rahoi.com
It was a night like any other – people inviting us out to a steakhouse. We get there, we are seated in a private room. All was well. Niceties aside, we prepare to order. I ask my wife what I should get. She says, “Go ahead and look at the menu – it’s in English.”
“Oh Really?” Click on the link above for more. 
What Really Happened After The Death Star Blew Up « Jay’s Movie and Music Blog
OK, so you’re Darth Vader and you’ve got to call your boss and give him the bad news…
This is host for an afternoon Italian TV Talk Show.
This is what we get in the US Continue reading “Talk Show Hosts”
New Year’s nightmare for visiting Yale singers
How’s this for an only-in-San Francisco story:
Members of the Baker’s Dozen, the renowned, all-male a cappella singing group from Yale, are pummeled outside a New Year’s Eve party after singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The attackers allegedly include graduates from Sacred Heart Cathedral, one of the city’s oldest and best-known private schools.
The attack happens outside the home of two prominent San Francisco police officers — former mayoral bodyguard Reno Rapagnani, now retired, and his wife, Leanna Dawydiak — who were both accused and later cleared of leaking internal SFPD personnel documents during the Fajitagate debacle.
Florida’s offer of free ice getting the cold shoulder
In an effort to prepare for what forecasters initially predicted would be an active hurricane season, the state purchased the ice for $1.8 million.
The intent was to get the ice to areas impacted by a storm within 24 hours, said division spokesman Mike Stone. But no storm came, and with the season over, it’s costing taxpayers $90,000 a month to store.
First, the ice has a shelf life of just 6 to 10 months. Yes, even ice goes bad (think of those shriveled, yellow cubes you’ve seen in the freezer).
Second, it is stored in two facilities – Jacksonville and Bartow in central Florida.
Third, the minimum that can be picked up is 360 bags. Deliveries are possible, but only by the truckload – that’s 22 pallets or 39,600 pounds.
This is a one-time offer. The state is getting out of the ice-storage business.
“We will be working with our private-sector partners we have brought in and use those supply chains that are pre-existing,” Stone said. Among local nonprofits, the interest is non-existent. The county’s emergency operations folks say they would have the same problem as the state … it’s cost-prohibitive to store.
PREDICTION: “There’s just not that many videos I want to watch.” — Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube, worrying in March, 2005, about his startup’s potential popularity
THE REALITY: As Chen was expressing this anxiety, YouTube had roughly 50 videos available. Today more than 100 million are viewed daily on YouTube, which was acquired by Google (GOOG) on Nov. 14 for $1.65 billion.
PREDICTION: The national median home price will rise about 6.1% in 2006. Over a full year, it “has never declined since good record-keeping began in 1968.” — National Association of Realtors, Dec. 12, 2005
THE REALITY: Through October, the median price of residential properties was down 3.5% from a year earlier.
PREDICTION: “A very active hurricane season is looming.” — National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, May 22, 2006
THE REALITY: Of the up to six “major” hurricanes in the North Atlantic that were predicted by NOAA, only two materialized. Number that reached U.S. shores: zero.
Exotic Dancers Spray on Latex Coverings – Forbes.com
Under Alabama’s strict law regulating exotic dancers, any skin that would normally be covered by a modest bikini must be swathed in an opaque covering. But the law doesn’t specify what kind of material must be used, so, in the legal sense, a nylon swimsuit and spray-on latex are virtually the same.
“You can get it that matches your skin color,” said Patterson. “The only thing I hear from the girls is that it can be kind of irritating.
Chess Player Banned 10 Years For Cheating With Bluetooth, Computer – News by InformationWeek
An Indian chess player was banned Tuesday from competition for 10 years after he was caught using a Bluetooth headset sewn into a cap earlier this month to get help from a computer.
The All India Chess Federation slapped the 10-year sanction on Umakant Sharma, who had been using a Bluetooth device stitched into a cap he typically pulled down over his ears. According to the federation, Sharma’s accomplices relayed moves made by a computer chess program to him via the Bluetooth headset. Bharat Singh Chauhan, the AICF treasurer, showed the cap and Bluetooth device at a meeting convened Tuesday that decided Sharma’s punishment.
Sharma was found out during a random check at a New Delhi tournament Dec. 4; he had been seeded second in the tournament.
‘Santa Claus does not exist’ school tells stunned kids | News | This is London
A primary school has been accused of spoiling Christmas for pupils after a lesson telling them that Santa Claus does not exist.Children as young as nine were told that only ‘small children believe in Father Christmas’.
The blunder came after the Year 5 pupils were given seasonal worksheets containing various festive classroom exercises. One began by informing the children that ‘many small children believe in Father Christmas’. It then went on to explain that thousands of letters sent by these children to Santa every year are actually answered by the Post Office.
