On the Opposing Team.

One name, and FACE, stood out on the opposing team from Sioux Falls.....Patrick Ewing Jr.  He was actually pretty good, and MAN did he look like his Dad.

Patrick Ewing Jr., 2nd from left.

Next...Iowa Energy Game.

After the Ipad purchase, we rushed to the Wells Fargo Arena for an Iowa Energy (D-League NBA Basketball) game.  This was the first time we'd ever been to one, and would highly recommend it to anyone.

Do to our population, Iowa is pro sports franchise "challenged", and this is as close as it gets.  At this level, at least they still hustle and play some ball.....VERY entertaining.

'Lil Man....BIG Weekend.

Today is my son Drake's birthday, so Happy 12th Birthday D-Rake.

We actually celebrated it this weekend by taking in some events in Des Moines, topped off by a visit to the Apple Store for the purchase of an Ipad he'd been saving for.  He took his 4H pig money, and his birthday money and sealed the deal, walking out with the coveted piece of technology he'd waited months to get.

Apple Store.

DONE DEAL.

Showin' Grandpa.

Vinyl Breathes Life Into Dying Music Sales

(NEWSER) – The last decade was not kind to the independent record store owner, as digital downloads—legal and illegal—and online retailers cut deeply into sales. But there's hope on the horizon, and it comes from the past—vinyl albums. Nielsen SoundScan says 2.8 million vinyl records were sold in 2010, the most since it began keeping tabs in 1991. USA Todaylooks at the experience of one independent store owner: Tim Cretsinger, who owns Groovacious in Cedar City, Utah.

Cretsinger has managed to stay afloat but has seen his peers die off—the closest competitor is 175 miles away in Las Vegas. After enduring year after depressing year, he's seeing some increased profits, all based on increased record sales. "Vinyl seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who have hung in there," Cretsinger says. "It's kind of a surprising light at the end of the tunnel. It's incredibly exciting."

Apple Debuts Intel Port Designed to Kill USB

NEWSER) – Apple quietly announced a refresh in its MacBook Pros this week, but the little-heralded machines might bring a big change with them. The computers will be the first to have a Thunderbolt port and protocol, a data system so blazingly fast it might just finally resign USB to the dustbin of history, Fast Company reports. Thunderbolt can transfer up to 10 gigabits per second, making it 20 times faster than USB 2.0.

In practical terms, that means it can transfer an HD movie in 30 seconds. It can also drastically tidy up the mess of wires surrounding your average computer, because it can be daisy-chained between devices. Fast Company sees Apple’s early adoption of it as “a stealthy, ninja-style trick” to kill the upcoming USB 3.0 before consumers even become aware of it. Then again, Apple also tried to unseat USB with FireWire, and look how that worked out.

Toddler Gets Locked in Bank Vault

(NEWSER) – Scary story, happy ending: A 14-month-old girl visiting grandma at work couldn't resist toddling into an open vault at the Atlanta bank. An unwitting employee shut the door behind her, and nobody could open it because of the time-released lock, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution. As rescue workers pumped fresh air into the vents and the girl cried, police finally found a locksmith trained to crack the lock. It took him four hours, but the little girl was finally reunited with her family with nothing more serious than a soiled diaper.

"That was one of the better moments I've ever witnessed," said the police chief of the reunion.

No More 69.....or 29.

The B.S. has been stuck on 69 viewing Countries for quite some time now.  FINALLY, Puerto Rico and Macedonia checked in and broke the 70 Country barrier, and even taking it up a notch to 71.

Also,  for some reason, I don't really pay much attention to the number of followers I have on this blog, but after it set on 29 FOREVER, the number 30 caught my attention when it popped up.

Following a blog and following on Twitter are two completely different things to me.  I'm nearing 300 followers on Twitter, but it's necessary to follow people on there, versus just checking out someones blog when you want to.

I still haven't opened a Facebook account, but I know I need to......some day.

School....2 Hour Delay This A.M.

