Turnabout Is Fair Play

This woman just had her bike stolen.



She looks awful happy about it doesn't she? Well, it's because there's much more to this hilarious story.

Wednesday, she realized her bike had been stolen while she was visiting a friend. She called the cops but before hearing back, someone called her saying they saw it for sale on Craigslist! She called the cops again and informed them but was told they wouldn't be able to look into it till the next day. She knew if the bike was sold she'd never see it again so she took matters into her own hands.

She then contacted the seller/thief herself (who lived 2 blocks from where it was stolen) and said she wanted to BUY the bike. They met up and, after verifying it was hers without telling the guy, she asked for a test ride. He agreed and asked her NOT TO RIDE OFF ON IT! Well, that's exactly what she did.

She STOLE BACK HER STOLEN BIKE! This chick is officially a badass. Thumbs up to you Canadian lady!

Click here to see the original story on Reddit.

The Futurama Is Now!

The future of long distance travel may be closer than we think... if we can afford it.

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors and general science genius, has released designs for the Hyperloop. It's a train in a tube moved by air pressure. Think of Futurama and the personal transport tubes people zip around the city in or the thing at the bank they use to send money out to people at the drive thru. It's basically a bigger one of those.

This would cut travel time across the US by huge percentages. For example: it could go from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes, a trip that now takes several hours. It would also cost 1/10th of what a high-speed rail line would cost ($7 billion compared to $70 billion).

The "pods" would hold 28 people and travel at speeds in excess of 750 mph! There is also an alternative design that would allow people to drive their cars into the pods with them. All of this is speculation at this point as no real world testing has been done.

There are costs and challenges ahead but this could revolutionize everything from transporting food and other goods to personal travel.

Click to read the full details on the Hyperloop at Gizmodo.com

False Advertising

Advertising by definition is marketing meant to persuade or manipulate an audience but the things advertisers get away with seems criminal... but it's perfectly legal! Here are FOUR big lies advertising tells us daily:

1. Cell phone coverage is bullcrap. Everybody from Sprint to AT&T shows off big coverage maps that make it SEEM like you'll have cell service coast to coast. Well, the problem is that they measure this by where calls are dropped and where they aren't. Here's the problem, ANYTHING can cause a dropped call from trees and buildings to electrical interference. The companies use that flexibility to ASSUME the problem isn't them and count areas as "covered" that are actually dead zones.

2. Food serving sizes are a giant mystery. Companies are constantly changing sizes of what a serving is as well as the package it comes in and many times it makes no sense. For example, Healthy Choice makes a single serving soup THAT HAS 2 SERVINGS PER CONTAINER! So you either overeat or throw away half of the soup. They aren't the only ones guilty of this, just an example.

3. Not all "health benefits" are real. Lately it seems like 2 of the healthiest things to are bee pollen and acai berries for their magical health benefits. But what are those benefits? Anybody? I'll tell you... NOTHING! Neither one has any real benefit but advertising has convinced us they do. Wrigley tried this with Eclipse Gum saying it made your mouth healthier but they got SUED by competitors because it's actually the extra saliva chewing creates that makes you mouth healthier, not the gum itself.

4. Food that SOUNDS healthy, probably isn't. Instead of pointing out what the food is made of, they point out the ONE bad thing the food doesn't have. Like Krispy Kreme saying their donuts have 0% trans fat. Really? That's the bad kind so they must be good! Well, they still have a gallon of sugar and tons of carbs in them. Delicious, but not healthy.

Basically I'm just saying, don't believe the hype. When a commercial goes off and you suddenly crave what you just saw, they just won. Try to read between the lines and question the "facts" that advertising throws your way.

Original story from Cracked.com

Freedom to Fap

Porn. Even in 2013 it's still somewhat of a social taboo even though a HUGE percentage of Americans watch regularly. It's one of those things that some people have no shame about whatsoever (I watch porn, what of it?) but others hide like a password to their bank account. Well, what if you had to let the government know you watch porn?

England is pushing for new laws that will REQUIRE people to tell their internet provider whether they watch porn. If they say "no", it will block ALL porn from their home. If they say "yes", you'll get full access to the wide world of porn. The logic they are using it that this will crack down on "the corroding influence of pornography on childhood"... which sounds like a good thing.

Really think about that though. They are making ALL citizens basically notify the world whether or not they watch porn. Regardless of whether they have kids. How does my watching porn affect any kid anywhere? IT DOESN'T!!

