Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Environmentalists join fish rodeo MOBILE, Ala., July 14 (UPI) -- Some 3,000 anglers participating in the annual Mobile, Ala., Fish Rodeo will be joined this weekend by environmentalists testing for mercury. Advertisement Oceana, a non-profit conservation group founded in 1999 with funding from Ted Turner's Turner Foundation Inc., is an official sponsor of the Jaycee's Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo. The group will post its "science team" at the weigh-in station, staff an information booth and provide the results of its mercury tests to anyone via e-mail. But David Hogberg, director of the non-partisan Capital Research Center's Greenwatch program, isn't impressed, The Washington Times said. "What's this international, liberal group going down to Alabama for?" he said. "It's one thing to do mercury testing in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, and another to show up at a local deep sea fishing rodeo." Seal helps woman survive Pacific ordeal Advertisement VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 14 (UPI) -- A British Columbia woman rescued after falling overboard into the Pacific and paddling for eight hours in chilly water says she was kept company by a seal. The unidentified 40-year-old woman was wearing pants and a fleece sweater but no life jacket when she fell overboard while her two sailing companions slept around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. She told rescuers she swam for several hours before becoming overcome with fatigue in the 64-degree water in the Georgia Strait at the mouth of the Fraser River. That's when a seal appeared and stayed close, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., reported Thursday. She was found 15 miles from where she fell by a sailboat not involved in the search for her. Herman Hartmann was out for a pleasure cruise, and was just about to turn on his engine when he heard the woman calling out. He hauled her aboard and Canadian military medics arrived by helicopter and treated her for mild hypothermia. Online poker craze joined by 'pokerbots' JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 14 (UPI) -- A growing number of computer programmers have muddied the waters of the online poker craze by designing scientific "pokerbots" that outthink humans. Advertisement One of them is 29-year-old Brian Edwards of Jacksonville, Fla., a Web site administrator for Blue Cross Blue Shield, who says he's probably the only bot programmer who hasn't run his system online against humans. "It's definitely possible to create a poker robot that plays better than yourself," Edwards said. He told U.S. News & World Report he considers himself a midrange player and that he's about broken even in the two years he's been playing. "Teaching a computer to play poker is different from teaching yourself," he said. "A human brain works with fuzzy knowledge and is able to make generalizations." Pokerbots are a thorn in the side of online casinos. Internet sites such as Partypoker ban robots and hire employees to try to weed them out, the report said. Chicago Transit may sell naming rights CHICAGO, July 14 (UPI) -- The cash-strapped Chicago Transit Authority is considering selling naming rights of its subway lines, trains and stations to corporate sponsors. Similar to the way sports teams are renamed, it's part of a pitch to boost revenue and streamline operations as the transit agency gears up for a certain budget crunch next year. Aecom Consult representatives, contracted to analyze CTA operations, told the transit board that it should look for new ways to bolster advertising revenue, adding ATMs and selling naming rights, as was done with U.S. Cellular Field, the Chicago Sun-Times said Thursday. Advertisement "A corporate sponsor might agree to sponsor the Blue Line or Orange Line," Aecom's John Burns said. "Everything is up for consideration," CTA Board President Carole Brown said. "Everything is a possibility." Earlier, the Chicago Tribune said, the TECO Line Streetcar System of Tampa. Fla., was named after a utility company and has offered stations and streetcars for naming.
