Question of the Day: Why does coffee never taste as good as it smells?

              Good Day Humboldt County!

What’s more stimulating than the smell of coffee in the morning? Nothing, as far as I’m concerned.

The smell of freshly ground coffee beans gives me the strength to crawl out of bed in every morning.

I always wondered why when drinking the coffee it didn’t taste as good as it smelled. Well, I found out why: 

“ For many it is the first highlight of the day, just when you need it most: the scent of freshly brewed coffee wafting through the house first thing in the morning. But scientists claim to have solved the mystery of why coffee never tastes as good as it smells.

The act of swallowing the drink sends a burst of aroma up the back of the nose from inside the mouth, activating a “second sense of smell” in the brain that is less receptive to the flavor, causing a completely different and less satisfying sensation.

In contrast, some cheeses smell revolting but taste delicious because their whiff seems more pleasant to us when passing out of the nose than in, experts explained. Speaking at the British Science Festival in Aberdeen Prof Barry Smith, of the University of London, said: “We have got two senses of smell.

“One sense is when you inhale things from the environment into you, and the other is when the air comes out of you up the nasal passage and is breathed out through the nose.” The phenomenon is down to the fact that, although we have sensors on our tongue, eighty per cent of what we think of as taste actually reaches us through smell receptors in our nose.” (Read the rest here)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

AS IT STANDS: A look back at the Republican National Convention

                         
                   By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
It was disturbing to watch two delegates thrown out for throwing peanuts at a black female CNN camera operator and shouting, “This is how we feed animals!” at the Republican National Convention.
I think I heard strains of “Dixie” playing (…old times there are not forgotten), but won’t swear to it.
 I didn’t see a unified Republican Party.
Convention Chairman John Boehner wasn’t exactly Mr. Popular. When he called for a voice vote on the rules it sounded like the “Nayes” won it, but Boehner ruled “The Ayes have it” and all the rules went through.

 Chaos erupted, but the dog-and-pony show went on despite early mention of minority reports sent to the Chair that would have offered an alternate version of the rules. However, no minority reports were voted on. It was as though no opposition had ever existed. Boos and fury followed. The unsatisfied Maine delegation walked out in disgust.

  A floor fight was narrowly avoided  and alternate delegates threatened to spark a mass rebellion by supporters of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, as well as opponents of the proposed rules.

 Chris Christie, a increasingly popular conservative politician and keynote speaker at the RNC, made no mention of his “New Jersey Comeback.”
Here’s why: when Christie took office in Jan. 2010 unemployment in New Jersey was 9.7 percent. It dropped to 9.0 percent earlier this year, but has since ballooned to 9.8 percent – the highest it’s been in 35 years.
Out of all the speakers, all the proclamations, and all the political rhetoric at the convention, one topic concerned me the most; war. Romney suggested that we might have to attack Iran. He also said he wants “a military so strong no one would dare attack us.” What Romney didn’t say was that our wars are causing our huge national debt.
The thing about that statement is no one would dare attack us now. The implication was that we are weak and he wants to beef up our military for more interventions into other countries. I find that unacceptable and fear mongering.
Unlike past Republican conventions, there was little talk of foreign policy. There was a  good reason for that. Recent polls show Obama holds a considerable lead in that subject.
Romney’s short campaign tour overseas, where he managed to seriously “tick-off” our  British allies during the Olympics, was a preview of his speaking skills abroad.  
 I found it ironic that the theme of the second night was: “We Built It,” in response to a speech earlier this year by Obama that was taken out of context. The night revolved around the bogus theme (lie) with testimonials from selected small business owners vetted by GOP convention organizers.

I was mildly surprised to see that Paul Ryan was named Romney’s Vice-President. He has a past history similar to Romney’s, as he’ll flip flop on political positions like an acrobat. His acceptance speech was full of lies (a Ryan trademark). 
For a detailed analysis go to http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2012/aug/11/fact-checking-paul-ryan/ and http://www.politicususa.com/5-biggest-lies-paul-ryans-rnc-acceptance-speech.html).
I wonder how Romney is going to square his quotes on abortion (he’s repeatedly told reporters there should be some exceptions) with the GOP Party platform announced during the convention which states, “No more abortions regardless of the reason.”
  Lots of tea party luminaries were featured, and rightly so, as they are taking over the Republican Party. 
 Romney’s acceptance speech on the last night was preceded by mystery guest Clint Eastwood, who proceeded to ramble on to an empty chair for 12 minutes before miming, “Make my day” and shuffling off. The audience exploded in nervous relief while convention organizers scrambled to adjust the schedule, since Dirty Harry used twice the time allotted to him.

