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6 Weird Problems No One Tells You About Owning Exotic Pets
Exotic pets aren't just for Bond villains anymore. Critters that were once limited to the creepy kid or the bachelor with scars down his arm are gradually becoming standard household pets like cats and dogs. Perhaps soon there won't be any need for the term "exotic" whatsoever, as snakes and spiders roam around freely in our living rooms.
But before you go and buy your child an exotic pet, ask yourself: Are they (or more likely, you) actually committed to doing what's necessary for the animal? If your answer is yes, you might rethink that after we tell you ...
#6. Turtles Will Make You Touch Their Horrific Dicks
There are all sorts of good things about owning a turtle. They can't run away from you, and they are practically immortal, to the point where they may even outlive you. Shit, there's even a turtle alive today that was found by a soldier during World War I. Let the pet be the one to mourn the owner and cry every time during Marley & Me, for a change. Yep, turtles can offer you companionship for decades and decades ... and the only thing they ask in return is that you look at (and sometimes clean) their awful, disgusting turtle dicks.
Ruberball / Mike Kemp / Getty
"Oh yeah, 'cause your crotch is a real treasure."
Like most males, turtles are proud of their penises. The difference is that there is no law against reptilian public indecency, so sometimes they get into the habit of waving their dick around, which is known as penis fanning. This has led to a series of hilariously horrified pet owners asking the Internet why there is a "poo," a "dark bladder," or a "black flower" coming out from behind the turtle. Black flower? How would a penis even look like-
OK, yeah, there it is.
The terrifying part (yes, that video wasn't the terrifying part) is that sometimes your Leonardo's little katana gets stuck flopping around outside his shell, a problem known as a "penile prolapse." The good news is that this condition can be treated in your own home. The bad news is that you'll never feel clean again after doing this.
You will, however, gain a greater appreciation for the work of H.P. Lovecraft.
What exactly do you have to do? A quote from this turtle care website describes it:
"With clean hands ... lubricate the organ with KY Jelly, and gently attempt to assist the organ back into the turtle. If this fails ... coat the penis with dry, granulated sugar or honey."
Jupiterimages/BananaStock/Getty Images
"The most difficult step is learning to live with yourself afterward."
Or you can continue seeing the terror dick every day. Your call.
#5. Iguanas Know When You're Menstruating (and Hate You for It)
Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
If you're not ready for that kind of commitment, your friendly pet store attendant might instead offer you a good deal on an iguana, since that's currently the most popular reptile pet in the USA. And these bastards do look pretty awesome: You're just a can of deodorant and a lighter away from owning a tiny dragon.
Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images
Don't actually do that. He'll tail-whip your face off.
They'll probably tell you to make sure you don't piss off your new pet (you can Google "iguana bite" if you don't believe us, although we don't recommend it), but how hard could that be? Simply avoid stepping on its tail, or hitting it with things, or producing blood from your vagina. Wait, what?
Oh yeah, it turns out these little Hannibal Lecters can smell when a woman is on her menstrual cycle, which is creepy enough by itself, but it gets worse: There have been multiple reports of male iguanas turning aggressive on their owners when Aunt Flo is visiting. Why? We don't exactly know. Maybe women produce a pheromone that makes the iguana crazy, or maybe it's just an attempted mercy killing, as they figure nobody could possibly survive such blood loss. Incidentally, if they attack you, you'll be losing a lot more blood, because seriously, don't Google "iguana bite."
Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
Just try to appreciate your fingers.
On the upside, it appears that this happens only during the animal's mating season (which lasts three months), so if you do the math, your iguana will be trying to kill you for a mere nine to 15 days a year. Also, scientists have helpfully clarified that not all women on their periods will be attacked, and that sometimes pet iguanas go after dudes. For no discernible reason.
Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images
"Oh, you know what you did. Don't give me that look."
