…I feel that I can make my social commentary on one fellow.

The second name that a lot of people will remember (after Michael Phelps) is Usain Bolt, the sprinter from Jamaica who was quite confident (and flambuoyant) with winning his gold medals. Not only did he break the world records, but he did it while celebrating BEFORE crossing the line. This video is absolutely perfect for summing up how I view him.

…it’s been wreaking havoc with one of my local projects.

Nothing fancy about this post, but one of my local projects located near downtown Charlotte has had its first setback due to mother nature. Local flooding washed away the embankment the bridge will sit on as well as destroyed half of the temporary bridge that was going to be used to drive piles. Just goes to show how much damage water can do.

Click on the pictures for a larger image…

…when it starts to make speed bumps like the ones in China.

So, awhile back, I saw a new program that was started in Philadelphia to slow down cars without creating speed bumps called…and prepare to groan over this one…”Drive CarePhilly”. This lovely concept that was instituted in over 100 intersections involved using 3D decals on the ground to fake out drivers to thinking there was a speed bump there. Even if it worked for the first time, I would hope that humans are smart enough to tell next time that there really is no speed bump.

So China has decided to up the ante and show how they slow down travellers. I have to give them this, it definitely will slow down cars, no ifs ands or buts. They have placed a 100′ long x 2′ tall winding concrete block to slow people down on Jin Zhuang highway. That is what I call a no joke speed bump.

Retrieved from -Gizmodo-

Cher!

So, on G4’s news site, The Feed, I read last night that the villain in the third installment of the revitalized Batman movie series will be none other than Cher. So, right now, she is 62 years old. A very respectable age…but to be 62 and fighting the caped crusader? I think if he even came close to losing to her, I would lose all respect for Batman. The thing I would be most scared of is a spontaneous explosion due to all of the plastic surgery that has her skin stretched so taut!

Retrieved from -G4 The Feed-

…when it comes to a superhero named Bo-BoBo who uses nose hair as a weapon to defeat the forces of the bald enemy!

I like anime, don’t get me wrong, and I’m sure I would get a big kick out of this, but after losing my own war to nose hair, it disturbs me to no end to have that as a weapon to defeat a foe! See the following excerpt from the ever correct Wikipedia that describes the plot for the anime on Cartoon Network titled Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo. Yes, that is right.

In the year 300X, the entire world is under the tyrannical rule of the Maruhage Empire, and their ruler, Tsuru Tsurulina IV. His malicious Hair Hunt troop, which ranges from basic soldiers to block Commanders, and the insidious Heavenly Kings (Big Four), ruthlessly hair hunts innocent bystanders, leaving the people bald and their villages in ruins. Standing against this evil regime is the heroic, but bizarre, rebel, Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo, who fights the Hair Hunt Troop with his powerful Hanage Shinken (Fist of the Nose Hair) as well as the bizarre battle abilities known as Hajike (Wiggin’). Initially joined by the normal teen girl Beauty, the smelly teen warrior Heppokomaru (Gasser) and the similarly bizarre Hajike leader Don Patch (Poppa Rocks), Bo-Bobo is on an exciting, gag-filled quest to deliver his own hairy brand of justice to evildoers everywhere.

The show’s comedy is driven by its insanity and bizarre nature. Although fighting a rebellion against evil forces, none of the heroic characters take their job too seriously (nor do they seem to care for each-other), drawing their power from their spontenaity with a special “Hajike” (dub: Wiggin) style to create attacks that either parody what they are up against or have nothing to do with anything going on. Most of these gags are commented on by the more serious characters (particularly Beauty), breaking the fourth wall both as reaction as well as acting as the voice of the reading audience.

Retrieved from -ExtraLife-

…with the first US crossing ending up on a trailer.

The cars on the tour across the US involved cars from Honda, GM, Toyota, Ford, BMW, Daimler, Hyundai, Nissan and Volkswagen…almost all of the major car companies. Really, besides showing off the technology, the tour was meant to show the need for hydrogen fueling stations around the country, and I guess they proved their point. Although, I’m not sure that is the best way to promote your hydrogen cars is to show how they run out of fuel on a long trip.

Right now, there are only 60 hydrogen refueling stations around the country, and only two of those are open to the public without prior arrangements. With the still high cost of producing hydrogen fuel now, and the slow acceptance of the public to use (estimate are only 2 million vehicles by the year 2020), maybe the car companies should focus on the electric cars until they can lower costs and increase production.

Retrieved from -Reuters-

…but this time, not with cement, but with asphalt!

So, as I mentioned earlier this month, the Dutch town of Hengelo has started to utilize the pollutant-cleaning cement that I first found out about in early June. Well, Madrid is paving a road with asphalt that has a coating that claims to capture and convert 90% of the pollutants on a sunny day. Once this is captured and converted, it can then be washed away. This coating could definitely have a better name, but they ended up calling it “noxer”. Let’s hope initial tests of this asphalt coating work out well!

As an extra side note, Madrid is also placing asphalt made from recycled tires on another road in an effort to reduce road noise. If that really works, we should pave all highways around the country in that!

Retrieved from -Engadget-

…and it sounds like it is already on a shaky foundation!

So, in October, developers are meeting to discuss the next release of Windows which will be Windows 7. Whatever happened to Windows 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6, I don’t know, but Windows 7 it will be. The very first part of the description about Windows 7 was enough to set my teeth to grinding and put me on edge. The foundation for Windows 7 will be none other than Windows Vista itself. OK, so let me get this straight. Because of one of the greatest flops of your company’s history, you will be building the bigger, better and newer development on that flop? I’m no software engineer, but I like to apply this to structural engineering terms. I can build the world’s most fabulous bridge, whether it be the Golden Gate, the Brooklyn Bridge or even the Firth of Forth bridge. But, if I build this wonderful bridge on weak soils, guess what happens? The bridge sinks and then collapses. Lovely.

And if no one believes me about Windows Vista being a failure, you can either send me a comment where I can discuss my trials and tribulations with Windows Vista or just look at the statistics posted by Gizmodo about how many people have downgraded to XP from Vista. I mean come on…if 35% of people want to downgrade from the newest thing out there, that has to tell you something. Plus, the other 65% probably didn’t want to go through the hassle of downgrading.

Anyway, I’m not looking forward to 18 months from now, but if I still have my troubles with Vista then, I might have to install it and pray they worked the kinks out.

Yup, just checked this morning, and it moved up one more month. Since the estimated date of actually receiving the car is 30 days after the first date, I could be looking at June of next year.

…a new controller just for you!

Problem is, you have to find a girl to wear it first. Well, that eliminates about 99% of the geeks out there ever seeing this in action! So, from the mind of French designer John Nouanesing, comes the Geekini. This would be your standard two piece bathing suit with small additions…namely that being the old school NES controller buttons on the top…

…and the bottom!

Product Info -John Nouanesing-
Retrieved from -Gizmodo-