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San Diego bay cruise boat crashes into pier

3/31/2016

SAN DIEGO --Several people were hurt when a bay cruise boat crashed into a dock in downtown San Diego on Thursday afternoon,

San Diego Fire-Rescue officials said there were a number of injuries when the 150-foot Adventure Hornblower ship hit the G Street Pier shortly before 1 p.m.

Several potentially serious injuries were reported, Fire Capt. Joe Amador said. Some of the patients were carried off the vessel on stretchers, according to KFMB reporter Shannon Handy.

Nathan Finneman: 10 STARTLING IMAGES OF NEW YORK IN THE 1980S THAT SHOW HOW FAR WE'VE COME

3/30/2016

Testing the new K40 RLS2 Radar / Laser Detector

3/29/2016

Breed of Speed recently got the privilege to test the new K40 Electronics RLS2 laser/radar detector. As usual with any product I was skeptical, lets be real, there are dozens of company's out there that claim a product does one thing, when in reality it does another. Not to be rude but I expected this to be just another radar detector that picks up a cop when it's already too late. I was wrong, very wrong.

But first lets start with the quality, I tend to take a product basis of quality just from how it comes from the company. The box was packaged and laid out nicely. It was simple and straight to the point.

I like when a layout of a product is easy to figure out and not just bundled into one big grouping of complexity. The last thing one wants to deal with is figuring out which part goes where. This was convenient and simple. The package came with the usual owners manual, registration car, detector, power cord and mounting suction cup.

The owners manual was easy to read, laid out all the options needed. Frankly the detector itself is so incredibly easy to use, one could easily go without the manual to use it. However there are some pretty amazing features in this little detector. Which are clearly laid out.

After installing the RLS2 and powering it up, it did the usual radar detectors chime and symphony of digital sounds. Then it did something I'm not use to in a radar detector. It prompted GPS connected. This was a first for me and I was intrigued. Turns out when its connected to a GPS it moniters your speed, marks typical police positions of speed traps are at and remembers these for future references. That was an aspect that definitely took it up a notch. Now it was time for the actual test drive.

Denver Colorado has it's share of both speed cameras and speed traps conducted by officers. My goal was to go out and find a couple of these bundles of frustration, for us speeders. The car of choice was my 2001 BMW M5, something that tends to entice me to go beyond the speed limit. Now the great thing about this detector is the options it offers, you can do City mode, which makes detection less sensitive. Highway mode inhibits more sensitivity to K-Band and Laser. The great thing is, a cop has both a handle held speed monitering system as well as one built into the car that is constantly running. This detector picks up both, shows the direction in which the signal is coming from, and displays the speed in which you are driving.

Today's preferred choice of speed measuring by officers is usually Laser. Laser has been a challenge for speeders due to one aspect, if the officer tags your car, your speed is returned to the cop's speed gun instantaneous. Unlike K-band which had a delay.
Now this is where the RLS2 was put to the test. I knew of a speed trap in the area, where officers usually hid behind a pole and ran laser at an area where drivers usually sped. Sure enough as I drove by there he was (photo was just an example). So I drove down a good distance, turned on the RLS2 and turned around in the path of the officer. I expected the detector to go off an warn me as I got closer, but after I turned it on it was already warning me, and I was surprisingly quite far away from the speed trap. I drove in his path, 1/4 mile away, the radar detector was going off like crazy. It showed both the direction of the officer, aswell as what he was shooting with. This is where I was impressed, I couldn't believe how far away I was from the speed trap yet the detector was going off as if I was right next to the officers.
Now the last test was to find a cop not running a speed gun but driving in his car, as most detectors will not pick up on this. It took me a few minutes but I spotted a cop driving onto the highway on ramp. I was maybe less than 500 yards behind him and the detector was warning me of K-band and the intensity aswell. I was downright impressed.