Clint was right when he said Obama disappointed people by not getting us out of Afghanistan. The speech was, however, one of his more bizarre performances. He still stole the show.
Romney’s speech was full of  rhetoric and nostalgia. As usual, no detailed plans were given, only vague future promises. The only thing he and Ryan  really scored political points on was the fact that so many people are unemployed. They promised jobs - 12 million of them if they get elected.
As It Stands, perhaps the saddest footnote of all regarding the convention was that a spin-off reality show, “Honey Boo Boo,” drew more viewers than the convention on the final night.

WEBSITE carrying this column:

1) GOP Convention

Insect Power: Remote-control tech turns Cockroaches into Beasts of Burden

I’ve always assumed that cockroaches would someday be the only living thing on the planet. Until that happens however, scientists have harnessed the disgusting little things with a high-tech backpack that allows them to remotely control where they scurry.

While the concept may sound terrifying, anyone buried alive under rubble in an earthquake will shout for joy at the sight of one of these bugs. The shout will be relayed to rescue teams. (Story here)

Coca-Cola sees big profit in little drops despite risk to other units

Coca-Cola’s newest drink won’t come in a bottle or a can. Also, people will only need a squirt or two to quench their thirst.

In the coming weeks, the world’s largest beverage company is introducing its Dasani Drops, which can be squeezed into water for some on-the-spot fruity flavor. Coca-Cola is betting that there’s big potential for growth.

Coca-Cola says the drops will boost consumption of water, whether it’s tap water or bottled. Ideally, of course, people would use the drops with its Dasani water, which already saw sales volume rise 13 percent in the first half of the year, according to industry tracker Beverage Digest.

Overall consumption of bottled water has also been growing, although at a much slower pace than in the early 2000s, according to Beverage Digest, which reported last week that Coca-Cola planned to introduce the drops.

The drops may hurt Coca-Cola’s other units, however. The company also makes enhanced waters, such as Vitaminwater Zero. (Read story here.)

A look back at some of the most humorous Quotes & Jokes from the Democratic National Convention

                     Good Day Humboldt County! 

 True axiom: politicians provide easy fodder for ridicule. Sometimes they even tell funny jokes and quotes about each other. The Democratic National Convention was a good place to pull to joke around and drop pithy quotes books this year.

Oh! The games these kids play…    

                                    President Obama – Quotes
"You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can't visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally."

“They want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. And that's because all they have to offer is the same prescription they've had for the last thirty years: 'Have a surplus? Try a tax cut. Deficit too high? Try another. Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!'"

"If you're sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me, so am I."

Bill Clinton – Quotes

"In Tampa, the Republican argument against the president's reelection was actually pretty simple — pretty snappy. It went something like this: We left him a total mess. He hasn't cleaned it up fast enough. So fire him and put us back in."

Read More...

Jimmy Fallon – Jokes

"The Democrats are going all out to top last week's Republican Convention. In fact, I heard they're going to have Clint Eastwood yell at a couch."

Conan O’Brian – Jokes

"If you're a donor to President Obama's campaign, you were promised exclusive access to Joe Biden - and for an extra $10,000 absolutely no access to Joe Biden."

Jay Leno – Jokes

“What a different four years makes. At the lastDemocratic Convention the theme was 'hope and change' this time it's 'hope you don't make a change.'" 

Read more DNC jokes...

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Odd News Alert! What happened to the missing silver SpongBob coins!

ODD BREAKING NEWS…

“When Peregrine Financial Group collapsed in July after revelations its chief executive allegedly stole client money for years, it was not just customer assets of the futures brokerage that went missing.

Some 76 sets of silver coins sporting the image of cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants were also unaccounted for, according to a note buried deep in a filing by Peregrine Financial's bankruptcy trustee late Thursday. Thirty-nine ounces of gold were also missing.” (read the rest here)

The Toxic Avenger: All you ever wanted to know about cult films and more

                            Good Day Humboldt County!

There’s a lot of categories under cult films so let’s just dive right in and start with Troma's Intentionally-Trashy Cult Films:

 Troma Studios, founded in the early 1980s, has either produced or distributed some of the most astonishing, sleazy, gross-out, tasteless movies ever made - revitalizing the entire horror/sci-fi genre with campy comedy. One of their most successful, bad taste, low-budget cult films, a spoof of heroic monster films, was director Michael Herz' and Lloyd Kaufman's The Toxic Avenger (1984). The B-film was about a weakling who was transformed into a vengeful, rampaging, crime-fighting creature after tumbling into green radioactive waste. It was so well-received that it was followed by three sequels about the mutant super-hero: The Toxic Avenger, Part II (1989), and The Toxic Avenger, Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989), and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV (2000). It even spawned a light-hearted Saturday morning cartoon called The Toxic Crusader, about someone named Toxie - who was exposed to toxic chemicals, and his other mutant friends who fight crime.

