samhexum

For her 93rd birthday, a Maine woman got “arrested” — and got a kick out of it. Anne Dumont good-humoredly arranged with the Augusta Police Department to “gently arrest” her mother, Simone, who loves watching the TV show, “Cops,” WBTV reported. “She goes on about how the police have the worse job and what they have to deal with, and she wondered what it was like to be arrested and sit in the back seat,” Dumont posted to Facebook. Dumont’s mother told her the surprise gift on July 7 “made my life.” “She happily got to see the inside of the police car. Front and back and also pushed the siren button until it whaled. A momentous event,” Simone’s daughter wrote on Facebook. Simone now refers to the patrol car’s owner, Officer Paul Doody, as “her cop,” WABC reported, and she even got an authentic Augusta police junior officer decal as a present. The Augusta Police Department wrote on Facebook that it was “very proud to have been invited” to be a part of the birthday celebration.

Sales of “dumb” phones are growing as people get sick of being constantly buzzed by social media. That’s the name given to feature phones, retro-style handsets that lack the “smart” tech in modern-day smartphones. Data shows that the average American spends nearly three hours per day on their smartphone. And this growing obsession with staying online may be linked to a major change in the way we buy gadgets. According to Counterpoint Research, the global smartphone market grew by 2 percent last year – to 1.6 billion devices shipped. But worryingly, it shrank by 5 percent in the last quarter of 2017. Meanwhile, sales of feature phones rose to 450 million devices in 2017, which is a promising 5 percent jump. Counterpoint’s Shobhit Srivastava said the issue is linked to the “upgrade rate of users,” suggesting people are less willing to fork out for pricey new blowers – when their current mobiles work just fine. But people simply can’t seem to switch off with smartphones, either. Dr. Daria Kuss, a chartered psychologist who studies the “compulsive use” of smartphones, has warned that users can develop a genuine addiction. “They may be aware that they’re using it too much however they can’t stop themselves,”Kuss told Sky News. “They may be afraid to miss out on anything that may be happening on their social media channels being one of the reasons why they use it compulsively and this may lead to symptoms that have been associated with addiction like withdrawal, preoccupation and loss of control.” Sky News spoke to one Brit who had bought a “dumb” feature phone to use and who said her pestering smartphone was to blame. “I just hated the fact that I was always on it,” said Mark Erskine. “My friend said the other day, ‘you check it 150 times a day’. You’re always on Facebook pages and Instagram and you’re just on everything. “And the more you do it, the more you feel like you need to do it.” She said she hadn’t gone “full cold turkey,” because she still had an iPad – but said the feature phone had given her more choice. “If I want to go out with just the dumb phone then you can make a choice and have a day without all the noise of all the notifications and apps.” Tech companies are becoming more aware of the fact that their customers are worried about their phone usage. Earlier this year, Apple introduced a new feature called Screen Time that lets you track time spent on your handset.

