Welcome to Wednesday, August 8 2012′s Clicks of the Day!

Clicks of the Day is a daily round up of news posted Sunday through Thursday with quantity and quality of content differing depending on how busy Linda’s day is.

Edmonton/Alberta/Canada
• High river levels prompt Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival to move to Leduc

“The Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival will move this year from the North Saskatchewan River to Leduc because the river is too high and fast to guarantee the safety of paddlers. The annual three-day competition, which starts Aug. 17, will be at Telford Lake instead of Louise McKinney Park. The river has not only been high, but fast, explained festival president Blain Selinger. Teams are not allowed to take to the river if the water is moving faster than 450 cubic metres per second. For many weeks, Selinger said, water has rushed faster than 700 cubic metres per second. And just when it starts to slow, a heavy rain in Edmonton or to the west causes it to pick up again.”

I’m sure it will still be a hit!

• Alberta health minister should be punted over expense scandal: Opposition

“The opposition is calling on Alberta’s premier to punt her health minister over the health expense scandal. Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith called the $350,000 debacle the “exclamation point” on Fred Horne’s 10-month term as Health Minister.”

Eep.

• Police report spike in license plate thefts in west Edmonton

“Edmonton police are reporting a nearly 50 per cent increase in license plate thefts in the city this year. Police say as of last month, 233 license plate thefts had been reported, compared to 158 in July of 2011.”

Careful…

• Edmonton woman wins best blogger competition

“An Edmonton woman won a nationwide competition to be the blogging ambassador for the BiLLe Canada Wednesday. Sheri Landry, who blogs for a living at ThisBirdsDay.com, won the contest after beating out eight others for the title of Canada’s Best Blogger. Landry won a one-year contract to work with BiLLe in social media and blogging, a 20-hour a week commitment worth 100,000 euros (over $155,000 CDN).”

Congratulations Sheri! (Also: Last currency conversion I checked it was $123,092 CDN. Just noting this because I don’t want you to think the $124,000 CDN number I wrote in my Tuesday column was incorrect, lol.)

World

• Wisconsin temple shooter killed himself, FBI says

“Wade Michael Page – the man who killed six at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin on Sunday – killed himself after a police officer shot him in the stomach, the FBI said today. The second officer to arrive at the temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin disabled Page, who then shot himself in the head, The Wall Street Journal reported.”

Ah.

Health

• U.S. kids cholesterol levels down

“Finally, some good news about cholesterol and kids: A big U.S. government study shows that in the past decade, the proportion of American children who have high cholesterol has fallen. The results are surprising, given that the childhood obesity rate didn’t budge. How can that be? Some experts think that while most kids may not be eating less or exercising more, they may be getting fewer trans fats. That’s because the artery-clogging ingredient has been removed or reduced in many processed or fried foods such as doughnuts, cookies and french fries.”

Interesting.

• Natural births, not C-sections, trigger brain-protecting proteins in babies: Study

“The popularity of C-sections may carry a new and unsuspected risk. A team of scientists led by the Yale University School of Medicine is reporting that natural or vaginal births, but not caesarean sections, appear to trigger the brains of newborns to release a protein critical for the survival and development of neurons and connections in the hippocampus — the brain region involved in learning and memory that shrinks with age.”

Gotta go all naturale~

• Study: Fewer lies linked to stronger health and relationships

“A new study suggests honesty really is the best policy when it comes to your health. Researchers found those telling lies experienced more negative health effects than those who told the truth. They also say lying can put strain on relationships.”

Lol… obviously…

• One-third of moms suffer from PTSD symptoms after birth: Study

“Post-traumatic stress disorder is common among soldiers and victims of violent crime, and now researchers have found one in three mothers suffer from symptoms after giving birth. Researchers from Israel’s Tel Aviv University said women who have a natural birth, without an epidural, are more likely to suffer from symptoms of PTSD. The study included 89 post-partum women and found 3.4% actually had full-blown PTSD, such as flashbacks of the labour and heart palpitations while talking about the birth.”