The other MAJOR problem with this line of thought is the fact that British people are giving their government more access to their private lives rather than cracking down on crappy parents. If a kid is watching porn underage, there is a parent to blame. NOT the internet. NOT the porn industry. NOT porn websites. If parents actually PARENTED and kept tabs on what their kids are doing online it wouldn't be a problem. Hell, most every browser has the option to block adult material or certain websites.

To me this all comes back to one simple opinion: If you're not mature enough to raise your children, STOP HAVING KIDS! If you do insist on having kids and not doing your job as a parent, accept your screwed up offspring as your fault and stop looking for someone or something else to blame.

The Death of News

News is defined as "newly received and noteworthy information." In the past, it was the responsibility of the news media to deliver that "noteworthy information" as honestly, fairly, and reliably as possible. Sadly, the advent of 24-Hour news channels (like CNN or Fox News) credibility has taken a backseat to ratings.

Take for example the crapstorm KTVU in San Francisco has gotten themselves into. While covering the recent crash of an Asiana Airlines plane KTVU asked someone from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for the names of the pilots. Obviously without verifying any of the names, they reported the pilots names were:

Sum Ting Wong
Wi Tu Lo
Bang Ding Ow
Ho Lee Fuk

If you don't understand the problem, say those names out loud. Go ahead... I'll wait. Yea, somebody who calls themselves a reporter actually believed those were real names! The even sadder part is that they obviously did NOT fact check themselves and put them on the air. Asiana Airlines is now SUING the station for slander and said they insulted not only the company but Asians in general.

I blame the race for ratings. News stations do whatever it takes nowadays to be the FIRST to get the story out, not the BEST. The past 3 presidential elections have been "called" prematurely by news stations which were WRONG, during the Boston Marathon bombings 3 different INNOCENT PEOPLE were blasted on national news and accused as suspects with no evidence other than speculation, hell the whole nation gasped when the news took a Twitter post about an attack on the White House too seriously.

I've said it quite frequently lately but don't believe everything you hear on "the news" anymore. Don't blindly believe what they report until they start proving they have some credibility again. Stay informed and remember what Rage Against The Machine told us in the 90s, "If ignorance is bliss, then wipe the smile off my face."

Brilliant and Unusual Punishment

I could write novels bitching about all the problems with our justice system but one of the biggest I see is sentencing. Our Constitution bans "Cruel and unusual punishment" but I think that's been interpreted to mean "every crime gets the same punishment". I don't understand why someone who shoplifts gets the same punishment as someone who assaulted another person. It's either prison time, a fine, or probation for the most part but every once in a while a judge does something brilliant...

In Halifax County recently, Toni King was charged with assaulting a government official, larceny and possession of stolen goods, and being intoxicated and disruptive. She pleaded guilty to resisting a public officer and intoxicated and disruptive with an interesting sentence from the judge: probation, counseling, and A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT! Toni has to write a 2 page essay titled "How a Lady Should Behave in Public"!

To some that may seem trivial or a waste of time but think about it, she'll have to sit down, think hard about what she did, then write an essay basically describing how she was acting like an idiot and what she should do in the future. It might not change a thing but it could be the insight she needs to turn her life around.

I think if more judges would hand out sentences appropriate to the crime instead of what's on the books as "the standard" we might have more reformed criminals and less repeat offenders.

Attack Of The Killer Laundry Detergent

Hide your kids! There's a new monster in our homes killing our children!!

Scary huh? For those who don't know, those are detergent capsules. Little plastic bubbles full of laundry detergent that you throw into the load instead of measuring it out yourself. Well, apparently they are murdering children.

I'm being very over dramatic because I think this whole "problem" is idiotic. Yes, laundry detergent can be deadly if swallowed or inhaled and can cause permanent damage or even death in children. The story according to the media is that the companies that make them haven't taken proper precautions to make them look unappetizing so kids don't try to eat them.

Personally, I think this goes right back to the lack of parenting in this country. If parents actually paid attention to their children, they wouldn't have time to eat detergent. "But you can't watch them every minute" said the excuse-maker. Well, the 2nd part of it is that if you have kids or kids are in your house KEEP THE DAMN CLEANING PRODUCTS LOCKED UP OR OUT OF REACH!

It really scares me that we're heading toward an America where everybody has to wear bubble wrap body suits. Take some damn personal accountability when your kids do something dumb or bad and try learning from your and your children's mistakes instead of looking for a company to blame.