Being a fan of The Apprentice, I was happy to hear about a spinoff in another industry... Even finding out it was going to be with Martha Stewart didn't turn me off the show... But this just might: Page Six at The New York Post is reporting that Martha's catch phrase for kicking someone off the show is going to be "You just don't fit in..."

You just don't fit in??? One of the biggest reasons I like the apprentice is that it is based in the business world, shows tasks closer to real activities, and often teaches you something about succeeding in business or as part of a business... Somehow, fitting in was never a big part of the requirements until now... How is a potential Martha apprentice supposed to stand out from the crowd if the goal is to "fit in"???

Martha Stewart didn't get to be such a big name in business by fitting in to what everyone else expected... Doing something different than everyone else, and succeeding at it, is what makes an entrepreneur (or a business) the most successful! If you just want people that tow the line and do what everyone else does, don't make a TV show saying that is the way to move up in the world - because it is not...

Someone - who shall remain nameless because there are 20,000 people who would like a word with them - cut through a major fiber optic line in town here yesterday... As a result, phone service (and thus Internet service) was completely cut... So the site was down...

Now it's up and we're back in business!

Hurricane Katrina is barreling down on New Orleans and currently stands at #4 on the lowest pressure list and may set the record for most damage... Wonder what other hurricane records are out there? Here are some of them:

• The lowest barometric pressure recorded in a hurricane is 888 millibars during Hurricane Gilbert in 1988... That is equivalent to the pressure 3280 feet (1000 meters) above sea level!
• The longest lasting hurricane was John in the Pacific ocean - it lasted 31 days... Since John crossed the dateline twice, it changed status from a hurricane to a typhoon and back to a hurricane... The Atlantic record is held by Ginger, which lasted 28 days in 1971
• The highest recorded storm surge was 25 feet (7.6 meters) in 1969 when Camille hit Mississippi...
• The most rain was dropped in Texas by a hurricane in 1921 - over 23 inches!
• The most expensive hurricane was Andrew in 1992, which caused 25 Billion dollars (20.3 Billion Euros) in damage in Florida and another 1 Billion dollars (810 million Euros) in Louisiana...

Citizens of the city of Ulyanovsk in central Russia really like the letter ё - a cyrillic e with an umlaut... Pronounced "yo," the letter was added to the Russian alphabet in 1797 by the famous Russian historian and writer Nikolai Karamzin who was born not far from Ulyanovsk... Now the city plans to forever honor the letter with a huge monument in the middle of town... Alexander Zinin, who was behind the 1997 celebrations of the 200th birthday of the letter, designed the monument to immortalize the letter exactly in the same shape as it was first printed in the almanac Aonidy in 1797 (in the word слёзы (Russian for 'tears' - reads as 'slyozy') on page 166 of the book)... No word yet on how big the monument will be, but it is going to be made entirely out of red granite...

Everyone knows Shakespeare sounds better in the original Klingon... But are you familiar with the following famous Klingon fairy tales?

• Goldilocks Dies With Honor at the Hands of the Three Bears
• Snow White and the Six Dwarves She Killed With Her Bare Hands and the Seventh Dwarf She Let Get Away as a Warning to Others
• There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe With a Big Spike on It
• The Three Little Pigs Build an Improvised Explosive Device and Deal With That Damned Wolf Once and for All
• Jack and the Giant Settle Their Differences With Flaming Knives
• Old Mother Hubbard, Lacking the Means to Support Herself With Honor, Sets Her Disruptor on Self-Destruct and Waits for the Inevitable
• Mary Had a Little Lamb. It Was Delicious
• Little Red Riding Hood Strays Into the Neutral Zone and Is Never Heard From Again, Although There Are Rumors ... Awful, Awful Rumors
• Hansel and Gretel Offend Vlad the Impaler
• The Hare Foolishly Lowers His Guard and Is Devastated by the Tortoise, Whose Prowess in Battle Attracts Many Desirable Mates

If you are going to grow lots of marijuana plants, you know the police are going to come looking for you... So maybe it's better if you make it so you can watch the police instead... At least, that is what seems to have happened in Orange County, California, where someone planted a field of over 2,000 marijuana plants within easy sight of an Orange County Sheriff's station!!! The location of the crop was "kind of novel" sheriff's spokesman Jon Fleischman said... "The person needs only to look up and see the Sheriff's Department's communication center...."

