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Obama signs food safety bill

WASHINGTON – Foreshadowing the coming power struggles between the and a more , on Tuesday signed a $1.4-billion overhaul of the nation’s food safety system as some lawmakers complained about the cost. The first major overhaul of the food safety system since the 1930s, the law emphasizes prevention to help stop deadly outbreaks of foodborne illness before they occur, instead of reacting after consumers become ill. It calls for increasing government inspections at food processing facilities and, for the first time, gives the the power to order the recall of unsafe foods. Obama made improving food safety a priority shortly after taking office in 2009. There have been several deadly outbreaks of…

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January 4, 1989 – The Gulf Of Sidra And Other Adventures.

enlarge Things were looking up – but not the way he imagined. Click here to view this media On this morning in 1989, news broke of a dogfight over the Gulf of Sidra off the Libyan coast overnight. Two Libyan MIG’s were shot down in what was described by the Defense Department as an “act of self-defense”. Libya was becoming a hot-button topic in recent weeks, between fingers being pointed for complicity in the Lockerbee disaster and reports filtering in of a chemical weapons plant being constructed in the Libyan desert. Gaddafi made furious denials and even the German Chemical manufacturer claimed no knowledge what was going on. All elements George Bush Sr. was going to have to look forward to when he took office in a few days. Other pertinent topics regarded outgoing President Reagan and the incoming Congress, meeting first to confirm Bush’s election and then quietly forgetting about the deficit, putting it off until after the Inauguration. Some mummies were just best left in the closet for now. And so went the news of this particular January 4th day in 1989.

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AP Source: Rodriguez, Michigan to Meet Wednesday

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon and Rich Rodriguez met Tuesday afternoon and will get together again Wednesday morning to discuss the embattled football coach’s future, The Associated Press has learned. (Jan. 4)

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Mac OS X gets installed on Sandy Bridge, instructions available for the willing

Mac OS X getting installed on the latest Intel hardware before it’s officially supported by Apple? Shocking, we know, but you can rest assured that some intrepid individuals have already taken the plunge and installed Snow Leopard on some brand new Sandy Bridge hardware, and they’ve thankfully provided some instructions so you can too. As you might expect, however, that’s not quite a quick and easy process — it involves a patched kernel and, according to the tonymacx86 Blog , it isn’t recommended for long-term use. If that hasn’t scared you off, you can find all the details you need at the link below. Mac OS X gets installed on Sandy Bridge, instructions available for the willing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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Black & Decker’s iShred vertical paper shredder (hands-on)

We don’t typically take an interest in the thrilling world of paper shredding , but when you bring out a product with a snowy white glossy sheen and a bodacious industrial design, even our cold hearts are warmed enough to ask a few questions. Black & Decker, traditionally a power tool maker and seller, has recently introduced the iShred (yes, we gave them grief for the cringe-inducing name) vertical shredder, which they claim is just about the world’s safest since there’s no way to get your fingers anywhere near the cutting blades. The big appeal for buyers will be that rather attractive design, however, which does offer some added functionality — the “fluted” shape of the lower half of this shredder helps disposal by funneling the loose streams of paper into a narrow outlet (when flipped upside down, of course). The price is $99.99 at places like Amazon and Fry’s, who are already retailing the iShred. If you care for actual specs, you can cross-cut your way through six sheets of paper at a time and you’ll have to empty out the collector once it’s accumulated about 100 pages’ worth of pulp. Check out our brave attempts to cut our fingers in the name of scientific testing after the break. Gallery: Black & Decker’s iShred vertical paper shredder (hands-on) Continue reading Black & Decker’s iShred vertical paper shredder (hands-on) Black & Decker’s iShred vertical paper shredder (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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Anderson Cooper Brings on ‘Left Behind’ Actor Cameron to Discuss Bird and Fish Deaths in Arkansas — Seriously?

