Watercooler Sensation

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Help Is At The Tip Of Your Tongue

• Operating electronics could become a lot easier for some members of the population. [Reuters]
• A new device that uses a tiny magnet can help disabled people steer a wheelchair or operate a computer.
• Where would this magnet be located?
• Simply under the tip of the tongue.
• Why did they choose the tongue?
• The tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial nerve that usually escapes damage in spinal cord injuries—unlike the hands and feet.
• Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort.
• The magnet is the size of a grain of rice and will let people direct the movement of a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room.
• A headset with magnetic field sensors detects the magnetic tracer on the tongue and transmits wireless signals to a portable computer.

The best part: An individual could potentially train the system to recognize touching each tooth as a different command.

I’ll Keep You My Dirty Toxic Secret

• When MP3 players die or your cell phone breaks, you think that when you throw them out, they just parish into landfill dumps, right?
• You couldn’t be more wrong. The tech industry has a dirty secret it’s not telling. [Time]
• Phones and computers contain dangerous metals like lead and mercury which contaminate the and water when those products are dumped.
• This is called electronic waste (e-waste), and the world produces tons of this waste a year.
• How much?
• 20-50 million tons a year, according to the UN—that’s enough to load a train that could stretch around the world (what a commute).
• And you guessed it—the U.S. is the world’s top producer of e-waste—though poorer countries like China and Nigeria end up feeling the effects of it.
• Officially this shouldn’t be happening, but America never signed off on a treaty to stop richer countries from dumping e-waste off to poorer nations.
• Technology companies export e-waste becasue it is cheaper to offload the problem on poor nations than to take care of it within your own ballpark.

So how we stop it? Some companies, such as Dell and Apple are promoting recycling programs for old phones and PCs and reducing the amoung of toxic metals used in their products.

No Rockets Red Glare

• This Fourth of July, you may not be seeing celebrations flying in the sky. [MSNBC]
• Firreworks sales are down dramatically throughout America.
• Authorities scared of setting off wildfires in drought conditions have are now placing bans on fireworks across a swath of the West and the Southwest.
• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pleaded with residents this week not to buy or use fireworks in California, where wildfires sparked by lightning are burning up hundreds of thousands of acres.
• Fires in many counties in eastern North Carolina led authorities to include holiday fireworks in their bans on outdoor burning.
• Similar bans have been declared in parts of Oregon, Idaho and Utah.
• But even if you live in a part of the country where fireworks remain legal, you could be disappointed next week.
• In February, an explosion in the port city of Sanshui in southern China destroyed 20 fireworks warehouses.
• It was the worst of a series of safety problems at Chinese facilities in the past year.
• In response, China shut down most exports, which supplies 90% of the world’s cherry bombs and sparklers.
• As a result, cities and towns that plan all year for their annual Fourth of July celebrations couldn’t get enough shipments, and others concluded that it’s just not worth it.

If you can’t make it to D.C. to view the amazing fireworks, our advice is to pop in the “Independence Day” DVD. That’s free fireworks and some hot Will Smith eyecandy.

By the Numbers

Next time you’re at your garden, trimming some leaves, fear not the vicious mosquitoes, loads of carbon monoxide you may be breathing in as you idle in your back yard next to the interstate, or your sketchy neighbour. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recently put out a survey claiming simple around-the-house activities as yard work, home improvement projects, play and sports, and fire works are to blame for the majority of eye injuries. Here are some eye catching numbers: [ABC News]

801

American adults surveyed by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

10%

Of surveyed adults thought they were at high risk of eye injury.

45%

Of eye injuries occur at home.

90%

Of eye injuries in the survey were classified as preventable with proper eyewear.

3/4

Of injuries surveyed were not wearing proper eyewear when injured.

$10

The price of a pair of protective goggles.

2nd

Highest cause of visual impairment in the US is eye injury

2.5 million

Eye injuries occur every year in the US

50,000

Americans permanently lose their vision every year as a result of preventable eye injuries

1,400

People sustain eye injuries from fireworks every year

Celebrities: Unfiltered

“Actually, I don’t know if she was talking about food or men. I think it’s healthy, good for your body and good for the environment.”

—Pamela Anderson on Jessica Simpson, who wore a shirt that said “Real women eat meat” which was supposed to be a ’slap in the face” towards country star Carrie Underwood (who by the way used to date Simpson’s beau Tony Romo). Oh yea, Happy Birthday Pamela. [Perez Hilton]

Speed Round

5 Million Dollars

The amount it costs to make the new Volkswagen commercial starring Gisele Bundchen and Sylvester Stallon. Why the high cost? Gisele’s salary was way higher than Sly’s. She was paid $2.5m and he got “just” $800,000. Sorry Rocky. [Perez Hilton]

SELLING MY LIFE ON E-BAY

A man who auctioned his life — including his house, his car, his job, even his friends — on eBay said he is disappointed with the selling price: almost $384,000. If you sell your life, would you be able to spend the money anyway? [FOX News]

WHAT? YOU DON’T LIKE MY OUTFIT?

A Connecticut man was arrested after he allegedly strolled along a busy interstate wearing—get this— nothing but a thong, fake breasts and a wig. [Fox News]

50

The average live median age that watches TV. That’s the oldest ever since Sternberg started analyzing median age more than a decade ago — and the first time the nets’ median age was outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo. [Variety]

300:PART DEUX

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. are looking for a plot to hang a follow-up to the smash movie 300, as they try to repeat the surprise blockbuster success of the 2006 flick. The problem is figuring out who will be going to war this time around, considering nearly all of 300’s main characters were killed off at the end of the first film. [E Online]

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS-OH MY

A South Carolina woman is opening a tiger park in North Carolina, more than a year after officials in the Palmetto State rejected the idea. The 21-acre park will feature lions, tigers and primates. [ABC News]

FRESH PRINCE IS NO TOM CRUISE

Will Smith will open up a new private school called the New Village Academy but promisesit is not a Scientology facility, as some reports have suggested. The private school is scheduled to open in September. [ABC News]

32 CANDLES?

Ok so Molly Ringwald was a big hit in the 1980s but now she is just a star that has grown dim—which is why she is practically begging to do a sequel to her hit “Sixteen Candles". Why not “The Lunch Club"? [Perez Hilton]

OLSEN VS. PRATT FEUD GOES WAY BACK

Before Mary-Kate took a hit on Spencer Pratt (the guy from “The Hills"), their feud goes further back. Spencer once made $50,000 by selling a photograph of Olsen drinking at a party back when the two attended the same high school. Ouch. [People]

A BERRY NICE COMPLIMENT

“Don, I want you to know that I admire you, I respect you. Your heart is one of the biggest of anybody, not only in this town, but anybody that I know and I’m honored to call you my friend.” —Halle Berry speaks about Don Cheadle who was honored at the Los Angeles Film Festival. [People]

MONTAG WANTS TO RECORD CHRISTIAN ALBUM

“I have been the most religious person since I was 2 years old. I always felt this crazy connection to God,” says Montag, who identifies herself as “kind of non-denominational Baptist” and wants to record a Christian album. We wonder if she was reading the Bible during all of those feuds on “The Hills.” [Yahoo]

NEW WAVE OF A-LISTERS

The cast of Gossip Girls, Jonas Brothers, Christopher Mintz-Plasse of Superbad and Transformers‘ Rachael Taylor are all included in the August issue of Vanity Fair, highlighting up and coming young stars poised to be superstars in the coming years. [People]

‘A’ FOR OBSCENITY

A British high school student received credit for writing nothing but a two-word obscenity on an exam paper because the phrase expressed meaning and was spelled correctly. [CBS News]