|
|
If you think you might need a little more info than our LA.Com article gives you, here's a WebMD link to an article about how to prevent a hangover. Here's another about what to do if that didn't work.
Here's another site that has links to more lists of cures.
Want to share your most heartfelt wish with the world tonight? Or are you curious about what everyone else is wishing for? Check out the virtual Wishing Wall, where people from around the world have been leaving messages that will be printed on confetti that will rain down on New York's Times Square.
From The Associated Press:
Messages and wishes for the new year from people around the world will float down on the New Year’s Eve revelers in Times Square when the confetti is dropped. For the first time, anyone can get a message printed on a piece of the multicolored confetti by using the Internet to type a message on a “Wishing Wall Online.” The message-carrying pieces will be mixed among the more than one ton of confetti, organizers said. Messages can be serious or silly, said Tim Tompkins, a spokesman for the Times Square Alliance, which organizes the party. So far, messages have included everything from wanting to be taller or having a smarter boss to healthy children and asking for the safe return of a child from Iraq, he said. “Peace in the World,” reads one posted on the “virtual wishing wall.”
Our "Ask Us" reporter gave the lowdown on gift card rules in Sunday's paper.
The Department of Consumer Affairs’ Web page on gift cards and gift certificates has more information on gift cards and gift certificates.
Here's what reporter Stephanie Walton found out:
Starting Jan. 1, 2008, California consumers will be able to cash most gift certificates with less than a $10 balance. Retailers may pay out the unused portion of the gift card or certificate in cash or by check, according to California Civil Code Section 1749.5. In the case of a gift certificate for a wireless phone provider, the balance may be applied to the consumer’s wireless account if agreed upon by both the wireless provider and account holder. The new law, SB 250, was signed Oct. 13 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and amended California’s gift certificate law. In addition to allowing cash redemption of gift cards, SB 250 also modified the expiration exception for gift certificates for food products. Starting in January, only gift cards for perishable food products will be subject to expiration dates. These cards also are exempt from cash redemption for balances under $10. For the most part, gift cards issued in California don’t expire. State law exempts some cards from the expiration-date ban as well as from the new cash-redemption provision.
Richmond is home to a park extolling Rosie the Riveter's work during World War II, and so is Long Beach. So if you can't make it to Richmond anytime soon, head south a ways. For more on Rosie and homefront efforts during the war, the Richmond site has a wealth of information.
He's likable. He's easy to understand. He's got a terrific beard. He's Robert Krampf. And his videos teach you about the finer points of science using applicable concepts: Pulling a table cloth out from under objects on the table is a lesson on inertia; being stranded on an island and losing your glasses can teach you about lenses; you can also learn that diamonds don't cut glass. Watch his science experiments, learn how to do your own and check out his presentations.
California may undergo an involuntary face-lift because of global warming, but what else could happen and how? Forecast Earth details the science behind the changes and answers frequently asked questions about the phenomenon.
Junglewalk.com is a site for animal lovers. It contains videos and photos of animals in zoos around the world as well as a shopping site.
You may have heard Adil Najam's compelling analysis of the situation in Pakistan on All Things Considered, the afternoon NPR news show, on Friday. If so, you heard him compare Pakistanis' reaction to Benazir Bhutto's assassination to Americans' reaction to the JFK shooting. You also heard about Najam's blog: All Things Pakistan. There, the Boston University professor writes about developments in the country.
It was East Germany's answer to the VW Bug: the Trabant, made from 1957 until 1991, when the collapse of the Berlin Wall and East Germany itself meant people could drive whatever they wanted.
With a two-cylinder engine that produced only 27 horsepower, the Trabant -- nicknamed the Trabi -- topped out at 70 mph. It was light enough, with a hard plastic and cotton fabric body over a steel shell, to get about 35 miles per gallon on the highway.
Many were scrapped in the early '90s, but survivors have rebounded in the past few years; in Germany, in England and in Canada, where a Toronto-based Trabant club buys and sells cars and parts. A story link on the Canadian Web site says the car is easy to work on, a good feature since there are no dealers in Canada, and the last Trabi was built 17 years ago.