Click here to view this media Okay, can anyone explain to me why Anderson Cooper felt the need to bring on actor and Christian evangelist Kirk Cameron who starred in the Left Behind series to discuss the mysterious bird and fish deaths in Arkansas? I mean seriously Anderson… WTF? I’d like to know what the hell happened there as well, but the last person in the world I can think of that I would hope to get some answers from is this guy . I guess someone at CNN thinks we haven’t quite Jesus’d up our “news” enough already with right wing evangelicals getting some face time on their airways. More than 1,000 dead birds fall from sky in Arkansas : BEEBE, Ark. — The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says more than 1,000 dead black birds have fallen from the sky in Beebe. The agency says its enforcement officers began receiving reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. Friday. Officials say the birds fell over a one-mile area of the city and that no other birds were found outside of that area. Some of the dead birds will be sent for testing to the state Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wisconsin. Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe says that similar events have occurred elsewhere. In other cases, she says test results “usually were inconclusive,” although the birds showed physical trauma. She says the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail. Transcript via CNN below the fold. COOPER: That’s really terrible. And as if the Arkansas bird drop weren’t freakish enough, it came on the heels of a massive fish kill 125 miles away. Tens of thousands of dead fish washed up on the shores of the Arkansas River near Ozark last Thursday. While wildlife experts say the two events are almost certainly unrelated, it’s certainly an odd coincidence. The Internet, of course, is now buzzing with other theories. Some people are even saying this is — these mass deaths are a sign that the end times are near. Some have cited the “Left Behind” series of books. So we thought we’d talk to actor Kirk Cameron. He’s a born-again Christian. He’s written a lot about his faith. He also starred in the “Left Behind” series of films. I spoke to him earlier. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COOPER: Kirk, there’s a lot of chatter out there on the Internet about these thousands of birds and fish dying. Some people saying this is a sign of the end of days. You obviously starred in a series of films based on the idea of the “Left Behind” series. When you hear that, what do you think? KIRK CAMERON, ACTOR: Well, I first think that they ought to call a veterinarian, not me. You know, I’m not the religious conspiracy theorist go-to guy particularly. But I think it’s — it’s really kind of silly to try to equate birds falling out of the sky with some time — some kind of an end-times theory. COOPER: But it is interesting the whole notion of end of times and the whole “Left Behind” series which deals with Jesus coming back to take his people to heaven, the believers and nonbelievers. Why do you think there’s such fascination in that and when something like this happens, people kind of turn to those thoughts? CAMERON: Well, it seems to be that people have a real fascination with the mystery of end-time predictions. Of course, people get all excited about Nostradamus prophecies, 2012, and, of course, biblical prophecy has really been a topic of fascination for thousands of years. So I think people are trying to — they love to define codes and signs of future events and see if they can decipher them before anybody else. But birds falling from the sky? That has more to do, I think, with pagan mythology and the way that — and the directions that the birds flew told some of the followers of those legends that the gods were either pleased or displaced with them. But I think people just have a fascination with the religiously mysterious. COOPER: Doing the series which are hugely popular, did it change your faith at all? Did it change the way you thought about the idea of the end times or your reading of the Bible in any way? CAMERON: Well, I’ve been a Christian for about 20 years. And certainly, there are fascinating passages in the Bible talking about the return of Christ. And people are trying to pinpoint those on a — in a chronology of events. But you know what it made me think about, was just the fact that I’m probably going to die of some other cause before this happens. A friend of mine just died yesterday. And what I thought about mostly was the fact that life is short. And I need to be ready whenever it is that God decides to end my life here on earth. And to me, that’s — that’s the key. COOPER: You have a new movie called “Monumental” which is going to be coming out later this year. And it’s interesting because it’s very — it seems very timely. I mean, it’s very concerned about where America is right now and what you see as a problem in America. CAMERON; Well, you know, I have six kids, Anderson, and I am very concerned about their future in our country. And I look at it and I think, man, if America is a ship, it looks a lot like it’s sinking, financially, morally, spiritually. It’s frightening. And it seems that everyone, religiously, in business and in politics, is playing the blame game. And I want answers. So I decided to go on a journey and retrace the escape route of the pilgrims. They left us clues to get us back to the real treasure of America and get the ship righted again. And I’m very excited about what I’ve discovered and I want to unveil it in a documentary this fall called “Monumental.” COOPER: I look forward to it, Kirk. I appreciate you being on. Thank you. CAMERON: Thank you. Great talking with you.

