I am posting this to several of my websites as well as Facebook and a link on Twitter and Myspace so its hard to word it in a way that will sink with each place but I will try. For those who follow my Vlog they already know the trials and tribulations and decisions I have been contemplating over the past several week. Business, work, family, hobbies exc exc have all come into question. I have a day job that well lets be honest who wants a day job? I also have a business that I just don’t enjoy anymore and a hobby which I enjoy greatly and makes a little money but has the potential to make a lot. I have done a lot of thinking especially the past few days. Finally yesterday I asked myself a question. I have done this and that for 32 years but was any of that what I wanted to do? My answer to my surprise was a big NO! I mean don’t get me wrong getting married, having kids, buying a house were all things I wanted to do and are memories I will never forget and forever be grateful for but the question is in regards to a living. I think I have always don’t what was expected of me to do but not truly what I wanted to do. It is for this reason I have decided to turn the tables 100% My original plan was to phase out the show I have been doing because of the time and expense involved and donate more time to grow my business and make it bigger than anyone could imagine but now in light of new thinking I find if I follow that rout I will still be stuck in not doing what I want to do but rather what I think I am expected to do so I have decided to do the opposite. I am going to phase out the business and grow the show. Even though I am not the most photogenic person in the world I get a great amount of pleasure in the filming and editing/producing process so now not only will I grow the show but immediately start working on other videography projects I have wanted to do for a while now. According to my plan I will not leave my current clients high and dry but rather will start informing them to start looking for someone ells while this transition is in progress. Additionally rather than working on the show and other projects on a hobby schedule I will begin today working on them on a full time schedule. This apparent bad decision may come to a surprise to some while not to others and those who have followed the show for 9 months and have an interest in its content may even find some excitement in it as I do. At the end of the day no matter how good, bad or awkward it sounds I will be doing what I want to do and what I can picture myself doing into the future. Well in order to avoid rambling on to the point I decide not to post this I will end it there and start shooting it out there. Time to go start getting ready for next weekends show WOOHOO.
Scientists create robot snake that climbs trees
The metallic python is the latest in a line of robot snakes designed to inspect tight spaces, disarm bombs or locate disaster survivors.
They look like technology straight out of a “Mission Impossible” movie: robot snakes armed with flashlights and hidden cameras, designed to slither through tight spaces, crawl through tubes, swim, and now climb trees too.
Called “modsnakes” (the latest version is affectionately called “Uncle Sam”), the robots are based in biotechnology which mimics the movement of real snakes, according to Physorg.com. Researchers hope that once the design has been perfected, the robots can be used to complete a variety of tasks such as locating survivors in collapsed buildings after a natural disaster, inspecting bridges, mines or other spaces too tight for human workers, and even for disarming bombs.
It’s fun to imagine them being used as spy technology or as versatile exploratory rovers on other planets, too. The design could be applicable in a variety of useful ways. For now, though, they are just really cool to play with. Check out this video showcasing the robot’s many talents:
The robots are capable of movements which include side-winding, wiggling and rolling, much as a real snake might move. But unlike real snakes, these are also built using modular segments, which means that the snakes can be easily self-assembled in the field. Being modular also makes it easier to repair damaged segments, or to adjust the robot’s length as needed.
Researchers admit that a lot of work needs to be done before the snakes can be used in a practical setting. For one, the robots are still reliant upon an attached cord for their power supply. Their new tree-climbing skill is also only applicable to trees and branches of a particular diameter.
Even so, their range of motion is impressive, and previous versions of the modsnake have already been tested in disaster training exercises. It may not be long before a slithering Uncle Sam redefines how we think of snakes– and robots– forever.
Malaysia officials appeal ‘Lizard King’ sentence
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek a tougher sentence against wildlife trafficker Anson Wong, whose six-month jail term for smuggling snakes has been sharply criticised.
Wong, nicknamed the “Lizard King” and described as one of the world’s most-wanted traffickers, was handed the sentence Monday for attempting to smuggle 95 endangered boa constrictors to neighbouring Indonesia.
WWF Malaysia has described the penalty as a “slap on the wrist” and urged authorities to revoke Wong’s licences to trade in wildlife and permits to operate wildlife establishments.
“The sentence was too low so I instructed that we appeal the sentence. So the notice has now been signed and the appeal has been filed,” said Abdul Majib Hamzah, head of prosecutions at the attorney general’s chambers.
“We decided that an appeal had to be filed following the sentencing on the very day itself,” he told AFP.
