What would you do for unlimited free phone calls?

Would you let a company eavesdrop on your phone calls in return for unlimited free calls? ThePudding, a new start-up from California, bets that you will. Consumers with gmail are familiar with this practice. Gmail scans emails and displays relevant ads. Likewise, Pudding Media monitors phone calls and displays relevant ads. With ThePudding all phone calls are free and unlimited to any phone in North America (no downloads are necessary), but not everyone is comfortable with this new technology. Read more here. Go to ThePudding site here.

Pop Quiz -- What is the "Study of Trivia"?

The study or collection of trivia is known as spermology, which literally means collection of seeds.

Courtesy of Wikipedia -- which means this could be entirely false, but I couldn't find anything disproving it.

Old Enough Now to Ask How Dad Died at War

The NY Times covered a sad byproduct of the Iraq War today. According to the Times, "children who were infants or toddlers when they lost a parent in action are growing up. In the process, they are coming to grips with death in new, more mature and at times more painful ways — pondering a parent they barely knew, asking pointed questions about the circumstances of the death and experiencing a kind of delayed grief."

You can read more about the story here.

Definiton of the day: Lede

Lede: noun, the introductory section of a story

NY Times: Sexy Corals Keep ‘Eye’ on Moon, Scientists Say

In the mist of nuclear pacts and terrorist bombings, the NY Times published a spiced up scientific report.

Here is the lede: "Birds do it. Bees do it. Even lowly corals do it — but infrequently, forgoing sex for as long as a year.

Then, at night, just after the full moon, under warm tropic breezes, the corals dissolve in an orgy of reproduction, sowing waters with trillions of eggs and sperm that swirl and dance and merge to form new life. The frenzy can leave pink flotsam.

Scientists discovered the mysterious rite of procreation in 1981 and ever since have puzzled over its details..."

Read more here.

Yankees screw over Torre

I've had enough with headlines reading "Torre Rejects Yankees' Offer". Although I am a Red Sox fan, the one person I respected during the past 12 years in the Yankees' franchise was Joe Torre, the manager.

As the principal owner, George Steinbrenner, has gotten older, he has given his two sons more power in the organization. They met with him on Thursday, and presented Torre offer that Torre called "an insult". And I agree.

At the very least, Torre, a 12-year Yankee veteran with 12 consecutive play-off seasons, AL East titles, and four World Series , should have had an option for two more years with the Yankees rather than a one year conditional contract.

You can read more about the developing report here.

'Harry Potter' author: Dumbledore is gay

I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and this took even me by surprise! Check out the story here.