And this was a well planned, long term operation... The plants covered an area over 650 yards long and 50 yards wide (~600x50 meters) and included a home-built irrigation system! And because the plants were nestled in between and under the native trees it was difficult to see them from the air... "It looks like this is not the first crop," Fleischman said... "This grove has been cultivated for some time...."

(It's kind of like the serial murderer syndrom: Serial murderers make good, "quiet" neighbors (according to their neighbors after they were arrested) and apparently police stations make good neighbors when growing drugs!)

* Every day is a bad hair day.
* You worry about getting sued for self-esteem violations.
* You believe the staff room should be equipped with Valium salt licks.
* You stand on your front porch instructing the neighbor children to "Walk!"
* You want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to only work 8-3 and have your summers free."
* You refer to adults as "boys and girls."
* You encourage your husband by telling him he is a "good helper."
* You believe chocolate is a major food group.
* You can tell it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
* You believe "extremely annoying" should have its own box on the report card.
* When you are out in public you snap your fingers at children who are misbehaving.
* You give your husband "the look" when he "misbehaves."
* Putting all A's on the report card would be so much easier.
* You think people should be required to get a government permit before being allowed to reproduce, earned by having worked in a middle school for 5 years.
* You've encouraged a parent to check into home schooling.
* You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac.
* You think that caffeine should be available in IV form.
* Meeting a child's parent instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like that?"

Jim Reinert of Ontrack Data Recovery has unveiled the firm's latest list of the 10 strangest and funniest computer mishaps... They are:

1. Data Defrost - One man brought in a hard drive in a wet plastic bag... He said he had read on the Internet that if you place a broken drive in the freezer it would fix it... So he tried that method and asked the recovery engineers not to laugh...
2. Reckless Recycling - One man tidied up his computer folders and inadvertently deleted the ones he meant to keep... He then cleaned up his system, emptied the recycle bin and defragged the hard drive before realising his error... He now triple-checks files before deleting them for good...
3. Rowdy Relatives - A man suddenly found his laptop would only boot up to the "blue screen of death," putting his data at risk... A week later, his nephew admitted that he used its screen as a punching bag to relieve his frustrations with the slow computer... The man sent his nephew back to live with his parents...
4. Digital Disaster at 19,000 Feet - The Polish explorer Krystof Wielicki dropped his digital camera when climbing the Himalayas on his latest expedition, smashing it to smithereens and damaging the memory card in the process...
5. Gone in a Flash - One medical company worker completed 1,200 customer billing entries - a process that took several days - when lightning struck the transformer outside the building... Everything was gone, including all the bills she had just prepared...
6. Baby Blues - One couple had hundreds of pictures of their baby's first three months on their computer... When a virus struck their PC, the computer manufacturer advised them to reload the operating system but they forgot to save the data...
7. Construction Calamity - During the construction of a large office building, a steel beam fell on a laptop computer containing the building plans, crushing the laptop...
8. Toilet Trauma - One man became so mad with his malfunctioning laptop computer, he threw it into the toilet and flushed a couple of times...
9. Road Kill - A woman placed her laptop on top of her car while she got in... She forgot about the laptop, which slid off the back of her car, and she then reversed straight over it and reported hearing a "crunch"...
10. Runway Wreckage - A laptop computer was run over by an airplane... Even Ontrack's recovery engineers don’t understand how it happened, but that was the customer's explanation...

A redneck was stopped by a game warden with two ice chests of fish... He was leaving a cove well known for its fishing... The game warden asked the man, "Do you have a license to catch those fish?"

"Naw, sir, I ain't got none of them there licenses, no... You must understand these here are my pet fish."

"Pet fish?" asked the game warden...

"Yeah! Every night I take these here fish down to da lake and let them swim 'round for a while... Then I whistle and they jump rat back into this here ice chest and I take them home..."

"That's a bunch of malarkey... fish can't do that!" says the warden...

The redneck looked at the game warden for a moment and then said, "It's the truth, I'll show you... It really works..."

"Okay," said the game warden, " I've GOT to see this!"

The redneck poured the fish into the lake and stood and waited... After several minutes, the game warden turned to him and said, "Well?"

"Well, what?" said the redneck...

The warden said, "When are you going to call them back?"

The redneck said, "Call who back?"

"The FISH!" replied the warden.

"What fish?" answered the redneck...