NASA admits Mars Opportunity rover could be lost forever In a blog post, NASA said that it may never again have contact with the Opportunity rover after the craft got caught up in a Martian dust storm in the middle of June. While expressing optimism that the worst of the Opportunity’s rover’s problems may be behind it, as the dust storm starts to “decay,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Andrew Good cautioned that the battery for the $400 million vehicle might have discharged so much power and been inactive for so long, it could be a loss. “Even if engineers hear back from Opportunity, there’s a real possibility the rover won’t be the same,” Good wrote in an Aug. 16 blog post. “The rover’s batteries could have discharged so much power — and stayed inactive so long — that their capacity is reduced. If those batteries can’t hold as much charge, it could affect the rover’s continued operations.” Good also cautioned that no one will know how the Opportunity rover is doing “until it speaks,” but added that the team behind it is optimistic after performing tests on its batteries before the storm hit its location. “Because the batteries were in relatively good health before the storm, there’s not likely to be too much degradation,” Good wrote. “And because dust storms tend to warm the environment — and the 2018 storm happened as Opportunity’s location on Mars entered summer — the rover should have stayed warm enough to survive.” Good added that the dust is less of a problem. Previous storms which “plastered dust on the camera lenses” saw most of the dust eventually shed off. “Any remaining dust can be calibrated out,” he wrote. The dust storm started on June 10 and eventually covered the entire planet, according to Space.com. Still, it has been a sore spot for NASA that it has not been able to contact the Opportunity rover since the dust storm. Assuming NASA is able to get in contact with the rover (it is continuing to listen for signs and pinging it three times a week), Good says we may not know anything for a few weeks, likening its condition to a patient coming out of a coma. “After the first time engineers hear from Opportunity, there could be a lag of several weeks before a second time,” Good wrote. “It’s like a patient coming out of a coma: It takes time to fully recover. It may take several communication sessions before engineers have enough information to take action.” Opportunity has three so-called “fault modes” when it experiences a problem: a low-power fault that causes it to go into hibernation until there is more sunlight to let it recharge; clock fault, which might happen if the rover doesn’t know what time it is, causing disruptions in communication and uploss fault, which occurs when the rover hasn’t heard from Earth in a long time, causing it to check its equipment and try alternate ways to communicate with Earth. Opportunity’s history The Opportunity rover, which was initially meant to only be on the Red Planet for a 90-day mission, has made several groundbreaking discoveries throughout its now roughly 15-year trip, initially leaving Earth on July 7, 2003. So far, it has detected signs of water, explored the insides of two craters and completed a marathon — the first vehicle to do so on another planet. But Opportunity’s journey hasn’t always been a smooth one. In 2005, the rover lost the use of one of its front wheels and got stuck in a thick pile of sand for about five weeks, according to Space.com. When it finally managed to move, it ran into a sand dune. In 2007, a dust storm hit and reportedly cut the spacecraft’s power to “dangerously low levels.” A month later, it turned back on and began exploring the Victoria Crater. Despite its obstacles, the Opportunity has always managed to pull through. But this time, researchers aren’t sure what will happen. In the meantime, scientists are trying to stay positive, creating a Mars-themed Spotify playlist — featuring “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!, “Rocket Man” by Elton John, among others — and an office pool to help pass the time.

His name reminds me of the classic Buttons and Bows

Insanely hot exoplanet has titanium in its atmosphere When it comes to heat in our solar system, Mercury takes the top crown, at least as far as planets are concerned. You wouldn’t last more than a few seconds on Mercury’s surface, with temperatures topping 800 degrees Fahrenheit on the sun-facing side of the planet, but believe it or not that’s downright chilly compared to the distant exoplanet KELT-9b. KELT-9b is located around 650 light years from our solar system and it’s orbiting its start — named KELT-9 — at such a short distance that it managed to complete an orbit in less than two Earth days. Earth, in case you had forgotten, takes 365 days to orbit our star. That close relationship makes KELT-9b an incredibly hostile place and a new study reveals that the planet is so hot that materials we favor on Earth because of their strength are actually vaporized. The planet is being hailed as the first example of an “ultra-hot Jupiter,” meaning that it’s a massive ball of gas and it’s, well, very hot. Temperatures on KELT-9b are thought to reach as high as 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit, thanks in large part to the fact that the star the planet is orbiting is a great deal hotter than even our own sun. In fact, the planet gets hotter than many stars observed by astronomers. This latest round of work was published in Nature. By studying the light that shines through the planet’s atmosphere as it passes in front of its star, researchers have calculated what chemicals are likely present there. Amazingly, the team detected what appears to be iron vapor around the planet, which is something their theoretical models had predicted, but they also found something unexpected. The spectrum of light revealed the presence of gaseous titanium. Yes, the planet is so incredibly hot that even titanium doesn’t stand a chance. It’s thought that planets which get as hot as KELT-9b sometimes completely evaporate due to the heat, but this particular gas giant is large enough that it’s been able to stand the test of time. We still wouldn’t want to visit it, though.

