TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2006
Wednesday Edition: Powerful Commercial Fireworks in Amateur Hands
The
Consumer Product Safety Commission has
a new take on fireworks injuries this Fourth of July:
Between 2000 and
2005, CPSC has reports of 36 fireworks-related consumer deaths, the
CPSC announced today on the Washington Mall. More than a third of these
incidents involved professional devices, which were sold illegally to
consumers.
CPSC is aware of an incident involving professional fireworks last Fourth
of July in which a man was killed. He was lighting a 4-inch
professional display mortar shell in a homemade mortar tube with a
cigarette lighter. It launched almost immediately after being lit and
struck the man in the face as he was hunched over the tube.
"Commercial fireworks
are much more powerful and often ignite faster than you can imagine,"
said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton. "They are illegal in the hands of
consumers and should only be used by licensed professionals."
CPSC's staff
estimates ... that there were 10,800 emergency room-treated injuries
associated with all fireworks in 2005. Most of these injuries,
6,500, occurred between June 18 and July 18, 2005.
Check out the
CPSC's 2005 Fireworks Annual Report here. [PDF]
QuikMaps
Boy, do I love this site. QuikMaps allows you to
quickly custom-build a Google map and insert pins and other markers.
Then, it provides you with a URL to use so you can paste the map in your
blog or Web site. Click here to see the map I made for my readers.
Imagine using this to
map your coverage, map crimes, map illnesses -- I can think of a zillion
uses for this wonderful (and free) application.
GBuy Launches Today
Internet watchers say this could be a big development in Internet commerce. Google is reportedly launching GBuy,
which is Google's version of PayPal, today. It will allow people to purchase
things online securely, without sharing credit card information with
sellers they do not know.
ZDNet has more on GBuy, which it calls a "game changer."
Backyard Ponds Attracting Unwanted Critters
The Wall Street Journal reported:
The number of backyard ponds in the U.S. could reach six million
this year, estimates Aquascape Designs, a pond manufacturer based in
St. Charles, Ill.,
up from two million in 1996. But as more homeowners build backyard
oases, more animals are treating those ponds as watering and feeding
holes, as they dine on the expensive plants and decorative fish. In Ben
Lomand, Calif., one homeowner has found mountain-lion tracks around her
pond, while another in Wisconsin has played host to a roving bear. At
Shoreline Wildlife Management in Clinton, Conn., pond problems account
for almost 15 percent of its animal-control business.
The Journal says the animal control companies are having a field day:
The proliferation of ponds adds a new wrinkle. Critter Control, an animal-control company based in Traverse City, Mich.,
with 110 franchises nationwide, has seen an increase in pond business
over the past five years. "People buy expensive fish, and raccoons keep
eating them," says spokesman Sean Carruth. Shoreline Wildlife Management in Clinton, Conn.,
reports that business is up 50 percent over the past year, with most pond
owners calling about problems with beavers and snapping turtles.
Animals are being displaced by waterfront construction in the area,
says owner Deanna Gorski, "So they're moving to where they can find
water and shelter."
In Florida,
the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Anti-Venom Unit gets about 400 calls a year
from local residents who spot stray snakes and reptiles, including
alligators, mostly swimming in their water gardens, pools and ponds,
says Lt. Jeffrey Fobb. Last fall, the eight-year-old department fielded
one plea from someone who had discovered a 10-foot-long python eating
koi from his pond.
Companies are pushing a range of solutions. At Drs. Foster & Smith, a pet-supply catalog in Rhinelander, Wis.,
sales of products designed to deter wildlife grew 50 percent from 2004 to
2005, says Eric Reinhard, a merchandising manager for the catalog. (Mr.
Reinhard knows the animal problem firsthand; he spotted a bear walking
on a bridge over his backyard pond two years ago.) The catalog recently
added several products in the pond department: live traps in three
sizes, from squirrel ($30) to raccoon ($60), and a $72 motion-activated
water spray, which delivers a three-second blast from a hose to scare
away visitors.
Super-Rich Installing Mega-Generators in Homes
Mega-generators: The Miami Herald says it is the latest must-have option for those who just have to have their air conditioning after a storm.
Laptops Out-Selling Desktops
ComputerWorld says this is a first. Also a first: Flat-screen monitors outsold conventional screens.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas,
edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites,
as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes
directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be
provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends
upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors
and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
Posted at 10:18:31 PM
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