:o

Technology/Social Media/Internet

• Mike Tyson Twitter threat, police force social media giant to hand over information

“The Manhattan district attorney’s office subpoenaed the social network company after it initially refused to provide the identity of the user, whose Twitter handle is @obamamistress. New York City police confirmed today they had been given the information on the person who made violent threats to audience mambers attending former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson’s one-man show on Broadway, The New York Post reported. Fox News said the tweets included: “i’m serious, people are gonna die like aurora.” Also: “gosh i’m still making this hit list damn i wanna kill a lot of people.” Before complying with the subpoena, Twitter had told the NYPD in an email, “We appreciate the timeliness and sensitivity of this matter, and have reviewed the reported Twitter account.”

Intense.

• New digital divide: whites less likely to own smartphones

“Nielsen’s latest Mobile Insights study shows that whites are the only group of U.S. mobile subscribers who are more likely to own an old-school “feature phone” than a smartphone like the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy. Two-thirds of Asian-American mobile subscribers, 57 percent of Hispanics, and 53 percent of blacks own smartphones. For non-Hispanic whites, the figure is just 45 percent.”

Hm!

• Apple, Amazon security questioned after hack

“The vulnerability of living a digital life “in the cloud” is in focus, after hackers proved the vulnerability of some popular online accounts that Internet users rely on everyday. Wired reporter Mat Honan’s AppleID was hijacked by hackers last week, enabling the identity thieves to take control of his iCloud account and remotely wipe the data from his Apple iPhone, iPad and Mac devices.”

It is rather worrisome…

• Beetles’ sticky feet lay groundwork for undersea robots

“Tomorrow’s robots could climb up submerged walls in the manner of an underwater Spider-Man by using a gripper design found in beetles. A number of beetle species can walk straight up smooth, dry plant leaves due to sticky adhesive-covered hair-like structures known as setae at the tips of their legs. Researchers analyzing ladybugs and a leaf beetle (Gastrophysa viridula) unexpectedly discovered that those insects also could use these setae to walk underwater.”

Neat!

Business/Work/Economy/Media

• TV nets give less coverage to Sikh shooting

“Two days after six people were killed at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, the story has become just one item among many in the national news cycle — a stark contrast to the flood of media coverage in the days following the theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., that killed 12. With the exception of CNN, which continues to broadcast much of its prime-time programming live from Wisconsin, the major networks have not sent their anchors to Wisconsin and have given significantly less coverage to the shooting. Moreover, the Sikh temple shooting has not launched the national mourning that followed the shooting in Aurora.”

That’s really sad.

• The highest-paid media figures

“TV Guide is out with its annual list of the highest-paid television stars, and there are plenty of media figures in its ranks. Among the top were Matt Lauer — who signed an eyepopping $21.5 million contract after much speculation that he could leave “Today” — and Anderson Cooper, who kicks off the second season of his daytime show in September.”

Wowsa.

• WestJet winning market share from Air Canada

“Canadian airlines reported strong passenger demand in July as the busy summer season kicked off, but analysts cautioned the news was not all good for Air Canada, which is to report second-quarter results Wednesday. Observers said Canada’s largest carrier seemed to be losing market share to WestJet Airlines Ltd. on its U.S. transborder and domestic routes and experiencing weakness across the Atlantic in part due to the Olympics in London.”

WestJet is awesome!!

• New York Times poised to offload how-to site About.com

“The New York Times has announced that it is poised to sell the resource guide About.com, ending a costly and ill-fated attempt to extend its online publishing business. AllThingsD first reported that the Times is looking to sell About.com to the online Q&A business site Answers.com. The NYT bought About for $400m in 2005.”

I had no idea NYT owned About.com.

Environment/Space/Animals/Science

• Canada at halfway mark to meeting 2020 emissions target

“Canada is halfway toward its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent from its 2005 levels by 2020, Environment Minister Peter Kent announced on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters from the Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence in Ottawa, Kent credited the government’s “sector-by-sector” approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions for bringing Canada halfway to its goals.”

Woooo.

• July 2012 warmest month in 100-plus years of U.S. records

“U.S. scientists say July was the hottest month ever recorded in the Lower 48 states, breaking a record set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. They say climate change is a factor. And even less a surprise: The U.S. this year keeps setting records for weather extremes, based on the precise calculations that include drought, heavy rainfall, unusual temperatures, and storms.”

