The Second Continental Congress appointed Col. George Washington as General and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army on June 15, 1775. General Washington served in that capacity for eight and a half years before retiring at the end of the American Revolutionary War.
After serving as President of the United States for two terms, Washington retired. But he returned to duty when it appeared that the US would go to war against France. President Adams commissioned Washington as a Lieutenant General in the United States Army on July 3, 1798. Washington held this position until his death on December 14, 1799.
So the highest rank that Washington held in the United States Army was Lieutenant General. To some Americans, it seemed inappropriate that the father of our country would be outranked by any other Army officer.
In 1976, President Ford signed into law a bill that revived a defunct Army rank: General of the Armies of the United States. This rank was superior to all others. The law requested that the President appoint Washington to that rank, which he did. The law also gave Washington precedence over the only other bearer of that rank: John J. Pershing.
Thus, if there is ever a celestial gathering of all officers of the United States Army, George Washington would outrank them all.
Dad has been hard of hearing for years, but he recently got hearing aids, and all of the sudden can hear everything that's going on. The big change was a little jarring for his two sons, who could not remember a time when their father heard so well. DannyTheHamilton wrote a little song about it, and unveiled it when the family was all together for Christmas. It was a big hit! Luckily, his brother TilterMcTilt recorded the whole thing for the rest of us. The lyrics can be found here.
I can well remember when my father got hearing aids and my family went through the same thing -which will probably happen again in the next few years when I break down and get my own aural enhancements. -via reddit
We’ve seen e-readers and libraries without print books. But beyond the obvious proliferation of e-books and fully online information sources, what might we see in the future of libraries? Here are five possibilities.
1. Patron-Driven Acquisition
In library circles, PDA doesn’t stand for “public display of affection” but “patron-driven acquisition.” Collection development librarians select materials for purchase based upon their understanding of the patron base, item reviews and circulation statistics. In a patron-driven acquisition system, patron interest can bypass some of the intermediary work of a collection development librarian and purchase library materials.
PDA is typically used for electronic resources, particularly e-books. A database vendor may offer a certain number of views of an e-book item for free. If enough individual patrons view the item, the library automatically purchases a copy, which is then added to the collection. Vendors and librarians can set up safety mechanisms to ensure that a single patron cannot rig the system to purchase something inappropriate or excessively expensive.
The advantage of patron-driven acquisitions is that a library can respond to shifting patron desires and acquire electronic materials very quickly.
2. Discovery Portals
At most libraries, if you want to effectively search the whole of body of resources, you’ll have to perform several different searches using different tools and different ways of expressing your query. But what if you could use just one search portal that would give you access to everything (or most) that a library has to offer? This is what a discovery service or discovery tool does.
Libraries have had one-stop shopping portals for years, but they’ve generally been awful—especially if you’re searching for an obscure piece of information or information from a particular type of source. They’ve been like convenience stores that offer some basic goods, but have few options beyond them.
Now computer technology has advanced to the point in which programmers have developed portals that can effectively search the breadth and depth of a library’s resources across multiple database platforms that use different search languages and scopes of materials. EBSCO Discovery Service and ProQuest’s Summon are among several competing products in this field.
Once upon a time, libraries commonly offered public internet access for exclusively research purposes. Then they offered internet access for whatever patrons wanted, as well as basic computer applications, such as word processing. Now many libraries offer document scanners, and computers with photo editing and computer-aided design software. Libraries are giving people access to tools that they wouldn’t otherwise have so that patrons may create things that are important to them.
Patrick Stewart, the actor who played Captain Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation, married his girlfriend, Sunny Ozell, this weekend. He tweeted this adorable image of himself and his new bride--one that will be familiar to fans.
Greenland is covered with a sheet of ice, but that hasn't stopped scientists from examining the land beneath. A recent study led by geographer Jonathan Bamber mapped an enormous valley in the interior of the island:
The broad chasm is up to 2,600 feet (800 meters) deep and 6 miles (10 km) wide, similar to America's Grand Canyon in scale, the researchers said. The distinctive V-shaped walls and flat bottom suggests water carved the buried valley, not ice, Bamber said. Though it is not the world's deepest canyon, it's the longest, handily besting the 308-mile-long (496 km) Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon in China.
This is the moral stance that we all can and should aspire to. Sebastien Millon, the artist who drew the comic, notes that "This is not a 6-armed kid. He’s just waving his arms like a psychotic pterodactyl." Either way is just fine.
