Born before computers, McCain is `too old’ to some

So how old is John McCain? Six-packs, automatic transmissions and the American Express card were all introduced after he was born — not to mention computers, which McCain admits he doesn’t use.

McCain, himself, jokes that he’s older than dirt. And while his age is being raised as a campaign issue, medical experts say voters shouldn’t be concerned that, if elected, McCain would be the oldest man to assume the presidency, at 72.

In politics and other fields, they explain, it’s not unusual for talented people to do signature work late in life, when they can apply the cumulative wisdom of experience, and leverage personal connections cultivated over time.

Nonetheless, a significant slice of the electorate has qualms about McCain’s age. The presumed Republican nominee will celebrate his 72nd birthday shortly before his party’s convention. Polls show the age question isn’t going away, despite the Arizona senator’s efforts to deflect it with self-deprecating humor, or disprove it by keeping a grueling schedule.

“Sure, people live to be 90, but you are not as sharp,” said Virginia Bailey, 73, a retired administrative assistant who lives near Schenectady, N.Y., and is a Republican. “I’m not as sharp as I was ten years ago, and I’m sure (McCain) isn’t either — even though he wouldn’t admit it.” – ap

Baptist church in assault rifle giveaway

An Oklahoma baptist church has insisted it will proceed with its controversial plan to give away an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle* during a youth conference – a move described as “a way of trying to encourage young people to attend the event”, according to local Koko 5 news. Windsor Hills Baptist apparently has a history of worshipping God through firepower, and last year ran a shooting competition as part of its annual shindig. This year, it reportedly shelled out $800 for said trophy semi, but the church’s youth pastor, Bob Ross, claimed the main thrust of the conference wasn’t about guns but rather “teens finding faith”. He stressed that the event featured 21 hours of preaching between bursts of gunfire, and defended: “I don’t want people thinking ‘My goodness, we’re putting a weapon in the hand of somebody that doesn’t respect it who are then going to go out and kill. That’s not at all what we’re trying to do.” – the register

Odd fish contradicts intelligent-design argument

This is a repeat. Same story, different source, but this one says it well.

The discovery of a missing link in the evolution of bizarre flatfishes—each of which has both eyes on the same side of its head—could give intelligent design advocates a sinking feeling. CT scans of 50-million-year-old fossils have revealed an intermediate species between primitive flatfishes (with eyes on both sides of their heads) and the modern, lopsided versions, which include sole, flounder, and halibut. So the change happened gradually, in a way consistent with evolution via natural selection—not suddenly, as researchers once had little choice but to believe, the authors of the new study say. The longstanding gap in the flatfish fossil record has long been explained by a “hopeful monster”—scientific jargon for an unknown animal blessed with a severe but helpful mutation that was passed down to its descendants. Ever since a geneticist invoked the hopeful-monster explanation in the 1930s, it has been the conventional wisdom for the origin of modern flatfishes. Intelligent design advocates have seized on the idea of instant flatfish rearrangement as evidence of God or another higher being intentionally creating new animal forms. Intelligent design advocates often cite the relative scarcity of transitional species in the fossil record as evidence of the intentional creation of species. – mysterytopia

Blackbird that can mimic the sound of ambulance’s siren makes family’s life hell

His fellow blackbirds warble and twitter when they’re trying to attract a mate.

But this fellow has a rather different seduction technique.

He can ring like a mobile phone, peal like a car alarm, wolf-whistle and every morning as the sun rises he lets out a wail that sounds exactly like an ambulance siren.

Experts are highly impressed with his talents, as blackbirds are not known as the greatest imitators.

They believe he is trying to attract a lady friend using the sounds he hears every day.

But the family who have to listen to the racket  -  the Talbots  -  are not quite so enthusiastic.

Alison Talbot, a sales assistant, says she has been woken up at 5am every day by the bird since it arrived in April.

She said: ‘It’s only a tiny bird but the sound is so incredibly loud, there is no drowning it out.

‘It is so realistic, the first time I heard it, I thought it was a real ambulance.’ – continued on dailymail

Rare ‘Star-Making Machine’ Found In Distant Universe

Astronomers have uncovered an extreme stellar machine — a galaxy in the very remote universe pumping out stars at a surprising rate of up to 4,000 per year. In comparison, our own Milky Way galaxy turns out an average of just 10 stars per year.

The discovery, made possible by several telescopes including NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, goes against the most common theory of galaxy formation. According to the theory, called the Hierarchical Model, galaxies slowly bulk up their stars over time by absorbing tiny pieces of galaxies — and not in one big burst as observed in the newfound “Baby Boom” galaxy.

“This galaxy is undergoing a major baby boom, producing most of its stars all at once,” said Peter Capak of NASA’s Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. “If our human population was produced in a similar boom, then almost all of the people alive today would be the same age.” Capak is lead author of a new report detailing the discovery in the July 10th issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters. – more on scidaily

Prius Voice Commands

I’ve learned that it is possible to set an address destination even while driving in a 2008 Toyota Prius.

To enter an address while driving:

Press Voice Command Button. (beep) Say, “Address”
Press Voice Command Button. (beep) “California”
Press Voice Command Button. (beep) “Sacramento”
Press Voice Command Button. (beep) “16th Street”
Press Voice Command Button. (beep) “One Six Three Zero”
Press Voice Command Button. (beep) “Enter Destination”
Guideance will start automatically using the Quick One route.

To find the nearest Italian restaurant.

Press Voice Command Button. (beep)  Say, “Nearest Italian Restaurant”
Press Voice Command Button. (beep)  “Enter Destination”

To speed up the process, once you know what to say, you can turn off the voice recognition guideance under settings.

Note: Saying “Auto pilot” had a result, but not the one I expected.

Flying Suit ..Extreme Base jumping

Funny sign.

A few funny signs. More here.

Anatomy Tatoos

More on funzombie. I’m not sure why he has all the bugs,  spiders and birds or whatever inside of him, but I liked the idea of an anatomy tattoo. It would be cool if there was a totally safe x-ray shirt you could wear that would show your bones as you moved around. That would be great for diagnosing pain after car accidents.