Two and a Half Men Shut Down After Bizarre Sheen Rant

(NEWSER) – CBS has had enough of Charlie Sheen's antics, at least for this season. The network says it has canceled production of Two and a Half Men for the rest of the season following bizarre rants from the actor against the sitcom's creator yesterday. Sheen—referring to Chuck Lorre by his birth name, Chaim Levine—called Lorre a "clown," a "turd," and a "contaminated little maggot," in a radio interview with Alex Jones and in a letter to TMZ, the New York Daily News reports.

Sheen slammed Lorre for putting the show on hiatus while he was in rehab. "I embarrassed him in front of his children and the world by healing at a pace that his un-evolved mind cannot process," he told Jones, saying Alcoholics Anonymous was for "sissies" and he had cured his addictions with the power of his mind. "I'm dealing with fools and trolls," Sheen said of people who criticize his lifestyle. "They lay down with their ugly wives in front of their ugly children and just look at their loser lives and then they look at me and say 'I can't process it."

After 1am Vote, Things Get Crazier in Wisconsin

(NEWSER) – Wisconsin's assembly approved a controversial bill stripping public sector workers of collective bargaining rights early Friday morning after a grueling 61-hour debate. Just after 1am, Republicans abruptly cut off debate and announced a voice vote. Chaos erupted—Republicans shouted their ayes, Democrats booed, and within seconds the electronic vote system had closed the voting at 51-17—leaving 28 lawmakers, including 25 Democrats, with no recorded vote.

Democrats went wild, throwing papers and even a drink into the air, and screaming “Shame! Shame! Shame!” theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. “Cowards all! You’re all cowards!” shouted one Rep. Several Democrats toldTalking Points Memo that they believe the vote was illegal. Some Republicans were led out of the chamber under police protection. “The Democrats were clearly stalling,” says one Rep. The measure now goes to the Senate, where 14 Democrats are still refusing to show up.

Skyscraper-Dwelling Fox Evicted

(NEWSER) – A fox found living at the top of the UK's tallest building is now back at ground level. The animal, nicknamed Romeo, survived by eating food from the workers who are still constructing London's 945-foot Shard skyscraper, the BBC reports. Animal control workers, who believe Romeo entered the building through the central stairwell and lived there for around two weeks, captured him and released him back onto city streets after giving him a checkup.

"We explained to him that if foxes were meant to be 72 stories off the ground, they would have evolved wings," says the chief of the animal center where Romeo was brought. "We think he got the message and, as we released him back on to the streets of Bermondsey shortly after midnight on Sunday, he glanced at the Shard and then trotted off in the other direction."

Walmart Suffering Biggest-Ever Slump

(NEWSER) – Walmart is suffering its worst-ever slump in US sales and is widely expected to post more disappointing figures when it reports earnings today. Analysts say the retail giant's woes are the result of its failure to follow founder Sam Walton's formula of providing ordinary Americans with "every day low prices." Instead, the chain—facing stiff competition from rivals like Target—chose to offer "rollback" discounts on some products while hiking the price of others.

"The whole rollback thing spread like a cancer, and it is systemic," a former Walmart exec tells the Wall Street Journal. "Now Target doesn't have to lower prices, because we have raised ours. I think we have alienated a lot of blue-collar shoppers." After attempts to lure higher-income customers failed, execs admitted there had been missteps and set out to win back core customers, although analysts believe it could be years before it bounces back.

Woman Jailed After Girl Scout Cookie Brawl

(NEWSER) – Everybody loves Girl Scout cookies, but not everybody loves them thismuch: A Florida woman is in jail on charges of beating up her roommate Sunday in a dispute over Thin Mints. Hersha Howard, 31, is accused of bursting into Jasmin Wanke’s room while she slept and accusing Wanke of eating her cookies. Howard then allegedly jumped on top of Wanke and hit her in the face, chased her with a pair of scissors, struck her with a board, bit her in the breast, then hit her with a sign she found outside. Howard was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, ABC-7 reports.