Insanely hot exoplanet has titanium in its atmosphere When it comes to heat in our solar system, Mercury takes the top crown, at least as far as planets are concerned. You wouldn’t last more than a few seconds on Mercury’s surface, with temperatures topping 800 degrees Fahrenheit on the sun-facing side of the planet, but believe it or not that’s downright chilly compared to the distant exoplanet KELT-9b. KELT-9b is located around 650 light years from our solar system and it’s orbiting its start — named KELT-9 — at such a short distance that it managed to complete an orbit in less than two Earth days. Earth, in case you had forgotten, takes 365 days to orbit our star. That close relationship makes KELT-9b an incredibly hostile place and a new study reveals that the planet is so hot that materials we favor on Earth because of their strength are actually vaporized. The planet is being hailed as the first example of an “ultra-hot Jupiter,” meaning that it’s a massive ball of gas and it’s, well, very hot. Temperatures on KELT-9b are thought to reach as high as 5,800 degrees Fahrenheit, thanks in large part to the fact that the star the planet is orbiting is a great deal hotter than even our own sun. In fact, the planet gets hotter than many stars observed by astronomers. This latest round of work was published in Nature. By studying the light that shines through the planet’s atmosphere as it passes in front of its star, researchers have calculated what chemicals are likely present there. Amazingly, the team detected what appears to be iron vapor around the planet, which is something their theoretical models had predicted, but they also found something unexpected. The spectrum of light revealed the presence of gaseous titanium. Yes, the planet is so incredibly hot that even titanium doesn’t stand a chance. It’s thought that planets which get as hot as KELT-9b sometimes completely evaporate due to the heat, but this particular gas giant is large enough that it’s been able to stand the test of time. We still wouldn’t want to visit it, though. NASA admits Mars Opportunity rover could be lost forever In a blog post, NASA said that it may never again have contact with the Opportunity rover after the craft got caught up in a Martian dust storm in the middle of June. While expressing optimism that the worst of the Opportunity’s rover’s problems may be behind it, as the dust storm starts to “decay,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Andrew Good cautioned that the battery for the $400 million vehicle might have discharged so much power and been inactive for so long, it could be a loss. “Even if engineers hear back from Opportunity, there’s a real possibility the rover won’t be the same,” Good wrote in an Aug. 16 blog post. “The rover’s batteries could have discharged so much power — and stayed inactive so long — that their capacity is reduced. If those batteries can’t hold as much charge, it could affect the rover’s continued operations.” Good also cautioned that no one will know how the Opportunity rover is doing “until it speaks,” but added that the team behind it is optimistic after performing tests on its batteries before the storm hit its location. “Because the batteries were in relatively good health before the storm, there’s not likely to be too much degradation,” Good wrote. “And because dust storms tend to warm the environment — and the 2018 storm happened as Opportunity’s location on Mars entered summer — the rover should have stayed warm enough to survive.” Good added that the dust is less of a problem. Previous storms which “plastered dust on the camera lenses” saw most of the dust eventually shed off. “Any remaining dust can be calibrated out,” he wrote. The dust storm started on June 10 and eventually covered the entire planet, according to Space.com. Still, it has been a sore spot for NASA that it has not been able to contact the Opportunity rover since the dust storm. Assuming NASA is able to get in contact with the rover (it is continuing to listen for signs and pinging it three times a week), Good says we may not know anything for a few weeks, likening its condition to a patient coming out of a coma. “After the first time engineers hear from Opportunity, there could be a lag of several weeks before a second time,” Good wrote. “It’s like a patient coming out of a coma: It takes time to fully recover. It may take several communication sessions before engineers have enough information to take action.” Opportunity has three so-called “fault modes” when it experiences a problem: a low-power fault that causes it to go into hibernation until there is more sunlight to let it recharge; clock fault, which might happen if the rover doesn’t know what time it is, causing disruptions in communication and uploss fault, which occurs when the rover hasn’t heard from Earth in a long time, causing it to check its equipment and try alternate ways to communicate with Earth. Opportunity’s history The Opportunity rover, which was initially meant to only be on the Red Planet for a 90-day mission, has made several groundbreaking discoveries throughout its now roughly 15-year trip, initially leaving Earth on July 7, 2003. So far, it has detected signs of water, explored the insides of two craters and completed a marathon — the first vehicle to do so on another planet. But Opportunity’s journey hasn’t always been a smooth one. In 2005, the rover lost the use of one of its front wheels and got stuck in a thick pile of sand for about five weeks, according to Space.com. When it finally managed to move, it ran into a sand dune. In 2007, a dust storm hit and reportedly cut the spacecraft’s power to “dangerously low levels.” A month later, it turned back on and began exploring the Victoria Crater. Despite its obstacles, the Opportunity has always managed to pull through. But this time, researchers aren’t sure what will happen. In the meantime, scientists are trying to stay positive, creating a Mars-themed Spotify playlist — featuring “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham!, “Rocket Man” by Elton John, among others — and an office pool to help pass the time.

