Saturday, September 1, 2012

Check out the wisdom and insanity of funny guy Will Ferrell

(source)

N.H. woman arrested 4 times in 26 hours for loud music, assault

          Good Day

     Humboldt County!

 The following story is so unique I had to share it. I’ve heard of people getting in trouble for playing loud music after a certain time of night (curfews vary from city to city, but one example is San Bernardino where it’s 10:00 p.m.), but a serial repeater? Nope. New to me. How about you?  

This series of booking photos shows Joyce Coffey after being arrested four times in 26 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Joyce Coffey of Epping, N.H., just didn't seem to get it -- or care -- when she was arrested four times in 26 hours earlier this week. The police run-ins stemmed from loud AC/DC and Guns N' Roses music police said could be heard blasting from her house as well as Coffey allegedly throwing a frying pan at her nephew.

Epping police said they first visited Coffey's home on Tuesday at 3 p.m. local time, when they warned her to turn down the music, WMUR-TV in New Hampshire reported. They returned an hour later, found the music was still playing, and arrested her.

The final call to Coffey's home was for a report of a domestic disturbance. Police said Coffey's nephew alleged she threw a frying pan at him, hitting him in the head, when he tried to get some of his belongings from her house.

She was arrested a fourth, and on Thursday a judge ordered her to undergo a mental health evaluation.If she completes the evaluation, the judge said, she will be released to home confinement with electronic monitoring. The judge also suggested that Coffey, who is due back in court on Oct. 15, use headphones to listen to music, WMUR reported.” (source)

Friday, August 31, 2012

News Flash: 'Honey Boo Boo' ratings topped Republican National Convention

                     GOOD DAY HUMBOLDT COUNTY!

This is really kinda embarrassing for the Republican Party, but this little entertainer – “Honey Boo Boo” - has more viewer clout than Mitt Romney!

Not sure how Romney’s campaign will spin this interesting little fact, but it tells us volumes when it comes to the relevancy and importance of the convention. Let’s face it, “Honey Boo Boo,” is more of a charmer than Romney.

"Here Comes Honey Boo Boo," TLC's controversial reality show about a self-proclaimed "redneck" family and their "Toddlers and Tiaras" daughter, hit another ratings high on Wednesday night. The fourth episode of "Honey Boo Boo" pulled in just shy of 3 million viewers at 10 p.m., according to Nielsen overnight ratings, growing 30 percent from last week's 2.3 million haul.

In the demo, "Honey Boo Boo" did even better. The half-hour series' showing among adults 18-49 bested all other cable outings for the night — coverage of the Republican National Convention, included — to pull a 1.3 rating.

Fox News gave the show its closest competition with a 1.2 adults rating in that same time period. On the broadcast networks,"Honey Boo Boo" bested ABC and CBS' demo showing for the RNC combined and topped NBC by two tenths of a point. Aggregate coverage of the RNC across networks obviously eclipsed "Honey Boo Boo" considerably.” (source)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Related story:

STORY: Why 'Honey Boo Boo's' Ratings Are No Cause for Alarm (Yet)

Thursday, August 30, 2012

LEARNIST: Introducing a website that you’re going to love with Apps for iPAD and iPHONE!

Learnist iPad & iPhone apps now available

                 UPDATES BELOW     

          Good Day Humboldt County!

I’m excited to share this new website – LEARNIST – with you, especially as I’m on the staff – as a political news contributor.

Check it out. I think you’ll really enjoy the thousands of topics curated by experts in every field. Look for me under POLITICS.

Grockit(TM), the social learning company that introduced Learnist(TM) in May 2012, today announced that its popular people-curated, social learning application will enable mobile social learning experiences via Learnist for the iPhone(R) and Learnist for the iPad(R).

 

Learnist

Introducing Learnist Apps for iPad® and iPhone®

 

Learnist is like a collaborative, multimedia, and interactive ebook from the future.

Create lessons on any subject using your iPhone's camera.

Browse thousands of learning resources curated by experts and teachers on the iPad and iPhone.

                        Go here for detailed lessons on how to use the new Learnist Apps

“From the beginning, Learnist was designed with mobility in mind. The Retina displays of the iPhone and iPad make for an unparalleled learning experience, and the fact that so many millions of people have these devices with them all the time means just that many more opportunities for collaboration and creation,” says Grockit founder Farbood Nivi.