Woman Finds Alligator Behind Sofa

(NEWSER) – A woman in Brazil discovered a 5-foot alligator in her apartment—when she saw her 3-year-old petting it on the head. The toothy reptile entered the woman's home and crawled behind her sofa after heavy rains flooded her yard. Fortunately, authorities say the 'gator was not hungry at the time, so did not attack anyone. The animal was captured then released in a less populated part of town, reports theBBC

Town Called Speed Gets New Name: Speedkills

NEWSER) – The tiny Australian town of Speed has a new name—temporarily. Following a successful Facebook campaign, and plenty of encouragement from road safety officials concerned about the rising death rate on country roads, the Outback town will change its name to Speedkills for the month of March, Reutersreports.

"Speeding through Speed is probably something that some people think is a great idea, but we don't think so. People are a bit tired and think, 'Well, nobody lives here.' It is just a small town, but we live here," said one of the town's 45 residents. Local farmer Phil Down is taking the campaign even further: During March, he will change his name to Phil Slowdown.

Student in Texas Accused of Plotting Attack on Bush

(NEWSER) – A Saudi Arabian man attending college in Texas has been charged with the "attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction," the Justice Department announced today. Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20, allegedly bought several chemicals needed to build an improvised explosive device, and “was actively researching potential targets,” according to a department statement. One of those targets appears to have been George W. Bush, NPRreports.

By spying on Aldawsari’s email, the department found that he often emailed himself potential targets—and that one email, marked “Tyrant’s House,” listed Bush’s Dallas address. Others listed various dams, nuclear power plants, and the names and addresses of troops formerly stationed at Abu Ghraib, according to NBC Dallas/Fort Worth. Aldawsari had been studying at South Plains College. His diary indicates he pursued a US scholarship specifically because he’d long planned a terrorist attack, federal authorities say.

2008...THINK I Was On to Something?

About the Video Below.

For some reason this morning while editing other video, I remembered I had this footage taken while at Wayne and Barb Ohlrichs, and dug it up.  It was even funnier than I recalled.

I believe this was the very first bull of the day.  Darla (photographer) was sick, and it was extremely COLD.  I was just trying to warm my camera up before they brought that bull to the video pen, when the dog went racing by.....I thought it might get interesting, and it DID.

I love the single bark.....followed by the sound of barbwire being demolished.  Too FUNNY.

4 Every Cattleman That's EVER Had a Dog.

Deja Vu....Wild, Wild, West.

I just read in our local paper, that the Sheriff's Office issued 250+ GUN PERMITS last month.

Let's make sure you realize that my home town is less than 1,500 people, and that's the county seat.  So, the percentage of people wanting to carry a gun is pretty high around here.

Remind me to make a FEW apologies this week. lol

True.

"If your dog thinks you're the greatest person in the world, don't seek a second opinion." - Jim Fiebig

Cow DOWN, Cow DOWN...N Ditch.

I worked on videos most of the day, and since I'm real sure I blew ANOTHER INJECTOR in my Fix Or Repair Daily, I had to run it down to the dealership.  I called Dad to see if he could help me lift a generator out of my pickup, and when he answered, he sounded STRESSED.

He explained that he was trying to move cows closer to the house and found one DOWN in a deep, hard to get to ditch, stuck in the mud, but hadn't been there long.  I told him I'd be right there to help, and here's what I found.

We made a halter out of the rope, and pulled the loader tractor with a chain up as close to the fence as we could get it, and started pulling slowly......she WOULDN'T BUDGE.

I had Dad pull the tractor at more of an angle, and when we unhooked the chain from the rope, the cow started to stand up on her front legs.  I immediately started pulling by hand to help her until he got back down with the chain.

As we started pulling again, she slowly drug up the ditch back, when all of the sudden the rope SNAPPED, sounding like a rifle shot.  But then to our surprise......the cow STOOD UP!

How 'bout THAT!  It doesn't always turn out this way.

Not What IT Seems.

My client and good friends at the CTI Manufacturing Plant (cattle lick tubs) text me this pic stating that CTI  is "currently" on BREAK again.....lol

But in all reality, it's NOT what one might guess.  The Miller Lite truck backed up to their unloading dock is actually a custom pallet hauler who got a good deal on a wrecked trailer.  The other side has all new solid white panels on it now.....but that doesn't make for a very good story! 

