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Happy August 8th! I'm not at work today, but since I woke up at an indecently early hour this morning (in proportion the the atrociously late hour that I went to bed last night), I decided to give you all a little happiness in your day. I mean, what would you do without a little GNGG in your morning? :] 

August 8 is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 145 days remaining until the end of the year.

Happy Birthday to Roger Federer, (the reject tennis player) Drew Lachey (the reject 98 Degrees brother), J.C. Chasez (the reject *NSYNC Some Girls Dance With Women perv) and Emiliano Zapata (the BA Mexican with a sick moustache).

106 mpg 'air car' creates buzz, questions

You've heard of hybrids, electric cars and vehicles that can run on vegetable oil. But of all the contenders in the quest to produce the ultimate fuel-efficient car, this could be the first one to let you say, "Fill it up with air."

That's the idea behind the compressed air car, a vehicle its backers say could achieve a fuel economy of 106 miles per gallon.

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New York-based Zero Pollution Motors is the first firm to obtain a license from MDI to produce the cars in the United States, pledging to deliver the first models in 2010 at a price tag of less than $18,000.

 I've got my doubts... but that would be pretty fantastic. It would save a TON of gas driving back home every weekend.

Lizard love: 110-yearl-old dinosaur descendant to become daddy

At well over 100 years old and showing no interest in sex for over four decades, Henry is on his way to becoming a dad.

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At about 110 years old, Henry is the oldest tuatara ever to mate at Southland Museum on the country's South Island.

"I had given up on old Henry," said curator Lindsay Hazley.

He kept Henry in "solitary confinement" because the animal not only showed no interest in females but attacked them when they were looking to mate.

The beginning of Henry's libido rebound came in 2002, when veterinarians realized that a lump in the animal's nether regions was a cancerous tumor. They removed it and, over the next few years, his attitude began to change.

"I say that he had a personality transplant at the same time," Hazley said Thursday. "If I had a tumor underneath my [genitals], when girls were passing by, I'd be a very grumpy boy too."

 

Fat people get online chance to lose weight

People who are obese in the real world will get the opportunity to participate in a research project conducted entirely in the virtual world to help their avatars - and hopefully their real-life selves - lose weight and get in better shape.

The University of Houston's Texas Obesity Research Center is using Second Life, the 3-D virtual world created by San Francisco's Linden Lab, to offer participants incentives for healthy dietary habits and to increased physical activity.

"The avatar is actually going to get on a treadmill and get on a bicycle and perform these activities in Second Life," said Kristen McAlexander, a doctoral student and research assistant at the obesity research center.

 

 

Eight People Bought Useless $1,000 iPhone App

Eight people had $1,000 to burn on a useless iPhone application before Apple removed it from the App Store, according to a story in the LA Times.

Of those eight, six reside in the United States, and the others are in France and Germany. Not shocking: We all knew some people out there would be rich (and wasteful) enough to throw away money at Armin Heinrich's "I Am Rich" application, which does nothing but display a red ruby.

 

And to think I was getting annoyed at having to pay $1.99 for some of my apps. If you went to the app screen on this particular one, it said "The red icon on your iPhone or iPod touch always reminds you (and others when you show it to them) that you were able to afford this." Please.

44-pound cat adopted; gets good vet's report

Fat, happy and no longer homeless.

That describes life for the 44-pound New Jersey cat who became an overnight sensation.

A vet has found "Prince Chunk" healthy aside from his weight. The big cat doesn't have a thyroid condition, after all.

The vet also has prescribed a high-protein, low-carb diet for the tubby tabby, who is within three pounds of the heaviest on record.

 

Killer gets life sentence plus pizza in a plea deal

A New York man who pleaded guilty to murder in Oregon in exchange for buckets of fried chicken will get calzones and pizza to go with his life sentence.

Tremayne Durham, 33, of New York City, admitted last month that he fatally shot Adam Calbreath, 39, of Gresham, in June 2006. Durham wanted to sell ice cream and ordered an $18,000 truck from an Oregon company. He later changed his mind, but the company wouldn't provide a refund.

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Durham agreed to plead guilty to murder — but only if he could get a break from jail food. The judge agreed and granted Durham a feast of KFC chicken, Popeye's chicken, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, carrot cake and ice cream.

 

Dump away.

Oh!! I almost forgot. There's something big starting today in China. I'm not really exactly sure what it is, but it's apparently one of the biggest events in recent years. Anyone want to help out here?