OMG! It's sinking!

The pier across from my office normally has cruise ships tied up there, whisking people off to Alaska during the summer months. One of these days I'll find myself on board one of those heading to our 49th state.

But today, there is another ship there, an oil tanker. It is tied up there undergoing some major repairs. The repairs of a nature that requires the removal of the propeller. You would think that this kind of thing would need to be done in a drydock, and we don't exactly have a bunch of those along this section of the waterfront.

So instead, they are using the ballast tanks to sink the bow of the ship lower in the water, which is raising the stern completely out of the water so they can access the propeller area from the dock. Very strange looking.

Today's "we don't have anything better to do" law proposal

NSFW - www.trucknutz.com

I find this product HILARIOUS and keep threatening my friends who drive trucks that I'm getting them this as a birthday gift. But be careful if you get a set and drive through Virginia

Watch what you hang from trailer hitches

RICHMOND, Va. -- Drive across Virginia with an outsized rubber replica of testicles dangling from your trailer hitch and you face a fine under a bill before the General Assembly. Delegate Lionel Spruill introduced the legislation Tuesday, saying the sight of masculine genitalia is a safety issue because it distracts drivers.

Spruill, a Democrat from Portsmouth, would make display of the ornamentation on a motor vehicle a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $250.

He says the idea came from a constituent whose young daughter had spotted the facsimile sex organs and asked her father to explain them.

The Virginia legislature has some experience with offbeat bills. Three years ago, it attracted worldwide attention for its effort to outlaw baggy pants worn so low they expose underwear.

You don't see this every day...

Wayward seal waddles onto Maine highway

TRESCOTT TOWNSHIP, Maine -- A wayward seal is back in its ocean home after making its way onto land, crossing several front yards and a horse pasture, and straddling a state highway in eastern Maine.

Motorists came across the seal Saturday morning in the middle of state Route 189 in Trescott Township in Washington County.

The animal drew the attention of several passers-by, who speculated it had crawled out of nearby Whiting Bay. When approached, the seal lumbered down an embankment and toward some woods.

After Marine Patrol Officer Russell Wright arrived, he and half a dozen others grabbed the seal by its flippers and tail and lifted it into a cage.

From there, Wright drove the animal to a boat launch and released it back into the ocean.

What is it with Germany?

Never, never spit gasoline while smoking

BERLIN -- A German man in the northeastern town of Gross Godems was being treated for serious burns Monday after accidentally setting his apartment ablaze when he mixed up a bottle of gasoline with alcohol, police said.

The 56-year-old apparently grabbed the wrong bottle and took a swig from the gasoline flask, then spat it out when he realized his mistake.

The gas hit a lit cigarette, sparking the fire, police said.

The man's name was not released.

Yeah, I wouldn't want my name released after that either.

Hillary wins US Presidency!

At least according to some 'professor' in Mexico. Would you trust this guy to predict anything??

Professor Antonio Vazquez Alba, also known as Mexico's Grand Warlock, holds up Tarot cards as he gives his traditional predictions for the new year in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 3, 2008. Professor Vazquez Alba, who has been giving his yearly predictions since 1980, predicted for this year that Hillary Clinton will win the U.S. presidential elections and on the entertainment side, Britney Spears will commit suicide.

Buried in here is also a nugget about Britney Spears committing suicide in 2008. *YAWN* Can we go just ONE day without some "news" (and I use that term very loosely) about that trash?

This is why I don't fly Low-Cost Carriers

An expose done undercover at Ryanair out of Dublin. Very interesting stuff. Those 1 Euro fares just aren't worth it....

Netflix coming to a TV near you

This is pretty spiffy. I haven't used the 'Watch It Now' function with my Netlfix subscription, mainly because I'm not confident about the ability to successfully stream such a large file to my PC. I've tried watching a DVD on my computer, and that was barely acceptable. The small resolution, not great sound quality, etc.

But this, this is a better deal. Hopefully the boxes won't cost too much though...

Netflix movies to go directly to TV
Company to expand service through a set-top box

SAN FRANCISCO -- DVD-by-mail service Netflix Inc. will begin delivering movies and other programming directly to televisions later this year through a set-top box that will pipe entertainment over a high-speed Internet connection.

The set-top box, to be made by LG Electronics Inc. as part of a partnership announced late Wednesday, is designed to broaden the appeal of a year-old streaming service that Netflix provides to its 7 million subscribers at no additional charge.

LG Electronics didn't reveal how much the set-top box will cost when it hits the market in the summer or early autumn. Similar devices made by Apple Inc. and Vudu Inc. cost $299 to $399.

A bevy of other gadgets designed to bring more digital entertainment into living rooms is expected to be unveiled next week at a major consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

Although Netflix says its subscribers have watched more than 10 million movies and TV episodes through its "Watch Instantly" option so far, the streaming service has been too constraining for many subscribers.

That's because all the streaming service's programming must be watched on a personal computer, unless the viewer knows how to link a high-speed Internet connection into a TV monitor.

The set-top box is supposed to serve as a bridge that will enable just about anyone with a high-speed Internet connection to plug in a few wires so they will be able to access Netflix's Watch Instantly feature on their TVs.

Subscribers will still need to use a computer to pick out which programs they're interested in streaming. The selections, culled from more than 6,000 titles available in a streaming library, will then show up on the TV screen.

"It's going to be very slick and easy," said Reed Hastings, Netflix's chief executive. "We want the TV experience to be very relaxing and not like visiting a Web site."

Depending on which subscription plan they have, Netflix customers can watch five to 48 hours of programming through the streaming service each month at no extra cost.

The LG Electronics alliance is just the first of several partnerships Netflix hopes to strike this year to extend its delivery options beyond the mail. Although he wouldn't provide specifics, Hastings listed video-game consoles and high-definition DVD players as other potential channels for Netflix.