Caesars Palace Las Vegas Gets Permit for World's Biggest Ferris Wheel

The owners of Caesars Palace hotel and casino really want to build a giant ferris wheel on the Las Vegas Strip, and now they're one step closer to doing so. Clark County just granted a construction license to casino mega-corporaton Caesars Entertainment to build what will be the world's largest "observation wheel" (apparently that sounds cooler), standing 550 tall and code-named the "High Roller" ride.

The wheel will be the centerpiece of Caesars' new $550 million "Linq" development project. It will be taller than the 541-foot Singapore Flyer wheel and bigger than the Mandalay Bay resort's planned 500-foot SkyVue wheel, which will be located just 3 miles down the Strip.

Caesars hopes the new project will help to revitalize the part of the Strip that's connected to three of their large properties: Harrah's, Imperial Palace, and the Flamingo. Caesers executives say they're already getting inquiries from people who want to get married hundreds of feet up in the sky.

We say: If there's one thing Las Vegas really needs, it's giant ferris wheels observation wheels. It's gonna be A LOT of fun to be in these things when the famous 30-mph Vegas wind gusts kick up!

Learn some mo': Caesars gets permit for world’s tallest wheel

Jeremy Lin's Houston Rockets Jersey is HOT

The New JLin Home Jersey!

After making what many are calling one of the dumbest decisions in NBA personnel history, the Knicks have let phenom player Jeremy Lin go to the Houston Rockets for nothing. That's very bad news for NYC-area stores who still have thousands of virtually-worthless Lin Knicks jerseys on hand.

But it's very good news for Texas sporting good stores and online sports merchandise retailers who will be selling what is already predicted to be one of the most-popular NBA jerseys on the market (again)!

Since last evening's announcement, online searches related to Jeremy Lin Houston jerseys have exploded, especially on the big social networks. The team's official Twitter account is already promoting pre-orders and Twitter in general is buzzing with JLin jersey talk.

Lots of people will be looking to cash in, and not just Americans. There are rumors that some Chinese companies are already selling (very fake) Jeremy Lin Houston Rockets jerseys with the #17 on them. That's kind of funny since the Rockets have already announced Lin will get his old #7 jersey he wore during his first tour with the team.

We say: Last February's Jeremy Lin explosion was amazing to watch. Hopefully he can continue to improve and turn into a new, younger, much-more-Asian version of Steve Nash. We can't believe New York let him leave but we're bigger Rockets fans than Knicks fans so it works out for us!

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What do you think about the Jeremy Lin deal and the popularity of his new Houston jersey? Leave your comment and questions below... thanks!

Belly Fat: Not As Bad As We Thought

Here's a little good news for those of us with big bellies: belly fat may not be as bad for our health as we thought. A new study from Chicago's Loyola University found that abdominal fat appears to help regulate the immune system and also help heal damaged tissue in other parts of the body.

Researchers looked at the unique cells of the omentum -- the network of fatty tissue surrounding vital internal organs -- and found some interesting things that may lead to more effective immunosuppressive drugs and even treatments for autoimmune disorders like Crohn's disease.

Loyola's researchers found that belly fat even contains special types of stem cells called mesenchymal cells. They're able to turn themselves into other important body cells such as lung cells and bone cells. They're also important because they can move to injured areas of the body and help repair damaged tissue by generating fresh cells.

According to study author Makio Iwashima:

"We now have evidence that the omentum is not just fat sitting in the belly."

Still, experts do not suggest trying to increase your stomach fat levels. Most healthy people will have enough (or way more than enough) to get the immune-regulating and tissue-healing benefits of the belly's cells. And with all the known risks of having too much, it's definitely worth the effort to lose belly fat if you have too much of the stuff!

Learn some mo': Belly Fat's Still Bad, but Maybe Not All Bad

Amazon Kindle Smartphone Coming Soon?

Looking for a new type of low cost smartphone to buy? Good news then. A fresh report from Bloomberg confirms several months of rumors: Amazon is definitely going to release a new "Kindle" phone designed to compete with the Apple iPhone and Android phones.

According to Bloomberg's people, Amazon is working with mobile device giant Foxconn to manufacture the new phone. For many months now market experts have speculated that Amazon would come out with a Kindle phone because of the extreme popularity of the company's cheap Kindle Fire tablet computer. Also, Taiwanese media reports from November of 2011 stated that Amazon had begun talks with Foxconn to build a new mobile phone product.

Like the Kindle Fire, the new Amazon phone will almost definitely be designed to consume content -- ebooks, magazines, movies, muscie, etc. -- purchased in the Amazon marketplace. That means it too will likely run a very modified (some say limited) version of the Google Android operating system that's closely tied into the Amazon/Kindle app store. It also mean, hopefully, that the device will be significantly cheaper than the iPhone and high-end Amazon phones (which run $500 and up currently).

