Daily Archives: 4/6/2005

46,368 bottles of beer….

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That’s how many bottles of Keith’s beer were on a truck that flipped according to this article in the Halifax Daily News.

“It is sad,” said Capt. Scott Logan of the Halifax Regional Fire Service. “Chances are they won’t recover any of the beer.”
“I had a tear in my eye, actually, when I was watching it,” said Halifax Regional Police Const. Mark Hobeck. “It was full of beer. We were hoping a Hostess truck full of pretzels would come by, but no such luck.”

That is simultaneously the saddest beer news I have heard, and the greatest quote about beer to come out of a police constables mouth ever.

John Paul II as “The Incredible Popeman”

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The recent passing of Pope John Paul II will be a memory that stays with me for the rest of my life. As I stated in an earlier post, John Paul II was the Pope for the last 26 years, which just so happens to encompass my entire life. He did great things for the world and will forever be known for his good deeds, and his loss is felt by many people of all different religions the world over.

As such I am not really sure how I feel about this article that talks about the release of a comic book in Columbia in which “the pope dies and is reborn with superpowers beyond the infallibility Catholic doctrine gave him on Earth.” The comic book’s artist (Rodolfo Leon)

said he was saddened by the death Saturday of John Paul II, whom he admired. The artist worried some people might be offended by such a revered figure’s becoming a comic book hero, but said the reception so far has been good.

The comic book has apparently been in the works for about a year now and “apart from predominantly Catholic Colombia, the book will be sold in Poland, and publishers in Mexico, Canada and the United States have expressed interest.”

The comic book “shows the late Polish pontiff meeting comic book legends such as Batman and Superman to learn how to use superpowers to battle Satan” and

Like any self-respecting superhero, the Incredible Popeman has a battery of special equipment. Along with his yellow cape and green chastity pants, the muscular super-pontiff wields a faith staff with a cross on top and carries holy water and communion wine.

Well…I guess it could be interesting.

Bionic Eye – Hope for the blind?

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The BBC News has an interesting article about “a revolutionary piece of technology” that has the potential to help the blind see.

A bionic eye “designed by Professor Gislin Dagnelie at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore” was unveiled “at a Royal National Institute for the Blind conference in London on Monday.” The device is comprised of “a computer chip that sits in the back of the individual’s eye, linked up to a mini video camera built into glasses that they wear.”

The breakthrough is likely to benefit patients with the most common cause of blindness, macular degeneration, which affects 500,000 people in the UK.

This occurs when there is damage to the macular, which is in the central part of the retina where light is focused and changed into nerve signals in the middle of the brain.

The implant bypasses the diseased cells in the retina and stimulates the remaining viable cells.

Currently the images produced by the device are far from perfect and the technology has a long way to go, but Professor Dagnelie said:

We are hoping this will be enough for the person to be able to make their way through a building, find a door or window and avoid obstacles for example.

To us, the images look very basic but for someone who was previously blind they are a massive step forward.

This is a great example of technology advancing and bettering society. As a person with bad eyes myself, I know how precious vision is. It would be great if technology were able to help let those who have gone blind see again.