven't felt this good in years."
   
The next day there's a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, "If I catch you, your ass is mine."

He lost 63 pounds that week.

Hamster Powered Vacume cleaner:)

Hamster Powered Vacume cleaner:)

Meteorite Hunters Find the West Texas Fireball

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday March 04, @01:14AM

from the sweet-dreams-and-flying-machines-in-pieces-on-the-ground dept.

An anonymous reader writes"A fireball streaked over Austin, Texas on February 15 producing sonic booms and startling people for hundreds of miles. The video of the event was shown on national television and viewed by thousands of people on the Net. The first news reports speculated that the fireball might have been debris from a February 13th collision between two satellites over Siberia but space experts said that the object was probably a meteor. Now this has been confirmed: experienced meteorite hunters located a strewnfield about 120 miles north of the filming site of the Austin cameraman and have recovered over 100 freshly fallen meteorites."

Common Marine Sponges May Provide Super-antibiotics Of The Future

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2009) — No matter how sophisticated modern medicine becomes, common ailments like fungal infections can outrun the best of the world's antibiotics. In people with compromised immune systems (like premature babies, AIDS victims or those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer) the risk is very high: contracting a fungal infection can be deadly.

Read More

Long-Term Use Of Nutrient Supplements May Increase Cancer Risk

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2009) — Long-term use of beta carotene and some other carotenoid-containing dietary supplements may increase the risk of lung cancer, especially among smokers, according to a study by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers.

Read More

First Touch-Screen, Bendable E-Paper Developed

Posted by timothy on Tuesday March 03, @12:40PM

from the don't-sign-contracts-written-on-this dept.

Al writes"The first touch-screen flexible e-paper has been developed by a team from Arizona State University and E-Ink (the company that makes the technology for Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader). Jann Kaminski and colleagues at ASU's Flexible Display Center say the main challenge is that most touch-screen technologies do not respond well to being flexed. So they used an inductive screen, which relies on a magnetized styluses to induce a field in a sensing layer at the back of the display. The first adopters for the technology are likely to be the US Army. Watch a video of the device being tested."

Oklahoma Bikers May Get to Run Red Lights Legally

by JOSH LOPOSER
Mar 3rd 2009 @ 12:00PM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Local

There are few things in life as frustrating as burning gas at an extremely long red light when you can plainly see there are no other vehicles nearby. If you get around your town on a motorcycle, you get to experience this beautiful gas-wasting phenomenon routinely, since your vehicle isn't big enough to trigger the sensors at most traffic lights. That's why lawmakers in Oklahoma have introduced a bill that would make it legal for bikers to run red lights in certain circumstances.

I like to call this concept "straight on red." It's like the wonderful "right on red," except this congestion-easing practice would only apply to motorcycles who passed through the light in a safe-ish manner where there was no traffic approaching. Seem dangerous? Sponsors of the bill say it would actually reduce traffic accidents by clarifying when it's OK to cross, while also saving fuel and reducing emissions -- especially if you happen to be riding this hog. 

[via AutoblogGreen]

Ultimate In 'Green' Energy: Plants Inspire New Generation Of Solar Cells

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — The ability of plants to turn sunlight into energy through photosynthesis has been successfully mimicked by scientists at the University of Southampton to produce a new generation of solar cells.

Read More

Health Campaigns That Promote Exercise May Cause People To Eat More

ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — New research from the University of Illinois suggests that weight-loss campaigns that promote exercise may actually cause people to eat more.

Read More

Advance In Making Stem Cells From Skin

Posted by kdawson on Monday March 02, @09:53PM

from the we-don't-need-no-steenkin'-viruses dept.

KillerBob writes with an advance on the news from a year back that stem cells can be produced from human skin — discussed here. Now Canadian researchers have found a safe way to generate stem cells without using viruses to modify the genome, a process that can have its own dangers."The ethical debate over embryonic stem cell use may soon be moot, thanks to a Canadian team of researchers who, together with a team out of Scotland, has found a safe way to grow stem cells from a patient's own skin. The revolutionary finding, described in a paper published yesterday by the international science journal Nature, means doctors may be one step closer to treating a multitude of diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes and Parkinson's."

