What the?

 

I came across this article one night in my surfing.  

Privacy is lacking in this Tokyo glass home

A three-story glass home in Tokyo – including split-level balconies without safety rails
– intentionally offers little privacy to its occupants.
Photo: Iwan Baan

In a connected world where privacy is a valued, but diminishing part of daily life, home remains a reliable refuge. But here’s one home that intentionally strips away even that illusion for its inhabitants. In this nearly transparent Tokyo home, known as House NA, outsiders can see everything and everyone inside.

Of course, all kinds of things went through my head.  Things like, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” and silly stuff like that.  Naturally that flowed into, “I don’t do windows!”  And then, “Can’t you tell them I’m not home?” 

The whole saying of “people in glass houses,” was such a silly notion when I was a kid – of course no one would actually live in a glass house!  That’s just an expression, duh!  But here we are now, with glass houses, under 1,000 sq ft of cramped glass house, no less, and once-silly notions are now reality.

Plus, check it out – no safety rails on those balconies.  Drugs, right?  Seriously, who does balconies without rails?

Count me out!  LOL  I do love privacy, especially my own!  And I’m terribly fond of safety, especially my kid’s.  I have such a hard time believing that someone actually paid for this.  Clearly (ha! no pun intended!) someone did though.  I think they should have called it the “Invisi-house.” 

Click the link to read the whole thing: Privacy is lacking in this Tokyo glass home

How about you?  Would you ever live in a glass house?

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What the heck?

Recently I saw this headline, “Chemical in many antibacterial soaps linked with impaired muscle function.”  Seriously?  Good grief, what the heck are we doing to our doggone selves?  We can’t even get soap right anymore!  What a mess, and how scary to think that the soap you may be using could actually be causing you harm in other areas of your body. 

Introduced in the 1970s, the compound triclosan has become an increasingly popular ingredient in many antibacterial soaps and other personal-care items, such as deodorants and mouthwashes.  However, as the chemical’s popularity continues to grow, a recent report has raised concerns about some frightening risks that triclosan could pose to public health.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has revealed that exposure to triclosan is linked with muscle function impairments in humans and mice, as well as slowing the swimming of fish.  By reducing contractions in both cardiac and skeletal muscles, the chemical has the potential to contribute to heart disease and heart failure.

Click here to read the whole thing: Chemical in many antibacterial soaps linked with impaired muscle function

Heart failure?  From soap?!  Wow.  Just wow.  Well, I swore off anti-bacterial soaps a long time ago when I found out they didn’t reduce germs any better than regular soap.  But apparently this chemical is in other things too, so it pays to read labels. 

As for soap, I’m all aboard the homemade soap express now.  I think I have been for a bit, but reading this article just confirms that I’ve made a good decision.  My friend Sherri makes a great soap that’s fragrance free and she’s going to be selling it, so check out her link if you’re interested.  I can personally vouch for it because I’ve actually used it.  I have a local friend who makes a soap designed for skin conditions, specifically my skin condition, and she’s going to be teaching me how to make it myself in the next few months since I go through her stock so fast.  I love the homemade soaps – it’s like skin candy.  But it really is so much healthier too, and you have control over what the ingredients are so you know what’s in it.  No fears of heart failure from my soap, that’s for sure! 

I’ll probably do a post on my first efforts, and I’m kind of looking forward to it.  The thought of making my own soap feels so … pioneer-ish, heh, but it’s something I want to get into.  I think it’ll be fun. 

 

Chemical in many antibacterial soaps linked with impaired muscle function | Fox News

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For This Week

A Fine Cast of Characters

For this week, my husband’s book is free on Kindle!  If you haven’t read it already, now’s your chance to grab a copy.    I just saw the blurb on Today’s List of Free Mystery, Suspense and Thriller Kindle Books 6/18/12 – Post 2 | eReader Love, which I confess is kind of exciting. 

Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the free Kindle App for your tablet or computer or smartphone. 

Please check it out and give it a read.  It’s free!   

Wild Things Have Gone

It’s sad news about Maurice Sendak’s passing.  Anyone who has kids probably knows who he was – the author of the famous children’s classic Where The Wild Things Are. 

My kids never really got into that one too much, but they (and I!) loved the Little Bear cartoons. 

In reading some news stuff, I came across this video – I can’t rightly call it a tribute, but it was doggone funny.  My son watched the entire thing and laughed the whole time. 

I present to you, “Christopher Walken* reads Where The Wild Things Are.”  Enjoy!

*Some say it’s an impersonator. 

