Random Thursday

Well, Happy Thanksgiving all you Americans out there!  This week is one of the big travel weeks of the year, and with the the new scans and pat downs, I'm curious as to how many will forgo the flying.  Although, we may not have to!  A Colorado man has invented a type of underwear to protect your dignity as you go through the scans.  It uses powdered metal, and I don't think it lowers your risk of cancer, but nothing is a fix all, right?  Check out that link here.  The men's underwear has a fig leaf, and the women's has clasped hands.

As I understand it, tomorrow is the big shopping day down there.  Black Friday?  I'd never even heard of this until a couple years ago.  Being that we are where we are in the month though, I thought I'd look it up.  There are a whole bunch of theories as to why it's called Black Friday.  Accounting terms, and Gold market crashes, among other things, are among them.  Check them out here, it's pretty interesting!  Being that we are on the topic of shopping, something we all have to be aware of are the toys we buy our kids.  A consumer group has come out with a list of toys that they consider dangerous, citing some cases where children died of choking, and on died of lead poisoning by swallowing a bracelet charm that contained (wait for it) 99% lead.  There are also concerns this year about certain chemicals, which the article says are used to keep plastic supple. 

"The chemicals are known to cause reproductive problems, such as abnormal genital development in boys, and disruption in sexual development. They're also linked to premature birth, early onset puberty and lower sperm counts. "  Among the toys that contains these chemicals?  A Dora the Explorer Backpack.  The full article is here.  Just so you don't lose all faith in the toy makers of the world, here is the list of top toys for the season! 

Considering the prices associated with Black Friday sales, a lot of people are probably going to be buying new internet toys.  PCs, iPads, Blackberrys.  We all have so many devices that each has their own IP (internet protocol) address.  I'd tell you to wait, considering this article from CBC, What happens when the internet runs out of IPs?  If you don't have the time to read the article, they do have a system that can be put into place.  One that has room for "340 undecillion addresses - That's a real word - which is 340 followed by 36 zeros.  According to the article, the last IP from the current system will be handed out sometime in 2011.  Then a lot of us will have to upgrade hardware and software, because it will no longer be compatable.  Given all of this, I'd wait until next year to buy a new piece of hardware.  

If you ever see an article that sounds like something I'd like to mention on my Random Thursdays, send me the link!

Hope you all have a great day, and all the Americans a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Goddess Bless, 

S.