May
20
I think most everyone is now aware of the devastation left behind by the recent earthquake in Sichuan China. I am lucky to have never experienced an Earthquake of that magnitude. One thing I never became familiar with is the earthquake lights phenomenon or earthquake lights folklore. Apparently for years and years there have been reports of strange lights in the sky before Earthquakes have occurred. I don’t think these observations have ever really been associated with earthquakes, but it certainly is an interesting occurance.
Earthquake lights usually appear as either blue or red colored lights, somtimes similar to prism colors. Some are bright, some are dark. The types of lights reported have varied over the years. Some of these lights have been said to appear as if they have risen from the ground, while others have been seen above the seas. The lights will usually appear days, or sometimes weeks before an earthquake. There are all sorts of theories as to why these lights appear, but to my knowledge, none of them have been confirmed as the actual cause.
There have been videos now showing these types of lights before the China earthquake. I’ve posted one of these videos below. This particular video footage was apparently captured 30 minutes to an hour before the powerful quake.
May
16
Competition Thrives at ibeatyou
Filed Under Contests, Entertainment, Internet, Social Networking, Talent | Leave a Comment
Here’s a creative one. ibeatyou, or IBY for short, is a website focused on attracting those with a competitive edge. The platform is setup so people can start their own competition, and compete with others from across the world. You can choose to keep your competitions private if you aren’t willing to let the whole world see.
After my brief exploration of the site, I found competitions taking place such as a staring contest, a dance battle, scariest face, and signing contests. By no means is the site limited to these types of competitions, but that’s what makes up the majority. Some competitions are able to get quite a few views, while others are barely noticed.
I’m not sure how well a site like this can do, but it is a bit more on the creative side. There are so many social networking type sites popping up everyday, it’s almost hit or miss when it comes to popularity. With that said, if you are a bit curious, check out ibeatyou and see what kind of competitions are a grabbing people’s attention. The least bit you can do is gather some ideas of what’s popular and what’s not.
May
15
Wow! I found this interesting. It looks like Brijit, best known for their abstracts of everyday articles, has run out of money. I really didn’t know what Brijit exactly was until a freelance writer friend of mine told me to check it out. Well, in fact, that’s exactly what I did a few days ago. I thought I would take a stab at submitting an abstract to see if it would get accepted. If my abstract was chosen, I’d be paid $5. I was wondering why it was taking so long to hear back, because the site said you’d be notified fairly quickly after the submission date ended. Well, now I find out that Brijit has ran out of money. Oops!
After visiting the main page of Brijit this morning, I get the following message:
You’ve reached this page because, at the moment, Brijit is out of money and can no longer afford to bring you the world in 100 words. We’re working hard to find a way forward for our service and hope to relaunch in the not-too-distant future. Thanks to all our loyal readers and writers. And to our Brijit writers: payments in full for all abstracts published through May 15 will be made next week.
To access Brijit and our nearly 16,000 abstracts, click here.
To email Brijit with any questions, click here
For more on what’s happening with Brijit, please visit our blog at brijit.wordpress.com
That’s too bad. I actually thought this was an interesting concept. Definitely a big downer for all the serious Brijit contributors who spent a great deal of time at the site.
May
14
Music Feature: Eject
Filed Under Entertainment, Music, Videos | Leave a Comment
All week I’ve been listening to “Caring Again” by Eject, a Los Angeles California based indie rock band. To just say that Eject is another indie rock band would be pretty far from the truth. The band is led by Andy Blunda, a musician who has had quite of experience to help him create the solid sounds Eject has to offer. Blunda was a touring musician with the Texas band Fastball.
The sounds of Eject have been compared to bands such as the Cure, Pink Floyd, Ride, The Smiths, and even U2. Making the comparisons are one thing, but understand the uniqueness of the band as a whole is another. All of the band members collaborate with one another to produce some really good sounding and enjoyable rock songs.
Visit Eject at MySpace to learn more about the band and listen to a few tracks.
In the meantime, here’s the video for the Eject song “Caring Again”.
May
14
CBS Announces New Fall Shows
Filed Under Entertainment, Sitcoms, Television, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
After ranting for a few moments a few days ago about their inability to fix technical problems with their programming, CBS has announced their fall lineup for television this fall. There really aren’t any big surprises here for those who follow how television programs work. Although there may be a few programs that sound a tiny bit interesting to watch, I’m afraid to watch anything new. All the networks barely give the shows a chance to succeed. And even the shows that do seem promising get yanked off the network anyway unfortunately.
For those curious as to what the CBS fall lineup will look like, I’ll share with you what I know. The New Adventures of Old Christine will return, and will air Wednesdays at 8PM. A new comedy about divorce titled Project Gary will follow. The Unit, and Rules of Engagement will make a mid-season return. The list of canceled programs include Jericho, Kid Nation, Viva Laughlin, Welcome to the Captain, Shark, Moonlight, and Cane. I’m not shocked to see those programs on the chopping block actually. Well, I was a fan of the show Jericho, and was extremely disappointed to see the show canceled once again. But that certainly came as no surprise, considering the weak ratings.
Fans of Without a Trace will have to watch their show on Tuesdays instead of Thursdays. A new sci-fi drama called Eleventh Hour will be in the old Without a Trace time slot. Eleventh Hour is the only show I seem to have a small interest in. It’s been reported that the show, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, is the largest TV deal ever made during development. It’s taking a whopping four million bucks to produce the first show, and CBS has ordered 13 episodes. I heard that X-Files fans might take interest in this show, and well, I’m an X-Files fan.
There are some other new ones for CBS, including one titled Mythological X, featuring Elizabeth Reaser. Reaser examines past relationships after some psychic told her she has already dated her future husband. This one seems really dull to me. More announced for other networks on the way soon.