Brian Banmiller's blog

Unidentified flying objects are hovering in public view.

In 2011 the FBI launched “The Vault;” an online electronic reading room for the agencies public documents. Recently some avid readers uncovered a document of particular interest and now it has been viewed more than one million times.

The item in question is a letter sent on March 22, 1950 from Washington DC field office chief Guy Hottel to then director J. Edgar Hoover. It describes a story about an air force investigator who reported the recovery of three flying saucers in New Mexico. The memo states that each flying saucer was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only three feet tall. Each body was wrapped in a metallic cloth styled after military flight suits.  read more »

Feel like a vacation; then head to the office.

Tech companies are flying out of the recession with a new business plan; incentives. More than ever before Silicon Valley companies want their employees in the office. It started with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer banning the practice of telecommuting and has moved to extra-large office space and job perks.  read more »

A minor league baseball stadium in Pennsylvania is aiming to please sports fans.

For people at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Coca Cola Park a bathroom break doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. The park has installed video game in the urinals of men’s rooms. The games are aimed at increasing prostate health awareness and work by challenging players to steer their way through a snowmobile course while trying to hit cartoon penguins.

Throughout the game messages will pop up reminding men to make an appointment to get checked out. And the entire game is hands free so you better make sure your aim is up to par.  read more »

The world is well connected just not with sewage pipes

According to a new United Nations study 6 billion people around the world have access to a cell phone. Unfortunately only 4.5 billion can get their hands on a working toilet.

A main example of the study is India. 626 million people in India are not able to use a clean toilet. However at the same time there are about one billion cellphones throughout the country.  read more »

Your bathroom scale could carry a lot of weight for your next flight.

A Norwegian economist is recommending that airlines charge passengers according to their weight. People with a little more to love would pay more and those that don’t would save a few bucks.

Some airlines already require heavier passengers to pay for an extra seat but so far no one offers a discount for taking up less room. The man behind the proposal says heavier passengers cause an airplane to weigh more, forcing it to use more fuel. He says charging passengers according to weight could benefit everyone because it would inspire people to drop a few pounds and would help airlines save money.  read more »

Sometimes words can hurt; especially when they’re on your resume.

Over the past few years employers have read hundreds of resumes from people desperately seeking a paycheck. And by the time they are halfway through the pile there are a few clichés, phrases and words that will do more harm than good.

To help you edit out unnecessary filler careerbuilder.com interviewed 1,300 managers at companies all across the country. Their feedback became a list of ten words or phrases that you should retire from your resume.  read more »

Business is tough, even for a groundhog.

Punxsutawney Phil is the groundhog who makes a winter appearance to predict the arrival of spring. But like most predictions Phil doesn’t always get it right.

Recently a prosecutor from Ohio announced he was suing the groundhog for fraud. He says when Phil emerged from his burrow this past year he did not see his shadow. Traditionally this means spring will come early. However Mother Nature didn’t get the memo and the Midwest and east coast are still being battered with snow and rain.  read more »

This year’s opening pitch is about to cross the plate and fans can hardly wait.

Larry Baer is President and CEO of the World Series winning San Francisco Giants. I recently talked to him about the evolution from sport to business and how the last 20 years has impacted the game.

“You drew one million fans you were probably going to more or less break even. Now you have to get to three million. The good news is that the sport has evolved so there’s something in it for everyone.”

Baer says the fans are his most important clients and if the spring training crowds were any indication fans are ready to pack into stadiums. And he’s ready to make sure they enjoy every moment of every game no matter what the final score is.  read more »

Your smartphone is getting a little bit closer to your fingertips.

Samsung is now joining Apple in the wristwatch department. But this won’t be your ordinary accessory; these watches will be designed to operate like a smartphone. Some features that have been mentioned in tech blogs include the ability to tell you who is calling or texting you, play music and monitor your heart rate.

So far Samsung is not releasing any specific information about their product including a price or release date. The company did say they have been working on a prototype for a while and a watch is definitely one of their upcoming products.  read more »

No one appreciates false advertising; especially when you’re eating it.

The New Jersey based Butterfly Bakery has been shut down by federal authorities for ingredients it didn’t include in labels. The Food and Drug Administration says it found sugar in the bakery’s sugar free food and saturated fat in its fat free treats. In some cases the food had as much as three times the amount of sugar and two times the amount of saturated fat then necessary.

The bakery was closed late last week after a federal judge approved the order. The bakery advertised its products as being “made with 100% love” but now the relationship is over. The FDA says the bakery is a repeat offender, and the bakery isn’t denying it.  read more »