Wiping American Butts Worse for the Environment than SUVs

by JOSH LOPOSER
Mar 2nd 2009 @ 5:00PM

Filed under: Home, Kids and Parenting, Natural Body Care

Wow, we knew that America's obsession with soft and fluffy toilet paper was a problem, but how bad is it really? According to Allen Hershkowitz, senior scientist from the Natural Resources Defense Council, America's toilet paper problem is actually worse for the planet than it's love of fuel-hogging SUVs. That's on account of the chemicals used in the manufacture of pulp and, of course, the fact that we're leveling old-growth forests to wipe our butts with.

The outcry over America's bathroom habits is being promoting in part by recent data showing that 98% of the toilet paper consumed in the US in 2008 came from virgin fibers (compare that to 60% in Europe and Latin America). According to the NYT, a significant portion of the quilted, super fluffy, triple-ply TP that comes from the nation's leading brands comes from rare old-growth forests in Canada. Sadly, the super comfy paper that is enjoyed for only a couple of unsavory seconds takes decades, if not centuries, to grow. Of course, there are plenty of alternatives out there like recycled TP or -- for hardcore conservationists -- the cloth toilet wipe.

Hardware: A New Way To Produce Hydrogen

Posted by kdawson on Sunday March 01, @05:20AM 
from the doctor-clark-i-presume dept.

Iddo Genuth writes"Scientists at Pennsylvania State University and Virginia Commonwealth University are producing hydrogen by exposing clusters of aluminum atoms to water. Rather than relying on the electronic properties of the aluminum, this new process depends on the geometric distribution of atoms within the clusters. It requires the presence of 'Lewis acids' and 'Lewis bases' in those atoms (water can act as either). Unlike most hydrogen production processes, this method can be used at room temperature and doesn't require the application of heat or electricity to work. The researchers experimented with a variety of different aluminum cluster patterns, discovering three that result in hydrogen production."

Volt Asks Temps To 'Vote" For Microsoft Pay Cut

Posted by kdawson on Sunday March 01, @03:47PM 
from the one-contractor-one-vote dept.

theodp writes"In an email sent Friday evening to its Microsoft temp workers, Volt Workforce Solutions asked the techies to 'vote' to agree to a 10% pay cut. From the email: 'We want to support you in continuing your assignment at Microsoft and respectfully ask that you respond by going to the upper left hand corner of this email under the "Vote" response option and select, "Accept'" by close of business Tuesday, March 3, 2009. By accepting you agree to the [-10%] pay adjustment in your pay rate.' Microsoft managed to keep the Feb. 20 email detailing plans to slash rates from leaking while it pitched its Elevate America initiative at the 2009 Winter Meeting of the National Governors Association, touting Microsoft skills as just the ticket to economic recovery."

 

• business
• goodluckwiththat
• money

 

• microsoft

• story

Read More... 

Underlying Sleep Problem Linked To Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder In Children

ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2009) — A study in the March 1 issue of the journal SLEEP suggests the presence of an intrinsic sleep problem specific to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and supports the idea that children with ADHD may be chronically sleep deprived and have abnormal REM sleep.

Read More

Uproar Over Netflix's New Instant Viewer

Posted by kdawson on Sunday March 01, @08:14PM

from the one-way-beta dept.

almechist writes"Many Netflix customers are up in arms over the new instant-watch player powered by Microsoft's Silverlight. The official Netflix blog is full of complaints from users who decry not only the new player's quality but also the way it's being distributed, with many claiming they were deceived into downloading it. Once you opt for the new player, the old Windows Media based player won't function, not on any computer associated with the account. The new player is supposedly still beta, but NF members are strongly encouraged (some say tricked) by NF into the so-called 'upgrade,' which is permanent — there is no way to opt out. The marked decrease in video quality seen by those who have switched is perhaps not surprising, since the old player could utilize bit streams up to twice as fast as the new one, but this information is nowhere given out by NF. So far NF has been answering all complaints with variations on 'tough luck pal, you're stuck with it,' but many customers are so disgusted they're ready to cancel their NF membership. This could be a public relations disaster in the making for Netflix."