Paulahmartin

Youtube user Lilmul123 was playing at the 2014 Michigan Pinball Expo, when his ball got stuck stuck between a bumper and kicker for a few minutes. Unfortunately, he did not beat the high score on the machine.

Some people are asking if I hit the high score... unfortunately, I didn't. Bumpers and kickers are actually worth a lot less than the other features of the game. I think by the time it was done bouncing, I was at 200,000 points, and the high score was about 350,000 points.

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Redditor _M4TTH3W_ posts two pictures of himself standing next to the mayor of Toronto Rob Ford, captioned: "I lost over 60 pounds within 6 months (Rob Ford for scale)"


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Update: Read more about it here

I’ll be the first to admit that my video game talents as a child lay more in the Nintendo Power Pad than in the Power Glove, but it still feels good to welcome back an old friend. Though this time around, Fred Savage would be pulling a roast out of the oven instead of competing in Video Armageddon.

The Power Live has been resurrected by a California designer with a penchant for turning movie products that exist onscreen into real products, like the soap from Fight Club. Although in this case, the Power Glove was a real-life product as well, but I digress.

It’s a different story this time around, with the Power Oven Mitt that yes, looks just like the Nintendo glove everyone was obsessed with in The Wizard. After he made a few mitts that proved popular, the designer put the idea up on crowdfunding site IndieGogo and successfully raised more than $20,000, reports Reviewed.com, with 32 days still to go on the campaign.

You’ll have to keep an eye on this if you want it — the designer says on his page that he doesn’t “plan to make a million of these things, so if you want one, this is your chance to get one..”

Are you listening, Savage? Or have had you had enough of the Power Glove to last a lifetime?

The Nintendo Power Glove Is Back—For Baking Cookies! [Reviewed.com]

You can follow MBQ on Twitter where she may admit to loving Fred Savage most as Kevin in the Wonder Years, because obviously: @marybethquirk

Reuters

Brendan Eich has stepped down as CEO of Mozilla, after a debate over the executive's donation to an anti-gay marriage initiative threatened to overtake the company's inclusive reputation. In a blog post, Mozilla confirmed the resignation, adding that the company "prides itself on being held to a different standard and, this past week, we didn’t live up to it," adding, "we know why people are hurt and angry, and they are right: it’s because we haven’t stayed true to ourselves." His resignation is a reversal from Eich's tone in interviews all week, which seemed to suggest that the CEO wasn't going anywhere over the issue. As Re/Code notes, Eich will also leave his post as the head of Mozilla's related nonprofit foundation. Mozilla characterized Eich's departure as voluntary. 

Mozilla writes: 

Mozilla believes both in equality and freedom of speech. Equality is necessary for meaningful speech. And you need free speech to fight for equality. Figuring out how to stand for both at the same time can be hard. Our organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness. We welcome contributions from everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender-identity, language, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and religious views. Mozilla supports equality for all.

We have employees with a wide diversity of views. Our culture of openness extends to encouraging staff and community to share their beliefs and opinions in public. This is meant to distinguish Mozilla from most organizations and hold us to a higher standard. But this time we failed to listen, to engage, and to be guided by our community.

Eich became the CEO of Mozilla towards the end of March. Soon after that, some of Mozilla's employees called for his resignation because of a 2008 donation to California's Proposition 8 campaign against gay marriage. The campaign against Eich blew up into a more national story when the dating site OK Cupid started urging Mozilla's Firefox users to use a different browser on their site, due to Eich's anti-marriage equality stance. Eich responded to the backlash with a personal blog post, in which he said that Mozilla was "a place that includes and supports everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, ethnicity, economic status, or religion." He did not, however, indicate that he has changed his stance on the issue of marriage. Mozilla released a separate statement clarifying that the company itself supports LGBT equality. 

Eich denied that he would resign over the issue as recently as Tuesday. At the time, he told the Guardian that he didn't believe his views on gay marriage were "relevant" to his capacity for leading the company. In the end, it looks like Mozilla may have disagreed. 