A Drive in the Clouds

The editing on my husband’s latest book began a week or so ago, as some of you know.  I do a little bit here and there to help out with proofreading and whatnot, when he asks.  The biggest fear though is losing the work in a computer crash.  If you’ve known us any length of time, you know this has happened to us more than once.  Yeah, yeah, back up, we know!  And we try!  But sometimes crap happens, like when we lost both our computers in 2009-10. 

I happened to come across a couple of articles recently while reading the news and I thought they had some great information – good enough to share.  Apparently Google and Microsoft are competing in a veritable Drive Derby with each other and the storage service DropBox, and are offering some pretty nice packages for users to save stuff in the Cloud.  For free!

Seriously sweet. 

Of course, being Google and Microsoft, they are more than willing to sell you extra space if you need more, too.  But their prices are pretty reasonable, so that’s a good thing. 

For anyone who’s ever lost stuff in a computer crash (and who hasn’t, really?) then the Cloud is for you.  It’s just a matter of choosing which service you want to go with.  Me being the greedy girl I am, I’ll use both, on all my email accounts!  Having lost a few years worth of pictures in the past, I’m going to grab as much Cloud storage as I can get. 

Now my husband has options too.  No more losing 75% of a book’s edits to a drive crash.  (Gosh that one hurt!)

So here are the links to the articles so you can check it out yourself.  I’ll see you in the Cloud!

Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive — What does moving to the cloud mean? | Fox News

You get 5GB of storage for free on Google Drive, which is a pretty good deal, and when you log into Google Documents you’ll notice that all your documents, photos, and attachments have become a part of Google Drive.

The first 2GB of space is free on DropBox.

5 Reasons Microsoft SkyDrive is Better Than Google Drive | PCWorld

SkyDrive offers 7GB of free storage to its users

Also, if you were a SkyDrive user before the recent switch to 7GB of free storage, you can reclaim your free 25GB of storage by visiting SkyDrive’s Manage Storage page.

Thoughts

Just a couple of really neat things I wanted to share with you!

First, my friend MR over at Mountain Republic sent me this awesome video.  The future is here!  Star Trek has arrived!  Check it out:

Earl Grey, hot!

The other cool thing I wanted to show you is here: Noah’s Ark Set to Sail

Just click the link or the picture to see more – it’s amazing! 

Thanks to Seraphic Secret for that one. 

Get your copy of my husband’s books!

Buy J Dane Tyler’s Fiction now!

This Week’s Thoughts

A collection of some of the more weird, funny, or interesting news items I’ve come across recently. 

I got this email titled ‘Worse than Wal-Mart‘… well, you be the judge- definitely some serious competition here: via ‘People of Wal-Mart’- the Music Video!	Not responsible if you need the eye bleach afterwards!
ROAD RAGE, African Style….	Oh yeah, this does give “road rage” a whole ‘nother meaning!  LOL
Americans don’t know rules of the road.	Speaking of road rage …
World’s Only ‘Brand-New’, 100% Original 1950 Chevrolet Coupe!.	Maybe they’d know those road rules better if they were driving one of these babies!
Highway numbers aren’t random — and mean more than you might expect. via Who Knew? – Yahoo! News.	Fun stuff about America’s highways.  There’s a method to the madness!
Rare color photos from the 1940s via – Yahoo! News Photos.	Cool pictures from the 40s, without the sepia overcast, or being in black and white.
LIFE Slideshow: Terrible Beauty: A-Bomb Tests via Trinity – Yahoo! News Photos.	Amazing and thought provoking pictures.
3D Street Art by Edgar Mueller via German artist Edgar Mueller – Yahoo! News Photos.	More amazing shots, but in a fun way.
Adorable lady finds missing cat during interview outside tornado-ruined home via – Yahoo! News.	If you’ve ever found a lost pet, this one’s for you.  Keep the tissue close!
Click through this slideshow for a comprehensive list of all the shows that won’t be coming back. via Canceled TV Shows – Yahoo! TV.	Do you watch TV?  Check out this list to see if your favorites will be back next season.
AC/DC Is The Preferred Music Of Sharks via AC/DC Is The Preferred Music Of Sharks.	This one just tickled my funny bone and I laughed and laughed.  And laughed.  :lol:  Some things just hit me in the right spot at the right time.
Got Paraprosdokian? Paraprosdokian (noun): Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected …frequently used in a humorous situation. "I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening… but this wasn’t it." —Groucho Marx "If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised." — Dorothy Parker "I like going to the park and watching the children run around because they don’t know I’m using blanks." —Emo Phillips You do not need a parachute to skydive- you only need a parachute to skydive more than once. via Got Paraprosdokian?	These were some of my favorites.  Check out the rest, there’s lots more!