#4. Birds Think Being Petted Is Foreplay
Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images
So you have to buy a pet for your young nephew, but you don't want anything that might try to hump his leg or go around the neighborhood loudly announcing that it wants to get laid. Cats and dogs are out, those perverts. You want a wholesome, easy-to-love animal -- and how can you go wrong with a bird? Discounting the few bad apples that like to learn swear words and teach them to other birds, most feathered friends you might buy at a pet store are remarkably affectionate, clearly enjoying being petted and stroked.
In fact, they enjoy it a little too much.
It's not a coincidence that his beak is completely hard now.
You see, birds consider petting to be foreplay. It even makes them pant as they start getting all hot and bothered. They like the feeling of your hand innocently going over their backs for the same reason that a dog would like it if you rubbed its testicles. Of course, not all birds enjoy being literally cockteased all the time -- some feel sexually frustrated because they're not getting any real action and turn angry and violent, while others will naturally assume that there's something going on between you two. If you have visited a friend whose bird becomes overly defensive of its owner, there you go: To the bird, you are trying to steal its spouse.
Fuse / Getty
"Bitch totally cage-zoned me."
And how will your feathery suitor express its romantic affection? Why, by puking, of course, just like most of our first dates. If you're like us, you're immediately rethinking every interaction you've had with a bird right now. This certainly sheds a new light on all those "cute" videos of birds being petted on YouTube -- that shit is practically bestiality.
So, remember: To avoid this confusion and save your pet some potential heartache, experts recommend that you pet only the head of the bird and avoid going south unless your intentions are serious. In which case, ew.
Digital Vision./Digital Vision/Getty Images
Hair condoms, dude.


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I asked a question on stackoverflow.com some time ago.
Would you please notify me possible grammatical problems of my question?
And if possible give me tips to ask question with better expression.
This is my question :
I have very similar senario in my application. I want to find best practice in this senario.
Mostly I have a master GridView In my page. this master Gridview may perform these actions :
Add new record
- Adding new record
- Deleting a record
- Searching data that binded in GridView
- Displaying detail Information about selected record in GridView.
So for adding new record I'm using a dialog or other similar jQuery plugins
For Deleting records I'm making full postback to refresh data after confirm dialog and sometimes I'm putting target GridView in an ASP.NET UpdatePanel to prevent full postback.
Also for searching data I had to making full postback I think I have no way to doing this action without postback (Consider complex gridview)
And for displaying more detail information about current record without postback I have 2 ways :
- I'm using to loading an ASP.NET usercontrol asynchronous, but regard to [this][1] thread I'm not able to doing ServerSide actions with postback because of some unsolvable reasons.
- another way that often launched my work is this : for example I want to display a listbox and a treeview about a record in jQuery Dialog. I putted them in an updatepanel and I'm writing binding codes in a server side button and hiding this button,then I'm triggering click event of Binding button in OnOpen event of jQuery Dialog.
due My softwares are running in local and ethernet I don't care SEO.
As I'm a novice programmer please share your expriences with me, note me where I'm wrong(maybe everywhere !) and where I can using better ways. thanks. [1]: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5519450/postback-in-loaded-asp-net-usercontrol-with-jquery

subset: commoncrawl


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We know that two mass particles attract each other with a force
$$F~=~\frac{G M_1 M_2}{r^2}.$$
But what is the reason behind that? Why does this happen?
We know that two mass particles attract each other with a force
$$F~=~\frac{G M_1 M_2}{r^2}.$$
But what is the reason behind that? Why does this happen?
One could explain "well, gravity is the curvature of spacetime due to the mass-energy". But that would only lead to "well, why does mass-energy curve spacetime?" And, should someone produce a proposed answer to that, the follow-up question would have to be "but why is that so?" etc.
At some point though, one must accept that there are genuine fundamentals, genuine primaries that cannot be explained in terms of something "more" fundamental, "more" primary.
Gravity is considered one of those fundamentals. But the question "what is the reason for gravity" presumes that gravity isn't fundamental. So, the only proper "answer" to your question is "to the best of our knowledge, gravity is fundamental".
