Five For Friday: I Did Not Know That!

As pretty much everybody knows who reads this blog with any degree of regularity - on most Fridays, I'm in the car when it goes over the cliff.  Ye, ha.......

Item #1: Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) of collapsed structures uses a variety of tools to search for trapped victims; things like specially trained dogs, sensitive listening devices, and flexible snake video inspection cameras. But leave it to the academics to come up with the latest idea: cockroaches. No, really. Read below for more:

Remote-Control Roaches Seek Out Disaster Victims (CBS Charlotte, September 10, 2012)

Item #2: Unless it's the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, and we are talking Katrina, sports stadiums and disasters don't tend to travel in the same sentence. That is until the Associated Press recently put together a list of disasters at these sites. More than a few are eye openers when it comes to numbers.  Click below to read more:

List of Fatal Disasters at Global Stadiums (AP, September 12, 2012)

Item #3: Recently, the Prime Minister of India warned all who would listen about the dangers of social media. This is serious stuff - no matter which side of this story you come down on - and no, we aren't talking about Blackberry Thumb.  Below for more:

Indian PM Warns of Dangers of Social Media (AFP, September 8, 2012)

Item #4: Yours truly got to blab about U.S. National Grid during FEMA's first national Think Tank Conference Call back in January. Now, FEMA has made available the audio and written transcripts of that event and every subsequent conference call so you can listen/read whenever you want.  The archive contains some great ideas and interesting discussions. Use the link below to check out what's available:

FEMA Think Tank Transcripts

Item #5: It's bad enough that surveillance cameras are showing up pretty much everywhere, but really, shouldn't there be some sort of limits?  First comes a report that some folks think it would be a great idea to continuously stream a Philadelphia suburb's surveillance cameras over a local use TV channel. Then comes a report that a sizable number of British schools have installed video surveillance systems in their bathrooms. Seriously, what if these two groups get together and join efforts - then where will we be? Read more below:

Bristol Borough Council Members Propose Streaming Surveillance Video On Television (CBS Philly, September 11, 2012)

British Schools Put Cameras in Bathrooms, Lockers (AP, September 12, 2012)

Have a great weekend!


Lead graphic: clkr.com