Goats captured after running wild on subway tracks They got their goat! Police managed to capture two goats who had been running wild on the N train tracks in Brooklyn Monday morning — after using tranquilizer darts to calm those crazy kids down. Officers spent two hours trying to corral the billies between the Fort Hamilton Parkway and New Utrecht stops in Borough Park, and eventually the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit had to step in with sedatives to bring the four-legged scoundrels down, Cpt. Jonathan Bobin told reporters after the chase. The zonked-out animals snored as police bound them with ropes waited for a van to haul the captives away and hand them over to the city’s Animal Care and Control. It’s still unclear where the goats came from — but Bobin noted there are many meat markets in the area. It’s up to Animal Care if the animals will escape the chopping block for good, he said. “Hopefully they’ll find new homes,” said Bobin, the commanding officer of Transit District 34. Despite the weird creatures who ride the rails every day, he said these scofflaws were new kids on the block. “Sometimes we see cats and dogs but never goats. That’s a new one,” he said. Bobin said Coney Island-bound N trains were delayed for two hours during the chase, but the MTA said trains were only rerouted for 30 minutes.

He is now engaged to Priyanka Chopra.

That was one of three fantastic double features I saw. TERMS came on after a sneak preview of THE BIG CHILL (or TERMS was the sneak preview-- I forget). Also saw PAPER MOON with A TOUCH OF CLASS (I think PM was a preview) and SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR (definitely a great movie, because I actually liked Alan Alda in it) with a sneak preview of THE CHAMP. But my mom saw the ultimate pairing of two very similar movies-- back when there were such a thing as discount, second-run theaters, she saw ORDINARY PEOPLE with AMERICAN GIGOLO. Maybe they're big fans of Tipper?

On back-to-back days this week I watched Lee give Will hell during his Thanksgiving meal prep, then worry about her Mother Rose's heart surgery.

Take... those chicken wings... and learn to fry again...

You're welcome, you overrated Japanese import.

When I was a teen, The Exorcist was re-released. A bunch of us from my neighborhood went. For some reason, the theater broke it up with an intermission. All the girls wanted to leave at that point because they were so scared, but all of us guys thought it was one of the best comedies we'd ever seen, and wanted to see how it ended. THE SIMPSONS' version of that (Cape Feare) was hilarious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOgUGwFKchQ THE SIMPSONS version. She was a real wimp. :cool:

I heard they're gonna do a remake, only now the tomatoes will be drizzled with balsamic vinegar. This version promises to be much more palatable.

I had disc fusion surgery on my neck in 2003 & 2012, and 2 mini-strokes in May, 2017 (just over a week after I joined this site, not that I'm assigning any blame...), so my sister has my medical power of attorney.

I loved that movie. The sight of Vincent D'Onofrio as a bleached blonde just made me laugh. (His cousin dated the friend I walked out of the Yankee game with... who was also one of the two who walked out of Jerome Robbins' Boredway.) It's a shame Elizabeth Shue's career never again reached such dizzying heights. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

It wasn't the violence that got to me, it was the boring last 14 hours after the interesting first hour. I saw it many months after it came out. I was on a business trip in Connecticut & had nothing to do one night, so I went. The theater was packed. I sat in an aisle seat. By the end, I was desperate to go back to my hotel room and stare at the four walls. The end of the film seemed to have several 'false endings'... I remember being ready to stand up several times, only to have the boredom continue. When it was FINALLY over, I saw a crowd reaction I'd never seen at a movie before... The second the closing credits came on, every single person stood up and exited silently. Nobody stayed through the credits. Nobody discussed anything. Everybody was probably saying silent prayers of thanks that it was over. I never understood all the hoopla over Tarantino's talent until I saw his legendary appearance on THE GOLDEN GIRLS.

I was dying to walk out of Grease, but the friend I was with didn't want to walk home alone. I absolutely hated Close Encounters of the Worst Kind, but stuck it out through all 15 hours. I walked out of Down & Out in Beverly Hills and Blade Rudder (coincidentally [perhaps?] both those theaters have been torn down) and Punch-Drunk Love (got my $ back for that one). On Broadway I've walked out of HurlyBurly and Jerome Robbins' Boredway (I walked out at intermission; the two friends I was with walked out a few minutes into Act II). My friend and I walked out of a Yankee game in 1998 because it was broiling hot & muggy that night. On the way home, we were listening to the game and it turned out we missed an infamous brawl: