These days, automakers need to be creative. They need to offer something new, something exciting, or something innovative. Ford Motor has done exactly that and it certainly delivers in the “most clever new innovation” department. Many of us have teenagers who are new drivers. A scary prospect, we know.
Ford understands this as well and that is why it created clever new technology to accommodate parents like us. Starting next year, the new feature will give parents the power to limit how fast their kids drive. So how does it work? Well, using a computer chip in the key, teen drivers can be limited to speeds of 80 mph or less. The feature called” MyKey” will also give parents the option to limit audio volume, and even sound a continuous beep if the occupant is not buckled up.
The MyKey feature will be standard on an unspecified number of 2010 Ford vehicles available next year. “Our message to parents is, hey, we are providing you some conditions to give your new drivers that may allow you to feel a little more comfortable in giving them the car more often,” said Jim Buczkowski, Ford’s director of electronic and electrical systems engineering. The Gorilla absolutely loves this new technology for cars. Imagine not having to yell at your kids to turn down the radio or to drive slower. No more warning them to wear their seatbelts.
The MyKey feature will act like the parent on your behalf. Finally, a safety feature that parents can really wrap their minds around! So what do parents and teens think about the cool new feature? Well, Ford said its market research shows 75% of parents like the speed and audio limits, but as you might expect, 67% of teens don’t like them. (Big surprise there!)
From the desk of the very weird, the Gorilla offers you this bizarre story. It seems that the women of
As weird as it sounds, these tiny carp fish called Garra Rufa or Doctor Fish, are considered to be quite therapeutic, as they remove dead skin from the feet. Whoa! What some women will do for beauty. (But the Gorilla digresses.) Unfortunately for the women (and some men) of Seattle, the practice has been declared unsanitary and unsafe and has been banned from that state indefinitely because of the fact that the State Department of Licensing says state law requires that all implements in pedicures be sanitized, and there is really no way to make live fish sanitary. (No, really?)
Tough break for the carp-loving people of
The Gorilla doesn’t mean to be redundant, but he must bring up the tumultuous state of the economy once again. People are taxed, tired, and broke. They are frustrated beyond words and wondering how to make ends meet. They are wondering how to pay medical bills and mortgages. They are wondering if they will have employment with so many businesses going under. They are wondering how they will eat. They are not out shopping, spending extra cash on luxury items or clothing, etc. There is no “extra cash.” And yet now is probably the best time ever to find great deals on retail items as many retailers are offering deep discounts on everything from mattresses and furniture, to clothing, and jewelry. Wow!
What a catch 22 we are in at this time! It may indeed be the best time ever to find deals, but the obvious problem is that it is the worst time ever to spend money, as there really is nothing left to spend! Retailers everywhere are slashing prices out of sheer desperation. It is no secret that analysts are expecting the worst holiday season in over 20 years for retailers, and with so much uncertainty in the banking system and the entire economy as a whole, people are in need of a good deal right now.
The question is, will it matter? “I haven’t seen this kind of fright since 9/11,” said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of real estate firm Prudential Douglas Elliman’s retail leasing sales division. She said stores are “all arming themselves for what will probably be the most difficult season across the board.” Well, that’s a no-brainer!
To give you an example of just what the desperation looks like in retail check this out: Restoration Hardware is mailing out $100 gift vouchers to its customers for purchases over $400. (Pretty good, but then who has $400 to spend on an item?). And clothing stores like Ann Taylor and Old Navy are offering 50% and 60% off right now in their stores.
Job losses and frozen credit markets are expected to get even worse this season before anything gets better, and as further turmoil is expected to cascade through the economy, eight in 10 fear the financial crisis will affect them directly, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. So yes, while there are some of the best deals ever currently in stores, unfortunately, for an economy that is close to crippled right now, consumers probably won’t be able to take advantage of them! Too bad. Now if they could only have some deep discounts on those juicy bananas the Gorilla loves, that would really help!
We all waited for the day when places like McDonald’s or Starbucks made Wi-Fi available to connect us to the Internet, and man have we come a long way since! When you think of Wi-Fi, no doubt these places probably come to mind. But you probably would not think of a Wi-Fi connection being available in something like an emergency vehicle, such as an ambulance, now would you?