This is what it looks like when a pointless and unscientific social media poll backfires

by Mike Dang

I’m going nuts. My husband and I share a joint bank account in addition to us each having separate accounts.

The problem is how to use the joint account. Just bills? Groceries? Do groceries include beer from the liquor store?

I’d appreciate any suggestions, including those of the commentariat. I know that my husband and I need to work on our communication about money, but a starting place for a conversation would be helpful. — C.

I haven’t been in a position to need a joint account, but the topic has been covered on our site a few times.

Here’s E.A. Mann on the “limited joint account,” which one of the things that helped stop them from fighting about money.

If she was meeting all of her financial obligations and goals, why should I have cared if she spent $90 on makeup and hair goop? The answer is that I shouldn’t have. I know this, but human nature is hard to change. Even when I was good and brought up purchases in a neutral way, my wife still felt she had to explain herself. Not good. Better, we found, was to open a joint account for joint obligations only, like mortgage and utility bills. Now we both pay in to cover expenses, and the rest goes into our solo accounts away from the prying eyes of the other person.

Here’s Bowen Close on her joint accounts:

We opened a joint checking account, a joint savings account (which we immediately split into savings sub-accounts for travel, education, and general savings), and two joint credit cards. Our paychecks went into our joint account. Once or twice each month, each savings account received an automatic transfer of money from the checking account.

We each retained the personal bank accounts we had before the merge. Birthday gifts and academic awards also went into our personal accounts, and each month we each received an automatic transfer from our joint checking account. Our personal accounts were ours to do with as we liked, with no oversight from the other person.

And Katie Wilson on joint expenses:

It took me a long time to work up to it, but I have to say, joint checking account is THE BEST. It is just so nice and comforting to not worry about keeping track—or cashing each other’s checks. We only have joint accounts at this point, actually. All paychecks are direct deposited to the joint checking, all bills get paid out of it (including credit cards, which are also joint), and there’s a twice monthly transfer to savings (also joint). Retirement plan contributions are withheld pre-tax.

Have any advice for C.? Let her know below.

 

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Spotted by Reddit user Kgriffin88

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The saw missed the Pennsylvania man's major arteries and instead cut into muscle. 

The April 13 game vs. the Detroit Red Wings at Scottrade Center has been selected as NBC's Game of the Week and will now be played at 11:30 a.m. CT. The game will be televised nationally on NBC. The game was originally scheduled for 2 p.m. CT. ...

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"If the honeybee is a victim of natural menaces like viruses and unnatural ones like pesticides, it's worth remembering that the bee itself is not a natural resident of the continent.  It was imported to North America in the 17th century, and it thrived until recently because it found a perfect niche in a food system that demands crops at ever cheaper prices and in ever greater quantities.  That's a man-made mercantile ecosystem that not only has been good for the bees and beekeepers but also has meant steady business and big revenue for supermarkets and grocery stores."

From an article in the August 19, 2013 issue of Time magazine.  You learn something every day.

Photo credit Ken Thomas, via Wikipedia.

@KieranJWalsh | via

If you’re a carmaker and you find out the vehicle you’re about to release had an ignition-switch issue that could not only stop the car’s engine but render the power steering, air bags, and power brakes useless, you probably wouldn’t release that car. It’s a shame you weren’t a General Motors executive 10 years ago.

Chevy Cobalts make up a good portion of the 1.6 million GM vehicles recalled over the ignition issue that has been tied to at least a dozen deaths and could be responsible for many more.

And, according to court documents uncovered by the Wall Street Journal, GM knew about the problem when they were prepping for the release of the 2005 Cobalt, but opted to release the car upon the highways anyway, assuming that drivers would be able to safely coast stalled cars off the road.

In a deposition for a lawsuit tied to one of the aforementioned dozen deadly accidents, in which vehicles’ air bags failed to deploy because the ignition had been accidentally turned to the “off” position, a program engineering manager for the 2005 Cobalt admitted that GM had made a business decision to release the Cobalt without fixing the known safety issue.