The 'Learnist for (the) iPhone' App makes it easy to use the high-resolution camera to capture images that you can instantly sequence into a how-to guide or lesson. Share your lesson with anyone and collaborate with your readers. Learnist on the iPhone can even use GPS to show your location on learnings that use maps. You can also browse and learn from thousands of topics created and curated by other Learnist members.

The 'Learnist for (the) iPad' App is optimized for learning from the thousands of topics curated by experts, teachers, and other members. The, long battery-life, large stunning display and LTE capabilities make multimedia, interactive and collaborative learning available from almost anywhere at anytime. Browse and learn about topics including Art & Design, Education, Food & Drinks, Travel & Places, Sports and more.

“Whether it’s in the classroom, the workplace or the home, people learn best when they do it together and often when they are sharing a computer or tablet screen,” says Roy Gilbert, Grockit CEO. “Our goal is to help people learn from and teach each other with the incredibly rich educational resources found all over the internet. Our new mobile apps make it fun for Learnist users to do this.”

                      Update on Learnist

In a two-month-long, invite-only beta of the Learnist web application, tens-of-thousands of people joined Learnist sharing expert knowledge focused on a wide range of academic and casual learning topics. Notably, several thousand American teachers joined Learnist, creating “Learnboards” covering 100% of the new Common Core academic standards for public school grades 7-12. And, influential non-academic experts are adopting Learnist, including best-selling author of Lean Startup, Eric Ries and fashion designer Melissa Fleis, popular contestant on reality TV series Project Runway.

To request an invitation to Learnist, please visit Learni.st or download Learnist for the iPad or Learnist for the iPhone on the Apple(R) App Store(SM), here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learnist/id522850398

News VIA Street Insider

                                          For those of you who aren’t on FaceBook: 

Users can use Learnist without having a Facebook account. 

While they will not be able to create content, like or comment within the application, they can still access all of the content on Learnist.   This allows users to pull up the Learnist website during a class period, meeting, or in any situation where Facebook is restricted and still explore the content in Learnist.  While there is different values in having members use all of Learnist's features, we have designed this solution as a work around for our current users who can't access Facebook at the workplace.

Here's some more information on why we use Facebook in connecting to Learnist:

Facebook is only used to authenticate users, and any sharing features are turned off by default. As an online educational community, Learnist is fully integrated with the web, which allows for a rich experience, but also presents its own unique challenges. We strive to keep our educational community as authentic and valuable as possible. In that regard, we hope to keep the Learnist community clear of fake users, spam and advertising which will not add value to the community, or worse - distract from it.

To be clear, Learnist uses your facebook name and profile picture to populate your Learnist profile. Additionally, your Learnist account will automatically follow any friends you have on Facebook that are also on Learnist. That's the extent of Facebook integration, unless you select to activate Sharing/Social features, which are turned off by default. No one can access your Facebook profile from Learnist, or vice-versa - unless one chooses to do so.

In essence, there really isn't a a 'blurring' of professional and personal lives in terms of privacy. However, we do hope that the Learnist community is useful in both a professional and personal sense and transcends more traditional concepts of education. :) 

We chose to start with Facebook during our Beta phase because the social aspect is central to our philosophy. We believe that learning is deeply individual, it is also highly social. While our discovery engines play an important role, we've always valued people over algorithms. We've found that people learn more and quicker with the help of others. The social element – sharing and commenting – is integrated throughout; you can push “learnings” to your Facebook timeline; you can follow people as well as topics. As learners move through the resources, they can check off the “learnings” they’ve completed. And they can add and suggests new learnings, as well as suggest experts (or, well, “others”) contribute to particular boards.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

                           UPDATES: The following links are covering this breaking story:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/grockit-unlocks-mobile-social-learning-learnist-app-for-iphone-and-ipad-available-now-2012-08-30

http://grockit.com/blog/main/2012/08/30/learnist-for-the-ipad-and-learnist-for-the-iphone-available-in-the-apple-appstore/