Thanks John.

Sorry....Poll RESET.

Sorry, I had to reset the computer brand poll because I had "computer brad" instead of brand(duh!), and once a single vote is cast it won't let me edit any part of it.

Full of Geese.

The farm pond across the road from Mom n Dad's house has a BUNCH of geese on it.

CONGRATS 2 My Dad n Mom...MARRIED 56 years 2day.

New Poll...Less SERIOUS.

I'm curious as to what the ratio of PC to Mac users will be.  It used to be a DOMINANT PC world, but Mac has made a significant push in the last couple years.  We'll see.

New Poll...Current Events

This new poll is a little more on the serious side, but it will be interesting to get a feel of public opinion on what's going on in Wisconsin.

As my cousin (from Wisconsin) and I were talking, there's been WAY too many quick fixes applied in state governments, and we all know that a quick fix, is actually NO FIX at all, and only creates bigger problems.

I'm NOT much into politics at all, but PEACE in the United States is something we've all taken for granted for years.....I hope we can keep it, with a shot of additional gratitude mixed in.

Poll HARASSMENT.

I received some harassment at the Ia Beef Expo because I hadn't updated the blog with a NEW poll. So I guess I will FIX that.

The last poll ended with a resounding 67% of pollers answering text messages WAY before any other form of communication.

This shouldn't have been a BIG SURPRISE.

Throw Back SNEAKS.

Last night I wore my "throw back" sneakers I bought while on our Mall of America trip a couple weeks ago.

They reminded me of the ones I had as a kid, plus, they didn't have COW MANURE on them. I doubt they ever will.  I'm afraid if I wore them to a show, those MEAN steer jocks would make FUN of ME and hurt my feelings.  lol

"Pride of Iowa" Honor Band...Congrats Sage.

We went to the "Pride of Iowa" Honor Band concert last night at Graceland College, where Sage and 7 other Wayne High students were selected to play.  It was kinda eery for me.....I hadn't been in that building since I was playing in the same band when I was in high school.....28 years ago.

The building stayed in better shape than I did.

Thought I'd See ELVIS.

Payment 4 BULL SNORT.

I promised Brad McConahay that I'd put a link up to his bulls he has for sale, in exchange for letting me use his "YouTube Sensation" BULL SNORT clip.  Man, that's FUNNY EVERY TIME you watch it!

These are great commercial Sm/An bulls, and priced reasonably, and contrary to this clip, have fine dispositions.  Thanks for being a good sport Brad.....it's now nearing 1,000 views in less than a week.

www.youtube.com/mcconahaycattleco

A REAL BAD Morning.

An old friend of mine I hadn't seen in a while was just by the house, and as he was leaving I asked my usual question....."So any big news up your way?"

He had some.

A few nights ago he had went to bed about 12:30 am and his wife had went to bed about 1:00 am.  Suddenly at 2:00 am the phone rings and its his elderly Dad frantically telling him that his mother has had a stroke.  He calls 911 and gets an ambulance headed to their house in town.

Meanwhile, he and his daughter jump in his new work pickup, she's driving, and take off to meet the ambulance at the home, while his wife heads to the hospital in a separate vehicle.  His mind is racing (of course) while sitting in the passenger seat, when he notices his daughter's driving is becoming a bit reckless.  He looks over at her, just in time to see her go into a FULL BLOWN SEIZURE.

The pickup exists the road and hits a tree.  He's OK, but his daughters not breathing.  He's just ready to pull her out of the pickup to do CPR, when she lets out a GASP of air.  He immediately calls 911 for an ambulance, BUT, since the daughter and the stroke victim both have the same last name, they assume it's the same emergency and didn't send another ambulance!

Eventually, they figure out what has happened and by then the daughter is awake and breathing fine when the ambulance finally gets there.  They have NO idea what caused the seizure, but she is now undergoing testing.  The mother's stroke was fairly severe, but she is showing signs of improvement.