So whats our verdict on this little guy? For the price of this detector compared to the cost of a speeding ticket today? There's not doubt this is the route to go. Its easy to use, it gets the job done, and comes with features that sets it a bar above the rest. Of course with pro's comes cons to everything. I didn't like how the detector didn't have auto-power down when I turned my car off that would of been nice, Items such as it seemed to pick up signals of a cop when there was none in sight came into play even with sensitivity turned down. However these are quite minor aspects to consider. I frankly would rather have a overly sensitive detector than one that doesn't pick out a cop parked directly behind you. The product is great, the support team behind the product is even greater. They really are on the ball. It's easy to use, its powerful, and its nice to have that security when your going a few mph more that you should. Oh yeah did we forget to tell you, that K40 guarantee's you drive ticket free, if you get speeding ticket they will pay it.
Well done K40, we approve. -Breed of Speed

A terrifying video of two coaches trapped by “shooting rocks” in Pakistan

3/28/2016

Youtube has an amazing and terrifying video of two coaches trapped by “shooting rocks” – very high velocity rockfalls – on the Karakorum Highway in Pakistan. These boulders, some of which are very large, have managed to get into the high velocity, bouncing mode that is so dangerous:

Particularly impressive is the boulder at the 28 second point, shown below. This boulder has entered the mode of movement in which it is rotating around its short axis, allowing very large bounces and high velocities to develop. It is a good thing this did not strike the coaches:

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It is not clear as to where this occurred on the Karakorum Highway, but fortunately there were no casualties. It must have been terrifying for those on the buses though.

Hundreds Of Cuban Refugees Clinging To Air Force One On Flight Back To U.S.

3/23/2016

Hundreds of Cuban refugee's cling to the wings of Air Force One as it departs Cuba this morning. Sources say the President made a statement indicating he told anyone who could hold on the entire flight back to the US would be granted citizenship. Reports of refugees strapping themselves to various parts of the plane and surviving have been confirmed, aswell as dozens others making a splash in the ocean as the 747 departed Havana.

These 13 Google Chrome hacks will change the way you use the internet

3/16/2016

Since it debuted in 2008, Google Chrome has quickly risen to be the most popular web browser in the world, beating out Firefox and Internet Explorer.

But that doesn't mean you can't make it better.

There are many extensions and programs that innovative developers have built to make using Chrome more productive and more fun. With them, you can save articles to read anywhere, learn a new language, save money while shopping, and even improve your writing.

And the beauty is that they don't actually require you to put in any extra work.

These 13 extensions and apps can help you streamline your Chrome browsing and help you do things you didn't even know were possible. Read on to become a Google Chrome expert:

Honey automatically searches for coupon codes and sales whenever you are checking out online. Just click the Honey button and it will scour the web and apply coupon codes to your shopping cart. It's basically just free money.

Pocket is an easy way to save any article to read later — on your phone, tablet, or computer. If you come across an article — or any website — you don't have time to read right then, hit the Pocket extension and that article will end up in your Pocket queue. You can access this from any of your devices.

Download Pocket here.

Language Immersion is an ingenious Chrome extension that tries to simulate what it's like to be immersed in a foreign language. It works by switching random words and phrases from English into a language of your choice — you can always click them to put them back into English. This allows you to passively practice your new language while you are doing other things.

Download Language Immersion here.

Panic Button is a hilarious extension that lets you hide all of your tabs with the click of a button. If someone comes around who you would rather not let see what you were looking at, instead of quitting Chrome altogether, just hit the Panic Button.

This is useful for two reasons. First, it's less sketchy that someone seeing your browser quickly shutting down, and second, it saves the sites you were on in a separate folder. When the coast is clear, you can restore them and get back to whatever you were doing.

Download Panic Button here.

Google Mail Checker is a no-brainer for anyone who sends and receives email on a daily basis. The extension is wonderful in its simplicity, and shows you how many unread messages are in your inbox without your having to click or tab over and check.

Download Google Mail Checker here.

Adblock Plus is one of the most popular and well-made ad-blocking extensions.

The extension removes annoying things like banner ads and pop-ups from your web experience. That may seem like a slight difference, but visiting some sites that tend to be bogged down, especially with pop-ups, can be liberating. But if you do choose to use it, make sure to "white list" sites you feel don't have an intrusive ad experience — especially those who make their money on advertising revenue.

AdBlock Plus also works with Safari, Opera, and Firefox if you don't have Chrome.

Download Adblock Plus here.

OneTab is a lifesaver for anyone who keeps a lot of tabs open. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, OneTab will take them and turn them into a list, organized by date. This also frees up your computer's memory for other things.

Download OneTab here.

Simple Blocker is great if you're the type of person who gets easily distracted by Facebook or Twitter. This extension allows you to block access to certain domains for a given period of time (from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., for example). It was designed with students in mind, but is really useful for anyone with a penchant for procrastination.

Download Simple Blocker here.

Chrome Remote Desktop gives you the magical ability to access other computers from your own and vice versa. Left a file at work? Connect via Remote Desk and grab it. It's also an easy way to share your screen with someone else if there's a problem.