I'll try to give some intuition... Ok, so we live in a 3-dimensional space. That may be a bit hard to visualise for you so let us start with a 2D space. Then, consider a gravitational field in this space with 2 different circles around it:
Now, it makes sense to say that the overall work on both circles (ok, that's misleading, what I mean is formally the sum of the work done on each point) should be the same. More Formally, $$\int_{C_1}\vec F\left(r_1\right)\cdot \mbox{d}\vec s=\int_{C_2}\vec F\left(r_2\right)\cdot\mbox{d}\vec s$$ Now, the gravitational force on any 2 points on the same circle should be the same (formally, this is SO(2) symmetry, which becomes an SO(3) symmetry in 3-dimensions but it is really just another way of saying that the two points are just the same distance away from the mass so the gravitational force is the same), right? So, that means that the condition can be simplified to:
$$2\pi r_1 F_1=2\pi r_2 F_2$$ $$r_1 F_1=r_2 F_2$$ $$F_2=\frac{r_1F_1}{r_2}$$
If we choose a constant $F_1$ and $r_1$, we see that this means that $F_2$ is inversely proportional to $r_2$.
Now, let us extend our approach to 3 dimensions. The line integral becomes a 2-Dimensional- surface integral. $$\iint_{S_1}\vec F\left(r_1\right)\cdot \mbox{d}\vec s=\iint_{S_2}\vec F\left(r_2\right)\cdot \mbox{d}\vec s$$
The same reasoning can be applied (this time an SO(3) symmetry): $$4\pi r_1^2 F_1=4\pi r_2^2 F_2$$ $$r_1^2 F_1=r_2^2 F_2$$ $$F_2=\frac{r_1^2F_1}{r_2^2}$$
If we once again set $F_1$ and $r_1$ as constant, we see that this means that $F_2$ is inversely proportional to the square of $r_2$.
In other words, we can construct our law of universal gravitation: $$F=\frac{f(m_1,m_2)}{r^2}$$
$m_1$ and $m_2$ we call the "gravitational charge". It happens to be (really, in Newtonian Gravity, gravity is assumed to be a force that acts on mass) that the gravitational charges are exactly equal to the inertial mass, so let us just call it $$Mass$$
Now, why is $f(m_1,m_2)$ $Gm_1m_2$?. It should make sense that the gravitational force is proportional to the masses. Experimental evidence shows that objects accelerate at the same speed towards the earth regardless of their mass. So, by newton's second's law, we have it that the force is proportional to the mass. It can't be just proportional to one mass, it has to be proportional to both the masses, right? It's a law/principle of symmetry and is also a consequence of Newton's third's law. So,
Right? Actually, NO. Wrong! The right-hand-side has units of kilograms squared per meter squared whereas the left hand sides has units of Newton's, i.e. kg meter squared per second squared! I'll do a little attempt to see what happens if newton's were equal to the right hand side's units, i.e. kg^2/ meter^2. Ok, coming back to the problem, let us just put in a constant of units m^3/kgs^2 on the right-hand-side (RHS) to ensure that both sides have the same units: $$F=\mathcal G\frac{m_1m_2}{r^2}$$
This constant is called "Newton's constant' of Universal Gravitation" and this law is called "Newton's law of universal gravitation" because it holds everywhere in the universe!!!
Thank you for your interest in this question.
Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead?


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Hello Forum,
If you are new to making pole panoramas or when you search for another pole then it can be a bit difficult to decide which pole suits you best.
To help you a bit I made a gallery for each of the Fanotec Pole Series that are available.
In the galleries you find examples that gives a good idea what kind of view you can expect with each of the poles.
Gallery Series 1 pole: http://www.dmmdh.nl/panos/fanotec/fa...ash/index.html
Gallery Series 2 pole: http://www.dmmdh.nl/panos/fanotec/fa...ash/index.html
About the height of the poles:
Each panorama is shot at the maximum height that is possible for the model, with the Series 1 pole the lens is approx. 2,9 meter from the ground and with the Series 2 pole approx. 5,9 meter from the ground. Some extra height is possible but to get the best stability I prefer not to fully expand the tubes but leave a few extra cm inside.