Don't complain today, unless you can top this.

Saw Many "GREAT ONES"...1 @ A Ball Game.

I saw many great cattle this weekend while in Des Moines, but I saw one GREAT girls basketball player in Huxley....let me explain.

Friends of mine, Brad and Jill White's niece, Taylor Greenfield, just recently was name to the NIKE TOP 20 All-American Team for high school girls basketball, and when they said they were headed to watch her play in a state tournament qualifying game.....I invited myself to ride along!

WOW....can this girl play ball!  6'3" and plays point and post BOTH!  Cross-overs, jumpers, three's....I saw her do it ALL.  That's probably why she's already signed with Stanford.  

But not only is she an unbelievable ball player, she's a REALLY NICE individual, with an Iowa "root system" that once in California, should really make her STAND OUT.

Good luck with EVERYTHING Taylor.  Make Iowa PROUD.

http://www.slamonline.com/online/news-rumors/other-news/2011/02/wbca-hs-all-america-game-rosters-announced/

Heat Seeker Shows Up at EXPO.

Like a BLAST from the PAST....one heck of a Heat Seeker steer showed up at the Iowa Beef Expo, being shown by Bailey Core.

He ended up in the TOUGHEST division of the day, and won class two (out of five).  I took this picture while in the announcer's box, and it really doesn't do him justice, BUT that is a NICE one.

It's SCARY to think just how many promotion bulls, steers, heifers, and donor cows would NOT EXIST, if you took the Heat Seeker out of them.  

FOURTEEN years later, I'm VERY PROUD.

PAPARAZZI or REVENGE?

Part of the "ring help" on the steer side were the NOTORIOUS "Rathbun Sisters", and when they weren't twisting tails, they were picking up what dropped out from underneath them.  When I could catch them in the act of "poop scooping", it ALWAYS gave me great pleasure to harass and make fun of them while in the process. (off mic, of course)

Well, I thought I'd be funny, and on Day 2 took over their job for them while they ate lunch.  IMMEDIATELY I saw flashes of light and heard cameras going off, and with my "over-inflated" ego, assumed it MUST be fans or "paparazzi", UNTIL........I received this picture and text saying, "For the blog....SHOVELIN' BS!

Now that's FUNNY!  It wasn't FANS.....it was REVENGE!  And yes, I deserved it.  Good one Mears and Eldon.

Had a BLAST Announcing IA Beef Expo. THX.

There's NOT many times in your life, that you'll come home Sunday afternoon from the IA Beef Expo, driving in a shower of rain and 60 degree temperature....but I did.

Thanks to Mindy Campfield, Jenny Studer, and Doug Steele for being so helpful while I was encountering my first "CRASH COURSE" at major show announcing.  I must admit, it was intimidating at first (basically the equivalent of juggling 4 tennis balls), making sure both rings classes were getting called at the proper times from the barns, and also trying to keep track of EVERYTHING going on in the show rings.

They said I'd get in the groove of it, and I EVENTUALLY did.....and then it was FUN!  A big part of the fun was being able to harass all the ring help for two days, made up of mostly alumni showmen, advisers, and college kids.  They did a SUPER JOB of keeping the show rolling, and not ONCE was there a major hiccup. 

If I butchered any ones name, please forgive me, and if you run into me in the next year, PLEASE straighten me out.  My wife gets tired of doing that all by herself.

The good news is (or bad news for some), that I've been signed to a five year, multi-million dollar contract to return and announce again, and of course I'm DONATING EVERYTHING I receive right back to the show.  See you next year, and THANKS for the kind words from MANY of you.

What a PHENOMENAL set of cattle.

Monday's THEME Song.

LIVE...from the Wisconsin Labor Union Protest.

Bull Snort...HILARIOUS.

First off....YES I have permission to be showing this....

While filming a hand full of Sm/An bulls at Brad McConahay's(a buddy of mine), he said the words that you NEVER SAY before video'n yearling bulls....."Boy, they're SURE QUIET, we shouldn't have ANY TROUBLE filming them!....FAMOUS LAST WORDS!