But now that kind of innovative technology is changing the emergency medical field in ways we could only have imagined in years past. Right now, Wi-Fi is being used in ambulances in places like
In an emergency such as a heart attack, minutes and seconds count dramatically. And with Bluetooth technology being used to transmit critical data like EKG readouts from anywhere a patient has fallen ill- such as an accident scene- physicians and cardiologists can get the jump on critical information needed to save lives. “Our ambulances are actually a Wi-Fi cafe hot spot,” says Wesley Boles, chief of emergency medical services at
And
Hospital Northeast is the first hospital in the U.S. to use the Wi-Fi cafe hotspots in their vehicles, but will certainly not be the last as other hospitals throughout the U.S. are considering using Bluetooth in their emergency vehicles as well. The Gorilla hopes to never have an accident or a heart attack, but if he does, he sure hopes it happens in
It’s bad enough thinking about the possibility of losing everything you have ever worked for due to this horrible economy and the stresses that go along with it, but if you think it would feel badly at 40 or 45, imagine how you would feel if you were in your late 70’s or early 80’s. This scenario has unfortunately become all too real for many Americans, who are elderly. In fact, last year the over 55 set of Americans accounted for almost 22% of those who filed for bankruptcy!
Although younger people (under the age of 55) saw double-digit drops in bankruptcy filing rates, the filing rate per thousand people ages 55-64 was up 40% among 65-to-74 year-olds. The rate increased 125% among 75-to-84 year-olds; up a whopping 433%! That number is simply inconceivable to the Gorilla.
Imagine your little old granny sitting in a run down trailer, with no food in the cupboards and medical bills piled sky high and now she has to file for bankruptcy? There are a number of factors that are contributing to the jump. For one, prices for normal consumer goods have increased enough to affect those elderly who have been on fixed incomes and budgets for years. And most older people, who are living at or just above the poverty level, don’t have enough of a safety net to cover unexpected medical emergencies or costs.
Many of the elderly fall prey to scams, which strip them of any savings they may have had. It was originally thought that many over the age of 55 had just been spending too much and possibly over-indulging and living lives of luxury, which caused them to accumulate debt during their retirement age. However, economists and financial experts now know that is simply false.
Some of the elderly went into their retirement years already heavily in debt due to mortgages and prior accumulated debt. But it is unexpected medical costs which are heavily bankrupting those same individuals. Since they already had a lot of debt prior to retiring, they simply don’t have the means to handle any more in the form of medical bills. For many, bankruptcy is the only option.
Wilona Harris, 71, filed bankruptcy last year after medical bills piled up and she was no longer able to pay her current bills. “This phone rang all the time. It made you not even want to pick up. Sometimes you think, ‘Let me go jump off a bridge somewhere,”‘ Harris said at her
Yes, things are tough all over, but when you are depressed about your debt and lack of income (we all are), keep in mind that at least (hopefully) you have your health and that you are not well into your retirement years having to deal with such stress. And if you are….God bless you. No one should have to go through such stress when they are at that wise old age.
Here’s a very real scenario: a man in his 20’s finds out he has cancer. He decides to freeze his sperm knowing that chemotherapy could very well kill all of his sperm, thus eliminating the possibility of ever having children in the future. Now, more than 20 years after the cancer is gone, after years of being single and sterile, he marries and impregnates his new wife with said 21 year old sperm. Incredible, miraculous and very real.
The baby which resulted is now just one month old, but the history of her existence goes back over 20 years. Ken Decker is now in his 40’s, but at age 24, he found out he had Hodgkin’s disease. And yes, at the urging of his wise mother, he froze some of his sperm. Ken went about living his life in the years that followed not really thinking too much about his decision until one day when he met the love of his life, he knew that decision could pay off. He never knew back when he made that decision it would be one of the best and wisest moves he would ever make.
But it would be a difficult undertaking for Ken and Michelle since frozen sperm is not always viable. In fact, the technology to find a viable sperm didn’t even exist when Ken decided to have his sperm frozen back in the late 80’s.(Man have we come a long way!) Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection — ISCI for short is that technology. It consists of finding one good sperm to implant into one good egg rather than using an entire banked sperm reserve to bombard an egg. This technique has dramatically raised the pregnancy success rate, and Ken and Michelle credit the technology for their new daughter.
However, it wasn’t an easy road for them. It took 3 long years and 3 failed attempts to get pregnant and on the fourth try they were at last successful. And, almost $90,000 later and they have their little miracle,
Due to the state of the current economy, now is probably not the best time to run away and just forget it all. After all, most of us don’t have a lot of money to burn right now. But then again, if we all lose our minds, there will be no money at all so what the heck? Go ahead and run away. Far, far away to a beautiful mountain resort, where fall has arrived and beautiful change has ensued. That is the theme of this new election is it not? So a change may be just what the economy doctor ordered for those of us who are stressed to the max these days.
Yes, fall has arrived once again as we knew it would, and though it’s arrival is hardly a surprise, the magnificence of its beauty never ceases to amaze those who are lucky enough to gaze upon it. So gaze upon it the Gorilla shall, as he embarks upon a tour of the beautiful country we call the
For some of the best fall scenes,
And one can never get enough of
Another wonderful treasure worth checking out is the lovely
And why not take in the sights at
Yes, whether you choose the awesome Blue Ridge Mountains, the amazing Rockies, or the gorgeous waters off coastal
Is it true? Are Ben and Jerry’s and other ice cream chains considering using human breast milk rather than cow’s milk in their ice cream? Oh Geez, say it ain’t so!
