Loud music in restaurants order of the day, not conversation

Music and dining have long gone together, but nowadays, one seems to be spoiling the other. Isack Elyas f.1629

If your mouth starts to water after reading a rave review about a hot new restaurant, swallow hard. It's a safe bet that loud music will be served - along with the food.

The combination of a fabulous meal AND great conversation is no longer on the menu. Or so it seems. 

And if you are fed-up with the nerve-jangling noise, you're not alone.

Hans Schmid of the "Right to Quiet Society" in Vancouver has developed these special yellow and blue cards you can carry in your wallet. 

The yellow ones read: 

"Dear owner/manager/staff: I enjoyed visiting your establishment in large part because of the ABSENCE OF PIPED 'MUSIC'."  

The blue ones announce:

"I'm not inclined to return to your establishment because of your ANNOYING 'MUSIC'."  

Michael carries these around and shared his stockpile of cards with Frank Faulk. He too has tender ears, and likes to eat without having them blasted. And that is the subject of his documentary "Keeping it Down".

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Nutella theft in German town valued at over $20K

Five tonnes of Nutella, a chocolate hazelnut spread manufactured in Italy, were stolen over the weekend from a trailer in a German town. (Paul Morigi /AP Images for Nutella)

These thieves might really have sticky fingers.

Police said Monday that an unknown number of culprits made off with five tonnes of Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread from a parked trailer in the central German town of Bad Hersfeld over the weekend.

The gooey loot is worth an estimated $20,710 US.

Germans news agency dpa reported that thieves have previously stolen a load of energy drinks from the same location.

Nutella, sold around the world, is manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero.

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Pork found in Ikea's moose lasagna

Ikea says it has withdrawn 17,000 portions of moose lasagna from its home furnishings stores in Europe after traces of pork were found in a batch tested in Belgium.

Ikea spokeswoman Tina Kardum said the product had only been on sale for a month when it was pulled off the shelves on March 22.

The company didn't announce the withdrawal publicly until Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet wrote about it Saturday.

Kardum said the company found out Friday that a follow-up test in Belgium confirmed the lasagna contained 1.6 per cent pork.

"We have more information now. That's why we choose to inform now," Kardum said.

Moose meat is common in Sweden though it's not typically used in lasagna.

Ikea has previously recalled meatballs and other meat products sold in its cafeterias and frozen foods sections after tests showed they contained traces of horsemeat.

The Swedish furniture giant is one of many European companies caught up in a scandal over mislabelled meat in frozen food products.

Ikea's withdrawn products came from a Swedish frozen foods maker, which in turn blamed the mislabelling on its meat suppliers.

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Loud music in restaurants order of the day, not conversation

Music and dining have long gone together, but nowadays, one seems to be spoiling the other. Isack Elyas f.1629

If your mouth starts to water after reading a rave review about a hot new restaurant, swallow hard. It's a safe bet that loud music will be served - along with the food.

The combination of a fabulous meal AND great conversation is no longer on the menu. Or so it seems. 

And if you are fed-up with the nerve-jangling noise, you're not alone.

Hans Schmid of the "Right to Quiet Society" in Vancouver has developed these special yellow and blue cards you can carry in your wallet. 

The yellow ones read: 

"Dear owner/manager/staff: I enjoyed visiting your establishment in large part because of the ABSENCE OF PIPED 'MUSIC'."  

The blue ones announce:

"I'm not inclined to return to your establishment because of your ANNOYING 'MUSIC'."  

Michael carries these around and shared his stockpile of cards with Frank Faulk. He too has tender ears, and likes to eat without having them blasted. And that is the subject of his documentary "Keeping it Down".

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Sea lion has rhythm, to scientists' surprise

The perfectly timed dance moves of a California sea lion named Ronan have shaken up a popular scientific theory about who's got rhythm.

Ronan really only has one dance move — it involves bobbing her head up and down — but the fact that she never misses a beat when bopping to pop hits like the Backstreet Boys' Everybody has her trainer very excited.

