Sondra Padalecki - Bla, Bla, Bla, Blog

If you want a quick and easy way to stream music from your computer or phone to your home stereo and have an old Bluetooth headset lying around, Instructable user dex3844 has a simple guide to hack a stereo jack into it.

To follow the guide, all you need is a Bluetooth headset, stereo jack, soldering iron, hot glue gun and a thin wire. It's a simple, nine step process that only requires you to pop open the casing of your headset and solder a couple wires. His tutorial guides you through a mono installation, but if you have a stereo headset the difference should only be a single wire.

There are commercially available audio dongles that do the same thing, but if you're looking for a way to do it yourself on the cheap, you can find the full tutorial over a Instructables.

Bluetooth Headset Hack | Instructables

New Jersey soldier helps Afghan boy get life-changing surgery

Posted: Saturday, May 07, 2011, 12:05 AM

By Adya Beasley / The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
Follow

A little over a year ago, while on foot patrol in Afghanistan, Army Major Glenn Battschinger came across Muslam Hagigshah, an Afghan boy born with his bladder outside of his body. Shocked by the boy's condition Battschinger arranged for Muslam to come to the US for a series of operations that would correct his birth defect. (Video by Adya Beasley / The Star-Ledger)

Tags: afghan, afghanistan, army, muslam, soldier, surgery

Share this video

Video tools

NEW YORK (MainStreet)  –  The Department of Transportation released a beefed-up version of its airline passenger’s bill of rights Wednesday, requiring airlines to pay for lost luggage and disclose hidden fees, among other provisions.

“Airline passengers have a right to be treated fairly,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a written statement. “It’s just common sense that if an airline loses your bag or you get bumped from a flight because it was oversold, you should be reimbursed. The additional passenger protections we’re announcing today will help make sure air travelers are treated with the respect they deserve.”

Related Articles

• DOT Releases New Passenger’s Bill of Rights
• Google Maps Now Open to Editing
• FAA Gives Air Traffic Controllers a Rest
• Attractive Airline Rewards Cards Are Plentiful
• American Airlines Sues Orbitz Over Booking System

The new rules, first proposed by the DOT in June, had been posted in the Federal Register for public comment as they awaited formal approval. Now they’re set to go into effect August 23.

The rules expand upon regulations put forth in December 2009 that say domestic flights are not allowed to sit on the tarmac for more than three hours after boarding. Now international flights will be included as well, though with a limit of four hours. During that time, all grounded planes will now be required to provide basic services like access to lavatories and water.

The new regulations will also require airlines to prominently disclose all fees on their websites, including those for baggage, meals, canceling or changing reservations seat upgrades. 

Speaking of seats, passengers bumped from overbooked flights will now be entitled to compensation worth twice the price of their ticket (up to $800) if the passenger is delayed for two hours or less. Those who face longer delays after being bumped can receive up to $1,300 in compensation, according to the new terms.

The bill of rights will also require airlines to hold reservations at the quoted fare without payment, and allow consumers to cancel a reservation without penalty within at least 24 hours of purchase, so long as the flight was booked a week or more before its departure.

Additionally, airlines will now be required to notify consumers of delays longer than 30 minutes. And they won’t be able to impose post-purchase fare increases unless they are due to government-imposed taxes or fees.

• 1
• 2

Next »

Read More:   travel

• 0 comments
• Add A Comment
• Permalink

Spread the Word.
And PowerPoint, Excel, and PDF.

Discover, create and share documents with your friends,
coworkers, and classmates on Facebook.

More About Docs  |   Doc Gallery  |   Invite Friends

Facebook friends help scientists quickly identify nearly 5,000 fish specimens collected in Guyana

Posted on 24 March 2011

New Acquisitions, Research Topics, zoology

Last month, a team of ichthyologists sponsored by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History performed the first survey of the fish diversity in the Cuyuni River of Guyana. Upon their return, they needed to identify the more than 5,000 specimens they had collected in less than a week’s time in order to obtain an export permit. Faced with insufficient time and inadequate library resources to tackle the problem on their own, they instead posted a catalog of specimen images to Facebook and turned to their network of colleagues for help.

 

Image right: A fish identified as Hypostomus taphorni, from the Guyana expedition.

In less than 24 hours, this approach identified approximately 90 percent of the posted specimens to at least the level of genus, revealed the presence of at least two likely undescribed species, indicated two new records for Guyana and generated several loan requests. The majority of people commenting held a Ph.D. in ichthyology or a related field, and hailed from a great diversity of countries including the United States, Canada, France, Switzerland, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil.

By quickly tapping the collective expertise of their social network to help with the preliminary identification process, the expedition members were able to sort, pack and export the specimens to Washington, D.C. in a timely manner. The Facebook identifications also will speed the cataloging process and help make the material available for loan and study as quickly as possible.

 

Image left:  A fish identified as Guianacara cuyunii    from the Guyana expedition.

Such crowdsourcing of identifications would not have been possible five years ago, but increased internet access across South America and the massive recent growth of social networks has made tapping the world’s collective knowledge easier than ever. Based on this experience, Facebook offers a remarkably efficient free tool that can accelerate taxonomic identification substantially. –Brian Sidlauskas, ichthyologist Oregon State University, expedition leader and research collaborator of  Richard Vari, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology. The expedition mentioned in this article was funded by the Natural Museum of Natural History Biological Diversity of the Guiana Shield Program and the Department of Vertebrate Zoology.

 

Related posts:

1. Smithsonian scientists discover seven new species of blenny fish
2. Smithsonian scientists to help identify and eradicate invasive species in Alaskan waters
3. New Acquisition: Namibian specimens come to the herbarium of the National Museum of Natural History

Tags | biodiversity, conservation, ichthyology, National Museum of Natural History