Cartoon of the Day - None for you

[Source: Glenn McCoy - GoComics]

The largest

Photo: NASA / ESA / Andrew C. Fabian / Remco C. E. van den Bosch (MPIA)

Scientists have found a really large thing in a distant galaxy. They took a year to study and recheck the data, and they're pretty convinced that this really big things exists.

The galaxy known as NGC 1277 -- though I don't think the people that live there call it that -- is about 250 million light years from Earth. In the middle of it, is a really large black hole.

The giant black hole is about 11 times as wide as the orbit of Neptune around our sun, researchers said. The mass is so far above normal that the scientists took a year to double-check and submit their research paper for publication, according to the study's lead author, Remco van den Bosch.

Now, unless you just happen to know the size of the orbit of Neptune, all you can know is that it's pretty big. My math is that Neptune's orbit is around 5.6 zillion miles. Maybe billion -- I'm not that good at math. And 11 times that is ... well, it's a lot.

And that's a black hole. The thing is huge.

But, is it the largest thing there is?

I think not. I can think of a few things that might be larger, either in size or mass.

Like what? I'm glad you asked.

• The debt
• Obama's ego
• Liberal stupidity
• The handbasket the country is going to hell in
• Your tax bill
• Next year's debt

What did I miss? Ideas?

Cartoon of the Day - Becoming a target

[Source: Mike Lester - GoComics]

I just don't understand the liberal mindset. Maybe there's nothing to understand and, as they say, liberalism is a mental disorder.

Too late to get an iPhone now

It's over, iPhone. Pack it up. Throw in the towel. You're history.

Well, to hear teens talk, that's the story, at least according to Forbes:

"Teens are telling us Apple is done," says Tina Wells of the youth marketing agency Buzz Marketing Group. "Apple has done a great job of embracing Gen X and older [Millennials], but I don’t think they are connecting with Millennial kids. [They’re] all about Surface tablets/laptops and Galaxy."

The problem seems to be that parents are getting the newer iPhones and iPads, while giving the kids the older models. So, kids want the Samsung Galaxy S III phone or the Microsoft Surface tablet. That doesn't mean they're getting one of those, just that's what the kids want. On the other hand, Apple has cut orders for iPhone 5 parts.

If you never joined the iPhone brigade, it's too late now, if you want to be seen as one of the cool kids.

Because I always make my several-hundred-dollar purchases based on what some 14-year-old thinks.

Cartoon of the Day - Lost

[Source: Lisa Benson - GoComics]

It never had a chance anyway

NASA says we needn't worry about that astroid hitting Earth in 2036. That's the good news.

If you remember, in 2004, scientists discovered an astroid they named Apophis, and were concerned that it might hit Earth during one of its flybys. Now, they say that while it'll be a close encounter, it won't be a deadly one:

"With the new data provided by the Magdalena Ridge [New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology] and the Pan-STARRS [Univ. of Hawaii] optical observatories, along with very recent data provided by the Goldstone Solar System Radar, we have effectively ruled out the possibility of an Earth impact by Apophis in 2036," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL. "The impact odds as they stand now are less than one in a million, which makes us comfortable saying we can effectively rule out an Earth impact in 2036. Our interest in asteroid Apophis will essentially be for its scientific interest for the foreseeable future."

The April 13, 2029, flyby of asteroid Apophis will be one for the record books. On that date, Apophis will become the closest flyby of an asteroid of its size when it comes no closer than 19, 400 miles (31,300 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

Personally, I was never worried. After Obama's reelection, I'm thinking won't be a civilization left for Apophis to destroy.

Cartoon of the Day - 3 of a Kind

[Source: Michael Ramirez - Investors.com]