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/08/k-12/now-with-apps-curation-board-learnist-may-one-up-pinterest-for-education/

http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/30/grockit-steps-beyond-test-prep-learnist-brings-social-learning-to-iphone-and-ipad/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

http://edudemic.com/2012/08/what-the-new-learnist-apps-mean-for-education-technology/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

http://pymnts.com/news/businesswire-feed/2012/august/30/grockit-unlocks-mobile-social-learning-learnist-app-for-iphone-and-ipad-available-now-20120830005293/

http://www.educationdive.com/story/learnist-iphone-pad-apps-grockit/?utm_source=tweet&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=twitter_educationdive

http://gigaom.com/2012/08/30/learnist-a-pinterest-for-education-releases-apps-for-iphone-ipad/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120830005293/en/Grockit-Unlocks-Mobile-Social-Learning-%E2%80%98Learnist%E2%80%99-App?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Here’s a Touching Tale to Digest: Boy finds a Bonanza in Whale Vomit

An 8-year-old boy in England could be up to $63,000 richer, thanks to a piece of solidified whale vomit he picked up on the beach.

The chunk may look like a yellow-brownish rock, but it's actually a primo piece of ambergris, an expensive perfume ingredient that is, um, spewed out by whales.

Charlie Naysmith stumbled upon the loaf-sized lump at Hengistbury Head, on the southern coast of England, the Bournemouth Echo reported over the weekend.

All’s well that ends well: former boxers Tyson and Holyfield now buddies

  I’ve followed boxing at a very early age hearing about my father’s fights in the Marine Corp. He was a welterweight. Growing up it was one subject my dad and I loved to talk about.  We followed all of the weight classes.

I still remember when dad bet on an then unknown Cassius Clay to beat the monster Sonny Listen. He cleaned up that night! through the years I’ve selected my favorite boxers of all times in each division.

There was actually a time I considered Mike Tyson…well okay…I’m still divided…as a heavyweight great. I actually lean more towards Evander Holyfield (another Marine…hhmmmm) as a hall of famer. Still, this is a nice story about these two once bitter rivals

Former heavyweight champions Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield are continuing to take advantage of their notorious history together, turning it into a marketing opportunity.

In  1997, in perhaps the most heavily hyped rematch of all time, Tyson lost his composure and bit off part of Holyfield's ear. At the time, that earned Tyson a $3 million fine and a ban from boxing.

Nowadays, the one-time superstars have turned it into a marketing opportunity.

On Monday, Holyfield tweeted a photo of himself wearing a T-shirt bearing the image of Tyson's facial tattoo. He wrote:

@MikeTyson bit my ear and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

Tyson is selling the T-shirt as part of the Mike Tyson Collection.

That followed on the heels of a Twitter exchange between them in June, in which Tyson helped Holyfield sell his Real Deal Barbecue sauce.

It's good that they can joke about it now -- Tyson apologized to Holyfield on "The Oprah Show" in 2009 -- but it was hardly a joking matter the night of the fight. After Tyson bit Holyfield in retaliation for what he said was intentional head butting, rioting broke out in and around the MGM Grand casino. It's a lot better for all concerned to see them friendly and joking with each other than the way they were back in 1997.” (source)

Cop Jared Rohrig Charged with Posing as His Twin to Have Sex with His Girlfriend

Jared-Rohrig.JPG

                                     Good Day Humboldt County!

  I’ve got an interesting tale of a real douchebag that I thought would be fun to kick the day off with. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, guys like Jared Rohrig prove you’re wrong.

 Straight from True Crime Report:

Orange, Connecticut policeman Jared Rohrig has a ton of class. When his twin brother Joseph's girlfriend arrived at the family home late one night -- yes, he's 25 and he still lives with his mom -- Jared pretended to be Joseph. He and the unnamed woman hung out in the hot tub before heading to bed.
But the woman -- who we're guessing was a little tipsy -- noticed something unusual in the midst of having sex. Her boyfriend has a cowboy tattoo on his butt. The man she was romping with did not. That's when she discovered she was sexing up the wrong brother. The woman tried to flee, but she says Jared pulled her back to bed, put a pillow over her face, and continued to rape her...

He's been hit with rape and impersonation charges, and has since resigned from the Orange PD. His mother, Joanne Rohrig, was so embarrassed she will not seek re-election to the Milford, Connecticut Board of Education. And Joseph -- we're just hoping here -- will soon be charged with assault for kicking the living shit out of his brother. He's expected to be acquitted under a rare ecclesiastical statute that permits beating your brother in the event that he sleeps with your girlfriend.”