About the gear on the poles:
On top is a Canon EOS 5D camera (*) with a shaved Tokina 10-17 zoomlens, a Fanotec mini-quickmount and a Fanotec R1 lensring.
The camera is set in portrait position and wireless released by a ZAPShot controller.
For leveling I use a clamp-on bubble level.
At the bottom of the poles I have a Fanotec R-D4 rotator with Fanotec footplate.
(*) One of the Series 1 panoramas is shot with a Canon EOS 550D and a Tokina 10-17@10mm.
About the shoot:
I take 6 images around with the Tokina 10-17 lens zoomed to 14.5 mm (**).
The pole is hold handheld in a steady and leveled position. When I am in doubt if I wobble the pole too much or when I see that there is a lot of movement in the scene then I simply shoot another series of images, later I stitch both series and keep the best.
Most times I don't shoot zenith images because they are almost impossible to batch process when there is more then just sky in the image.
Please keep in mind that very few people, other then panorama makers ;-) will ever look upwards in a panorama just to see more sky.
(**) One of the Series 2 panoramas is shot with a Tokina firstname.lastname@example.com.
About the images:
To get the smallest possible footprint of the pole I set the R1 to a down tilt of -15 degree and shift the lens approx. 12 mm forwards out of NPP.
By doing this the top of the R1 is not visible in the images, in fact the footprint of the pole is so small (less then 6 degree) that you can see your own fingers holding the pole.
Due to its small size the footprint is easy to edit by cloning or by using a logo as I do.
On the 5D camera the images of the Tokina email@example.com mm are full frame with a vertical FoV of approx. 150 degree so this means there is a black hole in zenith of approx. 30 degree.
About the processing of the images:
For reason of comparison there are no patch images applied in several panoramas so what you see is what you get !
Most images are batch processed, if you are new to batch processing and like to try it out yourself then perhaps this tutorial I wrote about how to batch process handheld pole panoramas can help you on track:
Tutorial: http://www.nodalninja.com/forum/show...light=tutorial
About the panoramas:
With the camera, lens and settings as described above I make equirectangulars of 10800 px width and with a vertical field of view of 150 degree.
Images are stitched with PTGui Pro and converted to Flash (tiles 2400 px) and HtmlCss3 (tiles 960 to 480 px for iPad and iPhone/iPod) with Pano2VR.
To hide the black hole in zenith I block the player at 60 degree.
About the galleries:
Panoramas can be viewed in Flash for desktop computers and in HtmlCss3 for iDevices.
In the panorama controller is a button that links to the INDEX of images.
In case you encounter a serious problem and can't view the panoramas then please let me know.
For questions, or if you want to report something, please use the Reply option of this posting.
Happy pole shooting greetings,


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About the Book
In the summer of 1932, the career of psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs takes an exciting new turn when she accepts an undercover assignment from the British Secret Service. Sent to pose as a junior lecturer at a private college in Cambridge, she will monitor any activities "not in the interests of His Majesty's government."
When the college's controversial pacifist founder, Greville Liddicote, is murdered, however, Maisie is directed to stand back as her colleagues in Scotland Yard spearhead the investigation. But she soon discovers that the circumstances of Liddicote's death appear inextricably linked to the suspicious comings and goings of faculty members and students under her surveillance. To unravel this web, the investigator must overcome a reluctant Secret Service, discover shameful hidden truths about Britain's conduct during the Great War, and face off against the rising power of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei—the Nazi Party—as the storm clouds of World War II gather on the horizon.