There is a store in Manchester, Britain, that specializes in selling closed circuit TV (CCTV) systems... Unfortunately, the store was robbed this week... Fortunately, the store sells CCTV systems!!! Cameras first caught sight of the thief when he stopped to look in the shop window - even jumping up to get a better look... Then, a half hour later they caught him, breaking into the store and stealing a notebook... He was caught on tape from eight separate surveillance cameras showing him from every possible angle! And most importantly to the police, they show each and every surface he touched while he was there, which forensic experts believe will provide them with a perfect set of fingerprints... "Frame by frame, cameras filmed him around the shop... The stupidity to think stealing from a CCTV shop is a good idea is astonishing," said David Arathoon, owner of the shop... "I didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed, and in the end I did both..."

All is not lost though, Arathoon adds that the whole episode is proving to be "the biggest boost to business imaginable"!

A Chinese exchange student has been arrested by police in Kagawa prefecture, Japan, on charges of carrying out a mugging spree... A virtual mugging spree! The man created "bots" to rob characters in the online computer game Lineage II... Since the "bots" were controlled by software rather than a person, they were invincible against human players - easily beating them in battles and stealing items valuable within the game... The virtual items were then sold through a Japanese auction website for real cash!

(I wonder... Just what is the punishment for a virtual crime?)

Seems like everything has caffeine in it these days... Here's the fun part: if you were to get caffeine injected into your bloodstream, as little as 2 grams can kill a grown adult! So just how safe is it to drink all those caffeinated drinks? Apparently the fellow behind the Energy Fiend web site wondered the same thing, because he came up with Death by Caffeine calculator! Just enter your favorite caffeinated drink and your weight and the system will tell you how many drinks it will take for the caffeine to kill you...

(Looks like I'm safe... For now...)

If William Shakespeare wrote the Hokey Pokey:

Ever see an airplane get hit by lightning? If not, check out the pictures on the Colorado Lightning Resource Page (part of the National Weather Service)... The pictures were taken by Zen Kawasaki of Osaka University and clearly show an airliner landing at a Japanese airplort being struck by a huge bolt of lightning! The lightning hits the plane on one side the leaves it on the other! Luckily, nobody on the plane reported any injuries...

This fall, a new generation of students is entering colleges and universities with its own particular view of the world. Most of them are about 17 and were born in 1986.

For the seventh year, Beloit College has distributed to its faculty and staff the Beloit College Mindset List, which identifies some facts of life that distinguish this generation from those that preceded it. One of its primary purposes has been, in the words of co-editor Tom McBride, Keefer Professor of the Humanities at the Wisconsin liberal arts college, an attempt to slow the onset of “hardening of the references” experienced by some faculty.

The editors of the list noted that “these first-year students were born in the year that Chernobyl melted down and the Challenger exploded. Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, Calif., and the Soviets had been bogged down for the seventh year of frustration in Afghanistan. Domestically we were preoccupied by the Iran Contra scandal, and internationally the Iran-Iraq war continued to reveal a disturbing list of atrocities.”

To read the list:

BELOIT COLLEGE MINDSET LIST FOR THE CLASS OF 2008
1. Most students entering college this fall were born in 1986.
2. Desi Arnaz, Orson Welles, Roy Orbison, Ted Bundy, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Cary Grant have always been dead.
3. “Heeeere’s Johnny!” is a scary greeting from Jack Nicholson, not a warm welcome from Ed McMahon.
4. The Energizer bunny has always been going, and going, and going.
5. Large fine-print ads for prescription drugs have always appeared in magazines.
6. Photographs have always been processed in an hour or less.
7. They never got a chance to drink 7-Up Gold, Crystal Pepsi, or Apple Slice.
8. Baby Jessica could be a classmate.
9. Parents may have been reading The Bourne Supremacy or It as they rocked them in their cradles.
10. Alan Greenspan has always been setting the nation’s financial direction.
11. The U.S. has always been a Prozac nation.
12. They have always enjoyed the comfort of pleather.
13. Harry has always known Sally.
14. They never saw Roseanne Roseannadanna live on Saturday Night Live.
15. There has always been a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
16. They never ate a McSub at McD’s.
17. There has always been a Comedy Channel.
18. Bill and Ted have always been on an excellent adventure.
19. They were never tempted by smokeless cigarettes.
20. Robert Downey, Jr. has always been in trouble.
21. Martha Stewart has always been cooking up something with someone.
22. They have always been comfortable with gay characters on television.
23. Mike Tyson has always been a contender.
24. The government has always been proposing we go to Mars, and it has always been deemed too expensive.
25. There have never been any Playboy Clubs.
26. There have always been night games at Wrigley Field.
27. Rogaine has always been available for the follicularly challenged.
28. They never saw USA Today or the Christian Science Monitor as a TV news program.
29. Computers have always suffered from viruses.
30. We have always been mapping the human genome.
31. Politicians have always used rock music for theme songs.
32. Network television has always struggled to keep up with cable.
33. O’Hare has always been the most delay-plagued airport in the U.S.
34. Ivan Boesky has never sold stock.
35. Toll-free 800 phone numbers have always spelled out catchy phrases.
36. Bethlehem has never been a place of peace at Christmas.
37. Episcopal women bishops have always threatened the foundation of the Anglican Church.
38. Svelte Oprah has always dominated afternoon television; who was Phil Donahue anyway?
39. They never flew on People Express.
40. AZT has always been used to treat AIDS.
41. The international community has always been installing or removing the leader of Haiti.
42. Oliver North has always been a talk show host and news commentator.
43. They have suffered through airport security systems since they were in strollers.
44. They have done most of their search for the right college online.
45. Aspirin has always been used to reduce the risk of a heart attack.
46. They were spared the TV ads for Zamfir and his panpipes.
47. Castro has always been an aging politician in a suit.
48. There have always been non-stop flights around the world without refueling.
49. Cher hasn’t aged a day.
50. M.A.S.H. was a game: Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House.