Eep.

• Massive meteorite crater found in Canadian arctic

“Researchers in Canada’s western Arctic have found evidence of a crater that formed when a huge meteorite slammed into Earth millions of years ago. Measuring about 15 miles (25 kilometers) across, the formation was named the Prince Albert impact crater after the peninsula where it was discovered. Researchers don’t know exactly when it was created, but evidence suggests the crater is between 130 million and 350 million years old, according to a statement from the University of Saskatchewan.”

Cool beans!

• Going squirrelly: Alberta rodents feeling effects of climate change: ecologist

“Research from the University of Alberta suggests that squirrels in the province’s southern foothills are starting to suffer from climate change. The finding raises questions about what’s happening with other wild populations in the area.”

:’(

Weird News, Other News, Good News & Fluff

• Teen ‘gamer’ collapses after four-day Xbox marathon

“Tyler Rigsby, 15, of Columbus, Ohio, only came out of his room to use the bathroom, have a quick shower and grab some snacks from the kitchen, his mom told media. She said her son was so addicted to the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, that she hardly saw him for four days. The New York Daily News reported that when Tyler and his mother visited a relative on Tuesday morning, the teenager collapsed three times. “I was very scared,” his mother, Jessie Rawlins, told WCMH. “I thought he was going to die.”"

How are these kinds of video game-collapse/death situations still happening?

• Ill teenager misses her family cat, so the internet builds her a virtual cathedral of felines

“Because of her weakened immune system, 16-year-old cancer patient Maga Barzallo Sockemtickem has spent many months over the past year recovering in isolation at the Seattle Children’s Hospital. While waiting for a suitable bone marrow donor and receiving subsequent treatments, Maga found herself missing her beloved cat Merry. The hospital stepped in and created “The Cat Immersion Project” for Maga, which allowed her to meet thousands of cats from all around the internet from her hospital bed. It’s absolutely heartwarming, even if you happen to be allergic or feline averse.”

Soooo great.

• Nine-year-old’s lemonade stand raises thousands for Detroit

“So he did what any enterprising city kid does in the summer: he set up a lemonade stand. But this wasn’t to plump up his piggy bank. His goal was to raise money for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department so he and his buddies could again run around the Zussman Playground after it was cleared of debris. In a matter of days, he raised well over $3,000, received the praise of the mayor, and even won a scholarship towards college.”

Good for him!!!

• [Photos]: Collection of Olympic logos

All the logos aren’t very pretty, lol.

• [Video]: Cat escapes dog by surfing across pool

Lol is that for real?!

• International Cat Day: 10 years of clawing, meowing across globe

“Today is International Cat Day, a day to celebrate cats all around the world, whether they are a Tabby, Calico or Manx. In 2002, World Cat Day was launched. Each year on Aug. 8, the annual event brings awareness and information about how cats give both love and companionship to their owners (of course, also a warm feeling – and laziness – in the home).”

Meow!! :) Happy World Cat Day!!!

• World Cat Day: Pancake snuggles between his protectors

“To celebrate the general awesomeness of cats, we have yet another ridiculously cute video for you — of Pancake the kitten snuggling between his two bodyguards, a Doberman and a German Shepherd. In this YouTube video uploaded by user camelsandfriends, the two dogs make it clear that no one, but NO ONE, messes with Pancake.”

Soooo cute. :)

• Kitty cam will expose your cat as a cold-blooded murderer

“You know everything there is to know about Mr. Minxie-Bums, right? You know just the way he likes his belly rubbed, when he wants his supper, and you know at what time he likes to go outside every night. But do you know what he does when he’s out where the streetlights replace the sun and the rules don’t mean a thing? University of Georgia researchers peek into the secret lives of outdoor cats with their Kitty Cams. The unobtrusive video cameras were attached to 60 urban free-roaming cats whose owners volunteered them for this project. The American Bird Association states that the predatory nature of the domestic cat is one of the leading causes for the decline of many species of birds and small mammals in the United States. Out of the 74 million cats in America, it’s estimated that 30% kill prey.”

Lol!! My cats are in door cats… but I know they would be King of the Outside Realm if we let them out.

Thor (and/or Loki) Photo of the Day:

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Linda