It seems that PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the one making the suggestion to switch. The Gorilla is all for the efforts of PETA and organization like it, but is this really a plausible solution to the poor treatment of cows and their calves? Why not monitor the dairy farmers and make them STOP treating those poor animals badly? Why not send in spies to do random checks to make sure no one is abusing these innocent animals? Is the suggestion to stop using cow’s milk altogether really the answer? Aren’t we always going to have a need (or at least a desire) in this country to consume milk products from cows? Hmm.
It is a strange suggestion to say the least. Would you want to consume some strange woman’s breast milk in your ice cream or dairy product or AS a dairy product? Many people would not. But PETA wrote a letter on Tuesday to company founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, telling them that cow’s milk was potentially hazardous and that milking them is cruel. “If Ben and Jerry’s replaced the cow’s milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers — and cows — would reap the benefits,” wrote Tracy Reiman, executive vice president of the animal rights advocacy group. Ashley Byrne, a campaign coordinator for PETA, acknowledged the implausibility of the switch saying, “We’re aware this idea is somewhat absurd, and that putting it into practice is a stretch. At the time same, it’s pretty absurd for us to be drinking the milk of cows,” she said. But Ben and Jerry apparently are not too fond of the idea calling it “ridiculous to even consider.”
“We applaud PETA’s novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother’s milk is best used for her child,” spokesman Sean Greenwood said in an e-mail. Although the Gorilla acknowledges that certain animals need to be protected, he doesn’t think this would solve the problem of abuse in farm animals. Good try, PETA but can we all give a collective EWWW, followed by a sigh of relief? The Gorilla will take his ice cream sans the breast milk please!
The Japanese, as we know, are the undisputed leaders in the world of technology. They are known for being way ahead of the curve on almost everything technology. For example, Japanese phones are by far, the most sophisticated phones in the world offering standard digital TV, music players, GPS, cameras that double as bar code scanners, and wireless credit cards. That is absolutely amazing- but wait…there’s more!
How bout’ a cell phone that can also unlock the doors of its owner’s cars and let them start their engines, without using an ignition key? Yes, this is the new Japanese technology built by Sharp Corp., which uses a technology originally developed by Nissan Motors, called “Intelligent Key.” It allows users to enter and start their cars without removing their keys from their pockets. The unique technology works when cars, which are equipped with the system, sense when the correct key is nearby, thus automatically unlocking their car doors.
Once the key is brought inside the car, the engine is automatically started. The technology is nothing new and has been available in cars for several years, but until now, it was never offered in a phone. The service will work using Japan’s largest mobile operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. This cool new technology will be displayed next week at CEATEC, a major technology conference in Tokyo. Nissan has shipped about a million cars with the technology since 2002.
Gas prices, food prices, compounding debt, job losses, and the list goes on. And so does the accompanying stress. Everywhere we turn, there is stress. The stock market, the gas stations, the food markets, the now quiet shopping malls. It seems there is no way to escape it. When all of that stress builds and builds, humans can often snap.
Although most Americans seem to be handling it okay, according to an Associated Press-AOL Health Poll, between 10 and 16 million people who took the survey reported that they were “suffering terribly” due to their debts and the stress of the overall economy. People who have a lot of debt reported having stomach ulcers, panic attacks, headaches, neck aches, and backaches.
Paul J. Lavrakas, a research psychologist and AP consultant, who analyzed the results of the survey, says that those who reported a lot of debt-stress had at least 3 stress-related illnesses. That finding is supported by medical research that has linked chronic stress to a wide range of ailments. And unfortunately, the current tough economic times isn’t exactly helping the situation.
In fact, according to that same poll debt-stress is up 14% this year. With a slumping housing sector and rising costs, debt and it accompanying stress will only get worse. Revolving consumer debt, almost all from credit cards, now totals $957 billion, compared to $800 billion in 2004, according to the Federal Reserve. Wow! Lavrakas says that it isn’t known whether or not stress is in fact causing such health problems, but he says that medical research suggests that most of the problems reported in the survey are symptoms of chronic stress.
“The body reacts with a “fight-or-flight” response, releasing adrenaline and the stress hormone cortisol. That helps you react fast in an emergency, but if the body stays in this high gear too long, those chemicals can wreak physical havoc in numerous systems — everything from a rise in blood pressure and heart rate, to problems with memory, mood, digestion, even the immune system” says Lavrakas.
Cynthia Roberts, 36, of
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