Don't expect to see a Trabant club in this country, though. The car had no emissions control system. Still, the English-language site makes for interesting reading. If you're really interested, a few owners have managed somehow to register them in the U.S.
There is a new Web site to help with organizing carpool groups. Users enter their schedules and then send and invitation to friends, classmates or coworkers who may be interested in sharing a ride. In one example given on the site, a user sent the link to parents on her children's soccer team to find out who would be interested in carpooling.
If you don't know where Cooperstown, N.Y., is, read no further.
If you do, you may be interested in What-the-hall.info, a new Web site whose goal it is to make people think about membership in baseball's Hall of Fame. Its creator, Connecticut resident Walter Baranger, came up with the idea at the 2007 Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
There's a section on people who aren't in the hall but ought to be (Curt Flood, Jim Kaat, Buck O'Neil) and another on members of the hall who some feel ought not to be (Bill Mazeroski, Phil Rizzuto and Tommy Lasorda). Did you know the five men who have managed the Dodgers since Lasorda's retirement have all had higher winning percentages than he did?
And there's a new section, since the release of the Mitchell Report, called Chemistry Majors. It has nothing at all to do with sodium, beryllium or strontium.
Looking to build a unique getaway? Even though land is expensive, you don't need to scrimp on square footage. Go up instead of out! That's the thinking here where you can find floorplans to build your very own water tower. If you don't want to build one, you can still enjoy unique pictures of others around the world.
Since crazy lawsuits clog our court systems, some manufacturers go overboard in warning customers how to use their products. They might be getting a little too extreme. Click here where you can read some of the sillier warnings such as, “never use a cocktail napkin as a navigation device!”
"Only you can prevent forest fires." Smokey the Bear first uttered those words in 1944, and more than sixty years later he's still keeping forests safe for everyone. Before you take that trip up to the mountains, read about Smokey's history and see what he has to say about keeping our forests safe from fires
by clicking here.
Have you ever wondered what song was at the top of the charts on the day you were born? Wonder no more. Just type your birthday here and choose either the United Kingdom, the U.S. or Australia. From there you will find out what people were rocking to when you entered the world.
Get a rundown of how people around the world celebrate New Year's. A Mexican tradition is to wear red underwear on New Year's Eve in anticipation of finding love in the new year. In Turkey, families often gather together and eat -- you guessed it -- turkey. And in Korea, at least one grandmother warns against sleeping on New Year's Eve lest your eyebrows turn white.
Since you won't get a full rockin' New Year's Eve of Dick Clark this year -- Ryan Seacrest is helping out the longtime host -- check out this video.
It's a look back at "American Bandstand," which Clark hosted for more than 30 years. There's a series of videos about that classic show on YouTube. For more, click here.
It's the dead of winter and you're not a basketball or hockey fan. And you can't wait for baseball's spring training to start. It's time to look at the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico. It's the Mexican Winter League, which is about to start its playoffs. How else can you learn that a longtime major league star is hitting .365 in Hermosillo, that Erubiel Durazo has 11 home runs for those very same Orange Growers (Naranjeros), or that former Angels World Series star Benji Gil is hitting .233 in Culiacan. You may want to brush up on your Spanish, but baseball fans should understand enough of the site to get their fix. And you'll be surprised at the names you recognize. Who is that Fernando Valenzuela who is 0-1 in three games with Mexicali? Yes, it is that Fernando.
If you've looked at all the 2008 cars and still don't see anything you like, how about a new/old Volkswagen Beetle? Not the oft-maligned New Beetle, but a real VW, the kind you saw way back when. The Golden Beetle Car Co. of Billings, Mont., operating from an old JC Penney store, handles everything from paint, interior and engine work to complete body-off restoration. The company will sell you a car or restore yours. Most VWs sold by Golden Beetle were made from 1965 to 1979. And like your favorite pizza place, they will deliver.
