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Things People are Talking About…

The checkered history of the Amber Room is the stuff of great mystery novels, yet the story is true. Begun in 1701, the room first graced the Charlottenburg Palace of Friedrich I, the first King of Prussia. In 1716 it was sent as a gift to Peter the Great of Russia, to seal a pact between Russia and Prussia against Sweden. Over the subsequent years the panels that made up the walls of the room were passed back and fourth between those two great powers as a symbol of their friendship.

Then came the Second World War and the Nazi’s took the intricate panels when they plundered Russia. The Nazi’s installed the panels in Konigsberg Castle, but removed them when the tide of war turned against them and it became clear they were no longer safe there. They were hidden away — and to this day, nobody knows where. Various clues and theories have been followed to search out this lost treasure, but none have ever panned out.

Back in the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, they re-created the panels, using old photographs and records from the original panels. These panels were intricately carved amber, backed with a thin layer of gold leaf, so that they shimmer in the candle-light. Now this room is the first stop on GMA’s Mystery Tour, which has once again brought the amazing story to the attention of new generations.

Julie Dubela made it to American Idol, but flopped miserably. Some folks think she was presumptuous, thinking that her appearance on the unspectacular ‘American Juniors’ four years ago somehow qualified her as American Idol material.

Fact is, it wasn’t her history that was the problem — it was her presence. She can’t sing. That’s the ugly truth of it. She may be a wonderful person (I hope she is) but she isn’t going to be anyone’s idol. Give it up. Do something your good at.

The only child of former President Harry S. Truman died today at age 83. Married to journalist Clifton Daniel in 1956, Margaret had an unspectacular career as a singer, was active in radio and did some acting as well, but will probably be best remembered as a mystery writer. Her husband and one of their four sons pre-deceased her.

Over on SiteProNews Peter Lenkefi has published on article about RSS, and what it needs to push it out of obscurity and into the lime-light. Only about 70% of valid email makes it through the spam filters and white-lists and other techno-traps out there. I no longer will send a long response to an email query, without first sending a short message to be sure further effort will be worth-while. I don’t know how many times I’ve sent a long, well-thought response, just to get an automated email telling me I had to jump some hoops or follow their damn procedure before the intended recipient would be bothered with reading my email. B.S. I NEVER respond to those.

RSS is better in many ways, but only 20% of web users have any RSS feeds. Lenkefi explains why it has taken so long for RSS to make so little progress, and what needs to change. In large measure I agree, but there is one area where RSS just can’t replace email, and email needs to be fixed. Those are one-time contacts. If I have a problem with a product, I want an email telling me how to fix it. I don’t want to establish a long-term relationship with tech support, or add them to some permanent white-list. I want my problem solved, then adios! But if I can’t be sure they will get my email, or that any response will get through to me, email is more obstacle than help and I’ll just use the phone — if they don’t answer it with a damn machine…

The latest teeny-bop fodder from Disney debuts tonight. High school nerds invent a time machine (I’ve always wanted one of those), and accidentally go further back than they planned. That, of course, disrupts the time-continuum and causes a black-hole to form on the high school grounds (how could it not?)

If you have 10 to 14 year old kids, they will probably like this, it does have its funny moments. Certainly no Back to the Future, it is just good enough to entertain those who haven’t tired of the nerd vs jock cliches.

Of course the show has no science, but in the real world, don’t write off the possibility of time travel yet. Physicists are beginning to suspect that indeed, there may be more than one time dimension, which opens up all sorts of theoretical possibilities. Even without further dimensions, some physicists like Li-Xin Li and J. Richard Gott III of Princeton University suggest that relativity does not entirely rule out the possibility of traveling back in time.

I’m ready to go, just as soon as I get back from my trip to Mars…

Ok, I’ve seen rats around here. The usual ‘Norway’ type that infests all the world, and a local type that is a bit smaller, brown, with rounded ears. Neither are particularly welcome in my yard. But one of their ancestors could have bullied his way into the house had he a mind to …

In a COSMOS article, they describe a rat-like rodent that lived four million years ago in South America, that would scare the b-jesus out of anyone. The skull was half a meter long. They estimate the entire beast would have weighed about 700 Kilos (almost a ton).

These monsters lived long after the dinosaurs went extinct of course, or they would have been quickly eaten-up as dino-snacks. They did have to contend with three-meter tall birds and ancient saber-toothed relatives of the opposum that were fiercer predators than most of the mammals around at that time. I’m kind of glad something or other found a way to drive those huge rats extinct, and begin to think that maybe extinction isn’t always such a bad thing.