The victim of the fatal crash in this case was driving her Cobalt at around 55 mph when the ignition failed. While she is not around to testify, others who filed complaints with GM detailed how difficult, if not impossible, it was to steer their shut-down vehicles.

But in the 2013 deposition, the engineer says GM believed the drivers should be able to handle a car without power steering.

“We’ve sold vehicles for many, many years without power assist and the car was maneuverable and controllable,” he explained. “We’ve been through that several times, in fact, during this investigation looking at the car to make sure it still could be controlled.”

Another employee defended the carmaker, saying he tested the drivability of a turned-off Cobalt on his own and was able to successfully steer the vehicle.

“As long as the vehicle can still be controlled…the vehicle is still safe,” he said in the deposition.

Of course, there is a difference between someone deliberately turning off their ignition, knowing what to expect, and someone who is driving 55 mph whose car suddenly turns off and becomes difficult to steer.

Documents turned up earlier in the recall investigation show that some at GM were aware of problem as far back as 2001, before the first affected Saturn Ion vehicles were released.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that two plaintiffs in a suit against GM over the recalled vehicles have asked a federal court in Texas to compel GM to urge owners of these cars to stop driving them immediately.

“Any and every driver that is currently operating a recalled vehicle could fall victim to the defect, rendering the driver simply another tick on GM’s ever-increasing death tally,” reads the motion filed by the plaintiffs.

GM claims that these vehicles are safe to drive, but that drivers should not have a keyring with other keys attached to the one for their car. The additional weight of heavy keychains and other keys has been cited as a cause in some instances where the vehicles turned off suddenly.

College Humor has created this helpful flowchart that helps you chose the right pet, in case you're looking to get one.


College Humor

TV viewers who can’t always fast-forward through commercial breaks have reason to smile this morning after the announcement that the long-running and ever-creepy E-Trade talking baby ads are finally coming to an end.

The online broker and bank declared and end to the CGI infant’s 7-year reign of TV terror during an ad that ran Thursday night during the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament (better known as the second-most important bracket of March).

Apparently it featured a singing cat that interrupted one of the shill-baby’s commercials and said it was going to fund the uber-creepy infant’s retirement — but who cares about details, it’s time to celebrate a world that has one less fake-talking baby on television! Call a parade! Ready the fireworks! Erect a statue (so long as it keeps its mouth shut)!

“The baby was a wonderful iconic expression of what we were,” E-Trade’s chief marketing officer told Reuters, presumably while popping champagne corks and feasting this great occasion in advertising history. “But we want something that better reflects our present and where we are going.”

Now if that singing cat would only give Progressive’s Flo enough cash to retire, we’d be heading in the right direction.

Malaysian "knowledge, music, LEGO and diecast car junkie" Adly Syairi Ramly recreates 20 famous music bands in LEGO minifigs.



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High Sobriety | via

This comic is about how to run an organization effectively.

The Huffington Post found a good name for a meme picture that originates in a Reddit post from this weekend.



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Associated Press

General Motors continues to face pressure from the government as well as its own internal investigation over car defects that led to a recall last month. According to a review commissioned by the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer group, there were 303 crash fatalities in which air bags did not inflate tied to two recalled car models.

That tally is drastically higher than the previously reported number of fatalities, which was in the low teens. The two models in question are the 2003–2007 Saturn Ion and the 2005–2007 Chevrolet Cobalt.

While the data collects crashes from the models in question with faulty air bags, it does not provide a reason for the air bags' failure. So the numbers, while worrying (air bags should ideally work all of the time), may not be directly tied to the ignition switch issue that this recall specifically addresses—only to the models that were recalled. A spokesperson for GM said that “without rigorous analysis, it is pure speculation to attempt to draw any meaningful conclusions.”

The Center’s report does not mince words on the matter. Executive Director Clarence Ditlow writes, “NHTSA claims it did not do an investigation because it did not see a defect trend. Based on the [data], the only way NHTSA could not see a defect trend is if it closed its eyes.”

Dottie Sandusky, the wife of ex-Penn State football coach and convicted child rapist Jerry Sandusky, broke a long media silence in an interview with Matt Lauer this morning, but is standing by all the old defences raised in support of her husband. 