Educator and Librarian Resources
Critical Praise
"Maisie is one of the great fictional heroines, equal parts haunted and haunting." — Parade
"The combination of period detail and intricate storytelling makes A Lesson in Secrets seem distant enough to be romantic but sufficiently modern to engage our sympathies." — Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal
"With an affecting storyline and graceful prose, Winspear has again created a powerful and complex novel, one that will linger in memory as a testament to her talent and her humanity." — Richmond Times-Dispatch
Product Details
- Imprint: Harper Perennial
- On Sale: 03/06/2012
- Trimsize: 5.313 in (w) x 8 in (h) x 0.793 in (d)
- Pages: 352
- List Price: 14.99 USD
- BISAC1: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
- BISAC2: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Historical
- BISAC3: FICTION / Historical


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Bradford/ornamental pear trees: Love 'em or hate 'em?
So when I was younger, I used to enjoy looking at local Bradford pears, especially when they were in bloom. Plus, they gave such nice shade!
Now I am in a house with two Bradfords in the front yard. They are about 14 years old and give good shade to the front of the house, but the more I read about them, the more hate for them I come across. From short lifespans to weak trunks and splitting to the unmistakable smell, it seems people the world over have utter disdain for these trees these days.
Question: What is your personal opinion on Bradford or ornamental pear trees? If you were to start over, would you plant them in your yard?
16 Answers answer
Follow-up: For those who might know more about these trees, I also have a more specific question. One of the two trees I have is sickly-looking (fire blight, I think). The entire tree seems to be wilting, is dropping some leaves, and generally doesn't look happy. The other tree had a large split happen during a storm last year that caused it to lose a slice of about 1/4 of its its canopy.
Question 2: Given this situation, should I give up on these trees and have them taken out, and start over, or should I try to save them? I have heard arguments for both sides from neighbors and friends already.
@ki4rxm: Fire blight? You should immediately remove them, and not plant either pear or apple trees there (they'll get sick in the same way). Some things can be fixed. This one cannot. In addition, if you have any local orchards near you (or neighbors with similar trees), it's a kindness for you to remove them. Don't forget to have them grind the stumps. I recommend using blood meal to assist in the break down of any of the wood chips left after this procedure.
Later on, you can plant something nice in this spot. I like Redbuds as an alternative (if they grow well in your area).
[Edit] http://www.tree-pictures.com/redbud_tree_pics.html
See? They are just lovely in the spring (and seem to be pretty disease resistant, too).
I also have two Bradfords in my front yard. They are beautiful trees, but they are also one giant pain you-know-where. I spend most of my yard working hours trimming branches from these two trees. The branches must be thinned out or eventually they will break off or the trunk will split.
I now view my Bradfords as two giant weeds that keep growing wild in my yard. I love their shade and their spring flowers, but they really are very high maintenance. So if I were you, being as though one of them is rather sickly, I'd have them taken out. That's what I'm thinking of doing with mine.
Agree with the removal once you have a blight. You'll save other trees in the area, though I hate bradfords, so spreading that blight to the other bradfords might be doing everyone a mercy...
Really the smell makes me want to vomit. It's vile and I can't stand it, and you can find plenty of other fast growing trees that don't smell so bad that provide shade. Yellow poplar/Tulip trees are great and fast growing without the splitting problem, or for a flowering tree you can look at different cherry trees or magnolias, depending where you are. Granted they probably won't be as fast flowering as the bradfords, but they'll last and will positively influence your property values due to them being good trees. Even a soft maple will work once it hits your water table.
Go to your local nursery and see what they recommend for your area, because a lot depends on where you live. And walk away as soon as one of them says bradfords are a good idea. Blegh.
There are a ton of Bradford pear trees in my area. They're pretty in the spring when they are bloom, grow fairly quickly and do provide a good amount of shade. They seem to be a favorite with the builders who are required to put that one tree right in the middle of the front yard of the houses they build. My neighborhood is just starting to get to the point where the trees are reaching full height and maturity, so we're good...for now. In half a dozen years or so, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of houses with dead/dying/recently replaced trees.
My "starter tree" died early and I replaced it with a Chinese Pistachio (no nuts, no flowers, but it does turn a nice shade of red in the early fall). It's a great tree. Moderately fast growing but longer life than a lot of other trees. Drought and disease resistant and with a nice, full canopy that provides some good shade despite having smaller leaves.
