July 31, 2007
Police license plate scanner
This video was made in Canada. More recently, these systems have begun to see use in the United States to quickly pick out vehicles without insurance, unregistered, reported stolen, involved in crimes, etc… that have been entered into a database.
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C.O.P.S.
…. can be really dumb. This one chases a motorcycle onto a railroad track…. and gets stuck… with two trains coming.
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Collinsville IL… They’re big on ketchup there
Collinsville Illinois (just across the river from St. Louis) is the home of the world’s largest ketchup bottle.
Now citizens of this southern Illinois community are after the record for the world’s largest ketchup packet.
Collinsville has partnered with the H.J. Heinz Co. to fill an 8-foot tall, 4-foot wide plastic pouch with 1,500 pounds of the tomato goop for a school fundraiser.
“That’s a lot of ketchup,” said Tracey Parsons, a Heinz spokeswoman.
The company donated 4,000 glass bottles of the condiment that people can buy for $1 and pour into the packet.
Hundreds in the city, which is the home of a 170-foot-tall water tower shaped like a giant ketchup bottle, showed up Saturday to participate in the ketchup filling and other fundraising activities.
Organizers expected the packet to be filled to capacity with 130 gallons by Saturday evening.
Animals predict the weather
Observe animals. They are more likely to react to changes in air pressure than we are.
* If birds are flying high in the sky, there will probably be fair weather. (Falling air pressure caused by an imminent storm causes discomfort in birds’ ears, so they fly low to alleviate it. Large numbers of birds roosting on power lines indicates swiftly falling air pressure.)
* Seagulls tend to stop flying and take refuge at the coast if a storm is coming.
* Animals, especially birds, get quiet immediately before it rains.
* Cows will typically lie down before a thunderstorm. They also tend to stay close together if bad weather’s on the way.
* Ants build their hills with very steep sides just before a rain.
* Cats tend to clean behind their ears before a rain.
* Turtles often search for higher ground when a large amount of rain is expected. You will often see them in the road during this period (1 to 2 days before the rain).
More natural weather forcasting methods
