Combat the summer doldrums by catching some entertaining television this June, July and August. There’s a little something for everyone – fluffy reality shows, dark and haunting dramas, buddy cop stories, and quirky animated families. Summer is definitely no longer a television wasteland. Let’s take a look at what’s going to be on your flatscreen this summer.

The Bachelorette just returned May 24th. This time around Ali Fedotowsky is handing out roses and looking for love. Twenty-five eligible bachelors will compete for her attention. Although not deep, this show is consistently entertaining. Will Ali find true love?

If true love isn’t on the horizon, maybe True Beauty will suffice. The twist behind True Beauty is that contestants think that they are competing to become “the face of Las Vegas.” In reality, they are being judged on their inner beauty.

The Good Guys look like a promising show. This action comedy features two mismatched cops – one is a former big-shot detective, the other one is young and ambitious. This fun but charming show could be perfect summer fare.

Scoundrels combines comedy with drama in a new Sunday-night series. It focuses on a family of small-time criminals who try their best to go change their ways after the father is sent to prison.

Fresh off her highly successful SNL hosting gig, Betty White stars in the new show Hot in Cleveland. The ensemble cast also features many other memorable players in a classic “fish out of water” story. Of course, White’s comedic timing is still incredible.

The Gates has been called “Desperate Housewives meets Buffy.” A family from Chicago moves to a private gated subdivision, only to find that things are not quite like they seem. Sarah Monahan suspects that her husband has a dark, twisty secret.

If the characters in The Gates aren’t spooky enough, you can always check out Neighbors from Hell. Neighbors from Hell is a horror-themed animated series from TBS. This series follows the Hellman family, who are, quite literally, from Hell. The show was created by Pam Brady, who has worked on South Park in the past.

So, there you go. Escape the summer heat and give some of these shows a try – you’re sure to find something entertaining.

The last time I remember formally celebrating Flag Day was in 1997 with my fifth grade class. Since then, it has been a day that has snuck by year after year; barely standing out from just an average Monday. This year, since I sit in front of a computer for 9 hours a day anyways, I decided to look into what Flag Day is all about, aside from a flag ceremony or red, white and blue cupcakes.  Since I am assuming most of you have had a  similar experience with Flag Day throughout your post elementary school days, I figured I would share some of my new found facts with you.

• Flag Day commemorates the adaptation of the Flag by the United States in 1777 by the Second Continental Congress (but you already knew that, right?)
• In 1916, Woodrow Wilson issued June 14th as Flag Day
• In 1949, National Flag Day was established as an Act of Congress
• Flag Day is not an official federal holiday, but on June 14th, 1937 Pennsylvania became the first and only state to declare the day a state holiday

Are your colleges and universities doing anything to commemorate Flag Day today?

Do you get bombarded with mundane questions on a daily basis such as “Who was the guy who played Cameron in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off?” and “What was the address to that restaurant again?” Here is a website that will allow you to passive aggressively clue in your friends, family and coworkers about this thing called the internet where a sea of information exists; in the nicest way possible, of course.

Let me Google that for you, http://lmgtfy.com/ is a fan favorite around our office and we hope you enjoying using it as much as we do! Oh, the power of Google.

On April 20th, an offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded killing eleven people and began to threaten marine life and many southern states due to the massive oil spill. Ever since, the story has dominated the headlines; most recently, the handling of the crisis by BP executives and the US government. Despite the administrative handling of the crisis, the issue at hand is the ecological disaster affecting areas surrounding the oil spill.

One group of students at Tulane University have created an oil spill crisis map using open source software.  The students partnered with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB) and Radical Designs to create the map, which uses information from texts, tweets, e-mails and online submissions that people send in to the website in order to plot the effects of the oil spill. The eyewitness reports include a description and location information, such as address, city and state and zip-codes. Photos and video also can be uploaded.

Real time testimony directly from the public is one way to see just how many areas are being affected by the oil spill. We think it’s pretty neat to be able to use new media such as Twitter to track something so important as a region’s livelihood.   What are your thoughts on the Oil Spill Crisis Map?

Happy Monday, everyone! The NBA finals are under way, with the series tied at one between the Celtics and the Lakers. Who do you think will win the championship?  While watching professional athletes is great and all, what’s better than a dog who truly has game? I’d bet Zeke the dog could give Kobe a run for his money!