Holland Tunnel -- Born today, in 1927

Jaxonia was going to post a nice little article about this Wonder of the World, but then we came across this really neat video, which pretty much says it all.
If you would like more information, just click on the above title.  Enjoy.

Fios vs Optimum -- the scoop from someone who had both!

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA

Final update 11/12/10

As of about a week ago, one of the huge advantages of Optimum - no long-term contract - was stripped away as FIOS now offers the same deal. This, coupled with a growing ease of use, more internet reliability and the big problem Optimum has with FOX contracts, has tipped the scales significantly to FIOS. Optimum's Ace in the hole -- free Clearview movie tickets and other incentives -- has been trumped by long lines on the freebie movie days and a 'what have you done lately?' feeling, Game-Set-Match is on the horizon here.

Another update (3/28/2010)

Googling this topic proves there's no shortage of Optimum AND Fios lovers-haters, which may explain why this little post on a personal blog keeps getting so many hits; it's one of a very few even-handed reports. So here's a little more even-handedness:
FIOS continues to be its own worst enemy. Big and faceless, seemingly uncaring service continues to be their Achilles Heel. That, and while they are moving into internet/TV interactivity, they continue to be user unfriendly; your grandmother doesn't have a prayer of using FIOS's new marbles.

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An unusual 'top ten'

David Letterman does this every night, but he's never as exciting as this!

and now... a little self-promotion

Many Jaxonia readers just pay attention to the articles...which is OK, but please don't forget the sidebar links and bottom gadgets. Check them out -- just about everything one needs for an in-depth internet experience can be found on Jaxonia. Grammar help, cool Latin phrases to impress Facebookers... pop in on the Supreme Court, even!
Don't jump over some thoughtfully created entertainment just to score with one article.  Stay a while!


Incredible Play At Home - Watch more Funny Videos

Lunesta side effects -- WOW!

Anyone who takes this drug after listening to the commercial ought to have their head examined! GEEZ!

Get this before they sell out!

Now don't go getting all uppity on this, it's not blasphemous, it's damn cute! It works, too. This guy in Vermont, Owen, dreamt this up the way all good Americans do -- he saw some news report about a 'Jesus' sighting on a piece of toast and thought, 'Hey, maybe somebody could make a buck off that!.' The difference between Owen and you is that he's doing it!

The whole business, Burnt Impressions, LLC, is run out of Owen's barn in Vermont. So far he's doing great, and wants to hire some folks for the Christmas season. So do your part in America's economic recovery -- Buy a Toaster!
Click the headline to find out how to buy one.

Happy Veterans' Day

Making wine in Madison

Madison history and tradition goes back many generations. Much of it is nostalgia, now.  The flower nurseries are history, Bottle Hill is just a name, the Tuttle Oak is gone, even the State championship football teams are decades away.
 But the tradition of wine-making, brought to Madison by Italian immigrants, lives on. Watch the process. Many of the families that started the tradition are still here, still pressing grapes, still enjoying dinner with wine made in the basement,  Watch the credits at the end -- it's almost like reading the local phone book!

Think the CIA is scary? Check out these guys!

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

This (below) is just ONE of the projects they're working on! 

Click either the headline or the caption to go there.

Surprise! There's a hydrogen bomb buried off the Georgia coast! (Is this an upcoming NCIS episode?)**

A trailer for next week's NCIS showed the photo -- for a half-second -- of the bomb shown at the end of this article. Are NCIS story consultants reading Jaxonia? Watch... let us know your opinion!
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Lighthouse at Tybee Island

If you google Tybee Island you get a couple of nice, touristy pages promoting one of the South's premier vacation spots -- bed and breakfasts, vacation rentals, summer festivals. But google Tybee Island 'bomb' and you get some pretty scary stuff!

On February 5, 1958, the United States Air Force lost a 7,600-pound (3,400 kg) Mark 15 hydrogen bomb in the waters off Tybee Island near Savannah, Georgia, USA. The bomb was jettisoned to save the aircrew during a practice exercise after the B-47 bomber carrying it collided in midair with an F-86 fighter plane. Following several unsuccessful searches, the bomb was presumed lost somewhere in Wassaw Sound off the shores of Tybee Island.

Starting on February 6, 1958, the Air Force 2700th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron and 100 Navy personnel equipped with hand held sonar and galvanic drag and cable sweeps mounted a search. On April 16, 1958 the military announced that the search efforts had been unsuccessful. Based upon a hydrologic survey, the bomb was thought by the Department of Energy to lie buried under 5 to 15 feet (2 to 5 m) of silt at the bottom of Wassaw Sound.


In 2004, retired Air Force Colonel Derek Duke claimed to have found the possible resting spot of the bomb. He and his partner located the spot by trawling the area in their boat with a Geiger counter in tow. The Air Force released its report in June 2005, which stated that high radiation measurements are from naturally occurring radioactive materials, and that the location of the bomb is still unknown.

Something to worry about besides sharks!

'The bomb' -- just in case you're snorkeling this summer.


**(Originally published 4/10)

John D. Solomon, 1963-2010

John Solomon, the NPR journalist, died Monday, November 1, from complications following a bone marrow transplant for leukemia. He was 47.
To readers of his blog, this news is not only devastating but also shocking. We knew that John was struggling for the past two years, but it was sometimes easy to get the wrong idea about the seriousness of what he called �this pesky� condition. It�s not that John ever hid anything � on the contrary, he was refreshingly candid at all times. It�s just that he was so consistently sanguine that his illness often seemed like more of an annoyance than a life-threatening event.
John is survived by his wife Abby, his two children Rebecca and Sara, his parents Ann and Richard, his brother Jimmy, and by his many friends and admirers. The funeral service was Wednesday, November 3rd, 10:00 am at Temple Emanu-El, on Fifth Avenue at 65th Street.

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