Five years ago today...iPhone unveiled.

From the Writer's Almanac...


It was five years ago today that Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone to an audience at Apple's annual Macworld expo. Taking the stage in his trademark jeans and black turtleneck, Apple chairman Jobs said that it was a day he'd been looking forward to for two and a half years, because he had three revolutionary products to introduce. A widescreen iPod with touch control and a "breakthrough Internet communications device" and a "revolutionary mobile phone," all in one device.

The iPhone was the first "smartphone" to use touch-screen technology, and was the first to access the Internet with full Web-browsing capabilities. Jobs demonstrated the device's capabilities by calling up Google Maps to find a nearby Starbucks, then prank called it to order 4,000 lattes to go.

The iPhone wasn't for sale until June, when it was available in two versions of differing memory for $499 and $599. But on this day of its unveiling, Apple's shares skyrocketed from $7 to over $92.

What teachers have learned from what our country has learned from 9/11

Find some weaker people.  Tell them they're not doing what you want.  Hurt them.  Second choice: Humiliate them.

The Elements

Everyone loves Tom Leher, right?!

Defensive Omnivore Bingo

This I like.  Thanks, Not Wendy.

I'm certain the world is coming to an end this week

The end times are upon us.  There's no question.

Sign #1:

A 10-year-old student "threatened other students" with a slice of pizza that had bites out of it in a way that made it look like a gun.

RESULT: Six days eating alone at the 'silent table' and WAIT FOR IT... he has to meet with a school resource officer to learn about gun safety.  I hope they cover both cover both sausage pizza guns as well as pepperoni pizza guns.  Better safe than sorry, I always say.

Sign #2:

A 9-year-old student was suspended for sexual harassment for calling a teacher "cute" last month.

RESULT: Suspended for two days.  Let's double check...yep, he's 9.


Sign #3: 

7th grade student Je'Terra Bowie was suspended for allegedly touching her teacher with a pencil by accident as she reached back to stretch.

"I didn't know she stopped behind me," Bowie told WDIV. "She stopped, and I stretched back. I turned back and said, 'Sorry. I didn't mean to.'"

RESULT: In case you missed it: SUSPENDED.

All of these are in one article here.

Where will you find Jesus this holiday season?

I can't believe I almost missed this "whole stack of Jesuses" piece from Swamplot:

Cutting through some 2×6 pine boards he was using to build a table yesterday at the Potetz Home Center in Cleveland, Texas, carpenter Eddie Fregia found Jesus. Or at least what appeared to be an image of Jesus. A long-haired, bearded figure was revealed in a knot Fregia cut through in the hardware supply store’s woodshop, 50 miles north of Houston. “It looked a lot like J.C.,” Fregia tells the Cleveland Advocate. “Either J.C. or my brother.” Fregia notified a coworker and his boss, and they agreed with Fregia’s assessment, though manager Kenny Rogers later told reporter Cassie Gregory that someone else who examined the knot said it looked more like musician and movie director Rob Zombie.

* * *

Various slices of the board apparently revealed slightly different Jesus-like images. “We had a whole stack of Jesuses,” Rogers joked to Gregory. Fregia cut off the end of the piece of wood with the clearest image and took it home with him. He says his wife might take it to theLighthouse Church at Moss Hill in Hardin this Sunday, to show around.

• Jesus knot found in Cleveland [Cleveland Advocate] 

Photo: Cassie Gregory, Cleveland Advocate

Read more…

5 Best Toys of All Time | GeekDad | Wired.com

Not much needs to be added to this wonderful post by Jonathan Liu.

Dirt, Stick, String, Cardboard Tube, Box.

The 5 Best Toys of All Time | GeekDad | Wired.com

Scan the comments for the runners up and tips on liberating your kids (and saving your wallet) by various offerings of these and others.