Capaldi, a 55-year-old actor from Glasgow, will replace Matt Smith as
the time-traveling Doctor. "It's wonderful not to keep this secret
any longer," Capaldi said, "but it's been so fantastic ... For
a while I couldn't tell my daughter who would be looking on the Internet
and discovering that people have been saying so-and-so should be Doctor
Who and she was getting rather upset that they never mentioned me."
Playing the Doctor will actually not be Capaldi's first time starring
in the series. In 2008, he played Roman merchant Caecilius
who escaped the eruption of Mount Vesuvius thanks to intervention by the
Doctor in The Fires of Pompeii episode.
Peter Capaldi as Lucius Caecilius Iucundus - via TARDIS
Data Core
Lead writer and executive producer Steve Moffat, praised Capaldi as "One
of the most talented actors of his generation [who is] about to play the
best part on television."
Some Doctor Who fans, however, question why the current regeneration
breaks the seemingly "ever
younger" regeneration of the Doctor.
The casting choices are perfect: Sterling Archer as Captain Kirk, Lana Kane as Lt. Uhura and Ray Gilette as Lt. Sulu. This funny mashup of Star Trek: The Animated Series and Archer shows a failing starship agency led by a lecherous idiot who manages to succeed in spite of himself.
Ordinary contact lenses will improve your vision, but these My Little Pony lenses will also give you a suave and debonair appearance. Sethistro spotted them on sale at the San Diego Comic Con this year.
Just because you aren’t living in a sitcom or cartoon doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate the many stupid fictional holidays celebrated by your favorite fictional families. Here are a few of the many great holidays that have been created by television writers (and one musician) throughout the years that we should actually start celebrating right away.
What it is: The Dinosaur’s version of a combination between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Refrigerator Day celebrates the dinosaur discovery of a refrigerator, which allowed them to settle down and start families rather than continually roaming in a search for food. To celebrate, the dinosaurs perform a pageant of the first refrigerator day, give gifts to one another, put up festive decorations and enjoy refrigerator carols that are more like commercials for goods and services. Prior to Refrigerator day, everyone is asked to fast for two days.
How to celebrate: We may not be dinosaurs, but we too appreciate the value of a fine refrigerator. Try fasting from refrigerated or frozen foods for two days before the celebration, eating only dehydrated, canned or totally fresh from the farm foods. Since we already have Christmas, don’t go run to the stores to grab expensive presents for your loved ones –instead, give them some great refrigerator artwork or new magnets.
What it is: In Parks and Recreation, only Tom Haverford and Donna Meagle celebrate Treat Yo Self Day, but it sounds delightful. Essentially, once a year the duo treats themselves to clothes, fragrances, massages, mimosas, fine leather goods, Batman costumes or any other thing they so please.
How to celebrate: The key is in the name, my friend. Do something you’ve always wanted to do, despite the cost. Or just splurge on a luxury you tend to deny yourself. Go on a river cruise, enjoy a lobster dinner, pay someone to give you a piggyback all day –whatever you want, just Treat Yo Self.
Mix reality TV and Japanese game shows and throw in the plot of The Truman Show, and you've got this unbelievable true story.
MADE IN JAPAN
In January 1998, a struggling 23-year-old standup comedian known only by his stage name Nasubi (Eggplant) heard about an audition for a mysterious "show-business related job" and decided to try out for it.
The audition was the strangest one he'd ever been to. he producers of the popular Japanese TV show called Susunu! Denpa Sho-Nen (Don't Go For It, Electric Boy!) were looking for someone who was willing to be locked away in a one-bedroom apartment for however long it took to win a million yen (then the equivalent of about $10,000) worth of prizes in magazine contests.
Cameras would be set up in the apartment, and if the contestant was able to win the prizes, the footage would be edited into a segment called "Sweepstakes Boy." The contestant would be invited on the show to tell his story, and, with any luck, the national TV exposure would give a boost to his career. That was it- that was the reward (along with the magazine prizes).
SUCH A DEAL
As if that wasn't a weak enough offer, there was a catch -the contestant would have to live off the prizes he won. The apartment would be completely empty, and the contestant wouldn't be allowed to bring anything with him -no clothes, no food, no nothing. If we wanted to wear clothes, he had to win those, too. Nasubi passed the audition and agreed to take the job.
On the day of the contest, the producers blindfolded him and took him to a tiny one-bedroom apartment in an undisclosed location somewhere in Tokyo. The apartment was furnished with a magazine rack and thousands of neatly stacked postcards (for entering the contests), as well as a table, a cushion to sit on, a telephone, notepads, and some pens. Other than that, it was completely empty.
Nasubi stripped naked and handed his clothes and other personal effects to the producers. He stepped into the apartment, the door was locked behind him, and his strange adventure began.
