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Katie will be happy to see I’m posting about something I saw on the Anderson Cooper 360 Blog.

Cooper recently paid a visit to a crime lab run by Target…as in the discount retailer. The lab, located at Target’s Minneapolis headquarters, is apparently one of the most advanced in the world and was set up to deal with things like theft, fraud and personal injury cases related to its stores. But it now also lends its services and facilities to law enforcement officials nationwide, including the FBI, Secret Service and ATF…and Target does it for free as a form of community service.

Sadly, the lab is used by so many law enforcement units because their labs are not as well equipped. Also, Target’s lab is usually able to get results quicker because of typical logjams in agency labs.

UPDATE…

I also found this Jan. 29 story from The Washington Post about Target’s crime lab. This is not only an interesting story, but it is also very well written. I especially enjoy the lead and the conclusion…

When arson investigators in Houston needed help restoring a damaged surveillance tape to identify suspects in a fatal fire, they turned first to local experts and then to NASA. With no luck there, investigators appealed to the owner of one of the most advanced crime labs in the country: Target Corp.

Target experts fixed the tape and Houston authorities arrested their suspects, who were convicted. It was all in a day’s work for Target in its large and growing role as a high-tech partner to law enforcement agencies…

…Such close cooperation sometimes has Target employees working as de facto law enforcement officials. Chris W. Nelson, director of assets protection for the retailer, recalled one case in which he worked with federal agents for two years to break up a crime ring. He questioned informants, got to know some of the suspects and was there as a federal SWAT team surrounded one of the ringleaders on a speedboat on a lake in Minnesota.

The suspect “stopped short as he spotted me in the crowd and shouted, ‘What the [expletive] is Target doing here?!’ ” Nelson said. “I still love that one.”

(Photo: By Ben Garvin For The Washington Post)

Veteran sports announcer Al Michaels—best known for his “Do you believe in miracles?” call when the USA ice hockey team beat the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics—has been “traded” to NBC/Universal for basically four rounds of golf, highlights of the Olympics, Notre Dame football, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness…and 1927 cartoon character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Why? Well, Walt Disney himself created Oswald and produced 26 cartoon shorts featuring the “lucky rabbit.” However, Universal Studios distributed the films and has owned the rights to Oswald ever since. Because he did not have any rights to Oswald, Disney created a similar character in the form of a mouse…and an empire was born.

But now Oswald is a Disney property…79 years later.

Some interesting quotes:

“When Bob (Iger) was named CEO, he told me he wanted to bring Oswald back to Disney, and I appreciate that he is a man of his word,” Walt Disney’s daughter Diane Disney Miller said in a statement. “Having Oswald around again is going to be a lot of fun.”

“Oswald is definitely worth more than a fourth-round draft choice,” Michaels said, referring to what the Kansas City Chiefs gave the New York Jets as compensation for releasing coach Herm Edwards from his contract. “I’m going to be a trivia answer someday.”

Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer published this story about a hybrid sports car built by students at West Philadelphia High School’s Academy for Automotive and Mechanical Engineering.

This car was named best overall at last year’s eco-friendly Tour de Sol competition, beating out those made by teams from some of the nation’s upper-echelon colleges and universities. The vehicle is currently on display at the Philadelphia Auto Show.

Although budget cuts threatened the West Philly auto program, it was saved by public outcry from parents and area auto dealers. And the students will be back at Tour de Sol this year to defend their title.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the article:

The high schoolers’ engineering feat may have observers wondering why Detroit hasn’t already made such a car.

“This is off-the-shelf technology, and we’re not 180 I.Q. people around here,” said Simon Hauger, a physics teacher who is the West Philadelphia automotive program’s administrator.

“We’re super low-budget,” he said, so automakers “should be cranking them out.

“Who wouldn’t want a cool sports car hybrid?”

The Motor City could have built one, but years ago, the Big Three domestic automakers misjudged where oil prices and consumer desires would be today…

…The West Philly squad’s car is based on a kit called the Attack, made by K-1 Engineering, based in Serbia and Montenegro. The kit’s carbon-fiber body fits over the chassis and frame assembled from a K-1 kit and a Honda Accord donor vehicle, which the team modified extensively.

The students altered the frame to accommodate a 200-horsepower electric motor under the front hood. An upgraded 150-horsepower, turbocharged Volkswagen diesel engine occupies what would be the trunk on most cars.

To comply with Tour de Sol rules, the engine runs on “biodiesel” fuel: It’s biodegradable and nontoxic, and has significantly lower emissions than petroleum-based diesel when burned.

I just recently discovered this trailer remix Internet craze. I have seen the “Top Gun: Brokeback Squadron” remix, but my friend Katie, a “Back to the Future” fanatic, sent me a link to this one and thought it was fantastic…

Brokeback to the Future – YouTube.com

Other good movie trailer remixes…

Sleepless in Seattle – Horror Remix

The Shining – Comedy Remix (now featuring Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill”)

Aww…puppies.

So cute…but why am I showing pictures of these puppies?

Well, it’s because these Colombians allegedly used these puppies…

…to smuggle millions of dollars of liquid heroin on commercial flights into New York City for distribution on the East Coast.

And, yes, I know the puppies were technically couriers and not pushers…it’s called alliteration…and artistic license.

(AP Photos)

After some hesitation, my great friend Jason Pester has joined the blogosphere!

Congratulations!

The Philly Daily News’ Attytood blog on Philly.com came up with this one:

‘Addicted to Oil’: An excerpt from President Bush’s State of the Union address

This is still a work in progress, but I sat down at my keyboard last night for the first time in 2006 and came up with this song.

I wanted to rock out a little bit since so much of my stuff has been, well, depressing…so I couldn’t resist throwing in some 70s-style synth and faux funk rhythm guitar (which I need to replace with the real thing at some point) into the mix.

Enjoy…

I Want You to Know (demo) – 3:58 / 3 MB

When I was researching Apple Computers’ newly announced iTunes U program to see how Rider could benefit from it, I checked out how Stanford is using iTunes.

On Stanford’s iTunes U Music Store site, there are a number of lectures, guest speakers and news stories in both audio and video formats. One area of particular interest was the music section since Westminster Choir College is an important part of Rider University.

When I checked out Stanford’s music selections, there was a compilation of songs by the university’s students, alumni, faculty and staff. I decided to listen to a song by Natalise called “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” and — although a bit underproduced — it turned out to be a really good dance track.

I decided to investigate further…meaning I Googled her name. Well, of course, it turns out she has incredible looks to go along with her musical talent. But then I read this on her bio page:

Despite being a straight-A student at one of the nation’s most prestigious schools, Natalise could not ignore her calling. She made a pact with her parents that if she could graduate from Stanford in only three years, they would let her pursue her real dream of having a musical career. Naturally, Natalise — who majored in communication, while working on her songwriting and singing occasionally at community-based events — won the bet.

Stanford…in THREE years?! So she is gorgeous, talented and smart! That’s a killer combination.

I’m not really into dance or pop music, but I admire someone who is talented and works hard at her craft. I mean, she could have taken the easy route by going on “American Idol” or something, but she’s doing it her own way so I don’t mind giving her a little more exposure.

So check out her site and her stuff on iTunes.