Over at Bum Marketing Method, Travis outlines six steps he uses to evaluate the value of a potential niche market for Internet marketing. Seems like good information, so thought I’d pass it along. If you think it might help you, check out his site.

1. Mind Share — how often do people think about the niche subject? If they think about it daily or many times a day, it is much better than once in a while.
2. Emotion — which factors do people have the most emotional reaction to? The more emotional involvement, the stronger people feel about the subject (for good or for ill) the better.
3. Talk — is it something they talk about? Are there chat boards or other discussions on-line about the subject? The more talk, the better potential the niche has.
4. Cost — how much does it cost to get involved in the niche? The more the better. People are more willing to spend money on an expensive activity, than on one that is free; they are already used to spending money on the niche.
5. Competition — how much are other marketers interested in the niche? Actually, more is better with this factor — strong interest by other marketers is a sure indication there is money to to be made in this niche.
6. Devil’s Advocate — if the niche meets all those other criteria, think for a moment as if you were involved in the niche, and think about what excuses you would use to NOT spend money on it (too much already available free, trust only authoritative figures such as for medical matters, etc. etc.)

Use these criteria to evaluate a potential niche, and you have a much better chance of success.

Holy Cow Batman, we nearly missed it — today is National Pie Day. No, not Bye, Bye Miss American Pie — but rich lemon meringue and scrumptious pecan pie. I can not let such a momentous holiday pass without offering up a recipe or two:

Caviar Pie

1 (9-inch) pie shell
1 (3 to 4 ounce) jar black caviar
Fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup dairy sour cream
3 to 4 tablespoons finely chopped onions
3 finely chopped hardboiled eggs

Bake pie shell until golden brown. Cool. Spread caviar evenly over pie shell. Sprinkle caviar with fresh lemon juice. Mix together the onion and sour cream, and spread over the caviar. Top these layers with the finely chopped eggs. Cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly.

Breakfast Pie

1 unbaked pie shell
1 pound sausage, cooked and drained
2 cups frozen hash browns, thawed
Grated Cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Cut up cooked sausage and arrange over bottom of pie crust. Layer hash browns on top of sausage. Sprinkle with grated cheese.

Beat the eggs and milk together and pour over all. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until center is set. Let sit for a couple of minutes before cutting.

Satin Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups granulated sugar
16 ounces cream cheese (at room temperature)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 graham cracker crusts
3 (1.45-ounce) Hershey bars
3 tablespoons milk

Beat peanut butter, sugar, cream cheese, butter and the vanilla extract in a large bowl with electric mixer until smooth and creamy.

In another bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Gently fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture.

Spoon into crusts, dividing mixture equally. Refrigerate for 6 hours.

Melt Hershey bars with milk in saucepan over low heat. Spread or swirl over pie fillings. Refrigerate until firm.

Not exactly ground-breaking news, but it seems ESPN Sports reporter Dana Jacobson used foul language at a ‘roast’ for two of her coworkers, Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. Seems Golic and Jacobson are at odds from being alumni of rival schools, Notre Dame and Michigan.

I’m not sure which slur got her in the most trouble, saying F.. Notre Dame or F.. Jesus, but the Catholic League got up in arms that she had “attacked Jesus Christ.” I wasn’t even aware he attended those sorts of affairs.

So now, almost two weeks later, ESPN has bowed to the pressure and suspended Dana for a whole week. Sounds like a vacation to me … but then the ‘crime’ was mere vulgarity (and at a roast no less) so punishment is hardly appropriate. Maybe the woman ain’t no lady, but in the male-dominated sports reporting field, that should come as no surprise.

I hate to start right out with a bummer, but that’s the news. Heath Ledger, Australian actor, was found dead in his New York residence Tuesday (Jan 22). He was only 28 years old. There really isn’t that much detail available yet, there were sleeping pills near the bed, but the autopsy will reveal if those were involved or not. His family is characterizing it as an ‘accident’ which makes it sound like police advised them that an excess of sleeping pills was the likely cause. Otherwise they would just be saying they were bewildered, wouldn’t they?

Of course if it was suicide (and I don’t believe people accidentally overdose on sleeping pills) then it is certainly tragic — he was a talented actor and had great prospects before him. There were no indications he was the troubled sort, he doesn’t seem have been a drinker or drug-user (other than the prescription kind, which can be nearly as dangerous). I wouldn’t be surprised if the coroner found that some drug interaction or unusual allergic reaction were the cause, or maybe one of those undetected genetic disorders. Guess we will have to wait and see about the cause, but certainly this is another of those ‘too young to die’ stories.