After 2 years, Robert McDonald has finally finished building his viking longship... Out of ice cream sticks! McDonald and his two assistants used over 15 million ice cream sticks donated by OLA ice cream and by children who collected discarded sticks all around the world... And this is no bath toy: the longship is over 15 meters long (about 50 feet), holds a crew of 25 "vikings," and has its own oars and mast...

And tomorrow is the big test... If the boat survives its launch tomorrow in Amsterdam, Netherlands, it will set a world record for the largest sailing ship made of ice cream sticks! "It's a dream come true. It's truly worth all the hard work," McDonald said... "I never want to look at glue again... I don't think I will be in a hurry to look at ice cream sticks again..." Not that he is planning on avoiding his boat - he hopes to sail his Viking ship across the Atlantic next year!

Having been a big Star Wars fan for, basically, all of my life, I am occassionally surprised at how much I enjoy the Harry Potter movies (and books)...

Until now! Apparently Harry Potter is basically Luke Skywalker in a different genre! Don't believe me? Check this out

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Star Wars: A New Hope; synopsis
Harry Potter
Luke Skywalker is an orphan living with his uncle and aunt
on the remote wilderness of Tatooine.
suburbia
mugglesHagrid
He is rescued from aliens by wise, bearded Ben Kenobi, who turns
out to be a Jedi Knight.
wizard
HagridHarryHarry'swizard
Ben reveals to Luke that Luke's father was also a Jedi Knight, and
was the best pilot he had ever seen.
Quidditch player
Harrya magic wand
Luke is also instructed in how to use the Jedi light saber as he too
trains to become a Jedi.
wizard
HarryHogwarts
Luke has many adventures in the galaxy and makes new friends
such as Han Solo and Princess Leia.
RonHermione
In the course of these adventures he distinquishes himself as a top
Quidditch SeekerQuidditch matchcatch
X-Wing pilot in the battle of the Death Star, making the direct hit that
secures the Rebels' victory against the forces of evil.Slytherin
Gryffindor
HarryLord Voldemort
Luke also sees off the threat of Darth Vader, who we know
merdered his uncle and aunt.
Parents
In the finale, Luke and his new friends receive medals of valour.
Harrywin the House Cup
All of this will be set to an orchestral score composed by John Williams.

10. Alien Oprah burns Tom Cruise's face off for jumping up and down on her hover couch.
9. After spending 30 years with Richard Dreyfuss, aliens go nuts, invade.
8. Lance Armstrong defeats aliens by 8 minutes, 32 seconds; France asks for do-over.
7. One year after war ends, California jury acquits aliens; fans celebrate.
6. Alien leaders foiled when pressured to set pull-out date of troops on Earth.
5. Aliens originally landed in peace, but incensed when fast food order messed up AGAIN at drive-thru.
4. E.T. seen leading alien invasion, says Elliot has spammed him like a bazillion times by forwarding stupid Funnies over the years.
3. Aliens busted at security at airport when they forget to take off belt and shoes.
2. Aliens invade after hearing "Alf" interviewed from his cell at GitMo.
1. Aliens claim eminent domain; Supreme Court yells "DOH!"

(From Mikey's Funnies; Copyright 2005 Dave Tippett. Used with permission.

