Can you think of better ways to spend your time?!?

Philadelphia Man Memorizes Pi to 12,887 digits

Associated Press

UPPER DARBY, Pa., Jan. 24 For the math-challenged, remembering pi equals 3.14 is tough; now a Pennsylvania man has memorized pi to 12,887 digits.

Mark Umile, 40, a fling clerk from Upper Darby, figured the problem by hand, writing down the results 1,000 digits at a time -- and then memorized the number, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

I was really proud of him that he did it, his wife, Maryann, said. I can't remember a phone number.The world record for figuring pi is 67,890 digits and was set in China, but Umile's feat eclipsed the old North American record of 10,980., the Inquirer said. Umile, however, does hold the record for memorizing 905 digits of the mathematical constant e and the first 5,544 digits of the square root of two, the Inquirer said.

Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/23439.html

Huge python makes a meal of 11 guard dogs

Reuters Life!
Fri Jan 26, 9:58 AM ET

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Reuters Life!) - Guard dogs protecting a fruit orchard in Malaysia have met their match -- a 7.1-metre-long (23-ft-long) python that swallowed at least 11 hounds before it was finally discovered by villagers.

"I was shocked to see such a huge python," orchard-keeper Ali Yusof told the New Straits Times in an article published beneath a picture of the captured snake, which was almost long enough to span the width of a tennis court and as thick as a tree trunk.

Villagers did not harm the snake, which was tied to a tree then handed to wildlife officials, the paper said on Friday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070126/od_ ... _python_dc

Criminals --- smart? Nope, not this one...

Delayed convict steals car to get back to jail

Reuters Life!
Fri Jan 26, 9:56 AM ET

DUBLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters Life!) - An Irish convict who stole a car to get back to prison after missing a weekend release deadline has been given a six month suspended jail sentence.

Trevor Doyle, 25, grabbed the vehicle after falling asleep on a bus and overshooting his stop near Shelton Abbey open prison in Arklow on Ireland's southeast coast, Wexford district court officials said Thursday.

The court, which would not reveal the man's prior conviction, also fined him 300 euros ($390) for failing to submit to a breathalyzer test.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070126/od_ ... d_thief_dc

Yes, I guess it's that time again.

Life has been pretty busy lately.

Christmas was a fun time to spend with family up in Michigan. Unfortunately, there was no snow! This has been the first green Christmas up there that I remember. We left on Christmas Eve after our afternoon church service. On Christmas day, we went to my Aunt Sue and Uncle John's house, as is tradition. I helped fix his Macintosh computer, which I've never used before. At my grandma's house, we went out into the woods for a short time. It was muddy instead of snowy, which was a bummer.
Then we went to my mom's side of the family. We had fun and Philip and I played pool in my grandma's garage.
I got some neat presents. Some clothes, some videos, some money, some noise-canceling headphones, and that's about it.

This week has been crazy and stressful at work. I worked a few hours of overtime. The stress pushed me closer to my limits.

On Friday (yesterday), my dad and I went to a college alumni fellowship meeting. Basically, it's a preaching meeting. It was in Akron, Ohio at Community Baptist Temple. There was some excellent preaching and singing. Pastor O'Donnell preached about Soul-winning, and Pastor Thayer of Massillon Baptist Temple spoke on missions, followed by Pastor Huth of Stow Baptist Church. I had a great time, as it was like a big Christian family reunion. I saw many friends.
Then my family and I went to my brother's basketball game. The JH boys team lost their game by 1 point! If they would've made their last free-throw, they would have tied and gone into OT. The Varsity boys game beat their opponents 63-58. It was quite intense for the last few minutes. Then the Varsity girls played and soundly defeated their opponents, almost tripling the score of the other team. After the game, I joined my brother and part of the team at Pizza Hut, where we acted like immature adolescents. :)

Today will be busy as I'm preaching tomorrow and have several things to get done on my to-do list -- which probably won't get done...

Here's yet another genius!

Indiana Police Clock Teen at 142 Mph

The Associated Press
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; 10:58 PM

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- A teenager charged with driving 142 mph along a four-lane divided highway said he was speeding home so his parents wouldn't be mad at him for being late, police said.

Brandon D. Raap, 16, faces speeding and misdemeanor reckless driving charges and could have his license suspended, police said. ...

Raap told police he was late getting home and didn't want his parents to be angry, Deputy John Brubaker said in his report. Raap told Brubaker he didn't have a curfew but is usually home by midnight.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 27_pf.html