Blogging regulations require that we post this notice about how the great state of Florida now requires vending machines to have this self-referential notice.

Kudos to the bureaucrats of Florida, who came up with such ingenious plan to create regulations, seemingly for regulations' sake. On another note, how would people know who to call to report a missing notice, if the phone number is on the notice itself? Link - via The Agitator and Metafilter

The Washington County school district in Florida has a little problem with inconsistent attendance. After weighing their options, school officials decided to place finger scanners at the entrance to Chipley High School, where incoming students are scanned in each morning. Because most kids in the district ride buses every day, and because keeping track of everyone in the halls is difficult, the system will be moved to select buses for a trial period to determine if it’s a more efficient way to save time and to ensure students are accounted for from the time they arrive until they’re dropped off at home.

The program has been in place for about two months, and so far, attendance is up–but not everyone is happy about it.

Identity theft

There are questions about the security of a device that reads a fingerprint, “which is a unique, identifiable piece of information,” and then “stores it in a database, and links it to a name” (Kelly Hodgkins, Gizmodo). Being that the students are mostly minors, it’s a legitimate concern, and one that Washington Co. Schools Superintendent Sandra Cook is quick to dismiss: There are only four or five points recorded in each scan, which are translated into a 60-digit passcode. “We can’t go backwards with it. We can’t turn around and take that number and recreate the points on a finger.” (DailyMotion)

$$$

The scanners cost about $22,000. Per student, this breaks down to about $30 a year each, which is a problem for some parents, and an expense they say the school doesn’t need. But Clay Dillow at PopSci thinks it’ll all come out in the wash: “At $30 per student per year, the system isn’t necessarily cheap. But considering the uptick in attendance (which means more money from the state in many districts) and the inherent increase in accountability and student safety, it may well be worth the cost.”

1984?

Even accounting for privacy, security and the cost, isn’t it “kinda Orwellian that the school wants you to flash your fingerprint before you can learn”? And what does it say about the district schools? As Micheal Trei at DViCE comments, “it seems like a sad commentary if you need to treat students like prisoners to get them to attend.”

But Superintendent Cook has no concerns. “When it’s all said and done, we’re going to find that this is going to be one of the most monumental things that Washington County has ever done,” she says. And parents can always opt out by signing a waiver and having their children check in with a teacher each morning.

What do you think? Is it too “Big Brother” to ask students to scan a finger for attendance, or is this just an example of technology improving an inefficient process?

Sources:

• Finger Scan Devices Coming to Washington County School Buses
• Are Fingerprint Scanners Really Necessary On School Buses?
• A Florida School District is Taking Attendance by Scanning Students’ Fingers
• Florida schools are using fingerprint scanners to track students
• New Finger Scanning Programs Being Used At Washington Co. High School In Chipley

Image: pcstelcom.com

Reknowned distance swimmer Diana Nyad {wiki} is almost 62 years old. But she is swimming today, off the coast of Cuba, heading to Key West. She entered the water just before Sunset last night. This time, instead of a shark cage, she will be surrounded by an electronic shark deterrent. The swim, if successful, is expected to take 60 hours. Link

CNN has an interactive map with which you can follow her progress. Link

Update: Nyad abandoned her attempt about halfway through. Link

Barry Estabrook of Politics of the Plate blog has the inside story of the dirty little secrets of supermarket tomato over at NPR:

… the tomatoes you see in those supermarkets have been bred for high yields and durability, not flavor. "As a farmer once said — an honest farmer — ‘I don’t get paid a cent for flavor,’" Estabrook says.

There’s an even darker side to the modern commercial tomato, too, he says. Up until recently, workers on many of Florida’s vast industrial tomato farms were basically slaves. "People being bought and sold like animals," Estabrook says. "People being shackled in chains. People being beaten for either not working hard enough, fast enough, or being too weak or sick to work. People actually being shot and killed for trying to escape. That sounds like 1850′s slavery to me, and that, in fact, is going on, or has gone on."

Estabrook adds that there have been seven successful slavery prosecutions in Florida in the past 15 years.