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Kindle for Windows Phone 7 goes live

We knew it was coming … and you know what happens to things you know are coming? They eventually come. Case in point: Amazon’s Kindle app for Windows Phone 7 , first teased in October and now available to anyone with a WP7 device and a desire to read stuff. Grab it now, if you’re into that sort of thing. [Thanks, Tiziano] Kindle for Windows Phone 7 goes live originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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Potted Plant Helmets Hit the Streets of Indonesia (Video)

When it comes to our increasingly crowded city streets , where trucks and cars and bikes clamor and jockey for a spot, it seems there’s hardly room anymore for a little green to soak up all that CO2 . But, thanks to two artists in Indonesia, finding space for flora just got a bit easier with these literally living bike-helmets that are sure to turn a few heads — turn them into potted plants, that is…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Leadtek AMOR8210 videophone makes US debut at CES

Even though we’re still not convinced we’d ever need a videophone , we’d be remiss if we neglected to tell you that the kids from Leadtek have announced the US launch of the AMOR8210. Already making a pretty big splash in Taiwan, this bad boy features a cordless handset, VoIP and plain ol’ telephone support (via respective RJ45 and RJ11 ports), widgets (including audio and video players) and integration with surveillance and health monitoring devices. Pretty, pretty, pretty good, if you ask us. Interested? PR after the break. Continue reading Leadtek AMOR8210 videophone makes US debut at CES Leadtek AMOR8210 videophone makes US debut at CES originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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Seagate reveals 9mm 2.5-inch GoFlex external HDD, third-party GoFlex certification process

CES is just kicking off in earnest tonight in Vegas, and Seagate’s wasting no time in dishing out a smattering of new releases. Up first is the outfit’s slimmest external drive yet: the new, ultrathin GoFlex HDD, which holds a 2.5-inch drive within, but measures just 9mm thick — that’s 38 percent slimmer than the existing GoFlex drive. At least initially, it’ll only be offered in a 320GB model, and the USB 3.0 port ensures that it’ll run laps around your older USB 2.0 model. Mum’s the word on pricing, but you can expect it to ship out this spring. Moving on, there’s a new raft of GoFlex for Mac external drives, which arrive HFS+ formatted and ready to play nice with Time Machine. Each one ships with FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 adapters, but allow for USB 3.0 or eSATA to be used with Windows PCs. The GoFlex for Mac houses a 2.5-inch HDD and will sell for $199.99 (1TB) / $249.99 (1.5TB), while the limited edition of that very product will only be available in a 1TB ($199.99) version. There’s also a GoFlex Pro for Mac, housing a 7200RPM 2.5-inch HDD and costing $149.99 (500GB) or $179.99 (750GB). Wrapping up this collection, there’s a GoFlex for Mac drive that’ll go for $219.99 (2TB) or $279.99 (2TB). Lastly, and potentially more importantly, Seagate is finally opening up the GoFlex standard that it has been pushing so vigorously of late. As of now, the only products that support the GoFlex platform — which allows various connectors to be attached to your existing HDDs — are Seagate-branded. But today, Seagate’s revealing a Certified GoFlex Storage System that’ll enable third-party vendors to make wares that are also welcome in the family. Here at CES, the company is planning to showcase a line of prototype concept devices, and while we’ve yet to see what exactly those are, we are told that the certification also endorses the soon to be established SATA-IO Universal Storage Module (USM) specification. Better still, a number of other companies (Antec, GIEC, Hi-Sense, Ionics and Thermaltake) are planning to showcase GoFlex-approved gear here at the show, including a TV, a laptop, desktop PC, “plug computer,” DVR and docking station. Needless to say, the possibilities here are near-endless, and we’re definitely looking forward to see just how many odd places a GoFlex adapter ends up . Update: We just got a look at what the SATA-IO USM modules slots might look built into the likes of a ThermalTake case — spot them immediately below! Gallery: SATA I/O Universal Storage Module at CES 2011 Continue reading Seagate reveals 9mm 2.5-inch GoFlex external HDD, third-party GoFlex certification process Seagate reveals 9mm 2.5-inch GoFlex external HDD, third-party GoFlex certification process originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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