Wong was sentenced under laws that prohibit the export of animals without a permit and also fined 190,000 ringgit (61,000 dollars).
Malaysian airport authorities are reportedly investigating how Wong managed to board a flight from the resort island of Penang with the suitcase full of snakes, which broke open while in transit in Kuala Lumpur.
“I cannot give you the details of the investigation but we will try to complete it as soon as possible,” Malaysia Airports Holdings senior general manager Azmi Murad told the Star daily.
Wildlife groups said the sentence and fine were far too lenient, and a tragic missed opportunity to throw the book at “a man who has brought shame to this country”.
Wong was reportedly sentenced to 71 months in jail in the United States in 2001 after he pleaded guilty to trafficking charges.
Despite efforts by Southeast Asian authorities to crack down on animal smuggling, the practice still persists in the region, posing a threat to endangered species, activists say.
Alligator hunter captures monster gator
An alligator hunter encountered a huge alligator Saturday in the creek near Cleve Cox Landing.
He not only survived the experience, but managed to take the gator as a prize.
And this one was no baby. It measured 11.5 feet, and weighed an estimated 500 pounds.
The reptile nearly filled the Jon boat as seen in the accompanying photo. The animal was captured the gator on the first day of Georgia’s alligator hunting season.
Albany’s Michael Lacey was on hand to document the event, and allowed us to use his photograph.
Cops: Stockton teen uses snake to shoplift from Walgreens
STOCKTON, CA – Stockton police were searching for a teenager who allegedly shoplifted from two Stockton businesses Monday with the help of an unlikely accomplice — a live snake wrapped around his arm.
The teen walked into the Walgreens pharmacy at the corner of Center and West Harding Way in Stockton just after 9 p.m. Monday, Stockton police spokesman Pete Smith said.
According to witnesses, the boy was acting strangely when store security noticed him trying to hide a flashlight in his clothes, Smith said.
“He was acting kind of erratically,” Smith said. “The security guard saw what he thought was the suspect trying to conceal some items to shoplift from the store.”
But when security approached the man, Smith said the boy began to act “even more erratically, revealing…a live snake which was wrapped around his arm.”
As Walgreens workers approached the boy, employee Mohammad Sohail said the suspect began threatening those workers with the reptile.
“He tried to scare us with the snake,” Sohail said.
Smith said the boy fled on a BMX bike. A teen matching a similar description was also suspected of stealing from a nearby McDonald’s restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard earlier Monday.
It was a “very, very strange course of events…using this live animal to intimidate,” Smith said.
Smith said investigators believe the snake was 3 to 5 feet long and they were not immediately sure what type of snake the suspect used.
Taser Used On Man Trying To Save Pets From Burning Home
NORTH BELLE VERNON, Pa. — Police said they were forced to use a Taser on a man who was trying to rescue his pets from a house fire in Westmoreland County.
Firefighters learned that 11 exotic snakes were inside one of the two homes that caught fire in North Belle Vernon on Monday.Monica Baker, who is 8 weeks pregnant with triplets, and her two children were able to escape when flames from their next-door neighbor’s home spread to their home on Green Street.Monica’s husband, Damon Baker, desperately battled the fast-moving flames with his garden hose before firefighters arrived.“I was outside, at the end of the garden hose, trying to spray down the side of the house to keep it from spreading so rapidly,” said Baker.Police on scene said they tried three times to get him away from the fire to protect him, but he resisted so they were forced to subdue him with a Taser.
“Had I been able to stay there a few minutes spraying it down before the fire department got here, we might not have lost all of our animals,” said Baker. u local: Channel 4 Action News Viewer Shares Photos Of The Fire Scene The animals, firefighters learned, were 11 Ball Pythons that escaped from their cage and were loose inside the burning home.“This is the first time we’ve really had to bring snakes out of a structure like that,” said Chief Ken Ramsdell of the North Bell Vernon Fire Department. “Sometimes it’s good to know if people have exotic animals.”Baker told Channel 4 Action News reporter Keith Jones that only 5 of the snakes survived the fire.Police said Baker will not be charged with any crime following the Taser incident.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Burglars steal 40 snakes and lizards in north Belfast
An exotic animal shop in York Street was broken into some time between Saturday evening and Monday morning.
Twenty-seven lizards and 14 snakes were stolen. The snakes are thought to be corn snakes which are not venemous.
Police have appealed for information and are especially keen to hear from anyone offered exotic animals for sale in suspicious circumstances.