28 posts tagged “news”

It's Pi Day!

(Shut up, I'm a math geek.)  I wish I could celebrate Pi Day by eating pie but it's really not worth making one since I'm moving tomorrow.

Also, don't forget, tomorrow's the next round of the anti-Scientology protests.

A little over a month ago Anonymous held their first protest against Scientology.  This Saturday (March 15th) they're doing it again.  Protests will be held all around the world so keep an eye out for one near you.  If you don't know why a group of people from the internet are protesting Scientology, check out these links.  You can also check out Operation Mock and Enturbulation (although their site seems to be running a little slow right now - understandably so) for more information.  If I wasn't going to be moving crap out of my apartment this weekend, I might have a chance to go downtown and see them.  Hopefully the protests will make the news again.

Last year Congress decided to make Daylight Savings Time longer in order to save energy.  Well, new research shows we might actually be wasting energy with this longer DST.

For decades, most of Indiana has not done a time switch. However, that changed in 2006 when legislation was passed putting the entire state onto Daylight Saving Time. This was supposed to save electricity and to promote commerce since people outside of Indiana would not have to think so much about what time it was in Indiana. But, how much electricity was being saved? Kotch and his graduate student, Laura Grant, decided to find out. They had a control sample of 15 counties that had already been observing Daylight Saving Time. So, they looked at electric consumption (as measured by the power company’s customers’ electric meters). By comparing the electric consumption before and after the switch to Daylight Saving Time and using the 15 counties that had already been doing that as a control sample, they were able to see what change the time switch had on electric usage. What they found, though, was that electricity consumption actually increased after the state began statewide observance of Daylight Saving Time!

You gotta love that our Congress decided to extend DST based on decades old research.

Edit: Even after I wrote this post, I still forgot to set my clocks forward an hour before I went to bed.  *headdesk*

The WGA strike is officially over.  92.5% of the guild voted to end the strike.  This is awesome!

The above link contains a link to a list which tells you which shows are coming back with new episodes when.  Some of my favorites ("Chuck", "Heroes", and "Dirty Sexy Money") won't be coming back until Fall but others ("Grey's Anatomy", "The Big Bang Theory", and "The Office") should be back in late April/early May.  And, of course, the writers for "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" should be back within days (although they were doing pretty good without their writers).

This day has just been a good one all around.  (Even if it did make me nervous at times.)

Edit: CBS has put out a chart detailing which of its shows are coming back when.  NBC has information about the return of "Chuck", "Life", and "Heroes" in the Fall and its Thursday night line-up in April.

A few of weeks ago, shortly after the Tom Cruise Scientology video was leaked, a group of people calling themselves Anonymous decided to get together and start protesting Scientology on the internet.  They did some DOS attacks and posted a bunch of papers online.  (You can read more here and here.)  Last week they decided to hold protests today (the 10th of February) outside of Scientology centers all around the world.  Apparently it was quite a success because news media came out at many sites and a lot of the protests had 100+ people attend.  (You can check out some of the protests here and keep an eye on your local news to see if they talk about it.)  I was looking through the Seattle thread and I can't believe I didn't know there was a Scientology center at that corner.  I've driven by that intersection more times than I can count.  Of course, it is a pretty shabby building so maybe that's why.  Anyway, their march took them right past the local ABC building so I'll be watching the local news to see if they mention anything.  To be honest, I'm surprised all these protests turned out to be so big - I didn't think they would be able to organize that many people in public.

Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.

Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.

[Source]

Excuse me while I give myself brain damage from repeatedly headdesk-ing.

You may have already heard this (I just heard it in passing last night) but New York comedian Mark Malkoff is living in Ikea until Saturday while his apartment is fumigated.

When Mark Malkoff thought about where he could stay while his New York City apartment was being fumigated for cockroaches, he quickly ruled out friends' places (too small) and hotels (too expensive).

Instead, the comedian and filmmaker decided to move into an Ikea store in suburban New Jersey, where on Monday he unloaded two suitcases into a spacious bedroom at the store.

At night when the store is closed, he says he'll play laser tag with security guards and even plans to host a housewarming party.

"The fact that Ikea is letting me do this is mind-boggling," said Malkoff, lounging on a bed in his new room. "There's no way I'm going back. I love this way too much."

*snip*

But despite the hospitality, Malkoff did find a few problems: The sinks don't work, and neither does the toilet, refrigerator, flat-screen television or the washer and dryer.

"Is anything real in this place?" he asked.

He must shower in the staff locker room and will have access to the staff cafeteria to cook his own meals, if he chooses, Mott said.

[Source]

You can check out his website documenting his experience here.

BBC News put together a list of 100 things we didn't know last year.  Some of my favorites:

3. Adding milk to tea negates the health-giving effects of a hot brew.
15. 10% of university work from across the UK is plagiarised.
16. Chimpanzees make their own spears for hunting.
20. More than half (52%) of smokers haven't told their parents about their habit.
31. There is mobile phone reception from the summit of Mount Everest.
46. Peanuts can be made into diamonds.
67. The brain can turn down its ability to see in order to listen to complex sounds like music.
70. IP addresses will run out in 2010.
90. Chickens can be diagnosed with depression.

Despite the fact that it never got above 28 degrees today, today was not a bad day.  Well, at least TV-wise.

Not only is there a possible deal to end the WGA strike by Christmas but both "Chuck" and "Life" got picked up for full seasons.  While I'm glad they both got picked up I'm surprised "Chuck" wasn't picked up before the strike began.  Everyone I know who watches it loves it and it seems to be doing fairly well in the ratings.  I guess I'll forgive them for taking so long and just be happy it was picked up.  With last week's (the week before last?) news that "Dirty Sexy Money" got picked up for a full season, it's been pretty good TV-wise.  Except for the fact that, as of now, the WGA strike is still going on.

I am sad that after tonight there's only one more new episode of "Heroes".  Tonight and next week better make up for the horrible beginning to the season.

Both UnitedHollywood.com and Strike Notes (the unofficial WGA-East blog) are reporting that negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP are set to start again on November 26th.  To be honest, I'm surprised the AMPTP agreed to start talking again that early.  However, I'm not complaining - yet.  Hopefully they (the AMPTP) realize they're being idiots and the strike will be over before the first of December.  But again, I'm not holding my breath.