Archive for April, 2009
ALS – Lou Gehrig’s Disease
News stories are floating around about the deteriorating health of renown mathematician and brainiac Stephen Hawking. As well known for his physical impairments as he is for his educational achievements, Hawking is the genius ever-present in his wheelchair/computer setup in which he types his speech which is then played audibly for the listener. Hawking suffers [...]
HD Radio: DOA?
HD Radio, quietly introduced about seven years ago, has yet to find a large following. One of the reasons is that no one really knows what it is. A few notes about HD Radio: the “HD” does NOT stand for “high definition” and has no real meaning you need to buy a special [...]
Hitting For The Cycle
Last night, second baseman Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers became the second player this season to hit for the cycle. Hitting for the cycle means getting a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game, but not necessarily in that order. A cycle is roughly as rare as a no-hitter in baseball [...]
Skype In a Nutshell
EBay is planning to separate its ownership in Skype via an initial public offering soon. The real question, though, is “what is Skype?” Often mentioned but rarely understood, Skype is: “a piece of software that lets people make calls and hold videoconferences over the Internet… …The program, which routes calls over the Internet rather than [...]
Harry Kalas Dies, Age 73
Harry Kalas, veteran voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, died today at the age of 73. Broadcasting for the Phillies since 1971, Kalas had an unmistakable voice also heard on NFL Films, commercials, etc. In other baseball news, both New York teams will be unveiling their new stadiums this week, starting with the Mets, playing their [...]
Fast & Furious – Didn’t This Movie Already Exist?
When the marketing campaign and TV ads started rolling out about a month ago for the new movie Fast & Furious, my wife and I looked at each other and said “isn’t that already a movie?!” Well, yes and no. Fast & Furious is the fourth installment of the movie franchise that started with The [...]
Pirates Not So Whimsical Anymore
Pirate attacks of late have not exactly been of the Captain Hook or Johnny Depp variety. The Indian Ocean has been a popular place for ship seizing, thanks to a large group of Somali pirates, preying on cargo ships equipped with an unarmed crew. Just this week, a U.S. cargo ship was attacked by Somali [...]
What is a Tar Heel?
Any paper or website you read today will tell you that the North Carolina Tar Heels won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in impressive fashion last night. What they won’t tell you, however, is why they are called “Tar Heels.” That’s what DinnerTopics.com is for! According to the Alumni Association of the UNC, even in [...]
