Please click here to go to the new site. Please update your bookmarks!
Saturday, June 07, 2003
The Elephant SpinOut Puzzle:
The Surprise Word of the Past Millennium:
From the American Dialect Society: The Word of the Year 1999 was Y2K , the Word of the Decade for the 1990s was web , the Word of the Twentieth Century was jazz , but the Word of the Past Millennium was simply the word she . They explain:
"Yes, she, the feminine pronoun. Before the year 1000, there was no she in English; just heo, which singular females had to share with plurals of all genders because it meant they as well. In the twelfth century, however, she appeared, and she has been with us ever since. She may derive from the Old English feminine demonstrative pronoun seo or sio, or from Viking invasions."
"Yes, she, the feminine pronoun. Before the year 1000, there was no she in English; just heo, which singular females had to share with plurals of all genders because it meant they as well. In the twelfth century, however, she appeared, and she has been with us ever since. She may derive from the Old English feminine demonstrative pronoun seo or sio, or from Viking invasions."
One SARS, Two SARS, Dead SARS, Blue SARS:
Children all over Canada are learning about SARS from a helpful series of books. From Davezilla.
Satellite Radio For Your Computer:
From XM Radio: "XM PCR doesn't hog bandwidth. In fact, it doesn't even require an internet connection. It's not Internet, it's Satellite Radio. And, it won't slow down your computer either. "
And if They Don't Meet, We'll Just Make It a Gateway X!:
Slideshow: "Construction of the Gateway Arch"
Friday, June 06, 2003
Art Coloring Pages:
Print 'em out and break out the colored pencils for hours and hours of family fun! Grant Wood, Dali, da Vinci, Lichtenstein, they're all here. From EnchantedLearning.com
How Rotary Engines Work:
The first car I ever had was a blue Mazda RX-3 station wagon with a Rotary Engine. Fun to drive, and the harmonics of the engine would make your scalp go numb after about two hours on the freeway. One of my fondest memories of that car was the time I drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco in August when it was about 106 degrees. No air conditioning. And did I mention the black vinyl interior?
Swiss, Swedish, Danish or Dutch?:
Yeah, you get 'em confused too. Admit it. So take this online test, if you dare.
Why Don't Polar Bears Eat Penguins?:
I know you know this, but have some fun and go stump your friends. Then direct them here.
South Korea is Bright, North Korea is Dark:
If you look at a picture from the sky of the Korean Peninsula at night, South Korea is filled with lights and energy and vitality and a booming economy; North Korea is Dark
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Postage Calculator:
The official one from the US Postal Service.
Edmund Fitzgerald, Part 2:
It was Bud Selig and Edmund Fitzgerald who brought the Brewers to Milwaukee. Yes, that Edmund Fitzgerald. And oh by the way, you can drink a toast to the man and his ship here.
I Can't Believe This Didn't Come Out of Milwaukee:
From the BBC: Beer ice cream goes on sale. (via the wonderful Discount Blogger)
Just What the Internet Was Made For:
The Speed Trap Exchange.
For When You Want Just a Bite or Two . . .
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
And My Special Personal Thank You to the Ayatollah Khomeini . . .
For coming to power in Iran and helping to keep my heart surgeon here in the USA. Ya just never know when someone is doing you a favor. It's been two years now since that surgery, and everything's fine, thanks. And a special Happy Birthday to a special two-year-old, Josie P!
A Nice Little Interlude for a Too Hectic Day:
A little slideshow for right now. (via DG)
Debunking the Beaver:
From the Interesting Ideas website: "The producers of this unassuming family sitcom could never have imagined that the Cleavers would one day become America's paradigm for the ideal middle-class family. More incredibly, Beaver attained that mythic status even though something was dreadfully wrong in the supposedly ideal world of Mayfield, USA." Aw, that Eddie, always givin' Beaver the business. Why, I oughtta clobber him.
Remember Stopping at Stuckey's with Mom and Dad on Vacation?:
Relive the high point of American Civilization at the stuckonstuckeys web site.
