BREAKING: Microsoft to buy Yahoo?


Wow.

This deal would be huuuge.  $50 billion huge.

But even if they were to merge, the Microsoft / Yahoo conglomerate (Yahsoft? Microhoo?) would still only account for 27% of the world’s web searches… compared to 65% for the 900-pound gorilla that is Google.  Spending 50 billion dollars to claim 1/4 market share… this just goes to show how important the internet is (conceived to be, anyway).

Happy Quatro De Mayo

From the hilarious writers at Woot.com: Happy Quatro De Mayo!

Probably the best rhyme with "mexican" I’ve ever heard…

/media/music/woot-quatro.mp3

Also for your listening pleasure, 25 Minutes to Go from The Man in Black, here covered by Pear| Jam live at Benaroya Hall.
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Danger in Your New Light Bulbs

There’s a popular meme going around about the dangers of the new Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs).  You may have recently received an email (don’t send it to me!) about the woman in Maine who broke one of the new CFLs in her house, and called Home Depot up about cleanup.  They told her it was a hazardouse spill and would be over $2,000 to properly dispose of the mercury that leaked from the bulb!

So, naturally, due to this one email forward, people are in a tizzy over this.

Here’s a realistic assessment of the story from a Harvard Environmental professor.  In short, the bulbs do contain mercury.  Over 100x less mercury than a household thermometer!  And the mercury is not of significant danger outside of skin contact, ingestion, or direct fume inhalation.

If you have a fluorescent bulb and it does happen to break, do the following:
Make sure you have everyone (especially children & pregnant women) leave the room, ventilate the area (open all doors & windows, run a fan), and clean up the spill with gloved hands and a paper towel — do not use bare hands or a vacuum cleaner.

In aggregate, however, these trace levels do add up.  So when disposing of these bulbs, don’t just throw them out!  Take them to a hazardous recycling center… or IKEA, which handles CFL recycling.

Eagles’ Roster Roulette

Here’s a good assessment of the Philadelphia Eagles’ recent shufflings.

Personally, I’m not too confident.  The draft wasn’t so much a bust, but a dud.  Stallworth and Walker leaving are going to negatively impact this team more than people think.  And while Spikes may shore up the defense a bit, this season’s roster is simply uninspiring.

However, our soft schedule for the first 5 weeks should give us some momentum.

Idol Gives Crap

Some thoughts after watching the god-awful Idol Gives Crap Back?

Probably one of the worst thrown-together pieces of garbage I’ve seen in a long time… and this from the country’s perennial #1 show, American Idol?  (Popular != Good)

Some (of the many) low-lights:

  • Not cutting to Phil Stacey’s face when Ryan announced there’d be "shocking" results
  • The white outfits… blecccch… why??
  • Awful, boring performances from the Disney concert hall
  • The full-length Staying Alive video — Staying Alive?  Because of the Bed Nets?
    The medley of stars couldn’t produce one chuckle (let alone a chortle) when told to
    "act crazy"
  • Kelly Clarkson’s Mumu. Mel said (spot on, honey!) she looked like Valerie Bertinelli in the
    Weight Watchers commercial LOL  What’s up, Kel?  You were pretty hot on the show (watching Idol Rewind)…
  • The freakish evil black clown bass player for Earth Wind & Fire
  • No Sexytime! (Borat)  And no Gwen Stefani, or Pink, or…
    Maybe they were watching backstage and bailed before they were called up
  • The over-hyped Celine-Elvis "duet".  Looked fake as a $3 bill, and decidedly blurry and low-def!  (Couldn’t render HD in time?)
  • The lame Quincy Jones (boy, is he looking old) anthem
  • Torturing poor Jordan with the "results"

The FEW high-lights:

  • The usually obnoxious Jack Black (& Kyle Gass) was the lone source of humor on the show
  • Pauler’s outfit — keep those calls comin’ boys!
  • mmmm… I think that’s it.

Anyone else lose 2 hours of their lives they’ll never get back?
What was your (least) favorite moment?