Amber Alert – There was an Amber Alert in Portland this week. The good news is the child was found within a few hours. While doing some research to learn what happened, I learned a few things. There is a new national initiative for alerting folks about Amber Alerts. I also admit that I did not know that “Amber Alert” was named after a girl named Amber that was abducted. I had always thought it was just an acronym, which it also is: America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. There are times when I am in awe of technology. This is one of those times. Read on:

“Unlike Wireless AMBER Alerts, the WEA AMBER Alerts use the latest technology to send messages to wireless customers with WEA-capable devices in the area where a child has been abducted, even if the wireless customer isn’t from the area. For example, if a Chicago resident was visiting Boston and a WEA AMBER Alert was issued in Boston, the subscriber would receive the alert. At the same time, if an alert was issued in Chicago, the subscriber would not receive it while in Boston.”

Lawmakers salaries go into escrow if they miss the April 15 deadline – This article from CNN Money explains what is happening with the debt ceiling. The gist of it is that the House will be voting on a bill regarding whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. If they vote to raise it, that means the government can continue to borrow money against the $16 trillion dollars that the country already has in debt. The fun part? If lawmakers do not agree to a budget resolution by April 15: “Their salaries would be held in escrow and paid out at some point later.” Fun. I wonder how much they will make in interest! In any case, it is a novel idea to get different sides to work together and come to a resolution or their pay will be frozen. Sort of like having your allowance held until you can stop bickering with your sister. Sound familiar?

Eating Ourselves to Death – I want to see this episode of Our America on OWN. The episode is called: “Generation XXL” and airs January 29, at 10/9 pm Central time. I am passionate about health for youth. Growing up I did not have access to excellent, flavorful health foods. I hated vegetables. You could not pay me to eat them. I was active as a kid, but not as much as I could have been if I had encouragement from my family, especially my parents. Obesity, especially with children, needs our attention. If you have a chance to watch this episode, let me know what you think. I will be setting the DVR.

NFC Tags – I am fascinated by these NFC tags. I had never heard of them before I read this Fast Company article. Have you heard of them? If not click the link to read the article. I cannot even begin to try to explain. Just to give you a bit of interest:

“An NFC tag placed at your desk can tell your phone to open Evernote, tether your phone’s 4G to your laptop, mute your ringer, and remind you in 30 minutes to get off Twitter. But the issue both companies have discovered with tags is that they’re, ultimately, too capable.”

That is it for my Random Snippets from this week. Happy Friday!