Revenge by Gadget

Attention loud cellphone talkers, overzealous horn honkers, inconsiderate cab drivers and other everyday pests. Your days may be numbered.

Thanks to the falling cost of microcontroller chips and the lure of easy online sales, inventors are turning out record numbers of gadgets. One growing subset of these inventions: products that help people neutralize antisocial behavior at the push of a button.

Students at MIT's Media Lab demonstrate new inventions and gadgets that carry social applications or have social aims.The brains behind these devices range from entrepreneurs in suburban Los Angeles to graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.



British inventors are exporting a new product for people who hate lousy drivers -- it's a luminescent screen that fits in a car's rear window and, at the driver's command, flashes any one of five messages to other motorists.

These include a smiley face, a sad face and phrases like "Back Off" and "Idiot." (Since the product's U.S. debut, the company says it also has received several requests for images of offensive hand gestures.)

Some products, like the "Outdoor Bark Control Birdhouse," which aims to quiet loud dogs, came about by accident. Though the technology has been around for five years, the manufacturer, Radio Systems of Knoxville, Tenn., initially sold it as an indoor training tool for pet owners. But the company says it began getting requests from customers for an outdoor version that could be used on annoying neighborhood dogs. When a market analysis showed 60% of consumers would welcome a covert way to shut up somebody else's canine, the company decided to proceed.

Mike Taylor, a Radio Systems executive, says the company doubled the bark controller's range to 50 feet, then asked a focus group to help figure out a way to camouflage the unit so neighbors wouldn't know what it was. After flirting with fake rocks and footballs, the company settled on a somewhat unlikely design -- a brightly painted Bavarian-style birdhouse. "I was the first user," says Mr. Taylor, who says he tested the prototype on an obnoxious neighborhood German shepherd. "I'm sleeping pleasantly now."

Several years ago as an engineering graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, Eric Paulos built a device called the "I-Bomb" that emits an electromagnetic pulse that disables all electronics in its range (a similar device was depicted in the movie "Ocean's Eleven").

While Mr. Paulos says he has operated the I-Bomb only about half a dozen times in front of audiences -- he considers it a work of performance art -- he says he continues to get emails from would-be manufacturers and marketers and, more oddly, people who live nearby and just want to borrow it. One such message: "My neighbor is playing loud music, I just want it to stop."

"Newhart" - The finale

I consider this one of THE funniest sitcom moments in history! You have to be in on the joke though. . .most of you will likely recall the show "Newhart" from the 1980's, but the younger crowd may not remember Bob Newhart's earlier show from the 1970's.Here's the intro, just to jog your memory:



For the "Newhart" finale, Bob wakes up in bed with his wife from the earlier show on the set of said earlier show and discusses the newer show as "I just had the strangest dream":

Lovitz roughs up Dick

I ran across this while researching something else this evening. I'm a big Hartman fan, but I was unaware of these details. From the NY Post:

It was fight night at an L.A. comedy club last week when Jon Lovitz roughed up Andy Dick over the murder of their "Saturday Night Live" colleague, Phil Hartman.

Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada, who witnessed the assault, said, "Jon picked Andy up by the head and smashed him into the bar four or five times, and blood started pouring out of his nose." Lovitz told Page Six, "All the comedians are glad I did it because this guy is a asshole."

Lovitz and Dick have been at loggerheads since a 1997 Christmas party at Hartman's house, five months before his troubled wife Brynn flipped out, fatally shooting Hartman, then killing herself. "Andy was doing cocaine, and he gave Brynn some after she had been sober for 10 years. Phil was furious about it - and then five months later he's dead," said Lovitz, adding that when he filled in on Hartman's "Newsradio" sitcom, "I told Andy, 'I wouldn't be here now if you hadn't given Brynn that cocaine.' "

Last year, Lovitz related, a drunken Dick strolled up to his table at Ago in West Hollywood, rudely downed his guests' peach liqueur drinks, and "looked at me and said, 'I put the "Phil Hartman hex" on you - you're the next one to die.' I said, 'What did you say?' and he repeated it. I wanted to punch his face in, but I don't hit women."

When the two ran into each other at the Laugh Factory last Wednesday, "I wanted him to say he was sorry for the 'Phil Hartman hex,' " Lovitz told us. "First he says, 'I don't remember saying that.' Then he leans in and says, 'You know why I said it? Because you said I killed Phil Hartman.' Which I never said. Then he asked me to be in his new movie.

"I grabbed him by the shirt and leaned him over and said, 'I don't want to be in your movie! I don't want to be in your life!' I pushed him against the rail. Then I pushed him again really hard. A security guard broke it up. I'm not proud of it . . . but he's a disgusting human being." Dick's rep said he had no comment.

Dick's weirdness has been well documented. Last year, he licked the faces of Farrah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher and Patton Oswalt, then groped and bit the hand of Post reporter Mandy Stadtmiller at a comedy-festival taping.

One Hundred Years Ago

The year is 1907. One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1907 :

• The average life expectancy was 47 years.


• Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.


• Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.


• There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.


• The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.


• The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!


• The average wage in 1907 was 22 cents per hour.


• The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .


• A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.


• More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .


• Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard.'


• Sugar cost four cents a pound.


• Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.


• Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.


• Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.


• Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.


• Five leading causes of death were:
  1. Pneumonia and influenza
  2. Tuberculosis
  3. Diarrhea
  4. Heart disease
  5. Stroke


• The American flag had 45 stars.


• The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!!!!


• Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.


• There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.


• Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.


• Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.


• Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health.' ( Shocking? DUH! )


• Eighteen percent of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.


• There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !


• Now I present this list to you (received from someone else) without typing it myself, and give it to you and others all over the United States, Canada and the world in a matter of seconds!

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.

IT STAGGERS THE MIND, EH ?

"Hit the deck"! Deal goes bad in Vegas

New York New York comes alive in Las Vegas Las Vegas:

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I have a picture of my wife and I on that same walkway, taken in June of last year. . .

Men as Talkative as Women?

Definitely not true in MY case. . .

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Crap! I almost forgot!

It was 30 years ago today that Star Wars debuted on the big screen across America; and added expressions such as "may the force be with you" to the permanent fabric of our language.

A RARE Star Wars Trailer:


Seriously, I remember going to the preview with my brother-in-law and his best friend. We saw it at the Southtown Cinemas (The locals are laughing right now). I was 13 years old (Wow - two posts about my thirteenth year in just one week!)I couldn't take my eyes off of the screen! I was just thinking that I have pictures of the old Southtown Cinemas sign and building, but they are on my old pute, and I haven't transferred those files over as of yet.

And here's the REAL original trailer:


Thank you, Mr.Lucas, for thirty years of entertainment! May the force be with you always! We have no doubts that it will. . .

Gonged!

Sherman, adjust the Wayback Machine for August of 1977. . .Philadelphia. . .Independence Hall:

Okay. . .actually I was flipping through some old photo albums this evening, and ran across a picture and autograph from a celebrity encounter I had at the tender age of 13. Okay, maybe "troubled" is a better term to use when discussing an early teen! But, anyways, we were on a two-week family trip exploring everything from Maine to Virginia and all points in between.

I had BEGGED to undertake this trip the prior summer (1976), but my father (Being the wise man that he was) refused to go anywhere near the original thirteen states during the Bicentennial Celebration! He also refused to drive in New York City, which was probably just as well since it was the "Summer of Sam". . . but I digress. And damned if I aint gonna do it s'more. . .

My favorite shows from that year were, in no particular order, Charlie's Angels, Happy Days, and The Gong Show. Hmmm. . .sex, school, and juvenile humor. What strange picks for a 13 year old. How does this all tie together with our family trip that summer long ago? Well, you see, I was an extremely patriotic youth and insisted on seeing EVERYTHING there was to see regarding our country's history on the east coast (Looking back, my Dad must have had the patience of God himself!).

So, of course, we HAD to visit Independence Hall in Philly so that I could set my eyes upon the Liberty Bell. I merely wanted to see if it was all that it was cracked up to be! Okay, come back! I promise I won't do that again!! ;) After we had exited Independence Hall, I spotted a VERY familiar face walking towards us on the sidewalk! It was MY HERO, Chuck Berris, from the Gong Show! As it turns out, he's a Philly native, one hell of a nice guy in person, and agreed to not only an autograph but even a picture with a geeky teenager:





Yes, the highlight of my voyage of exploration of our nation's creation was a chance meeting with the "Game Show King". If you were a fan, then I know you can relate.

Just in case you missed it, here's the episode that got the Gong Show taken off the air. The fact that it's widely available today on the internet, and probably considered quite tame by today's standards, speaks volumes about what three decades can change in public opinion and standards of decency:

"The Popsicle Twins"


If you're too young to remember the Gong Show, do a YouTube search for it. . .I guarantee you will laugh yer ass off! If you recall the show, you will STILL laugh yer ass off!!

Coming soon to Vegas - The M.J.Monster!

I've managed to come down with hopefully a slightly tamer version of the nasty cold-virus-whatever that my wife has suffered with all week long. So not up to posting much tonight, but I had to get this one out here just in case you missed it:

Fifty-foot man-machine hybrid Michael Jackson would shoot laser beams to attract tourists!

From: The Guardian:

If Michael Jackson gets a residency in Las Vegas, and if there are a few spare lasers kicking around, then the former King of Pop would very much like to build a 50-foot robot with beams coming out of its eyes to promote his show.

According to the New York Daily News, Jacko has been in discussions with tourism officials and hotel owners about doing a residency at a venue like Elvis used to or Celine Dion does now. Only the hotel owners aren't quite convinced yet, hence the need for a robot.

"It would be in the desert sands," explained Mike Luckman of design consultancy Luckman Van Pier. "Laser beams would shoot out of it so it would be the first thing people flying would see. Neon is wonderful, but it's old school."

Discussions have also taken place in regards to a stage set for the show, which would feature a giant audience-interactive video game with human cyborgs controlled by the audience. "Michael's looked at the sketches and likes them," Luckman explained.

Despite all the plans, however, there remains concern as to whether Jackson - who was found not guilty of child molestation charges in 2005 - would be able to sell the required amount of tickets to make any residency work.

Delp update

A follow-up on the death of Brad Delp. . .a "lonely soul" has left us. Read the rest of the story HERE.

Ode to Antonella Barba