I explained to him that you erase everything you know about an animal when you put them in the "picture pen", because while you're trying to get them to look COCKY....they can become it!  I would estimate that close to 50% of EVERYONES yearling bulls I film get worked up in this process, a combination of raging hormones and different people and surroundings.  They always quiet down when put back in their normal environment though.

Thanks to Brad for being a good sport about releasing this clip, and he does have a hand full of NICE commerical SimAngus bulls for sale(actually QUIET outside the picture pen", priced reasonable. I'll put his youtube channel link up when they're finished.

Runnin' My MOUTH @ the IA Beef Expo.

I've was asked a while back to help announce the Junior Show at this year's Iowa Beef Expo, SO, my apologies for mispronouncing your son or daughter's name in advance.

Should be fun!  Probably gonna try and film a little if I can.  The Iowa Beef Expo Junior Show needs to be put on EVERY show cattle enthusiasts "bucket list" to attend at least once in life......it's PHENOMINAL.

Cure for Baldness Discovered by Accident?

(NEWSER) – Researchers studying stress hormones were surprised to stumble upon what appears to be a cure for baldness—at least in mice. Mice who had gone bald due to overproduction of a stress hormone were treated with a compound that blocks stress in the gut and then returned to cages where they joined furry colleagues from a control group. Months later, researchers realized that the bald mice had regrown their fur and were indistinguishable from the others apart from ear tags, reports the New York Times.

The mice, without receiving another treatment, kept their hair, and further research revealed that young mice treated with the compound never went bald. "The compound initiates the hair cycle," the lead researcher says. "In bald individuals, and in these mice, the hair follicles are in a resting stage. The antagonist awakes them. It turns on the cycle, and the growing phase starts." They caution that much more research remains to be done and any treatment for humans is, at best, years away.

Amish Man Accused of Running Ponzi Scheme

(NEWSER) – You don’t need any fancy, newfangled technology to run a Ponzi scheme. Just ask Monroe L. Beachy, the Amish man who, the SEC alleged this week, defrauded some 2,600 people, almost all of them Amish. The 77-year-old took in some $33 million over his quarter-century career, allegedly telling investors it was going into safe government securities, the Washington Post reports. In reality, he was using it to make risky stock and junk bond bets.

By 1998, Beachy was insolvent, but he kept taking money from new investors and paying earlier ones with it. The scheme finally collapsed last year, when Beachy declared bankruptcy and his trustee found “mutilated” records. Beachy says the fraud “was not intentional,” but the Amish are outraged, both by the betrayal and by his decision to file for bankruptcy instead of sorting the matter out within the community. The SEC, meanwhile, has let Beach settle without penalty or admission of guilt, because of his dire financial situation.

Is Cola's Coloring Giving Us Cancer?

(NEWSER) – You already know soda can make you fat—but it could also give you cancer. A DC health lobby group claims the caramel coloring used by Coca-Cola and Pepsi includes two cancer-causing chemicals and should be banned, the Daily Mail reports. While the caramel one might make at home (using sugar and water) isn't exactly healthy, researchers say artificial caramel coloring is even worse—it's made my mixing sugar with ammonia and sulfites.

The reaction forms two substances (2-MI and 4-MI) that have been shown in studies to cause lung, liver, or thyroid cancer or leukemia in lab mice or rats, and researchers found significant levels of one of those substances in five cola brands. Of the four types of caramel coloring produced, two incorporate ammonia—Caramel IV is used soft drinks, Caramel III in beer and soy sauce, among other things—and the group wants the FDA to ban those two types. Amusingly, the group does admit that the sugar found in regular soda is more of a health risk than these chemicals.

High School Wrestler Refuses to Face Female Opponent

(NEWSER) – The Iowa state wrestling meet—a prestigious high school competition for the sport—has its first female victor. Along with controversy: Cassy Herkelman's male opponent withdrew rather than wrestle her, the Des Moines Register reports. "Wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times," explained Joel Northrup. "As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner."