This tree is one of the most pernicious weed trees in the eastern US now. Use any tree but it. They infest natural areas and are hard to eradicate. If you are thinking of getting rid of Bradford pears, good for you.
Find a nursery that provides more appropriate trees for your area that don't create problems. If you have the supplier who knows his stuff, get native trees -- resistant to disease, tolerant of local climates, low maintenance, support local fauna.
Thanks for the quick answers. I'm in northern AL, zone 7(b). I've been contemplating replacing the bradfords with maples, the only downside is that I'll lose any and all shade to the east/front of the house for a few years at least.
I am so jealous of you guys. I live in the desert at high elevation and my yard is sand and rocks. I planted an Arizona ash last two years ago and I was so in love with that tree! It was growing super fast, was shaped like a perfect shade tree, turned pretty colors in the fall. But it died over the winter, it's trunk split by either our brief freeze or high winds (or both). So I've put a scrawny little mesquite in its place. It's growing very fast, and mesquites can be very beautiful trees, but right now it is a pale reminder of my beautiful ash. I thought I'd lost the palo verde I'd planted to the freeze but it is struggling back. The pistache is the only tree I have (so far, fingers crossed) successfully kept alive. On topic, we can grow ornamental pears if we baby them. But for the third year running, mine has been destroyed by leaf-cutter bees. I don't know whether to let it try another year or put it out of its misery. At this point it's only about a foot tall.
@ki4rxm: There are faster growing varieties, lumberers call them soft maples, but they're also known as silver maples. Keep in mind those are prone to splitting during their growth so you'll have to be very conscious about pruning them. Unfortunately you'll lose the shade... but tulip trees grow fast, if those are native to your area (I have no idea myself, but your local nursery should!) they're a good option for a faster growing tree.
@figgers3036: Ugh silver maples are awful. They drop limbs all the time, they have those annoying helicopter seed pods that cause baby maples to grow all over your entire yard every spring and they have large surface roots everywhere. I had three in my yard, now I'm down to just one thankfully. Their only upsides are they provide good shade and they grow really fast. But I'd never recommend them to anyone unless they just wanted 'junk trees' for fast shade.
For a fast growing, sturdy tree I'd go with a northern red oak. The downfall to that one is the acorns, but I heard those don't start coming in until the tree is about 15 years old.
Just my two cents :)
Personally, the only way I'd consider adding a bradford pear is if I needed a fast growing shade tree, it was free, and I didn't plan on being in my house for more than 10 years or so. They have such short life-spans and can end up costing you more money by splitting and having to be cut down at an early age. One good ice storm around here and the tree is history. Bradford pears are very pretty, I can see how people would like them, they just aren't for me.
@tippypaws: I agree, silver maples aren't ideal. They don't have a good solid taproot but spread all over and can cause problems with heaving roots. The pods you'll get with any good, fertile maple, I see that with sugar maples all the time. They're better than bradfords at least...
Oaks are great trees, but unfortunately they're slow. I dunno if there are any good for AZ myself, but I'm not a huge botanist... maybe a wooter from down there would know if there's a good oak option for you? Keep in mind that they're slow growers though, and will kill any grass underneath - their leaves are great at destroying any plant life under them. I don't know if that's what you want or not.
I don't like them, and I sure wouldn't start fresh with them.
They WILL let you down as they get older, if you plan on staying where you are now, get rid of them before they split, and destroy something else when they fall.
If you will be moving soon, then let the new owner deal with them!
@figgers3036: AL, not AZ. Otherwise I'd be recommending Arizona Ash, Mesquite, Palo Verde, Pistache and Desert Willow (although some people don't like Desert Willow as they are messy). I don't know if AL is too cold for those trees. But Arizona ash is am amazingly fast growing shade tree. I lost a beautiful baby one of these:
Mesquites are also fast growing and gorgeous, but not as shady. I replaced it with a baby one of these.
@moondrake: Oh wow, that's a pretty huge difference! Definitely a huge misread on my part.