While continuing to insist on his innocence, Sandusky insinuated that her husband's victims were money-hungry opportunists, who took advantage of a man who grew up during a "generation" where it was okay to shower with kids. In an odd moment, she even tried to refute claims that her basement was sound-proof (and thus she would have heard screams coming there, if there had been any.) Sandusky appeared on the Today show Wednesday morning, the first television interview since her husband was convicted of 45 charges of sexual abuse. 

"I think it was, they were manipulated, and they saw money,’" Sandusky told Lauer, while appearing with family supporter John Ziegler.  Sandusky is referring to the $60 million in settlements that Penn State had to pay to 26 people who said they were abused by Sandusky, while a member of the football program. "Once lawyers came into the case, they said there was money," she added. 

Sandusky went even further, trying to defend Jerry's behavior as a generational misunderstanding. "I believe he showered with kids. That’s the generation that Jerry grew up in ... There were always people coming in and out no matter what time that was," she said. Sandusky was born in 1944, making him either an early baby boomer or the last of the silent generation. I'm not sure either generation wants to defend that behavior as normal.

Finally, she says that child abuse couldn't occurred in her home because her basement was a nice basement. And because she would have definitely heard the screams of child rape. "I will take you downstairs and let you see the basement. It is not a dungeon. It is not what those kids said. You can scream, and you can hear it up to the second floor," she said. 

During Sandusky's trial, jurors heard testimony from eight men who said Sandusky raped them in his home, sometimes while Dottie was home. One of Sandusky's alleged victims would also agree with Sandusky— the basement isn't soundproof. He told the jury that she would have had to heard his screams, but she apparently didn't do anything. 

Dottie Sandusky was accompanied to Today with controversial filmmaker John Ziegler, who has been on a mission to clear Joe Paterno's name — without support from Joe Paterno's family. In fact, Paterno's family has distanced itself from Ziegler's projects.

Here's the video of Sandusky's interview on Today.

 

Some owners of cars involved in the recent mass recall of GM vehicles with faulty ignition switches will no doubt remain loyal to the car company when it comes time to purchase their next vehicles. But others are no doubt considering looking elsewhere, especially as it becomes more apparent that GM took great lengths to avoid this recall for seven or eight years. In an effort to placate the former group and hold on to the latter, GM is offering $500 credit toward the purchase of a new GM vehicle.

According to court documents, GM bought back at least 13 problematic Chevy Cobalts in the years before it eventually announced the recall in 2014. Some had hoped the automaker would undertake a much larger buyback program in light of revelations about the delay in issuing the recall, but the Detroit News says a March 5 note to GM dealers makes it clear that “General Motors is not offering repurchase as a remedy.”

Instead, affected consumers can get a $500 refund with the “purchase or lease a new 2013/2014/2015 model year Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac.”

A rep for GM, which is currently being probed by federal authorities over discrepancies in its recall times, says that the $500 offer is “In keeping with our commitment to help customers involved in this recall… We have been very clear in our message to dealers that this allowance is not a sales tool and it is only to be used to help customers in need of assistance. Neither GM, nor its dealers will market or solicit owners using this allowance.”

The letter to dealers says this “special cash allowance is effective through April 30.”

There have been at least a dozen deaths associated with the defect, in which vehicles’ ignition switches suddenly revert to the “off” position, causing the vehicle to stall and disabling important systems like airbags. The recall now involves more than a million vehicles, including 2005-07 Cobalts, 2007 Pontiac G5, 2003-07 Saturn Ion, 2006-07 Chevrolet HHR, 2006-07 Pontiac Solstice and the 2007 Saturn Sky.

Tonight was an emotional game for the Dallas Stars as they took on the St. Louis Blues. The Stars would take home the win in overtime after a physical battle winning 3-2. The Blues would secure a point in the standings but couldn't take the extra one with them. It's Recapin time!

