A couple of the guys at work were discussing this website, when I sat down at an adjoining PC. Less EMF (Electro-Magnetic Field) sounded work related and at some point it very well could have been, but by the time that I had arrived, it had definitely moved off task. Less EMF is a supplier of radio frequency (RF) related instruments and supplies. Much of its catalog looked mainstream, but of course those were not the sections that were of interest. I’ll give you three examples: a starter ghost hunting kit, a Brain Coat, “RF shielding for your mind” (think mob-cap), and Silverell boxer shorts, “RF shielding for your private parts” (definitely not TSA approved). I can only categorize this under WTF? However, if any of these items strike your fancy, I am looking for Christmas gift ideas.

Anne is working on the team that is preparing for the next round of standardized testing. Leave no child behind equals leave no child untested. To this end, she has been hauling our laptop into work with her. Naturally, said laptop had this website as its home page. When Anne fired up Internet Explorer through the school’s network, she got the following message instead of the home page, “This website has been banned for hate speech or profanity. If you need to access this website, please contact your administrator. I guess that I am not as PG as I thought.

Gizmodo made a splash today, with a story about gigantic white lined structures in the Chinese desert. These structures appear in Google Earth’s satellite pictures. Speculation was rampant as to their significance, from spy satellite targets to QR marks for visiting aliens. The story kind of took on a life of its own as readers started sending in pictures of other strange Chinese geographical features. Could this all be Google disinformation? Payback for Google’s mistreatment by the Chinese government?

The photos with this post show American Coots. At the Riverlands, there was a small flock near the road that I spooked and sent running across the water. You can see the results, in their water rippled footsteps. They ran into a larger flock that seemed unperturbed by all the excitement. According to Bill Coatney, the Coots had blackened the water the previous week. I saw about a hundred.