Propeller.com Stories submitted by Jordan

Pirate's Booty: An ex-Jack Sparrow spills on life at the Magic Kingdom

Jordan — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:43:52 EDT

"Don't be flirtatious," they told us. "See women as trouble." And they said as far as alcohol goes, don't even mention drinking. But the Pirates of the Caribbean song is all about drinking, and they're drinking all along the ride. So I eventually broke that rule, because it would have taken me out of character...

Channel: Movies Tags: jack sparrow pirates of the carribbean disney

How to Use Social Media for Social Change

Jordan — Thu, 22 May 2008 13:24:58 EDT

Instead of watching Twitter's ups and downs, we the members of the tech community could be using our social media super-powers to make a real difference in the world. ... Isn't it time we put them to use towards a good cause? Below are some great examples as to how that can be done.

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: social media social change

Getting into college is easier with a gladiator at your side

Jordan — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:50:52 EDT

A group of educators is hoping a gladiator, a bullfighter and a Napoleonesque Frenchman will help get this message across to kids: Getting into college is tough, so you'd better be prepared. Those quintessential "tough" characters are the stars of public service announcements coming to Washington...

Channel: News Tags: college school public service announcement gladiator

Sleepy brain prone to sudden shutdowns: Study

Jordan — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:49:33 EDT

Being deprived of sleep even for one night makes the brain unstable and prone to sudden shutdowns akin to a power failure -- brief lapses that hover between sleep and wakefulness, researchers said on Tuesday.

Channel: Science Tags: brain sleep sleep deprivation shutdown

Tire Danger: The Cryptic Code That Could Save Your Life

Jordan — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:43:15 EDT

More than 100 deaths in the U.S. have been attributed to aged tires which dried out and lost their treads... Safety experts say the only way for consumers to protect themselves is to learn how to read the cryptic code embedded on a tire's sidewall which reveals the year and week a tire was manufactured.

Channel: Autos Tags: tires code howto age

Man reprimanded for blasting Springsteen hit

Jordan — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:50:46 EDT

A judge has reprimanded a British pensioner who plagued his neighbors by repeatedly playing Bruce Springteen's hit "Born in the U.S.A." at high volume in the early hours.

Channel: News Tags: uk bruce springsteen judge

Panda Finds Way Home to Reserve After China Quake

Jordan — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:49:54 EDT

A captive adult giant panda that had disappeared during the May 12 earthquake has returned home, but two of the rare animals are still unaccounted for, China's state media agency reported today.

Channel: News Tags: china panda earthquake

Why Zappos Pays New Employees to Quit--And You Should Too

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:34:22 EDT

I want to focus this post on one small practice [at Zappos] that offers big lessons for leaders who are serious about changing the game in their field--and filling their organization with people who are just as committed as they are.

Channel: Careers & Jobs Tags: zappos business quit shoes

Why Zappos Pays New Employees to Quit--And You Should Too

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:34:10 EDT

Channel: Careers & Jobs Tags: zappos business quit shoes

Facebook Ignites Entrepreneurial Spirit at Harvard

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:11:07 EDT

When Mr. Adler asked what the two -- who happened to be Facebook Inc.'s co-founders -- were doing, Mr. Moskovitz lightly replied that they were moving from Cambridge, Mass., to Silicon Valley "to make Facebook big." "I was so jealous," recalls Mr.Adler, now 23 years old. "I thought, 'I've got to find an idea and drop out of

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: facebook harvard entrepreneurs

Teen Charged With Simulating Sex With Car

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:51:32 EDT

A teenager from Kilwinning has been charged with trying to have sex with a car. Callum Ainsworth, 18, is accused of running along a street naked, bending over the vehicle and simulating sexual intercourse.

Channel: Autos Tags: teen car sex

Why Did You Hire Me?

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:47:53 EDT

Remembering why you were hired--and identifying whether or not you belong--is just as important as getting the gig. To sustain career and mental health, you must work within your means and know how to navigate ambiguous workplace situations. Using client and project management techniques is one part of the solution. Using your talent is the other.

Channel: Careers & Jobs Tags: work hired

'Sound of Music' plan protested

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:44:43 EDT

The hills are alive ... with the sound of protest. Plans to run a hotel out of a former home of the von Trapp family immortalized in the blockbuster hit movie "The Sound of Music" have triggered fierce resistance from neighbors who fear tourists will tie up traffic and make a nuisance of themselves.

Channel: Movies Tags: sound of music house hotel von trapp

Carbonated Fruit A Hit In School

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:48:01 EDT

It's still fruit, just fizzy. That's how a food service contractor for about 20 Connecticut school districts and private schools is describing Fizzy Fruit Ã;Â¢Ã¢â;;Â¬" pieces of oranges, apples and grapes pumped with carbonation to give them a soda taste.

