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Boston zoo to partner with Verizon to give ipad to each primate

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Franklin Park Zoo, Boston's principal zoo, announced Friday that it will be partnering with Verizon to give each primate an ipad pro and a limited data plan.  "We are excited to be a part of this effort to assure that as many primates as possible have access to 21st century resources."  said Jenna Markowitz, outreach coordinator for Digital Promise, the non-profit organization that is facilitating the partnership.  "We really don't know the limits of what primates can do when given the tools to innovate and collaborate the way that they naturally want to."  Franklin Park is home to two Western Lowland Gorillas and 21 Cotton-Top Tamarin, and 61 Ring-tailed Lemurs.  Each will receive one device that will include a suite of apps that have been shown to be effective tools for primates.  Zoo director Dale Madden says that his staff will be closely monitoring the use of the ipads to make sure that the content accessed is appropriate and that the devices are being...
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A ride around the Mountain.....avoiding concrete

Minta and I took a mini bike tour two weekends ago around Mt. Mansfield.  We stuck to trails and dirt roads for the most part and found some great stuff.  Below is the track.
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Burlington Yoga Studio Introduces Controversial Enhancement Option

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     Beginning in January, 2014, Evolution Yoga Studio in Burlington's South End will offer clients the option to pay $10 extra for ten personal adjustments during their class.  This practice, known as adjustment enhancement (AE) has long been an "under the table" source of income for yoga teachers, and is not without controversy.  The issue came to a head last week during a "community class", which is a class that is less expensive in order to encourage all members of a community to participate.  One student had paid an extra $40 to the teacher and received 40 adjustments throughout the class, which dominated the majority of the teacher's time and made many students feel uncomfortable.  The adjustments that yoga teachers perform on students during classes are assumed by most to be acts of teaching and goodwill, and many are upset to learn that the reason that they have not been receiving adjustments is because they have not slipped the teacher some mo...
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Burlington bakery looses suit over name

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     On Monday district judge Michelle Tannehall threw out the second effort at litigation by Joan Sommer, owner of Burlington-based bakery "My Little Cupcake".  Summer has been more than vocal in her effort to stop local businessman Amir Hadjera from establishing a rival bakery on Church Street that he plans to name "My Medium-sized Cupcake", and has twice tried to use the courts to prohibit him from using a name so similar to that of her business.  The ruling stated that there is "no evidence that the similarity in names was anything more than a coincidence", an argument that Hadjera has adamantly defended all along.  "When I registered the business, I was trying to identify a name that best outlined our product." says Hadjera.  "I had no idea that there was another bakery in town with the name "My Little Cupcake", but even if I had it would not have changed anything.  Why would someone want to advertise the fact that their cupca...
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Weinberger tirade exposes embarassing truth about beloved Vermont treat

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     In a profanity-laden rant caught on record Wednesday by an undisclosed source, Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger alluded to a reality that has been threatening Vermonts 350 million dollar creemee industry for years.  In the chiding, the mayor continually poked fun at the fact that Vermonters "don't realize that creemees are the same soft serve that the rest of the country noticed was far inferior to regular ice cream after TCBY had their moment in the early 1990's".  Industry advocates have long insisted that creemees are fundamentally different than soft serve in texture, taste, and cream content, but independent efforts at verifying this claim have consistently disproved it.  Widespread fear exists that if consumers did realize that they were eating only regular soft serve and not a unique "creemee", Vermont's most lucrative novelty treat would loose appeal immediately.  In a public opinion poll conducted by St. Michael's College in 2012, 86% ...
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Burlington girl's death marks third tea overdose of year

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     The death of Burlington resident Maeve Donnely marks the third incident of the year in which a city resident has accidentally relaxed their heart rate to the point that blood was unable to perfuse to the rest of the body.  Each of these deaths was linked to the habitual "chain" drinking of herbal teas without any sweetener.  Emergency medical professionals found her early Sunday morning in a rocking chair in the bedroom of her rental apartment on Crombie St. in Burlington's Old North End with a "blissfull look on her face."  Moriah Wilson, housemate of the 25 year old Donnely, estimates that she had been drinking up to 8 cups of herbal tea per night and maintaining an "incredibly mellow" state.  Governor Peter Shumlin spoke today at the statehouse vowing to take executive measures to educate these tea drinkers on the "dangers of excessive efforts towards mindfulness".  In his comments he alluded to a widely held speculation that these wo...
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Entrenamiento en Quebec

    21 de Junio, 2013     Aquí estábamos, en un parque BMX en Quebec.  Acabemos de tener la experiencia de preguntar una chica por direcciones en una kiosko de informacion y recibir mucho más información que queríamos, como 30 minutos de explicaciones sobre carerras en la dirección opuesto a la que dirigíamos.  Pues, decidimos que no pudimos dejar sin practicando un poquito.
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