Peter Cook, a graduate student in psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, says Ronan is the first mammal other than humans that has demonstrated the ability to keep a beat.

In fact, he told CBC's As It Happens Thursday, a sense of musical rhythm was until recently thought to be something unique to humans.

That changed a few years ago when a Backstreet Boys-loving, dancing cockatoo named Snowball became a sensation on YouTube — and in the scientific community.

Peter Cook was using Ronan as a healthy animal to compare to sick sea lions in another experiment. He noticed she was unusually bright and decided to try to train her to keep a beat. (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Snowball's talents led some psychologists to propose that a sense of rhythm evolved as an adaptation to boost vocal flexibility in animals with exceptional vocal talents, such as humans and birds that can mimic human speech.

"This theory was getting a lot of play, but no one had really tested it very thoroughly," Cook said.

He became interested in doing just that, and figured he knew just the right sea lion for the job. At the time, he was doing research at the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory Systems Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz on how neurotoxins produced by algae affect sea lions.

Ronan, a sea lion that had been rescued off a California highway as a youngster in 2009, was the healthy animal against which sea lions affected by the neurotoxin were compared. Cook noticed that she seemed unusually bright.

On weekends, he started trying to train Ronan to bob her head in sync with a metronome. A few months and many buckets of fish later, he succeeded. Since then, Ronan has demonstrated the ability to find the beat in all kinds of music, although she's shown particular enthusiasm for Earth Wind & Fire's Boogie Wonderland.

"She moves a little sharper, there's a gleam in her eye," Cook said. "That one has been a real hit with her."

Cook says Ronan's rhythmic abilities may suggest that the ability to keep a beat may be common among a wide range of animals.

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KFC chicken going boneless

In case Americans want to scarf down their fast-food even faster, KFC is stripping the bones out of its chicken.

The fast-food chain says it's introducing deep-fried boneless chicken pieces on April 14 as an alternative to its traditional breast, thigh and drumstick pieces.

The new offering reflects the growing popularity of nuggets and strips that are easier to eat on the go, as well as Americans' seemingly endless desire for more convenient foods. KFC says nearly four out of five servings of chicken sold in the U.S. are now boneless.

Based on customer trends, the chain says bones could eventually disappear from its menu.

80% of chicken served boneless

"Younger people don't tend to be fans of bones — they've grown up with nuggets," said KFC spokesman Rick Maynard, referring to people in their 20s and 30s.

Although KFC has more than 18,000 locations worldwide, the boneless chicken will only be offered in its 4,500 U.S. locations.

The new chicken, which is skinless and comes in white or dark meat, are whole muscle pieces fileted off the bone and are about twice the size of KFC's crispy strips. Customers will be able to order them for the chain's meal deals, which include two pieces of chicken, a side, a biscuit and a drink for $4.99.

They also come in buckets, which include four pieces of boneless chicken and six pieces of breasts, thighs and drumsticks for $14.99. The boneless chicken option costs the same as the regular fried chicken.

A piece of the boneless white meat has 200 calories and 8 grams of fat. A dark meat piece has 250 calories.

Even before the latest launch, KFC had already been shifting its menu to more boneless offerings. It rolled out smaller chicken "Bites" last year, as well as "Dip'ems," which are strips of chicken with a variety of sauces.

The chain had also been offering the chicken filets used in its sandwiches as a standalone, hand-held option. The chain says those will be phased out and that the new boneless pieces will be used in sandwiches.

KFC says it took two to three years to develop its version of boneless chicken, which performed strongly in test markets including Oklahoma City and Omaha last year.

Industry trend

Like McDonald's and Burger King, chicken chain Chick-Fil-A offers nuggets, strips and sandwiches but doesn't list any chicken pieces with bones on its menu. Although McDonald's recently tested chicken wings at select locations, the world's biggest hamburger chain has also focused on convenient options such as its new chicken McWraps and chicken McBites that come in portable cartons.

