The latest “Sesame Street” Muppets to be featured on Google.com this week are the famous duo, Bert and Ernie.

Ernie and Bert

Search engine Google is honoring “Sesame Street’s” 40^th anniversary with a series of special doodles on its logo.  Big Bird was featured on Wednesday, and Cookie Monster was featured on Thursday.

“Sesame Street” will celebrate its big anniversary on November 10, 2009.  To see highlights of the upcoming 40^th season, click here.

The “Sesame Street” Muppets have also made several TV appearances this week, including “Today” on NBC Friday morning.

With a few more days to go before the anniversary celebration, Google will likely honor a few more “Sesame Street” Muppets on its page. Which Muppets would you like to see? Share your comments below.

Actor Jim Carrey’s bizarre new web site is getting a lot of attention.

Jim Carrey (AP)

The site, JimCarrey.com, allows fans to “Explore the eccentric, psychedelic corners of Jim Carrey’s mind on his official site. Discover archived appearances and movie trailers, behind the scenes clips, family photos and even notes from Jim himself!”  Cinematical.com found the meta-description in the web site’s source code.

The site itself is hard to navigate, but the movie-inspired pictures are very intriguing.  Once fans do find their way around the site, they’ll discover such highlights as a bird with Carrey’s head, which leads to his Twitter account; a man who pops up and snaps a photo, which leads to photos of Carrey’s life; and a trailer for Carrey’s new movie, “A Christmas Carol.”

To check out the site and see what all of the rave is about, click here.

Big Bird google symbol

The google logo has changed today showing Big Bird to celebrate Sesame Street’s 40th birthday.

Google celebrates anniversaries, birthdays, and special events by changing the google logo for that day. On Einstein’s birthday last month, a small photo of Einstein’s head was displayed next to the google symbol.

To celebrate Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary, Michelle Obama is scheduled to appear in the first episode and she will talk about gardening and eating healthy.

Blockade Noise Isolating Earbuds are $14.99. Are the Blockade Noise Isolating Earbuds an alternative to expensive earbuds sold by companies such as Bose? Blockade Noise Isolating Earbuds could be a great alternative, but many people are skeptical.

 Blockade’s earbuds are noise “isolating” wheras expensive counterparts are noise “canceling.”  There is a difference between the two.  Noise canceling earbuds require batteries, as they contain electronics inside that cover up outside noise with white noise.

 Noise “isolating” earbuds, however, are nothing more than rubber tips jammed in your ears.  Blockade calls this a “triple flange noise isolating system.” There are no batteries, and the Blockade Noise Isolating Earbuds probably aren’t as comfy as the Bose QuietComfort earbuds.

 The Blockade Noise Isolating Earbuds do have some benefits, however.  They have a hearing-saving volume limiter.  The earbuds won’t let you listen to anything above 91 decibels.

 Some say that Apple’s stock earphones produce a better overall sound.  Those that are sound connoisseurs should probably stick to more expensive earphones.  However, those with a limited budget may find the Blockade Noise Isolating Earbuds a great Christmas gift for a kid or teenager that wants expensive Bose earbuds.

A new advertising campaign for DirecTV featuring the late comedian and actor, Chris Farley, has many viewers saying it is insensitive to use a deceased celebrity to sell a product.

Tommy Boy

DirecTV has a series of ads that feature stars reprising famous movie roles.  Their latest ad features Farley, who died in 1997 of heart failure due to an overdose, in a scene from the movie, “Tommy Boy.”

DirecTV was also under fire last year when they used a clip of actress Heather O’Rourke in “Poltergeist.” O’Rourke died in 1988 at the age of 12 (read more here). 

The new ad with “Tommy Boy,” however, also stars actor David Spade. Spade (via his publicist) spoke out on the ad to Asylum.com.

“When DIRECT TV came to me and the Farley family with this idea about ‘Tommy Boy,’ we talked and thought it would be a cool way to remind people just how funny Chris was. It is a clever homage to my friend and a movie that we loved doing,” said Spade.

“We should look to Chris’ family and friends for the ultimate opinion on this subject. They were involved from the beginning of this project and felt that the spot was a great to tribute to Chris,” a representative for DirecTV said.

The commercial with O’Rourke also had the family involved.

“Heather’s mother not only approved” the commercial, said Jon Gieselman, senior vice president for advertising and public relations at DirecTV, in a New York Times interview last year.  “She also commented that Heather’s inclusion was a wonderful tribute to her daughter.”

View the commercials here:

Chris Farley DirecTV ad

Heather O\’Rourke DirecTV ad

What do you think about using deceased celebrities for an ad campaign? Share your comments below.

Many people have been wondering when Daylight Saving Time (DST)  is scheduled for this fall.  Mark your calendars (if they aren’t already) for Sunday, November 1, 2009, at 2 a.m.