Channel: Food Tags: school fruit carbonated fizzy fruit

Hello Kitty appointed Japan's tourism ambassador to China, Hong Kong

Jordan — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:43:46 EDT

Hello Kitty, Japan's ubiquitous ambassador of cute, has built up an impressive resume over the years. Global marketing phenom. Fashion diva. Pop culture icon. Now the moonfaced feline can add "government envoy" to the list.

Channel: News Tags: hello kitty ambassador tourism japan

Network Suicide! Sprint rumored to be capping 3G use

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:40:36 EDT

Computers, get off the phone internet! Rumors abound that Sprint is to kill its biggest selling point over rival networks: unlimited 3G data plans. From an alleged internal memo, leaked by an anonymous source, a change to the Terms of Service is coming down the pike this summer...

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: sprint 3g internet mobile

What will happen when machines outthink us?

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:13:37 EDT

According to futurists gathered Saturday for a weekend conference, information technology is hurtling toward a point where machines will become smarter than their makers. If that happens, it will alter what it means to be human in ways almost impossible to conceive, they say.

Channel: Science Tags: singularity ai artificial intelligence

Wife guilty in husband's death during sex games

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:30:38 EDT

A woman who hanged her husband during a sex game was found guilty of killing him yesterday. ... In a strange twist, he had once killed someone during a dangerous sex act and was convicted in 1987 of manslaughter.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: sex death asphyxiation

Taser duel in parking lot

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:38:33 EDT

It wasn't exactly pistols at 30 paces, but police say a security company supervisor and a restaurateur shot each other with Tasers in a "bonehead" confrontation over parking. Officers said neither man needed medical attention after the Saturday confrontation...

Channel: News Tags: taser duel parking lot propeller weird news

As Prices Rise, Crime Tipsters Work Overtime

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:38:00 EDT

Calls to the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers hot line in the first quarter of this year were up 30 percent over last year. San Antonio had a 44 percent increase. Cities and towns from Detroit to Omaha ... report increases of 25 percent or more in the first quarter, with tipsters telling operators they need the money for rent or baby formula.

Channel: News Tags: crime tipsters tip line money

Do Mobile Games Have a Place in the Classroom?

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:09:45 EDT

Cell phones, PDAs, and other mobile devices are generally on the "do not use" list when it comes to the classroom. Teachers ban them. Students put them on silent and tap away. But instead of fighting the students' addiction to their phones, could the devices instead be used for learning purposes?

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: education classroom mobile games

Cat and mouse blamed for Albanian blackout

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:03:07 EDT

The country's main electricity company says a cat chasing a mouse caused a 72-hour blackout in parts of the capital, Tirana. The animals ran into an area of high-voltage cables and were electrocuted, a spokeswoman for the firm - Kesh - told Reuters news agency.

Channel: News Tags: albania blackout power outage cat mouse

Undressing a woman with an excavator - VIDEO

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:02:50 EDT

A heavy equipment operator uses a CASE excavator the strip a woman down to her underwear. Safe for work.

Channel: Humor Tags: excavator strip woman video heavy machinery

DNA tests exonerate 'Lizard Man' in van attack

Jordan — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:01:07 EDT

DNA testing has shown an attack on a family van some blamed on the legendary Lizard Man appears to have been actually done by a domestic dog. Something chewed up the front fender of Bob and Dixie Rawson's van in February. Bite marks were left on the wheel wells and blood was found on the vehicle.

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: lizard man attack van dog

From Atari Joyboard to Wii Fit: 25 years of "exergaming"

Jordan — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:43:56 EDT

After hugely successful launches in Japan and Europe, Nintendo's Wii Fit exercise game is coming to the United States May on 19th, where it is sure to find sales success. But Wii Fit is hardly the first example of an attempt to meld videogaming and exercise - it's not even the first fitness offering from Nintendo.

Channel: Video Games Tags: wii fit exergaming fitness atari joyboard nintendo

Teenager plans carrot 'panic buy'

Jordan — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:22:16 EDT

A teenager could be behind a surge in global carrot sales after setting up a popular Facebook page as a joke, urging people to "panic buy" the vegetable. Supermarkets are bracing themselves after more than 230,000 people joined Freya Valentine's group. It urges people to "go out and buy a load of carrots" on 15 May.

Channel: Food Tags: carrots panic buy facebook freya valentine may 15

Ohio man finds someone already buried in his grave

Jordan — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:21:19 EDT

A southwest Ohio man who planned to be buried next his mother has found someone else already in his grave. David L. Bingham says someone who shares his name has taken over his final resting place in Colerain Township. He says he hadn't visited his mother's grave since 2005, but was surprised to find someone had been buried next to her in 2006.

