Top 10 Twitter Posts: Alien Rocks, Ethics and Sci Channel 'Oddities'

OK, so it's finally summertime and it just now started getting chilly again here in NorCal. What gives?! Still, it's a nice break from the otherwise unbearably hot spring weather. Here's a quick summary of some of the conversations, articles, videos and other thoughts that kept us entertained this week. Don't miss the buzz next time — follow us at @BWCnews for all things awesome in linear motion!

Credit: Lauren Pond

1. Implicated? Or Merely a Witness? on theonlinephotographer.typepad.com: Photojournalists — journalists in general, actually — follow a code of ethics that bars them from influencing events as they unfold. They're there to document history as it happens. But what if something terrible, something fatal happens right in front of you? Your professional ethics may dictate that you sit back and watch, but that doesn't mean the tragedy of it doesn't tug at your emotions. Read about this one photojournalist's assignment that ended in the subject's death. What do you think about the thought process behind the reporter's hands-off approach?

2. A Strong Online Presence Increases Opportunities in Linear Motion on Power Transmission Engineering magazine: Our very own Marketing Manager, Elizabeth Griffin, shared her thoughts with the publication on why it's so important for manufacturers to maintain a strong online presence. It's basically meeting your audience where they already are in their personal and professional lives — on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and countless other social media channels. Not keeping up with an online presence means companies will lose out and fall out of touch with customers, both future and existing.

3. Baltic Sea 'Alien' Discovery on LA Times Science blog: OK, so it's probably just a rock. But a discovery on the other side of the world has people pondering the possibility of it being something of otherworldly origin. Crazy talk, right? The Times had a good post about it earlier in the week.

4. The iBeamer on The Economist: Even the swankiest of luxury cars comes in fuel efficient version. Take this stylish BMW with a price tag of about $120,000. Yipes! Still, it's one of the nicest electric cars you'll find. Even nice to just look at.

Credit: Loved to Death

5. 'Oddities' to Air on the Science Channel: We obsessed about this show when it aired the original East Coast version, so we got super stoked to see the previews of a San Francisco spin-off to air later this year. It's basically a reality TV series that documents the oddballs who run a curio-taxidermy-antique boutique in the world-famous Haight-Ashbury neighborhood and the odder-balls (is that even a word?) who frequent the shop.

6. The Actual Cost of Making a Penny on Investment News: It takes 2.4 cents to make a new copper coin. Yeah, frealz.

7. Picasso Work Gets Vandalized at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: Another news story right in our backyard — and an sad one to hear too. Someone made the dubious effort of tagging a 1929 work by the painting legend ... and still another person had the guts to film it.

8. We're Hiring! on bwc.com: As we grow, we have to beef up our staff to keep up. We just posted some new job ads this week — one of them for an opening in our ever-expanding IT department. Check 'em out to see if you qualify ... we'll keep an eye out for your applications!

9. DOE Awards $54mil for 'Transformational' Manufacturing Ideas on American Machinist: The federal agency identified 13 manufacturing projects to award tens of millions of dollars. Find out what made the cut ...

10. When Your Home Becomes Smart on BBC: As the world gets smarter, so will our homes. Here's an interesting photo essay that gives you a little glimpse of our domestic life in the future ... possibly.