Tonight the St. Louis Blues took on the Dallas Stars. It was a night for the St. Louis men of the D, with multiple goals coming from the blue line tonight. The Stars were obviously dealing with the scary situation involving their teammate Rich Peverley after he collapsed on the bench halfway through the first period against Columbus last night. Peverley suffered a heart episode, was revived, and taken to the hospital in Dallas. He was conscious after his revival and requested to get back into the game, unfortunately he was not able to and the game was postponed by the NHL. Sending stick taps, thoughts, and prayers to Peverley and his family. With that said, the game tonight was a hard fought intense bout of hockey with an emotional edge to it.

First Period

The Stars came out with a lot of ferocity and heart, they took it to the Blues in the opening two minutes. Clearly they wanted to bring the W back to Dallas for Peverley. The Blues were able to defuse most of their pressure but could not sustain pressure of their own. The two teams were stuck at a stale mate until 13:01, when Alex Pietrangelo would pick up a juicy rebound and get a wrist shot past Tim Thomas from the center hash marks.

The Stars would get a chance to equalize the score after Kevin Shattenkirk would go to the box for holding Dallas new found agitator Ryan Garbutt. At 19:07 Dallas would get a power play goal from Colton Sceviour. They would go to the locker room tied 1-1.

Second Period

The Second period would kick off with an interference call on Alexander Steen after simply knocking him over. Clearly the two teams were not pleasant with one another as the Polak door was close to being opened several times through out this game. The period would be full of penalties and nasty words. Including a assurance of Alexander Pietrangelo losing his temper hard core on Antoine Roussel after a hit along the boards by the Blues bench. The period would end with penalties to Petro and Roussel, Backes chirping Benn off the face-off, Oh and Tim Thomas tripped over what had to be the ghost of an ice midget and/or air.

Third Period

The Third period would see a resurgence of the Dallas offence. Their speed would be the difference maker for the game and at 2:19 Ryan Miller would give up his first "bad" goal as a Blue with the puck trickling past the goal line. He made several beautiful saves though out the rest of the game and certainly kept the Blues with in striking distance of a win. At 5:01 Roman Polak would get a well executed slapper past Thomas to tie the game back up at 2. The two teams and their goalies would continue to put pressure on one another throughout the rest of the period but the tie would stand, sending the game into overtime.

Overtime

The game would end after Jamie Benn would score as Alexander Steen would be held down on the ice by a Dallas player. The Blues winning streak would end. Here with us is Barret Jackmen to help ease the pain of the loss. At least they got a point and are now two points up on Anaheim!

Tiny Nose Filters sounds like a prog-rock band on NPR. But these filters do exist. They're designed to block allergens, and one study says they help. Other allergists aren't yet convinced.

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Remember Julie Boonstra, the cancer patient who claimed in a Koch Brothers-funded ad that Obamacare got her good insurance plan cancelled and now her new insurance plan's "out-of-pocket costs are so high, it's unaffordable?"

It turns out that she's actually saving at least $1,200 a year with her new "unaffordable" insurance plan.

Boonstra's ad has come under fire before, with Sen. Harry Reid saying it (and other anti-Obamacare ads) was "untrue" last week. (Boonstra has called Reid's statement hurtful and demanded an apology.) Today, the Detroit News did even more digging and found that Boonstra's old plan cost her $13,200 a year in premiums alone. That's not including what she spent on out-of-pocket expenses, like co-pays and deductibles.

Boonstra's new "unaffordable" plan, on the other hand, will cost her $11,952 in premiums and out-of-pocket costs, which means she's saving at least $1,200 a year -- probably a lot more than that, as out-of-pocket maximums are usually several thousand dollars.

There was also the matter of a prescription drug that was covered by Boonstra's old plan but not her new one, which she has to buy with a separate prescription drug savings card. This would not be part of her out-of-pocket maximum and thus inflate her medical costs ... except that her new insurance company told the Detroit News that all of her prescriptions are covered by her plan. And that she should probably use her plan to pay for them instead of the discount card so it would apply to her out-of-pocket maximum.

When informed that she was saving money on this new unaffordable plan, Boonstra was thrilled and apologized for being mistaken earlier. Just kidding! She said it "can't be true," and "I personally do not believe that."