My mother introduced me to her over ten years ago. At first, I thought she was too long. Too green. Too boxy. The sleeves hung off like big, floppy . . . sleeves. The brown wooden buttons she sported were majorly ugly. I’m not sure what possessed me, but I took her anyway and brought her to my office. I forgot about her. Until that fateful day . . .

I work in a government building. Despite constant cries of lack of fundage, one thing the government does not skimp on is air conditioning.

Years ago on a hundred-degree July day, I sat freezing in my office rubbing my hands together to keep my circulation flowing. As I debated whether or not to start a small fire in the trash can to warm myself, I saw her out of the corner of my eye, hanging on a coat rack, calling me. Her boring green hue. Her shapeless form…

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Canadian authorities said they have opened a criminal investigation into the fiery wreck of a runaway oil train in this small town as the death toll climbed to 15, with dozens more bodies feared buried in the burned-out ruins.

Quebec police Inspector Michel Forget said Tuesday that investigators have “discovered elements” that have led to a criminal probe. He gave no details but ruled out terrorism and said police are more likely exploring the possibility of criminal negligence. Provincial police spokesman Sergeant Benoit Richard said no arrests have been made.

The death toll rose with the discovery of two more bodies Tuesday. About three dozen more people were missing. The bodies that have been recovered were burned so badly they have yet to be identified.

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.Click link below for story, video, and slideshow:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/quebec-train-death-toll_n_3568464.html?icid=maing-grid7|myaol|dl1|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D341850

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Loch Ness Monster mystery could be explained by a fault line under the lake

The legend of the Loch Ness Monster has persevered for more than 200 years. But could tales of a prehistoric sea creature located in a deep Scottish body of water be explained by science?

That’s the source of a new theory, which speculates that the Loch Ness Monster may actually be a fault line lying underneath the Scottish lake.

Even after 200 years of technological advances since the first reported spotting in 1806, rumors of the Loch Ness Monster continue to persist. In fact, technology has played a role in spawning some Nessie theories.

For example, in 2011, local boat skipper Marcus Atkinson produced a sonar image of what he described as a large object following his boat for several minutes at a depth of 75 feet.

And in 2012, George Edwards shared a photo…

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Google showed off its new maps UI for desktop and mobile back in May, and now the update is slowly rolling out for Android 4.0.3+ devices. At its event Google said this new version is bringing a more personalized experience, while the changelog reveals new navigation data with “live traffic updates, incident reports and dynamic rerouting.” Ratings, reviews and other info have also been pushed to the front in an effort to help users find out more about local places, and on tablets an “Experience” feature should bring enhanced indoor walkthroughs.

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.Click link below for article and video:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/10/google-maps-7.0-android/

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School pupils in Australia spend more time in the classroom under compulsory instruction than in any other country in the OECD, but it will do nothing to help Australia reach the goal of being in the top five performing countries by 2025.

Neither will reducing class sizes, which is just a pointless waste of scarce resources, says Andreas Schleicher, the special adviser on education to the director-general of the OECD.

Dr Schleicher said the goal of being in the top five in international literacy and maths tests by 2025 was “realistic” — Australia is currently ninth out of 34 countries in the OECD — but the single most important factor was improving the quality of teaching. “Our data clearly show that the highest performing countries prioritise the quality of teaching. They are also very good at deploying the very best teachers to the hardest classrooms,” Dr Schleicher…

Okay… I’ve got to apologize for something going wrong and a MUCH shorter version of this post was displayed… only the first or part of the first paragraph.  While after much and strenuous (for me) jumping through hoops, I managed to restore my full article, two people had already LIKED it…. whew, I’m thinking “why?”  There was nothing written (yet) that I thought worthy of any attention… but thanks, people.  It’s appreciated.  I just hope my fully edited version is the one below… I’m bleary eyed right now.  Okay, now for a much needed pic for between this pre-paragraph and the real one…..

Who is the one person you hope isn’t reading your blog? Why?

Well, I wasn’t going to do this. I’m in the middle of trying to decide what to do about making changes to the blog for chrissake; but then I realized I couldn’t answer this question…

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According to modern quantum theory, energy fields permeate the universe, and flurries of energy in these fields, called “particles” when they are pointlike and “waves” when they are diffuse, serve as the building blocks of matter and forces. But new findings suggest this wave-particle picture offers only a superficial view of nature’s constituents.

Original story reprinted with permission from Simons Science News, an editorially independent division of SimonsFoundation.org whose mission is to enhance public understanding of science by covering research developments and trends in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.

If each energy field pervading space is thought of as the surface of a pond, and waves and particles are the turbulence on that surface, then the new evidence strengthens the argument that a vibrant, hidden world lies beneath.

For decades, the surface-level description of the subatomic world has been sufficient to make…

Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings; that it was to protect the citizens from what was determined to be a dangerous drug.

• Senators Introduce Bi-partisan Industrial Hemp Farming Act
• Colorado Legalizes Recreational Marijuana and Industrial
• New Study: Vaporized Marijuana Is A Safe And Effective Pain Treatment.

Better to say the sick and primitive notion of Honor Killing is unacceptable in the civilized society. The recent killing of four in Canada brought shock to the minds and makes one wonder why a father would kill his own children in the name of God and as a justification for preserving his so-called honor and tradition. Whatever the reason, it is not unreasonable to say there is no justification for taking innocent lives in the name of culture and tradition.

A jury on January 29, 2012 found three members of an Afghan family guilty of killing three teenage sisters and another woman their step-mom, in what could be described as cold-blooded murder. The outrageous and despicable act happened as a result of a twisted concept of “honor.” A father and his co-conspirators killed his three teenage daughters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress code, dating, socializing and…

Australians under attack in some future war may be able to call in cyber specialists able to infect an enemy aircraft with a Trojan horse virus and force it to land or to crash, its pilot helpless to intervene.

That’s one reason, says national security specialist Des Ball, that Australia needs to develop its own offensive cyber capabilities.

This extraordinary notion, worlds away from the layman’s view of dogfights, ack-ack fire and even long-range missile attacks, is contained in a series of papers, to be released today by the Kokoda Foundation think tank, on security challenges facing Australia.

In a joint paper, Ball and former Royal Australian Air Force officer Gary Waters say the government acknowledged in the defence white paper that cyber warfare posed a serious threat to Australia’s military capabilities and to the nation’s critical infrastructure and commercial operations.

“The cyber threat is clearly escalating,” they say.

“The…