Beware of those stick figures you draw! You never know when they can turn on you. They may appear innocent, but they can be very clever and creative, not to mention down right sneaky. Don't think so? Find out what happens when a stick figure turns against its creator here.
If John Bogert's column made you feel nostalgic about Santa and the most-read editorial of all time, here are some links where you can find out more.
Newseum has an image of the tells what happened to the editorial writer and to Virginia herself after the legendary article was published.
Christmas around the world via webcam.
Put this up on your computer screen while the family is over if you want to induce some optical illusions. Consider it a conversation piece. Find more optical illusions here.
Looking for Christmas stories beyond "A Visit from Santa Claus" or "A Christmas Carol"? Wacky Anne's Christmas Library says it has the biggest collection of Christmas tales on the Internet: short stories, the Christmas chapters from classics like "Little Women" and "The Wind in the Willow," and more. The site offers Christmas tales for every age.
The site also includes the following: a Music Room, which contains lyrics for Christmas carols and digital files of holiday music; the Kitchen, with its Christmas recipe collection; and a list of Christmas links.
To learn how to take a good picture of your house's Christmas lights and other useful tips, go here.
OK probably not, but it's fun to look through Onecoldhand.com's listings anyway.
Here are the details from The Associated Press:
Jennifer Gooch’s mission was to create a simple Web site where people could go to find their lost gloves. Even if no happy reunions ever took place, she was just content to spread a little goodwill.
But just a month since www.onecoldhand.com went live, the Carnegie Mellon University art student is busier than ever. She’s reunited four gloves with their owners, is working on similar sites for cities around the globe, and is planning a book to showcase her found gloves.
The first glove match was made about a week ago, when a CMU intern from Germany heard about the site and checked it out for her missing beige glove. She found it on the page, under the description “woman’s leather glove with bling.”
Sarah Altmeyer said she bought the gloves a few years ago in Germany, but later lost one at Carnegie Mellon’s Simon-Newell Hall. She heard about the Web site Gooch created and thought she’d check it out.
Much to her joy, she found the missing glove there. “It was a very popular glove. I was actually kind of happy it was our first reunion,” Gooch said.
At 5 p.m. today, UCLA meets No. 19 BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Get live blog updates once the game starts. And get the latest news and thoughts on the Bruins any time at the Inside UCLA blog.
Nearly 6,000 California cases were reported in a confidential, nationwide list of 24,500 teachers who have been punished for a wide array of offenses. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida created a searchable database of the teachers’ names after waiting years to get the list, which it received from the Florida Department of Education.
The list, which is the only nationwide effort of its kind, does not include why any of the teachers were disciplined. Sexual misconduct, financial misconduct, criminal convictions and other misbehavior all can result in disciplinary actions.
The association that maintains the list offers it to state education agencies to provide warnings about teachers with past problems. It is not usually available to the public.
Julio Bocca, who — among many other accomplishments — enjoyed a 20-year run at the American Ballet Theater, will close down the widest avenue in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a final, open-air performance. “Many people can dance, but what Julio communicates to the audience with his dance steps, his face, and his body, it’s mystical. He’s touched by God,” veterinarian Raul Hourcastagne, 59, who drove more than 100 miles with his family to see Bocca, told The Associated Press. You can see him, too, if only online, at the Web site for Bocca Tango, one of the dancer's most recent works.
You’ve read a lot lately about toxic toys and how to avoid them. But here’s a new resource worth taking note of. At www.momsrising.org, a family advocacy Web site founded in 2006, learn how to use a text-messaging system that will tell you instantly whether a toy is safe to buy.
It uses a database that was created earlier this month by the Michigan-based nonprofit Ecology Center and contains 1,200 toys tested by the center and other environmental health groups countrywide. You can search by product name, brand or toy type.
Scientists in California have uncovered the best evidence yet that cosmic dust in the early universe mostly came from the explosions of giant stars. The Spitzer Space Telescope recently detected large amounts of space dust — 10,000 Earth masses’ worth — in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia 11,000 light-years away. And online, you can see what the scientists see.