Howard Penney, a food industry analyst for Hedgeye Risk Management, noted that KFC has been struggling in the U.S. and that it has nothing to lose with the latest move. Even in the wings category, Penney noted that boneless varieties have been growing in popularity.

"People don't want to have to deal with the bones," Penney said.

KFC is owned by Yum Brands Inc., which also operates Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

Despite its choppy performance in the U.S., Yum has enjoyed a streak of growth for the past several years as a result of its growing presence in China. Yum is the largest Western fast-food operator in the country with about 5,300 locations, most of them KFC restaurants.

But since late last year, Yum has been working to overcome a scare over its chicken supply that has hammered sales in China. Yum, based in Louisville, Ky., has warned that it expects its profit in 2013 to decline, snapping an 11-year streak of double-digit growth.

Shares of Yum Brands fell $2.17, or 3.2 per cent, to $65.58 in morning trading as broad market indicators sagged on weaker than expected U.S. job growth in March.

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Meme-weary internet rolls its eyes at 'Vadering' photos

[View the story "The internet rolls its eyes at 'Vadering' meme" on Storify]

Storified by CBC News Community· Wed, Apr 03 2013 21:08:16

This is the new planking! Darth Vadering! Lol pic.twitter.com/jcyXg9Zh8DJoe

Internet meme du jour, a lame attempt by few to start a new photo posting trend, or a poorly-executed viral marketing campaign? The jury is still over what the significance of "vadering" actually is, but it can't be denied that it certainly managed to capture the web's attention -- if only until the next "thing" comes along.

Imgur

It started with the above image, posted to Reddit four days ago by a brand new user called "AngryBaby."

In response to HADOKEN-ing, I give you... Vadering. : picsreddit: the front page of the internet

Posted just days after the "Hadouken" photo-posing meme took the web by storm, AngryBaby's photo was clearly intended to inspire copycat images in a similar viral fashion.

Mshcdn

Unlike the Hadouken / Kamehama meme though, which was widely seen by web surfers to be of organic Japanese origin, AngryBaby's "Vadering" image was met with skeptical eyes.

The perfectly-positioned Chick-Fil-A logo in particular caused many Redditors (and others)  to dismiss the entire post as part of a seedy marketing scheme.

Viral marketing. Move along. Shiftgood

I don't really like Chick-Fil-A that much. I personally prefer <strong>SUBWAY™</strong>, with their delicious footlong subs and great soft drinks.NotASubwayAdvertiser

Yup very well placed logo right there.gologologolo

<a href="http://imgur.com/v6rg9F7" class="">Fixed</a>. Moving along.fwywarrior

AngryBaby maintained that he was simply a normal guy, and many agreed that some Redditors were perhaps being overly paranoid.

Dozens more decided to make their own vadering images.

A quick primer for those unfamiliar with the "Star Wars" saga: Darth Vader is able to use his Force abilities to choke another person into submission.

Gifsoup

And also, a new photo trend called #Vadering. Epic! pic.twitter.com/Y6ZhPjtcTbInstacanvas

Antonio est passé du côté obscur #Vadering @atinoco93 @robbnoel_stark pic.twitter.com/L5qZvDgAFxGaétan

Notetoself: binnenkort even #vadering doen: pic.twitter.com/AcV20FOheZDennis Knetemann

Looks like @RandyJPrice is #vadering @imshanebecker in this one. pic.twitter.com/8XcobbLYKQTrevor K Dennis

Here is the new trend - #Vadering! Fellow Star Wars geeks will love this... Tweet us your Vadering pics! pic.twitter.com/UU228DQhruDave Blezard

@dexbonus and @HappiLeeErin vadering me to death. You saw it here first. :3 pic.twitter.com/34WGOJpTrCGeorge McMahon

これがフォースというものだ。ぐえー ＃vadering nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/13... pic.twitter.com/YUmTIop0xQねとらぼ

Amazonaws

#Vadering @lightbank cc: @MarinaEDG @dickersonjames RT Vadering is the new Hadoukening funni.ly/XYf8dU pic.twitter.com/brSzVz5T0xPaul Lee

The powers of the Dark Side are strong! #vader #vadering pic.twitter.com/Vt4yHEKq8SJohn Scott

Like planking, owling, teapotting, horsemanning and countless other photo fad memes before it, vadering was a hit and many people got in on the fun - in good time, too.