Link (Photo: Robert Browman)

An engraved bone, believed to be from a mastodon, giant sloth or mammoth, may be the oldest example of primitive art ever found in the Americas. The carved bone features the depiction of an ancient mammoth, and was discovered by an amateur fossil hunter in Florida, in an area near Vero Beach where other mammoth bones have recently been found. The archaeological team working on carbon dating the bone feel that it is at least 13,000 years old, and that the etching must be at least that old as well.

Link

The chickens are pretty smart and fast so they are hard to catch, according to some of the chasers.

“The chickens, this is their woods,” chicken chaser Clayton Keene said. ”They go underneath houses and cars and in trees. They know where to escape from you.”

What happens to the chickens once they are caught?

Some will be donated to schools for agriculture projects and others may be donated to charity organizations so they can be used for food.

Bay News 9 has more: Link

How and why the piano got there is a mystery. A grand piano weighs at least 650 pounds and is unwieldly to move, said Bob Shapiro, a salesman at Piano Music Center in Pembroke Park. “You don’t take it out there in a rowboat,” Shapiro said.

This much is clear, however: The piano isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Unless it becomes a danger to wildlife or boaters, authorities have no plans to haul it away.

“We are not responsible for removing such items,” said Jorge Pino, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Even a car can become a habitat for wildlife. Unless the item becomes a navigational hazard, the Coast Guard would not get involved.”

Even though the piano remains above water even at low high tide, no music has been heard from it. Link -via Arbroath

(Image credit: Alison Diaz/Miami Herald)

Update: Looks like the person responsible has been found. Read about it at NeatoBambino.

Link – Via J-Walk

Before he became one of FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives, Osama bin Laden was actually a frequent tourist to the United States, visiting family in Florida. Now, Osama’s family mansion lies empty as you can see in this fascinating post about abandoned homes of the world’s "super villains", over at Dark Roasted Blend:

This house was the residence of Bin Laden’s nephew in Florida. Osama was a frequent guest there. 17+ acres, 1.5 million dollars, built in the 1920s … Not much is known about the house itself. As for why is it abandoned: according to this source, the government flew the nephew and his family out right after 9/11 (or not). The house spent a few years on the market, but there were no taker

Link

Home video shot by Tampa residents and broadcast on local TV stations shows the macaque rummaging through trash bins, scaling walls in a single bound, even hanging out poolside and swiping fruit.

On at least a dozen occasions Florida Fish and Wildlife officials shot the plucky primate with tranquilizer darts. Increasingly large doses barely fazed him. One professional trapper, hunting the monkey, wondered whether the monkey had become a “drug addict.”

The monkey’s origin is still unknown. Link -via Environmental Graffiti -Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!

A military fort, out in the ocean, with a moat! Fort Jefferson is a part of Dry Tortugas National Park in the waters off of Key West, Florida. Construction on the “fort in the middle of nowhere” was started in 1846. It was originally meant for the defense of the US, but during the 30 years of construction, some design features became obsolete for that purpose.

During and after the Civil War the fort began to be used as a prison for deserters and other criminals. In 1874 the army completely abandoned the fort after several hurricanes and a yellow fever epidemic, and it wasn’t until 1898 that the military returned in the form of the navy, which used the facilities during the Spanish-American War. The fort was also used from 1888 through 1900 as a quarantine station, and was garrisoned again briefly during World War I.

Link -via TYWKIWDBI

(Image credit: National Park Service)

For just $75 million and change, this 30-bedroom, 23-bath home near Orlando, Florida could be yours. It comes with a children’s theater, a roller rink, a baseball field, two tennis courts, three swimming pools, 11 kitchens, and a 20-car garage, and each of the 23 bathrooms has a fabulous view and a Jacuzzi. Who owns such a palace?  A time-share mogul. He and his Florida beauty-queen wife, who employ a team of five nannies to take care of their kids, call the house "Versailles." According to The Telegraph, they’ve already had some interest from potential buyers in Russia and Asia, despite the fact that the house isn’t finished and will require another $25 million in construction costs before anyone can move it.

Local estate agent Kelly Price said “Versailles will probably be a house that will appeal to the uber-wealthy that don’t ever think about the issues of money.