From my admittedly limited southern tree experience, if you want a nice, pretty flowering tree you could try for a cherry tree or a magnolia, the magnolia might even be native to your area. And if you have a friend whose lawn/yard you really like, you could probably get some great advice from them.
Maybe try to aim for avoiding any sort of bore or blight in your area, since handling those things if they're in your area is a huge pain.


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A flashing victory for motorists
At the beginning of the year 2013, let's give a shout-out to last year's Legislature for righting a small but annoying wrong in the state's highway laws: As of Jan. 1, it was legal for drivers to flash their lights at oncoming motorists. For whatever reason.
This form of communication had been discouraged to the point of traffic tickets by law enforcement agencies. The reason? Some people have always tended to signal fellow motorists to the presence of speed traps. Some consider it a wrong, a perversion of justice; others, perfectly honorable behavior, a civil courtesy.
Regardless of the morality of the intent, it does seem basically a matter of speech, a small one at that. And, no, it is laughably far from shouting a warning to thieves about the approach of police. The point, after all, is to get people to slow down and follow the speed limit, not to pad the public coffers with ticket revenue. If flashing does the trick, then what's the real harm?
Surprisingly, between 2005 and 2010 an estimated 2,400 people paid fines for flashing their lights to warn other motorists, according to The Associated Press. One man, who had been given a $115 ticket, was successful in a lawsuit last year, and a lawyer pressing the issue insisted the Highway Patrol had been misinterpreting state law intended to forbid bubble lights and strobes.
According to the AP, Oviedo lawyer J. Marcus Jones now warns the new law doesn't go far enough: Another state law forbids the use of high beams within 500 feet of an oncoming car or 300 feet behind. Seriously? If that law were enforced in Florida, the jails would be overflowing. The same for driving slowly in the left-hand lane or leaving the blinker on.
A small step then. Among the other new highway laws listed by the AP is a provision that would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to email driver renewal notices, instead of sending renewals via Postal Service. Again, a worthwhile idea. Then there's a law that allows people to drive golf carts on sidewalks along state highways. The kicker is the sidewalks have to be five feet wide. (Get out your tape measure.)
Looking ahead to 2013, we've got one traffic law on our wish list: the anti-texting legislation being offered by some legislators. This would allow police to ticket drivers for typing text messages while driving. It would be a secondary offense, which means police would need another reason to pull someone over in the first place. It would bring a non-moving violation with a small fine.
But a law could stop some people from fidgeting with their cell phones when they're behind the wheel. We think this may be the year the Legislature agrees to act responsibly on this simple, popular measure.


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If I wish to install applications such as Skype, DropBox, etc however without registering for a Google account, is that possible? If so, how do I install them without a Google account?
Use adb to install the applications. Install the adnroid sdk ( https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html ). Enable usb debugging in settings>applications>development. This process can be done even without enabling side-loading of apps. Open a command prompt window and type:
You could use other App stores like Amazon App Store or GetJar, but you would also need accounts on those.
You can side-load apps via downloading APK files on PC and then installing them from your SD card. Just try opening the APK files with a file manager like ES File Explorer or ASTRO File Manager which would give a option to open it with Package manager or Install.
But I assume from your question that you don't want to enable Installation of Non-market apps, then you don't get much choice. Even Amazon App store requires that feature enabled.


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Do You Know These African-American Pioneers?
2 of 10
Jack Johnson (1878-1946)
Jack Johnson was the first black boxer to be world heavyweight boxing champion. A dominating fighter, Johnson held the title for seven years, even as he was the target of persistent, unrelenting racism, which often found its form in boxing promoters' search for a "great white hope" to dethrone him. Johnson has recently garnered renewed attention thanks to Ken Burns's 2005 documentary, Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, based on the book by Geoffrey C. Ward.
More on: Black History Month


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Clean brushes ensure optimal cleaning performance. Handy cleaning tool with plastic teeth and a cutting blade helps you quickly and easily remove hair and debris from iRobot Roomba brushes. The tool's blade allows you to cut away hair from the bristles and the comb helps you pull the hair away once it's cut free. Compatible with Roomba 500, 600 and 700 Series.