Film titles from Troma tell all - their iconoclastic films are deliberately manufactured to be silly, offensive, absurd, and harsh, and venturing toward lurid sexploitation, although many have become gore-fest cult favorites of the midnight movie crowd: Jim Mallon's parody slasher film Blood Hook (1986), Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986) - a combination teen-sex comedy and slime monster film (followed by two sequels: Class of Nuke 'Em High 2: Subhumanoid Meltdown (1991) and Class of Nuke 'Em High 3: The Good, the Bad and the Subhumanoid (1995)), Surf Nazis Must Die (1987) - about violent rival gangs fighting for beach turf, Fortress of Amerikkka (1989), Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. (1991), Tromeo and Juliet (1996) - a perversion of the Shakespearean story, and Terror Firmer (1999) - a 'film within a film' based in part on director Kaufman's 1998 book about his career with Troma, All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger. GO HERE TO CONTINUE READING ABOUT MORE CULT FILMS.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

As the day slips away Water Dancers come alive beneath the moon

Water Dancers is another magnificent illusory painting by Rob Gonsalves, a Canadian painter of magic realism with a unique perspective and style.

Rob’s paintings include one additional aspect - sometimes it’s not that easy to dissect and pinpoint where one motive ends and its transformation into another begins (see Camels in The Night, Cathedral of Commerce and Ships and Arches for better understanding).

Although Gonsalves’ work is often categorized as surrealistic, it differs because the images are deliberately planned and result from conscious thought. (source)

All you have to do is take the ‘Test’ to stimulate your brain today

                     Good Day Humboldt County!

Are you ready to have your brain stimulated today?

 Would you like to know how your consciousness is connected to the world?
Are you ready to explore the unconscious functions of your brain with visual illusions
and mysterious perceptual phenomena?

                        Click here to take the TEST

It’s time for me to walk on down the road…

A look at the Right’s bizarro Constitution fetish – or, how you can tell when a Tea Party person crosses the road

             Good Day Humboldt County!

I’ve found an interesting Op-Ed writer for your consideration today. He offers unique insights into politics without being too boring!

Seth Ackerman, a doctoral candidate in History at Cornell, is an editor at Jacobin. He has written for Harper’s and In These Times, and was a media critic with Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting.

An excerpt from “Burn The Constitution” by Seth Ackerman

“It’s easy to make fun of the Right’s bizarro Constitution fetish, especially in its current Glenn Beck-ified form. Beck’s late guru, the Bircher and Mormon extremist W. Cleon Skousen, is now the main source of the Tea Partiers’ constitutional wisdom; his books, once out of print and gathering dust, have become posthumous bestsellers and required reading at Tea Party training courses.

A true fanatic and weirdo, Skousen believed the Founding Fathers were inspired by the example of the ancient Anglo-Saxons, who in turn were inspired by the Biblical Israelites. All adhered to the divinely sanctioned principles of limited government, a system under which America made more progress in its first century than the world had made in the previous 5,000 years (hence the title of Skousen’s magnum opus, The Five Thousand Year Leap). But it all started falling apart at the start of the twentieth century, when progressives and socialists attacked the Constitution and Woodrow Wilson embraced their Satanic cause, taking the first fateful steps on the road to the serfdom we know today: minimum wages, a Federal Reserve, national parks, Medicare — all, Skousen insists, are unconstitutional.” Read the whole article here.

Time for me to walk on down the road….

Under Public Transportation: Would You Be Willing to Travel on the World’s Largest Bus?

 Good Day Humboldt County!

I’m not a bus kind of guy, so the possibility of riding in this caterpillar-like vehicle would never enter my skull.

Just wouldn’t happen. But, in all fairness, it may have it’s good points. The German company that makes these mega-buses is touting them as being “environmentally friendly.” For the life of me, I can’t see anything green about this machine. What am I missing? It looks like a commuter’s nightmare:

“At more than 100-feet end-to-end, a bus capable carrying 256 passengers and driving nearly 5 miles in all-electric mode is the world’s longest bus.The people mover was developed to “bridge the gap between conventional city buses and [street cars], offering new possibilities for an environmental friendly public transport,” the German research institute Fraunhofer IVI noted in a news release.