1. Open a new file in your PC.
2. Name it "Housework."
3. Send it to the RECYCLE BIN
4. Empty the RECYCLE BIN
5. Your PC will ask you, "Are you sure you want to delete Housework permanently?"
6. Answer calmly, "Yes," and press the mouse button firmly....
7. Feel better?

It's always good to see the head of a company using the company's products... It lets you know they are putting themselves where they want their customers to be... And I know some customers who would really like to be where Ford CEO William Clay Ford Jr is! Check out the luxury upgrades on his Ford Excursion: oversized leather recliners, 3 foot plasma TV based entertainment center, mini bar, and even a pocket for your iPod! Check out the pictures

When they say this isn't your father's Ford, this time they mean it...

Finally something that could make mowing the lawn sound like a lot of fun! Evatech, Inc, has released the RCLM 2006 S-Class - a hybrid, remote control lawn mower! But this isn't just any mower... It has normal stuff like a 22 inch mulching blade and a powerful gas/electric hybrid engine... But it also has a powder coated exterior (available in custom colors), two independent rear motors with speed control, zero turn radius, rear wheel tree guards, a wireless electric starter and an FM radio control! This mower will zip around the yard at your every whim while you lounge on the deck! It looks like a luxury off-road racer with mower blades...

(Buy one, get your neighbor to buy one, and then you can have lawn races every saturday while still checking an item off the chores list...)

I don't know why it's there, but the tax collector in Brevard County, Florida has a Velocity Converter on its website. In case you want to find out how fast your property is going? Or maybe the registration fees for your boat are dependent upon how fast it will go, measured it in c/m!

http://www.brevardtaxcollector.com/contact.htm

It is so hot ...

• The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground
• The trees are whistling for the dogs
• The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance
• Hot water now comes out of both taps
• You can make sun tea instantly
• You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron
• The temperature drops below 90° F (35° C) and you feel a little chilly
• You discover that in August it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car
• You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window
• You actually burn your hand opening the car door
• You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30am
• Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
• You realize that asphalt has a liquid state
• The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper
• Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs
• The cows are giving evaporated milk

If you are looking for a way to make the fireplace the conversation piece in your home, the folks over at Heat & Glo have just the product for you: the water burning fireplace! Marketed as the Aqueon, the requires no chimney, produces no carbon monoxide or other dangerous byproducts, and actually adds oxygen to the air in the room! A small electric current is used to perform electrolysis, separating the water into hydrogen and oxygen... The hydrogen is then burned and a small amount of oxygen is added to the flame to enhance the color... The rest of the oxygen is released into the room where it joins water vapor as the only byproducts... In fact, a gallon of water will produce 31,000 btu/hour of heat energy, better than most other fireplaces per unit of combustibles... Plus, since no venting is required, and Aqueon is such a stylish design, you can put it just about anywhere in the room!

(Pretty neat!)

It seems you can't watch TV, listen to the radio, or walk into a store without seeing something that is "new and improved..." Sometimes it is simply a cosmetic change, sometimes it is a complete redesign... Either way, you know someone is working to keep the item fresh, up to date, and interesting...

Which leads to the alphabet... When was the last time the alphabet was new and improved? When they added lowercase letters? It's been a while, now, right? Well, it's not just me - Marian Bantjes posted a critique of the alphabet over at UnderConsideration.com... I think most of her points make a certain sense - and I'll bet you'll be nodding your head in agreement for at least some of them...

Personally, I think we should re-examine the whole thing... Perhaps officially add the letters Dr. Seuss had in On Beyond Zebra! That would certainly spice up the alphabet!

It all happened because Jack Barnhart of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, was worried about being bored... Five years ago, at the age of 61, he had just retired from his third career (real estate salesman, college theater producer, then social worker)... He said his biggest fear was that without work to drive him, he might end up like one of those senior guys he often saw sitting at the mall with nothing to do... Which was when the 100-year-old honey locust tree in the far corner of his back yard caught his attention... What he needed was a treehouse!

And what a treehouse! Situated 25 feet off the ground in the boughs of the tree, this 10-by-10 foot treehouse has everything: built-in closets and cabinets, a wet bar, high-quality insulated windows, running water, electricity, cable TV and a rooftop patio - not to mention table service for six! The outside is finished with oak "pallet" lumber because he saw a little cafe in Mexico covered with the wood... And the only way to enter is via a footbridge extending 65 feet from his (normal) house, across the ravine in the middle of his yard, and up to the front door of the treehouse... "It would have been difficult to build this thing on the ground, let alone in a tree," he said. "There were times I was nearly hanging by my toenails trying to get the right angle to drive a nail."