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

AS IT STANDS: The court of public opinion is in order

Good Day Humboldt County!  It’s great to be back. For those of you who didn’t read my column last Sunday here you go:                           

     By Dave Stancliff/for the Times-Standard
     In a court somewhere in America. 
  Bailiff - “Everyone please remain standing until the Honorable Judge Les Hearit takes his seat.”
  Judge - “You may take your seats. The court of public opinion is now open.”
  A lawyer for the defense of judgmental Americans steps forward.
  Defense Lawyer for the public - “Your honor, George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin and said it was self-defense. America can’t just sit back and wait for a trial. This is big news. A lot of people think he’s a racist and profiled Trayvon. Many others like a good scandal.”
   Judge - “I understand what you’re saying counselor.”

  Defense lawyer for Zimmerman - “What happened to innocent until proven guilty, your honor? I shouldn’t have to defend my client in front of the whole country before the real trial begins.”
   Judge - “Haven’t you ever heard of Judge Judy? Public trials generate cash for the economy. People like to hear people express their opinions.”
   Defense lawyer for Zimmerman - That may be true your honor, but how will we ever get an unbiased jury for the trial when my client’s name tops all the top 10 search engines on the internet?”
  Judge -  “Don’t worry counselor, there are still people out there who don’t watch TV, read newspapers or magazines, use the internet, kindles, nooks, and don’t belong to social media websites like FaceBook or Twitter.”

  Defense lawyer for Zimmerman - “Who are they?  A group of people who live in caves and expect the end of the world this December?”
  Judge - “Watch how you address the court counselor! Show some respect.”
   Defense lawyer for Zimmerman - “Pardon me, your honor. It’s just that the court of public opinion could hurt my client’s chances of being acquitted of the charge against him.”
   Judge - “I don’t agree with that, counselor. Look at the Casey Anthony case. The whole country wanted her to be found guilty, but a jury said she wasn’t. And how about the John Edwards trial? There were a lot of people who thought he was guilty, but once again a jury said he wasn’t.”
   Defense lawyer for the public - “Thank you, your honor, for supporting our right to convict or to acquit anyone without all the facts. It’s truly the American way.”
    Prosecutor - “I’ve been quiet all this time for a reason, your honor. If it please the court, I have no objections to Zimmerman’s case being tried openly like this as it is providing valuable material for the upcoming trial.”
   Defense lawyer for Zimmerman - “Just what do you mean by that, sir?”
   Prosecutor - “Stuff like that Fox interview where your client looked like a puppet being pulled by Sean Hannity’s strings, and yours. He was about as sincere as a rock! That farce was nothing more than a fundraiser for Zimmerman’s website that accepts donations for his defense.”

  Defense layer for Zimmerman - “Objection! My client isn’t a rock! That should be struck from the record!”
   Judge -  “Order in the court! I won’t allow you two to continue to make your cases if you can’t play nice.”
   Defense lawyer for the public - “Oh, come on your honor. This is exactly what we want. Unfounded allegations, outright lies, concealed information, partial truths, and lots of emotion on the part of Trayvon’s parents, the African-American community, the NRA, and other gun lobbies. It’s not about getting to the truth; it’s about entertainment. We want something else to talk about other than the economy, the presidential election, the drought, floods, and healthcare.”

   Judge - “You’ve got a good point counselor…let’s continue.”
   Prosecutor - “The bottom line is Zimmerman brought a knife to a fist fight.”
   Defense lawyer for Zimmerman - “My client feared for his life.”
   Prosecutor - “If he hadn’t got out of the car, Trayvon would be alive today.”
   Defense lawyer for Zimmerman - “My client was trying to protect his neighbors’ houses.”
    Prosecutor - “Trayvon was being chased by a stranger he thought was going to do him harm.”
   Judge - “That’s enough for today. We’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow at 9 a.m. The court of public opinion is dismissed.”
   As It Stands, being judgmental is a national pastime.

It's Time to Pay Up Donnie!

It's looks like there will be some prime real estate going on the market soon in New York City. Convicted rapist and former president ...