In today’s article:
- Using garbage as fuel
- Bridesmaids need to get botox
- 2nd prize in lottery is a pre-paid petrol card
- Red wine is the secret to the fountain of youth. (Again)
- From 2011, all South Africans will need decoders to watch TV
- The new movie I’m looking forward to this weekend
Garbage as Petrol
It looks like there’s a big push in the United States at the moment to start using fuel produced from waste material.
For decades scientists have known it was possible to convert waste to fuel, but in an era of cheap oil, it made little sense. With oil now trading around $125 a barrel and gasoline above $4 a gallon, the potential economics of a waste-to-fuel industry have shifted radically, setting off a frenzy to be first to market.
I really hope they can start using something like plastic to produce a viable source of fuel as this would really help cut down the pollution os something that can take 100’s of years to bio-degrade.
Read the full story: Gassing Up With Garbage
Bridesmaids must get Botox
It seems that getting a spa treatment with some plastic surgery for the bride and her bridal party is picking up in popularity.
But at 35? “Giving them a bracelet isn’t as special as spending an evening together. Plus, as you get older, everyone is more conscientious about their skin and appearance,†she said. “Giving them something for themselves — as opposed to something that they’ll never wear again — is more meaningful.â€
Though, maybe not everyone is that keen:
But for every accommodating pal, there’s another who feels going under the knife is beyond the duty of bridesmaid. Becky Lee, 39, a Manhattan photographer, declined when a friend asked her — and five other attendants — to have their breasts enhanced. “We’re all Asian and didn’t have a whole lot of cleavage, and she found a doctor in L.A. who was willing to do four for the price of two,†said Ms. Lee, who wore a push-up bra instead.
All I can say is, I’m glad I’m a guy… 🙂
Read the full story: It’s Botox for You, Dear Bridesmaids
Forget the Money, Get the Gas
In the Florida State Lottery, the second prize is “free gasoline for life” (terms and conditions apply, obviously 😉 ).
Once a week for the next two months, the second-prize winner in the latest lottery promotion, Summer Cash, will win free gasoline for life. And some people think that is a better deal than the game’s first prize, a quarter of a million dollars.
That’s not a bad idea, I guess. Though you’d have to do the maths and see if that really is worth it.
Read the full story: Lottery Adds to Prizes: Now Gas as Well as Cash
Red Wine will Keep you young
I’m sure we’ve all heard this before. Drinking a glass of red wine a day can help you avoid heart attacks. And maybe it can keep you young as well:
A compound in red wine may ward off a variety of medical conditions related to aging, providing heart benefits, stronger bones and preventing eye cataracts, researchers said on Thursday.
The study, involving mice fed a diet supplemented with resveratrol starting in their equivalent of middle age, is the latest to raise hope that the compound or drugs based on it may improve the health of people.
Anybody have a favourite red wine they’d like to recommend?
Read the full story here: Red wine ‘new fountain of youth’
South Africans will need a decoder to watch TV
In America there’s a big drive currently to inform people that some time in 2009 the TV stations will only be broadcasting in digital. This means any old TVs that can only receive analog data will not be able to work without a converter.
Looks like the goal to do this in South Africa is 2011:
The SABC will start phasing in digital terrestrial television (DTT) from November before switching off the analogue signal in 2011, at which stage anyone who does not have a decoder will be unable to receive free-to-air television.
There will definitely need to be a plan made for those people who don’t want to spend 20% of their salary to buy something just so they can watch “free TV”.
Read the full story here: Channel surf’s up
New Movie I’m looking forward to
This week the new Batman movie comes out. “The Dark Knight”.
It looks dark, no pun intended. In fact, the rumour is/was (I’m not into rumours that much) that playing the Joker was such a mind bendingly dark role that Heath Ledger suffered from severe depression and lack of sleep, leading to his “untimely demise”.
Either way, I’m a big comic movie fan, so hopefully this one doesn’t disappoint.