Daylight Saving Time

There has been some confusion about the “fall back” time for DST 2009. In the past, the time change happened on the last Sunday in October. The time change now happens on the first Sunday in November.

Remember to change your clocks, but be careful as some clocks on cell phones, computers, etc., are programmed to change automatically for DST.  Also, to add more confusion, some computers and electronic devices may have already been programmed to change on the last Sunday in October.  So double-check that your clocks have the correct time.

So what is DST? Here is a description from TimeandDate.com:

Daylight Saving Time (or summertime as it is called in many countries) is a way of getting more light out of the day by advancing clocks by one hour during the summer. During Daylight Saving Time, the sun appears to rise one hour later in the morning, when people are usually asleep anyway, and sets one hour later in the evening, seeming to stretch the day longer.

The reason DST works is because its saves energy due to less artificial light needed during the evening hours—clocks are set one hour ahead during the spring, and one hour back to standard time in the autumn. Many countries observe DST, and many do not.

Note: Between March–April through September–November, it is summer in the northern hemisphere, where many countries may observe DST, while in the southern hemisphere it is winter. During the rest of the year the opposite is true: it is winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern.

Benjamin Franklin first suggested Daylight Saving Time in 1784, but it was not until World War I, in 1916, when it was adopted by several counties in Europe that initially rejected the idea.

It is difficult to predict what will happen with Daylight Saving Time in the future. The daylight saving date in many countries may change from time to time due to special events or conditions.The United States, Canada and some other countries extended DST in 2007. The new start date is the second Sunday in March (previously the first Sunday in April) through to the first Sunday in November (previously the last Sunday in October).

Hurricane Rick may hit landfall by Tuesday

Hurricane Rick category became a category 4 hurricane this morning and has winds up to 135 mph. Hurricane Rick is currently 250 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center (see photo) said it is an “extremely dangerous hurricane Rick continuing to strengthen” because it grew from a category 1 to a category 4 storm in only 36 hours; and may strengthen to a category 5 storm by tonight.

Acapulco residents were warned that the hurricane may trigger landslides and flooding.

If it stays on its current path with a gradual northern turn, then it may hit landfall in Baja Wednesday or Thursday.

Today, Ford issued its largest recall ever with 4.5 million vehicles with a possible fire hazard from a faulty switch.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued its eighth recall that involves 16 million Ford Motor vehicles, with concerns about the cruise control deactivation switch manufactured by Texas Instruments.  The faulty switch can leak hydraulic fluid, overheat, smoke, then burn, and risks causing a fire even when the ignition is turned off, parked and unattended, the NHTSA said.

The risk is higher for 1.1 million Ford Windstars that were subject to a government investigation.

“We determined with the government that there is a low risk of fires for those vehicles,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood said. “The other 3.4 million vehicles are the remaining vehicles that have the Texas Instrument switch, so we’re recalling them to reassure customers and prevent future recalls.” Sherwood said that Ford vehicles did not use the Texas Instrument switch in post-2003 models.

NHTSA said drivers should look for warnings signs of possible imminent fires that includes: malfunctioning cruise control systems, brake lights, antilock braking system, and brake light warnings on the dashboard.  NHTSA also said that difficulty getting the vehicle out of the park is also a warning.

Ford is notifying customers and instructing them to take vehicles to dealers for a complimentary installation of a fused wiring harness that will eliminate the risk of fires, the NHTSA said, and CNN reported.

The safety recall is expected to begin around October 26. Owners may contact Ford at 1-800-392-3673 or NTHSA’s vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or visit http://www.safercar.gov.

Tuesday’s recall includes the following Ford models: 1995-2003 Windstars, 2000-2003 Excursion diesels, 1993-1997 and 1999-2003 F-Super Duty diesels, 1992-2003 Econolines, 1995-2002 Explorers and Mercury Mountaineers, 1995-1997 and 2001-2003 Rangers and 1994 F35 motor homes.

For more information see: SafeCar.gov

The Earth's Moon

At 6:15 EST this morning NASA bombed the moon this morning (twice) in an attempt to discover if there is water on the moon and they launched a rocket directly at it.

To view the video stream event, click here. Then click on play most recent video.

NASA describes the reasoning that future lunar explorations will be less expensive if there is no need to transport water from Earth.

The missile was expected to travel at twice the speed of a bullet and impact the south pole of the moon; and it should create large debris area…large enough to be seen from Earth, according to the NASA website.

CNN has been airing the public reaction to blasting the moon, and many comments have been negative with many people saying to leave the moon alone.  

Although the video is blurry and to the non-scientist doesn’t make a lot of sense, it is interesting to listen to.   Scientists seem to be very happy with the results.