Even Star Wars was impressed.

Planking is so last year. Try #vadering. RT @Broccoli_Robb7m: Newest craze!! pic.twitter.com/drhP1NHpmZStar Wars

But it would appear as though some people are growing tired of these flash-in-a-pan meme of the days. I mean, we just got rid of the Harlem Shake. Finally.

So now that the #HarlemShake is dead, in comes the next stupid thing called "Vadering." #StarWars pic.twitter.com/mMQX0K6cyIMentality Magazine

#Vadering seems more like a "let's do something stupid and post it on the Internet" thing than a "I love Star Wars" thing.eric kwun

I'm sorry but Darth Vadering is just as stupid as Planking and Owling.STOP IT.IT'S NOT CUTERae

New stupid photo trend alert: VADERING. Use The Force to strangle your friends, become a meme. pic.twitter.com/FoFdYeGrIFWise Brother Media

"At the risk of sounding like Old Man Internet telling all the new folks to get off his lawn, we all should really just agree that Vadering is not actually an Internet meme," wrote Geekosystem ediot Rollin Bishop. "At best it's a sad attempt to seed the beginnings of one, and at worst it's the scummiest kind of viral marketing. Either way, there's definitely nothing good going on."

Yahoo's sideshow blog echoed his sentiment, writing that "regardless of what you think of Vadering, it's ultimately another step towards the reality espoused in the 2012 "South Parke pisode "Faith Hilling," which warned viewers of the dangers of memeing.

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Sea lion has rhythm, to scientists' surprise

The perfectly timed dance moves of a California sea lion named Ronan have shaken up a popular scientific theory about who's got rhythm.

Ronan really only has one dance move — it involves bobbing her head up and down — but the fact that she never misses a beat when bopping to pop hits like the Backstreet Boys' Everybody has her trainer very excited.

Peter Cook, a graduate student in psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, says Ronan is the first mammal other than humans that has demonstrated the ability to keep a beat.

In fact, he told CBC's As It Happens Thursday, a sense of musical rhythm was until recently thought to be something unique to humans.

That changed a few years ago when a Backstreet Boys-loving, dancing cockatoo named Snowball became a sensation on YouTube — and in the scientific community.

Peter Cook was using Ronan as a healthy animal to compare to sick sea lions in another experiment. He noticed she was unusually bright and decided to try to train her to keep a beat. (University of California, Santa Cruz)

Snowball's talents led some psychologists to propose that a sense of rhythm evolved as an adaptation to boost vocal flexibility in animals with exceptional vocal talents, such as humans and birds that can mimic human speech.

"This theory was getting a lot of play, but no one had really tested it very thoroughly," Cook said.

He became interested in doing just that, and figured he knew just the right sea lion for the job. At the time, he was doing research at the Pinniped Cognition and Sensory Systems Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz on how neurotoxins produced by algae affect sea lions.

Ronan, a sea lion that had been rescued off a California highway as a youngster in 2009, was the healthy animal against which sea lions affected by the neurotoxin were compared. Cook noticed that she seemed unusually bright.

On weekends, he started trying to train Ronan to bob her head in sync with a metronome. A few months and many buckets of fish later, he succeeded. Since then, Ronan has demonstrated the ability to find the beat in all kinds of music, although she's shown particular enthusiasm for Earth Wind & Fire's Boogie Wonderland.

"She moves a little sharper, there's a gleam in her eye," Cook said. "That one has been a real hit with her."