Potential clients include burgeoning cities in Asia and South America where rail transport is unrealistic due to cost, space, or time restrictions.The AutoTram Extra Grand, as the three-segmented bus is called, has a multi-axle steering system, which allows it to be maneuvered like a standard 39-foot bus, the university said.”  – via Clean Technica

Time for me to walk on down the road…

No profound message today: But some really cool street signs might stimulate your minds!

                  Good Day Humboldt County!  

I thought I’d start this Monday off with the most nonsensical thing I could as it’s a holiday.

 Happy Labor Day!

Watch out for cows in Taos, New Mexico, and Hookers in a town near you! You want to see more crazy road signs?

Go to Weird road signs contest: Which one is wackiest? By Paul A. Eisenstein, The Detroit Bureau of LIFEINC.

AS IT STANDS: Beware of politicians promising a return to the ‘Good Old Days’

             Dave Stancliff/for The Times-Standard
   What Good Old Days?
   I know there are people who pine for the years following WW II, from 1945 to 1965,when “everything was better.” America had emerged as a superpower and a manufacturing force second to none in the world. We were number one.

  Historians quickly called the generation that won the war the “Greatest Generation.” Their children were given the best of everything in life. The American Dream was within every man’s or woman’s grasp.
  But something happened. When those children became teenagers, the world shifted slightly and societal changes came hard and fast. Vietnam, Hippies, Drugs, Free Love, and college students leading  protests against war.

  Let’s hold it right there. I want to discuss the “Good Old Days” (as defined above) a little further.

  Do you think African Americans and other people of color thought those were the Good Old Days? Frankly, I doubt it.
  If you were an African American living in the deep south from 1945 to1965, you lived in another America. One that had no dreams. No hope. You survived at the whim of the white man. You couldn’t eat in the same building or shop in the same store because of your color.
 Let’s not linger on this aspect of the supposed Good Old Days too long, but it does have to be examined. Instead, let’s look at a whole new view of the Good Old Days. Are you ready?

  The reason they were considered the Good Old Days was simple; people didn’t know what was happening everywhere in the country and the world. They were uninformed for the most part, especially in rural America.
  So they didn’t know all the terrible things that happened in a 24 hour news cycle worldwide. They were not bombarded with all that negative news and views. There was no internet. Sure, they heard news on the radio,  but music dominated the airwaves and the movies from 1945 thru 1965.
  I wouldn’t say ignorance is bliss, but in some cases it seems preferable to knowing too much and being stressed out about things you can’t do anything about. Try to imagine what it would be like to not to hear all the negative things you hear every day.
  I think it’s fair to say technology has advanced considerably since those Good Old Days. We’re living longer in the 21st century. Because of robotics, we’re actually more productive in the workplace than in the Good Old Days when we were a world leader in manufacturing.
  I know that sounds odd, especially when you compare the workforce in the Good Old Days when jobs were plentiful, and the workforce today with over 8% of all Americans unemployed, and jobs as scarce as water in our current historic drought.
  Moving on, I really don’t think there were ever any Good Old Days in the sense that every thing was rosy, or people were all nice and respectful to each other. Progressive and regressive forces have always battled it out. 
  Some people have selective memories, which make those days of yore so special. Which leads me to a warning about politicians who use our faulty memories of a golden age that never existed to political advantage. You know the ones I’m talking about. They promise to “turn the clock back to a better time.” Whatever that means.

 They pledge to bring morals back to the country, and more of the Christian God to our government. They invoke memories of the “Greatest Generation,” and promise a new one - just like the old one  - is on the way. They lie.
  You can’t restore a myth. You can’t change a society and turn the clock back to a dream that only existed for some white Americans.

There were wars being fought worldwide, crime at home, segregation issues and all the terrible things we face as a society today were going on back then, too.

  Some politicians, vultures seeking your votes, will try to tell you they can bring back the Good Old Days, and say we once lived in a patriotic utopia.

   As It Stands, when you hear people calling for those Good Old Days, take a moment and ask them to what good old days are they referring? 
                                                                    
        
                    Reader response VIA Emails: 

“Right on! Yesterday on FaceBook, I posed the question,"What does it mean, 'take our country back.' Back where, how?" Strangely enough, no one responded either negative or positive.
Your column makes so much sense.
Admittedly, i have liberal leanings, and fail miserably in understanding how anyone with an ounce of intellect can honestly believe that the Republicans have the answer to take our country forward. Thanks for writing.” - Pam Cavanagh

                                               Websites that have picked this column up:

1) Go here to SiloBreaker

2) Schema.root.org - United States politicians at the federal level

3) Journalism Newswire

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)

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)

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

                 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).

 

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

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

                                     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…