Herkelman and another girl became the first two females to qualify for the tournament this year. (The other girl did wrestle and lost, getting pinned in 52 seconds.) "It's nice to get the first win and have her be on the way to the medal round," Herkelman's father wrote to AP. "I sincerely respect the decision of the Northrup family especially since it was made on the biggest stage in wrestling."

Iowa Beef Expo Sale Results...So Far.

http://www.iowabeefexpo.com/11_salresults.htm

NO COMPLAINTS 2day.

Well......it was a 'lil MUDDY!

American BULLDOG.

I stopped in at the Vet Clinic to kill some time in between my haircut and my eye lash PLUCK'N today.      They had these American Bulldog pups in getting their shots.....and Big Daddy came along with them.

The "Big Daddy's"name was RIPPER....I didn't ask how he got the name!  

His structure looked like club calves now days....quit a bit of shoulder, a wide, shorter head, and hind legs that kinda bowed.  PERFECT.

Worker Dies in Cubicle, Not Found for Day

(NEWSER) – A Los Angeles County employee lay dead and slumped over her desk in an office cubicle for what could have been as long as a day before anybody noticed, police say. Rebecca Wells, a 51-year-old auditor who had recently become a grandmother, was found by a security guard Saturday afternoon, KTLAreports. She had last been seen alive at 9am Friday morning, say detectives, who suspect she died from a stroke or heart attack.

Yes, Zinc Can Help With That Cold

(NEWSER) – Zinc has long been the subject of debate when it comes to the common cold: Can the mineral really shorten the duration of your suffering? Yes, according to a new review of research on the topic. When zinc lozenges, tablets, or syrups are taken within 24 hours of the first symptoms, colds can be cut by an average of a day or more and symptoms can be made less severe, the New York Times reports. How? Researchers aren't certain, but zinc could have antiviral properties.

Some of the studies reviewed showed even better results from zinc, like one that found zinc lozenges cut cold duration by three days—and the mineral was also found to help prevent colds when used regularly. But don't rush to the store just yet: Study authors don't make any recommendations about products to buy or how much to take, and they warn that many over-the-counter products may include flavors, binders, or formulations of zinc that make them less effective.

Tiny Ecuadorean Villagers Free of Cancer, Diabetes

(NEWSER) – After studying a group of villagers in Ecuador for nearly a quarter-century, researchers think it's safe to say it: These people don't get cancer or diabetes. The villagers are dwarfs—more specifically, they have Laron syndrome—and their particular genetic mutation helps keep them free of those two common diseases associated with aging, reports the New York Times.

The findings could shed light on longevity, particularly on the role of a growth hormone known as IGF-1 lacking in the villagers. (If they get doses of it before puberty, they grow to normal heights.) "This fits in with what we are learning from studies in animals about the relationship of growth hormone to aging, because both cancer and diabetes are related to aging,” says a gerontologist. Unfortunately, the villagers generally don't benefit from the defect to live to ripe old ages because they're prone to alcoholism and accidents, notes the Times.

Top 10 Shows With Product Placement

TOP 10 SHOWS WITH PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Jan. 1-31, 2011
Program	Network	Total # Occurrences
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition	ABC	102
The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards	NBC	76
The Biggest Loser	NBC	64
The 37th Annual People's Choice Awards	CBS	56
2011 Miss America Pageant	ABC	44
American Idol	Fox	44
Undercover Boss	CBS	41
Million Dollar Money Drop	Fox	40
2011 Golden Globe Arrivals Special	NBC	32
Gossip Girl	CW	29

Product Placement Leaders.

TOP 10 BRANDS WITH TV PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Jan. 1-31, 2011
Brand	Category	Total # Occurrences
Coca-Cola	Soft Drinks	38
Chevrolet	Autos	32
Everlast	Sporting Equipment	26
Cybex	Exercise Equipment	21
Dell	Computer Systems	15
Microsoft	Computer Systems	15
Apple	Computer Systems	14
CVS	Drug Store	13
Facebook	Website	11
Mercedes-Benz	Autos	11
DirecTV	Entertainment	11