We say: We like our Kindle Fires a lot, despite their bugginess and small screen size, so a Kindle phone would probably be very cool as well. Plus, we always like to see more competition in the smartphone market. The sooner we get to a $50 high-end smarthphone the better!

Learn some mo': Amazon is reportedly working with Foxconn to build an iPhone-rivalling smartphone

DNSChanger Virus Might Cut Off Your Internet Access on Monday

100's of thousands of people will lose their internet access this coming Monday due to a nasty computer virus called DNSChanger. That's because the FBI will be shutting down special web servers it had set up on a temporary basis in order to help people with infected machines.

Fortunately there are easy ways to check for the DNSChanger virus on your own machine. Still, lots of people around the world aren't going to be able to log-in on July 9th.

A small group of Estonian computer hackers have been able to infect about 4 million computers around the world over the past 5+ years with their unique creation. The malware program redirects web browsers to fake "spoofed" web sites with malicious ads and links. Last year the FBI was able to arrest the cybercriminals but they have not been able to stop the negative effects of the widespread virus.

Experts say at least 300,000 computers around the world -- and at least 70,000 in the United States -- remain infected with DNSChanger. That's considered to be a huge number and may have some very negative potential consequences. The FBI has attempted to contact people infected with the program but they say that can't identify all of them. They have published some tips for checking/fixing your own computer.

We say: If you don't have at least a good free anti-virus program setup on all of your PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc you probably deserve to lose internet access for awhile!

Learn some mo': Internet blackout for thousands coming Monday

CERN Geeks Find "God Particle" (Probably)

Scientists may have finally discovered the Higgs boson, the so-called "God particle" theorized to be the fundamental building block of our universe. Researchers at the $10 billion CERN Large Hadron Collider near Geneva have announced "observations" of a super small particle with characteristics similar to those of the famous boson.

The scientists looked at computer data from hundreds of trillions of high-energy proton collisions -- the results of years of physics investigations -- in order to come to their amazing conclusion. They claim that two equal phenomenon were observed in two separate experiments in different parts of the collider, which confirm the accuracy of the results.

Still, experts say even more data will have to be collected and analyzed in order to completely confirm the results of the experiments. Until then, we non-geek laypeople will just have to anxiously await the results of the research!

Here's a nice video summary of the ground-breaking discovery:



Cool stuff... we think.

Learn some mo': New particle fits description of elusive Higgs boson, scientists say

Coffee, Caffeine Protect Your From Skin Cancer

More good news for us caffeine junkies! Coffee and its high caffeine levels might protect you from a common form of skin cancer, according to a new study. The Cancer Research medical journal reports that drinking regular coffee, tea, coffee, or even caffeinated cola appears to protect people from basal cell carcinoma.

According to study author Jiali Han, a professor at Harvard Medical School:

"It's the caffeine that's most likely responsible for the beneficial effect... Caffeine inhibits tumor progression. We saw the effect in mice and thought we should do this research to see if it applies to humans, too.... I'm not going to say we need to promote coffee based on this research, but this is just one more addition to the list of ways coffee has been associated with positive health benefits."

This new research just adds to a mountain of recent evidence pointing to coffee's health benefits -- including protection against type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's, liver cancer, cirrhosis, and heart failure. It has also been shown to provide a huge boost in exercise performance.

We say: Anything that gives us more reasons to drink 4 cups of coffee a day and 2 Rockstar energy drinks is good news to us. Plus skin cancer is a real threat here in Las Vegas so it's good to know we've been "protecting" ourselves so well all these years... :)

Learn some mo': Caffeine Consumption Linked With Lower Risk Of Basal Cell Carcinoma

Belviq: New Weight Loss Drug Approved in US

Need to lose some bodyfat? For the first time in 13 years, the FDA has approved a new weight loss drug -- one it initially rejected a couple years ago. Experts believe the move is part of the government's attempts to help control the skyrocketing obesity epidemic in North America.

According to Cowen & Co analyst Simos Simeonidis:

"It appears that the agency's view has officially shifted towards 'not treating obesity is a risk in and of itself, so we're willing to put drugs in the market in order to help people lose weight, even if there's risk associated'."

Belviq is the brand name for lorcaserin and it's expected to become a billion-dollar product within a short amount of time. The new diet drug works by altering "hunger" signals in the brain, so users feel full on significantly less calories. In clinical studies, users lost five percent of their bodyweight (about 12 lbs) on average -- not a huge amount of weight but enough to make a big difference in the health of obese patients.

Belviq is only approved for use in obese adults with a BMI of 30 or more or in those with a BMI of 27 or more who have at least one health problem related to their weight. So if you're overweight and have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc you can qualify for a Belviq prescription from your doctor.

We say: These weight loss drugs almost always have side-effects that make them a dangerous way to lose weight. Clean eating and regular exercise is a MUCH better option for those of use who need to lose a few pounds!

Learn some mo': FDA OKs first obesity drug in 13 years