In-Stock, usually ships in 1 - 2 full bus. days (Details)
Clean brushes ensure optimal cleaning performance. We recommend that you clean your robot's brushes every 1-3 uses (depending upon the amount of hair and debris in your home). This handy cleaning tool features plastic teeth and a cutting blade to help you quickly and easily remove hair and debris from Roomba brushes.
Country of Origin:China
(based on 5 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
5 Stars
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1 Stars
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Reviewed by 5 customers
Displaying reviews 1-5
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Tool is okay...but could be better.
By Bob and Arlene
from South Florida
Comments about iRobot Roomba® Brush Cleaning Tool:
Roomie is awesome! We believe that it has cut the dust down on the furniture at least by half. We are really glad that we purchased the 700 series. The cleaning tool, however, could use some improvement, i.e., the pointy pick could be at least an inch longer to be effective. We use a dental tool instead.
Bottom Line Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
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(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)
For hairs you can't reach with tool
By BJ
from Iowa
Try an inexpensive cuticle scissor for hairs you can't reach with this tool.
Bottom Line No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Works well
By Don
from Anchorage, AK
Best Uses
I got this and the round Brush Cleaning Tool with the Roomba kit I purchased. While I would agree that it doesn't help clean the hair wound around the ends of the brushes, that's not what it's for and I don't think it's fair to knock it on those grounds. While my ends do get bad, most of the hair on my brushes is wrapped around the center of the brush. This tool slices lengthwise, cutting the hair wrapped around most of the brush. I can then pull the worst of it off with my hand. I then use the round tool to sweep off what's left.I give it only 4 stars because after several months I have ended up bending the plastic tip on the tool, making it useless. I wish there was an option for a metal one. I understand it would be more expensive, but it would be worth it.
(3 of 3 customers found this review helpful)
By Farm Mom
from Langham, SK
About Me Homeowner, Pet Owner
I bought my Roomba 3 weeks ago and love it. That said, I agree with the previous reviewer...this tool is really just a Roomba souvenir. The main place hair and stuff gets stuck is around the end of the brushes (between the disks). This tool does nothing for this problem so I usually use a toothpick to try and pick out these areas. A tool with a sharp metal pointy end for "picking" would actually be useful, so don't bother buying this item.
(16 of 16 customers found this review helpful)
Don't bother buying this tool
By kradak
from Potomac, MD
About Me Busy household, Homeowner, Robot Enthusiast
I bought the brush cleaning too with the expectation that it would help cut and clean away hair that gets wrapped around the ends of the bristle brush and beater brush on my 500 series Roomba. The brush ends have a small spindle flanked by two disks (all integral plastic). It is so narrow that it is very difficult to get a tool inside to cut the hair. This brush cleaning tool can't do it, and I can't figure out how to use it for any other cleaning task. Don't buy this, it is a waste of money.


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Published on Mon, Jun 25, 2012
IPC staff lawyer Ben Winograd was quoted in a Washington Post blog post covering what the Supreme Court decision will mean in Arizona:
So while the court ruled that part of the law is constitutional in theory, its decision implies that it might not be constitutional in practice. And only time will tell.
That's why policy experts like Ben Winograd, a staff attorney for the American Immigration Council, believe the provision remains "legally vulnerable": It could still be struck down if it leads to civil rights violations, as pro-immigration advocates have warned. The same could happen in the five other states that have passed Arizona-like provisions for checking immigration status: Alabama, Utah, South Carolina, Indiana and Georgia. "They upheld the racial profiling provision, 2(B), but only on the narrowest grounds," says Greg Chen of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Winograd, for one, expects problems to mount up quickly for the provision. "It comes down to the assumption on whether the police respects the Constitution on a day-to-day basis," he says. "On paper, it makes a lot of sense. In practice, it's hard to believe."
Published in the The Washington Post