It would be so much easier to exercise if only you had someone to do it with. That’s where Exercise Friends comes in. You can search by gender, age, activity and/or location for a friend who will share your common fitness goal.
TV and movie memorabilia, backstage tours, red carpet bleacher seats and autographed posters will be up for bidding starting today as the Screen Actors Guild Awards begins its annual auction to benefit the SAG Foundation, City News Service reports. Different items will be featured as the weeks progress. You can bid online through Jan. 31.
One of the auction’s highlights is the chance for one bidder to attend the SAG Awards ceremony, scheduled for Jan. 27, as well as take a backstage tour during rehearsals, walk the red carpet and attend the post-awards gala. Bidding for this package takes place from 10 a.m. today through 10 a.m. Sunday.
Watch the U.S. population increase in real time, as — balancing births, deaths and immigration — one resident is added every 12 seconds.
More than 12 percent of that population lives in California, whose population has grown by
3.9 million since the 2000 census — an 11.5 percent increase that was announced Wednesday. Find more detailed facts about California population growth and demographics, which you can filter by county and city.
Did whales’ ancestors look like overgrown, long-legged rats? One scientist thinks so. According to research published today in the journal Nature, what might be the missing link between whales and land animals looks like a long-tailed deer without antlers. And recently found fossils back up the idea, which pushes aside the theory that the hippo might be the whale’s closest land relative. See what you think. Check out the origins research, which includes diagrams and family trees.
Every year around this time, the online indie-music magazine Pitchfork publishes its picks of the 50 best albums of the year. Test your indie pedigree by seeing how many of the albums you own -- or just how many artists you've heard of. A twist for 2007 is that you can vote for your favorite album as well.
Pitchfork is well-known for its thoughtfully written reviews. It's also a great place to check up on news about musicians who don't usually show up on mainstream radars.
We've had a few storms already, and predictions are that we'll have more this winter. After last winter's dry spell and because of Californians' inexperience driving in the rain, here are some pointers to keep you safe on wet roads.
You've no doubt heard by now that Peter Jackson, the Academy Award winning director, is on board to make "The Hobbit" in two movies. You'll be able to dress up and wait in line for midnight showings twice more if all goes to plan -- once in 2009 and again in 2010. Get all the dirt on Middle-earth's return to the big screen at the official "Hobbit" blog.
The first three hours are critical once a child is abducted. You can possibly help save a child with a cell phone and by signing up here. By entering your local zip code(s), you will receive a text message and are only notified when there is an alert in your area.
Sen. Joe Lieberman — the Democrat-turned-independent who was Al Gore’s running mate in 2000 — is crossing party lines yet again. This time, he’s siding with a Republican, endorsing Arizona Sen. John McCain in the upcoming presidential election. Wondering who else has endorsed McCain? Consult this list of Congress members’ druthers among White House candidates. You might also want to know who state politicians have sided with.
A law allowing deer and elk hunts to continue indefinitely on Santa Rosa Island (part of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California) is in Congress’ sights. Passed last year, the law isn’t likely to survive the week. Sen. Dianne Feinstein has included a repeal in a spending bill that could pass the House momentarily and the Senate within several days. Find out more about the island at a site that includes a slide show of its landscape, visitor information and fun facts. (Did you know the world’s most complete pygmy mammoth specimen was found there in 1994?)
Wish Google had a little more sass? Meet Ms. Dewey. A quirky site that puts a face on the traditional search engine, Ms. Dewey may take a little longer to return your results, but she’ll entertain you in the meantime.
The things you can do with a hula hoop, a little talent and lots of flexibility. Just ask Elena Lev, with the Cirque du Soleil, who manages to twirl a hula hoop while barely moving and folding her body into impossible positions at the same time. Check out the video and see for yourself.
You can still buy tickets for Cirque's Corteo show plays until Dec. 23 in Orange County.
You can soar like an eagle. Meet Tilly, a specially trained golden eagle who wears two cameras weighing less than two ounces on her back as she soars and swoops through beautiful countryside, floating on air currents, searching for food.