Monday, August 20, 2012

Wi-Fi Parking Meter Lawsuit, Etc.



Resident files $1.7B claim with City Hall says the Santa Monica Daily Press. It seems that Santa Monica has installed some new Hi-Tek parking meters that, among other  things, uses Wi-Fi to control the meters, such as notifying a controller whenever a car leaves its parking space and then the controller zeroes out the meter. Something like that.

So, reports the Santa Monica Daily Press: Denise Barton asserts that radiation from the wireless signals emanating from the meters, which is similar to Wi-Fi Internet or cellular waves, is causing ringing in her ears, ear infections and tightness on the back, left side of her neck.

Barton is suing for $1.7 billion, plus another $1.7 million every month thereafter.

Good Gravy!

Only on Planet Earth.
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A couple of months ago I became confused when I ran across an aritcle (written by a Brit) wherein he several times added an 's' to the word 'math' -- I queried a group of people I respect and was told that the word is spelled m-a-t-h in the U.S. and m-a-t-h-s in England. I accepted that and let it go. But I now see this controversy is raging elsewhere -- in Discover magazine, and by some notables.

One of those notables is Sean Carroll, who is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He is the author of a graduate-level textbook, Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity, as well as a set of Teaching Company lectures on dark matter and dark energy. His latest book, From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time, explores the relationship between entropy, cosmology, and the arrow of time.

So which is correct, Math or Maths?

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WORD FOR TODAY


torque  [tork]
noun
A twisting force that tends to cause rotation.

Torque is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist to an object. Mathematically, torque is defined as the product of force and the lever-arm distance, which tends to produce rotation. Loosely speaking, torque is a measure of the turning force on an object such as a bolt or a flywheel. For example, pushing or pulling the handle of a wrench connected to a nut or bolt produces a torque (turning force) that loosens or tightens the nut or bolt.

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BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY

   
Al Roker

Born Aug 20, 1954
Age: 57 years old.

Albert Lincoln "Al" Roker, Jr. is an American television weatherman as well as an actor and book author. He is best known as being the weather anchor on NBC's Today. On Monday, July 20, 2009, he began co-hosting his new morning show, Wake Up with Al, on The Weather Channel, which airs weekdays from 6am to 7am ET, one hour earlier than Today. He holds an expired American Meteorological Society Television Seal, #238. Writing with Dick Lochte, Roker began a series of murder mysteries in 2009 that feature Billy Blessing, a celebrity chef turned amateur detective. The second book in the series, The Midnight Show Murders (2010), was nominated for a 2011 Nero Award.



Jacqueline Susann


Born Aug 20, 1921
Died Sept 21, 1974

Jacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.



Ron Paul


Born Aug 20, 1935
Age: 76 years old.

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author, and politician who has been serving as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 14th congressional district, which includes Galveston, since 1997. He is a three-time candidate for President of the United States, as a Libertarian in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008 and currently 2012. He is a member of the Republican Party. He holds libertarian views and is a critic of American foreign, domestic, and monetary policies, including the military–industrial complex, the War on Drugs, and the Federal Reserve.



H.P. Lovecraft


Born Aug. 20, 1890
Died Mar. 15, 1937

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, known as H. P. Lovecraft, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction.

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The world is indeed comic, but the joke is on mankind.
--H. P. Lovecraft

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