Today, It's Tidbits

Nothing particularly meaty today. Just a few tidbits I find interesting.

• The death penalty in Mexico was officially abolished on Friday, December 9. The Mexican legal system has not executed anyone since 1961
  
• The Muslim Brotherhood took almost 20 percent of the Egyptian parliamentary elections, the results of which were published on December 9
  
• This is a great video clip...a dog apparently trained to feign anger at the encroachment of its own foot! (a fast connection is needed to view it--my DSL at home would never play it all the way through...it kept interrupting to download more of the file). There are lots of videos available to view at www.zippyvideos.com, for people who have nothing to do but watch mindless video clips...I was not the one who stumbled across this one. I found it, of all places, on the Al Jazeera website.
  
• According to a woman who is pursuing a doctorate in animal behavior, the sound of a dog panting is equivalent to a human laughing...and she has demonstrated that playing that reassuring sound over loadspeakers at an animal shelter reduced dogs' stress dramatically.
  
• You can get news from down-under online from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and from the Special Broadcasting Service.
  
• You can access current cloud-cover and rainfall reports on virtually any city in the world at www.fallingrain.com
  
• A beta test of a combination mapping/bird's eye view photo location software in available at http://local.live.com/. Type in an address (U.S. only), then you can select road or aerial view. Interesting. Fast connection helpful.
  
• I am going to New York City twice next year, the first time in January to particpate in a trade show and again in October for a client's annual conference. I've been astounded by the cost of hotels...and concerned that the $349 rate we got for the client conference was not low enough...until I read this article.
  
• On December 11, 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave complete legislative independence to the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
  
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