“It might be a second or third. For all we know, it could be a seventh or eighth home.”

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

The gem castle was made in Italy and contains over 2000 semi precious stones including jade, agate, rose quartz, tiger’s eye, and malachite. The castle was once owned by the founder of Ethan Allen, Nat Ancell. It had been lost for years until it turned up in an old Ethan Allen warehouse in 1994.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.

Check out the ten tallest lighthouses in the United States. These are all beautiful structures to see and most are open to the public and allow visitors to climb to the top for amazing views.

Today all these lighthouses are automated but in the old days the lighthouse keepers had to climb the stairs to the top at least twice a day. That’s well over 200 steps and if you have ever climbed one of these tallest lighthouses it’s a workout especially on the legs.

Three of the lighthouses are in North Carolina while New Jersey, Virginia and Florida each have two and the last one is in New York.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by hemlcok.

How many cities in Florida can you name? If you can name the twenty biggest cities in Florida in five minutes or less, you deserve a star! If you get half of them, you’ll be considered a winner. Try your hand in this Lunchtime Quiz from mental_floss, and let us know how you did. Or, if you prefer to name the biggest twenty cities in California or Texas instead, you’ll find links to those quizzes as well. I got over half, then I was stumped. I should take a vacation! Link

Thomas said that over the decades, she has never had a power outage that would destroy the cold hunk she says is precious to her.

“It’s just like a little pet,” she said.

Thomas made the snowball during a rare Florida snowfall 33 years ago. Link -via Fark

“I knew of a gentleman who was collecting them off the street and throwing them in the back of his station wagon, and all of a sudden these things are coming alive, crawling on his back and almost caused a wreck,” Magill said.

The stories of “kamikaze iguanas” plummeting from trees were urban legends in Florida, but now have a plausible explanation. Link (with video)

This is why I will never get a tattoo:

TAMPA – It wasn’t particularly hard for the victims of a Riverview home invasion to identify the burglar. He was the only one with an outline of the state of Florida tattooed on his face, authorities say.

In addition to the Florida tattoo, Sean Roberts also has the words “Crazy Cracker” written or tattooed on his head, Hillsborough County sheriff’s spokesman J.D. Callaway said.

And to think that if he had chosen a rectangular state like Wyoming or Colorado, he could have escaped.

Link via Double Plus Undead

"I had only three pieces in my skillet, and then as I was flipping it. The first letter was a G, a perfect G; and then I got the O, and I thought to myself, how cool will it be if the third letter was a D," said Simoes.

That third letter was a D, and everyone was in shock in her house.

Link – spotted by Neatoramanaut Gauldar over at the Forum

Previously on Neatorama: August: A Busy Month for Religious Sightings!

Police Chief Bill Berger says they are a way for the department to have a bird’s eye view of the semi-rural city at minimal cost.

“Because we don’t have a lot of roadway here, this gives us the ability to basically take short cuts,” said Berger.

The vehicles and training cost $10,000 per officer, which is cost-effective compared to using helicopters. And they have other benefits.

Chief Berger sees the gliders as an ideal tool for searching for missing elderly people who have wandered away.

“The problem with helicopters is you can’t go below 1,000 feet,” said Berger. “The canopy of trees in our community prevented the helicopter from seeing a woman who had [died] close to her car. The paragliders would have been able to get much lower.”

Link -via Fark

(image credit: ABC News)

The unseasonably cold temperatures have caused Florida’s manatees to huddle together for warmth.  You can watch the video in the link, it is quite a sight.

Link – via cnn

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by stevesteve8383.

According to Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Pat Santangelo, thousands of pairs of used shoes mysteriously appeared at 7:42 a.m. on the southbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway between the Bird Road and Miller Drive exits.

Employees of the Florida Department of Transportation’s Road Rangers service, which is meant to provide roadside assistance, managed to push all the shoes into one lane using large brooms.

A private contractor was hired to use a front-end loader to pick up the shoes by the dozen and load them into a large dump truck, Santangelo said.

”At this point, no one’s claimed the shoes,” Santangelo said.

Link