Download Chrome Remote Desktop here.

Search by Image helps you easily identify things you see in pictures online. It is basically Google Images in reverse, letting you start a Google search from any image you find on the web. This is especially useful for identifying a location or unfamiliar landmark.

Download Search by Image here.

Chrome to Mobile is an easy way to take whatever you're working on with you when you leave the office. The extension lets you take live web pages and work on the go by replicating your desktop browser experience on your smartphone.

It works offline, too, in case you need to get stuff done in a dead zone.

Download Chrome to Mobile here.

MightyText does what iMessage has been letting Mac users do for a while: Send texts from a computer to other phones. Like iMessage, the extension gives you a nice notification when you receive a message. Until MightyText, there was no easy way to communicate from your computer to Android phones.

Download MightyText here.

Have you ever sent an email right before realizing there was a typo in it? That's what Grammarly is for. The extension looks for misspellings and improves the quality of your writing. And it's not just for Gmail. Grammarly works on social media, too.

Download Grammarly here.

See an Unforgettable Dive With Massive Blue Whales

3/10/2016

Three freedivers swam alongside blue whales in Sri Lanka, and they have amazing photos to prove it.A group of divers recently had the experience of a lifetime while diving in Sri Lanka when they came face-to-face with a huge pygmy blue whale. The humongous whales can reach over 78 feet in length. Luckily, the divers managed to capture some incredible photographs of the animals.

The freedivers — Alex Voyer, Alex Roubaud and Marianne Aventurier — spent 40 hours in the water to catch some brief moments with the majestic creatures. Enjoy their images here.

One of the largest animals in the worldBefore the second meeting, the group had begun to lose hope that they would have another encounter. “The second meeting took place after 10 unsuccessful water releases," Aventurier says. "I was planning my return to the boat when suddenly I found myself nose-to-nose with her! She swam toward me. I shifted, seeking her eyes — not easy to find in such large animals! She is covered with remora, she is sublime.”

Pro Skier Candide Thovex Has One of the Most Insane Runs You’ll Ever See

2/25/2016

French professional skier Candide Thovex is back with yet another clip that showcases just how insanely talented he is. After recently seeing him haul ass down a mountain with no snow, Thovex proves once again that the perfect conditions aren’t exactly necessary. Here, Candide starts in what seems to be at least decent powder, but then ends up skiing through water and over-top grass and rocks, all while taking on incredible jumps and landing outrageous tricks. Watch the video below!

NASA Knows How to Land People on Mars Inside a Month

2/23/2016

NASA knows a way to get humans to Mars in about a month, and to land unmanned probes in just three days.

In a NASA 360 video University of California Santa Barbara professor Philip Lubin describes the process of "photonic propulsion." It involves propelling objects with mass-free particles of light (photons). Basically, pushing spaceships with a great, big laser.

Lubin explains that the proposed system would require about the same amount of energy as the upcoming Space Launch System to get to "relativistic speeds." Which is to say speeds matching a significant percentage of the speed of light. In this case, 30 percent in about 10 minutes.

That speed is totally unheard of as far as human technology goes. And at a relatively reasonable energy cost, it sounds too good to be true. So what's the catch? According to Lubin there doesn't appear to be one. At least none that we couldn't overcome.

"There is no known reason why we could not do this," Lubin says in the video.

Lubin has a far more detailed roadmap on the subject, if you're interested in the specifics. Though the broad benefit is this: at that speed we could scout, and perhaps one day reach potentially habitable exoplanets light years away from Earth.

Australian skier chased by snow leopard while skiing

2/23/2016

Yes, you read that right and we have the video to prove it.

Aussie Owen Lansbury got the fright of his snow loving life when he, his guide Dave and Hotham ski patroller Bill Barker from Bills Trips in Gulmarg got chased down by a snow leopard. Check out the video below
Crazy, right? Makes you want to go to Gulmarg to ski powder with big cats.“OK – so the story is we skied our first powder line and the guide in yellow almost ran over the leopard” said Owen on his Facebook page.

“I stopped just as it huddled in the snow, where it stayed for about a minute checking us out. It then let out a solid roar and bounded away down the slope towards Dave, but scooted off into the forest, where we think it probably had a kill stashed. Pretty amazing experience!”

And here’s a still image for the obsessed (that’s me). Look at that cat stalk it’s prey! Here kitty kitty kitty.