Cook says Ronan's rhythmic abilities may suggest that the ability to keep a beat may be common among a wide range of animals.

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N.S. billboard celebrates women by featuring men

A billboard in downtown Halifax is causing some drivers to do a double take as it plasters a picture of three men on an advertisement for a women's wall of honour.

"We certainly weren't looking to offend anybody," said Kelly Gallant of Mount Saint Vincent University. "We hope that it'll get people thinking about who they want to honour in their lives."

The billboard, on Halifax's busy Barrington Street, says "We celebrate remarkable women." Gallant said the idea is to encourage men to make donations towards a wall of excellence that will honour women in a new building at the school.

"The focus really is women," said Gallant. "We're just choosing to share the message perhaps in a slightly different way."

Three out of four students at Mount Saint Vincent University are women.

'Perplexing' image

The image is raising eyebrows through the community and online. A picture of the billboard has been shared dozens of times. It's become the source of fodder on various social media websites.

"Your first reaction is 'something's weird here,'" said Derrek Ord. "This was just uncomfortable."

Rob Batherson, one of the three men on the billboard, doesn't mind the outcry.

"If it raises the question of how do we get more men to honour their wives, their girlfriends, their sisters, their mothers, their daughters, then that's a good thing," he said.

The billboard will be up for another three weeks.

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Sun puts Mars rovers on break

Beginning Thursday and through May 1, Curiosity can only check the weather every hour, measure radiation and look for signs of water below the desert-like surface. (NASA)

It's the Martian version of spring break: Curiosity and Opportunity, along with their spacecraft friends circling overhead, will take it easy this month because of the sun's interference.

For much of April, the sun blocks the line of sight between Earth and Mars. This celestial alignment — called a Mars solar conjunction — makes it difficult for engineers to send instructions or hear from the flotilla in orbit and on the surface.

Such communication blackouts occur every two years when the red planet disappears behind the sun. No new commands are sent since flares and charged particles spewing from the sun can scramble transmission signals and put spacecraft in danger.

Mission teams prepared by uploading weeks of scaled-back activities beforehand.

"They're on their own," said Rich Zurek, chief Mars scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Driving ban

The rovers are banned from driving. Instead, they take a staycation and study their surroundings. The orbiting Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter continue to listen for the rovers and make their own observations, but for the most part will transmit data once Mars is in view again.

Opportunity, Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the European Space Agency's Mars Express have survived previous bouts of restricted communications. It's the first for Curiosity, which landed last year near the Martian equator to hunt for the chemical building blocks of life.

Beginning Thursday and through May 1, Curiosity can only check the weather every hour, measure radiation and look for signs of water below the desert-like surface. The limited chores are a departure for the active six-wheeler, which is used to driving, drilling and zapping its laser at rocks.

Before the sun got in the way, Curiosity made its biggest discovery yet: From a drilled piece of rock, it determined that its crater landing site was habitable billions of years ago, possessing some of the basic ingredients necessary to support tiny microbes.

Scientists must wait until next month to drill into another rock and start the long-delayed trek to a mountain where Curiosity will search for the elusive organic molecules that are fundamental to life as we know it. The road trip was supposed to have started last year, but longer-than-expected science experiments put Curiosity behind schedule.

Odyssey, circling Mars since 2001, has experienced half a dozen blackout episodes with no problem. This time, it will try something new. There are plans to radio Earth every day even if calls are dropped, mostly to keep engineers updated on Curiosity's health. The rover is also programmed to send daily beeps to ground controllers.

By contrast, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will record and store information onboard its computers and beam it back after the hiatus. Opportunity, which parked itself in a clay-rich spot, will use the down time to study a rock and track the amount of dust in the sky.

With Mars missions on autopilot, many scientists and engineers planned to take vacation while a small crew remains on duty.

"We've been through this before," Zurek said. "We're not expecting to have any problems during this period. Let's hope it stays that way."

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