But it has all been worth it... "We've already had a couple of dinner parties and cocktail parties," Barnhart said... And he predicts that by the end of the year he'll be totally done, inside and out, with bamboo wallcovering, heaters, ceiling fan, easy chairs and all!

(My kids are going to be soooo jealous!)

There is a reason the big boom in computer multimedia is a relatively recent thing... Image, if you will, tryng to play MP3s or view home videos on computers using punch cards, the most-used method of data entry 20-30 years ago...

Let's start with something small like a 3-minute MP3... According to the board at Stilyagi, "Assuming a non-Hollerith encoding with eight bits per column, and an MP3 file encoded at 128kbps CBR, there would be 36,864 cards in that deck, and the card reader would need a throughput of 205 cards per second. It might be wise to include an 8-column sequence number, however, so that a misordered deck can be repaired by a card sorter; with 72 data columns per card, the total is precisely 40,960 cards (40K cards), requiring a 228 card/second throughput." Look at it another way, those card would form a stack 5 feet 9 inches tall (1.75 meters)! For a 3 minute song!

And then you get into digital video... Assuming the same encoding as above, an NTSC digitial video stream (which is 120,000 bytes per frame) played at 30 frames per second would required 3,596,400 bytes per second... Which works out to 49,950 cards per second! Which means a 30-minute video would required about 89,910,000 cards... And that stack of cards would top out at 2.3 miles (3.7 kilometers)!

So next time you think your MP3 player or digital camcorder is too big, think of the alternative!

(And if you want to experience the alternative, you can always buy punch cards from Cardamation!))

First Sergeant William von Zehle recently returned to Ridgefield, Connecticut, from duty in Iraq as part of the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion... And he brought back an interesting souvenir - he thinks he has one of Saddam Hussein's cars! He spotted the car in a driveway in an upscale neighborhood soon after he arrived in Baghdad in April 2003... The Mercedes 560 had a band of steel just below the windshield that normal cars don't have... The extra steel helps the chassis withstand the weight of the armor plating and bulletproof glass... "I could tell right away it was armored," von Zehle said, "and I thought that was kind of neat..."

The owner offered to sell the car to him for 7 million Iraqi dinars (about $5,000 US)... After buying the car, von Zehle quickly noticed it had a few other "extra" features not normally available in typical automotives... "One of the neat things, aside from the fact it's armored, is it has microphones that allow you to hear people talking outside the car and loudspeakers so you can talk back to them," von Zehle said. "It also had a pretty neat crowd-control device." The device consists of a series of pipes that can shoot flames out from the sides of the car! "I guess it was to make sure nobody got too close," said von Zehle... So he did some research and found just three armored 560 models were sold to the Iraqi government... In 1988... And that, he says, means Saddam...

So what does he do with the car now? It is just sitting in his garage... The state of Connecticut requires the car to be intact in order to register it, and looters had busted the front passenger window before he purchased it... Unfortunately, a replacement window (in bulletproof glass nearly 2 inches thick) costs more than $14,000! "One day I'll get it registered," he said...

Ever wonder what it would look like to fall to Earth from 27 miles up? You have?!? What are you - crazy?!? Well, since you were wondering, NASA has released more video from the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery... This time, it is video from the solid rocket boosters... Now you can watch from a booster-eye view as the boosters separate from the external fuel tank and slowly fall to Earth... What's really fun is watching as the Earth rotates into view ... then out of view ... then into view ... then out of view ... then into view ... then out of view... And so on... But all the while getting bigger and bigger! Until finally the parachutes pop open and the booster lands gently in the ocean...

What a trip! And then there is the video from other booster!

First it was the people standing in line for months to be the first to see Star Wars Episode III in theaters... Then it was the people who stood in line all day to be the first to purchase Harry Potter book 6 at the bookstore... Now it is people camping out for the best crypt in the mausoleum! The Necropolis, in Melbourne, Australia, opened its new Luciano Rosetti Mausoleum yesterday with room for 1400 occupants... With 350 families already on the waiting list for prime positions, the management at the Necropolis expected a line to form overnight for the remaining crypts... They trucked in some portable bathrooms and hung some fairy lights to give the night a festive air...

And people showed up! Tony Arcaro, 66, and his son Robert were first in line... "After a while I started to feel a bit funny... It's strange to see where you gonna be one day... But not too soon, I hope," said Tony... And by 7 AM they were joined by over 1,000 others!

(So next time you have to stand in line, remember that there are worse (or at least weirder) things to stand in line for - so be happy!)