Channel: News Tags: ohio grave buried cemetery mistaken identity

This little piggy went to market ... and was saved from extinction

Jordan — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:41:28 EDT

Sixteen of the world's smallest and rarest pigs will take their first tentative steps in the wild today after the species was rescued from the brink of extinction. The pygmy hog (Porcula salvanius), once common in India, Nepal and Bhutan, was thought extinct in the 1960s after years passed without a sighting of the mammal...

Channel: Science Tags: pygmy hog pigs endangered extinction

Music 'can enhance wine taste': Study

Jordan — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:40:32 EDT

Playing a certain type of music can enhance the way wine tastes, research by psychologists suggests. The Heriot Watt University study found people rated the change in taste by up to 60% depending on the melody heard.

Channel: Science Tags: music wine taste heriot watt university

The Orgasmic Mind: The Neurological Roots of Sexual Pleasure

Jordan — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:39:40 EDT

Achieving sexual climax requires a complex conspiracy of sensory and psychological signals--and the eventual silencing of critical brain areas.

Channel: Science Tags: sex orgasm brain neurology

Print yourself a copy of the get out of 'Sex and the City' card

Jordan — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:31:23 EDT

I, John Kass, do decree the following: That the undersigned shall not be compelled, or enticed or whined at or nagged at or begged or pouted into having to sit through the "Sex and the City" movie.

Channel: Movies Tags: sex and the city men card

Man uses gun for backscratcher, shoots himself

Jordan — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:40:09 EDT

A Fort Worth man trying to scratch an itch on his back used a revolver and accidentally shot himself. ... "He told officers he had an itch on his back and grabbed the first thing he could get a hold of, which was a revolver," Lt. Dean said. "The gun went off."

Channel: News Tags: texas fort worth shot backscratcher itch

Drunk 'Darth Vader' spared jail - VIDEO

Jordan — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:38:02 EDT

A man has been given a suspended jail sentence for attacking two Star Wars fans while posing as Darth Vader. Arwel Wynn Hughes, 27, from Holyhead, Anglesey, admitted assaulting Barney Jones and cousin Michael with a metal crutch, whilst shouting "Darth Vader".

Channel: Do No Evil Tags: darth vader star wars wales video

Folding your arms can help your brain: Study

Jordan — Sun, 11 May 2008 23:30:56 EDT

The mere act of folding your arms increases perseverance and activates an unconscious desire to succeed, new research shows. University students randomly assigned to sit with their arms crossed spent more time on an impossible-to-solve anagram ... and came up with more correct solutions to solvable anagrams in another...

Channel: Science Tags: arms study perseverance

Apple's games strategy looks beyond consoles and the iMac

Jordan — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:46:11 EDT

[Apple] branched into the mobile phone arena with the iPhone. It reinvented the mp3 player with the introduction of the iPod Touch. It worked its way into living rooms with an updated Apple TV. But Apple is now exploring another hardware technology ... Apple has once again got an itch for gaming.

Channel: Gadgets & Tech Tags: apple gaming video games

Platypus genetic code unravelled

Jordan — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:42:12 EDT

Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprint of the duck-billed platypus, one of the oddest creatures on Earth. The animal comes from an early branch of the mammal family, and like mammals it is covered in fur and produces milk. However, it lays eggs like a reptile. Researchers say this unique mixture of features is reflected in its DNA.

Channel: Science Tags: platypus genome dna

Your Employees Are Dying to Be Heard

Jordan — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:40:51 EDT

According to Opinion Research (IUSA) in Princeton, N.J., a firm that has conducted research for about 60 years, what annoys employees more than anything else is poor communication. And unhappy employees can do more damage to your business than you might imagine.

Channel: Careers & Jobs Tags: employees communication business

Rather re-sues CBS, claims his "baggage" kept him from jobs

Jordan — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:33:28 EDT

After a New York court dismissed most of the claims in Dan Rather's $70 million lawsuit against his former employer, CBS, he was told he could resubmit the suit. So Rather, never one to back down from a fight, did just that.

Channel: Television Tags: dan rather cbs lawsuit

Neil Young Announces Collected Work With Dynamic Web Updates

Jordan — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:02:48 EDT

I'm here at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco where Neil Young, legendary rocker and the provider of the soundtrack to my early 20's, is announcing a very cool project with Sun Microsystems. For the first time, Young's entire collection of published media will be available for purchase, beginning today with the first of five volumes.

Channel: Music Tags: neil young sun microsystems javaone collected works

La. warden says bear helps guard his prison

Jordan — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:43:39 EDT

The way the warden sees it, the more than 400-pound black bear living in the middle of the sprawling Louisiana State Penitentiary is an extra layer of security. "I love that bear being right where it is," Warden Burl Cain said Monday. "None of our inmates are going to try to get out after dark ... when they might run into a big old b

Channel: News Tags: prison bear louisiana