Oh Bother.

So apparently we're like halfway through September and I still haven't finished talking about the stuff from last month.  I know, this is getting to be a regular event, but just thank your lucky stars I don't just delete these nuggets.

Daily Placebo readers enjoy full text rss syndication, and while my reasons may be a little more base and well intentioned (seems like the right thing to do and I hate having to click through to read the last 4 words of a post) TechDirt (who also provides full syndication like the just and insightful titans they are) explains why full text feeds are good for business.  Its mostly just about getting people to read your stuff and not worrying about monetizing every click.  If people enjoy your content there's a greater chance they'll refer other people to it, like I'm doing right now.

• Techdirt: Why Full Text Feeds Actually Increase Page Views (The Freakonomics Explanation)

Harvesting surplus kinetic energy has interested me for a while, like charging batteries instead of generating heat when you apply the brakes of a car.  Of course hydroelectric falls into this category, but I bet you never though of using human kinetics to drive the power grid.  No, we're not talking about stacks of bio-batteries like in the Matrix.  With the development of lower consumption alternatives like LED, simple actions like walking and sitting could power the devices around us if we could harness them.

• Environmental Graffiti: How Much Power Do I Generate by Sitting on the Toilet?

Ok, now we're talking about harvesting human energy like in the Matirx.  German scientists are measuring how much power they can draw from the heat radiated by a human.  Of course they're measuring it in millivolts so don't go thinkin you can stop charging your cell phone any time soon.

• Body powered circuits developed by Fraunhofer Institute

I told you this biofuels crap is not a good plan.  First the price of tequila goes up (blue agave burned to make room for corn) and now I can't even afford five pounds of gummy bears.

• Treehugger: Biofuels Threatening German Gummy Bear Habitat

Rent-a-duck?   I'm not really sure how useful ducks are at housework.  I guess they could clean your backyard pond, or maybe your tub if you've really let it go.  In Germany folks are renting farm animals to help with gardening.  What is this the Flintstones?  I refuse to brush my teeth with a sparrow.

• Rent-a-duck scheme is a hit

Life is like a Florida gun amnesty program; you never know what you're gonna git.  When this story first ran sources reported than a man turned in a surface to air missile he'd found in a shed.  Not true.  It was actually just the case for an anti-tank missile.  He got a new pair of sneakers in exchange, which just makes a mockery of the program.  I mean, its a gun trade-in, not a missile case trade-in.  Plus you know this guy still has that thing stuffed under his driver's seat.  The next person to cut him off is in for a surprise...

• BBC: Missile at gun trade in

I was looking for instructions on how to cook penguins recently.  So I got excited when I read this title, but its slightly misleading.  Solomons Island is exporting 100 live dolphins each year to help boost their income.  Fishermen sell them for $200, but shipping and training brings the price tag up to about $30,000.  If that's not the old bait and switch I don't know what is.  I guess I'm back to eating tuna, hoping to get lucky one day.

• Environmental Graffiti: Live dolphins sold for $200