Diversity Prop: Grace on the Cheap
From Jonah Goldberg on National Review Online Diversity isn't an unqualified good. In fact, save for a few pedantic exceptions — God, wisdom, etc. — there are no unqualified goods. Tolerance is bad if you tolerate evil. Democracy is a problem if it becomes tyrannical, which it most certainly can. Law can be "a ass." Dissent isn't necessarily heroic. For every Mandela, Gandhi, or Thoreau there are 1,000 — no, 10,000 — drooling morons, jabbering misfits, and opponents of progress with equal claim to the title "dissenter," "dissident," "protester," "rebel," or "non-conformist." When a group or society is heading in the right direction, the maverick is no hero for telling everyone to turn around. Even Irish whiskey, taken to an extreme, can be a problem.
Diversity is another of those words we imbue with all nobility and goodness without question or reservation. And that's nonsense. If diversity were always and everywhere good we would be clamoring for more midgets in the NBA. We would demand that mobsters get jobs at the FBI and we would consider it a grave problem that not enough blind men — and women! — were applying to be crossing guards, snipers, and surgeons. .....
Diversity is another of those words we imbue with all nobility and goodness without question or reservation. And that's nonsense. If diversity were always and everywhere good we would be clamoring for more midgets in the NBA. We would demand that mobsters get jobs at the FBI and we would consider it a grave problem that not enough blind men — and women! — were applying to be crossing guards, snipers, and surgeons. .....
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
I Never Understood People Who Thought He Was a Good Actor:
Even though he's never been in a successful TV show, it looks like Leo Fibonacci has landed his own series. They say it's an art form, but to me it looks like it's done strictly by the numbers.
A Viewpoint on Why American Education is So Expensive:
Education News and Analysis from the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation: American education is so expensive in large measure because we pay for it twice. We send kids to high school to pick up the knowledge and skills they ought to have learned in elementary school. We send them to college to acquire a decent secondary education. And if we really need someone with a "higher" education, we're apt to look for people with postgraduate degrees. (via Joanne Jacobs)
The Psychic Flash Movie:
Is the internet now smarter than you are?
The One Stop Site to Find Your Combination Chinese and Western Astrology Signs:
At Suzanne White's Horoscopes. I'm an Aquarius Snake. But for all these years I thought I was a Horse, since every placemat at every Chinese restaurant told me so. So I feel Sheepish now! I guess it does pay to go to a professional. Now, if I could only find out whether it matters that I'm on the cusp of being a Capricorn. Hey, maybe I'm a CASH: Capricorn Aquarius Snake Horse. And they said I'd never amount to anything . . .
Make Your Own My Yahoo like Page:
At NewsIsFree. Hundreds of sources, including this one!
Monday, June 02, 2003
Getting to Know the Hitlers:
FOR more than 50 years, the relatives of Adolf Hitler have hidden under false names in Long Island, New York. Scores of historians and academics had been searching in vain for any clues that would solve one of the untold mysteries of the Second World War: whatever happened to the English Hitler?
Hear Me, O Graduates:
Demotivate yourselves: There’s no joy in moneymaking.
License Plates of the World:
Lawrence Welk, Post-Modernist:
Jeffrey Zeldman explains this eternal mystery.
When USS Guitarro sank at Mare Island:
The amazing but true story of the US nuclear submarine that sank alongside the pier while it was under construction.
Sunday, June 01, 2003
The Word Spy:
Keeps you up-to-date on all the latest buzzwords. (For, example, do you know what an alpha earner is?)
How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory:
A nice summary from the University at Albany Libraries.
Everything You Wanted to Know About One Hand Typing:
It's on the Type With One Hand website, of course! But if you have two hands, you can still learn to type here.
Sing the Jingle: Eighty-Nine, Double-U Ell Ess:
Chicago has two: one named for Sears, the World's Largest Store (WLS), the other named for the Chicago Tribune, the World's Greatest Newspaper (WGN). What are they? Well, see this Map of the Three-Letter Callsign Radio Stations for a hint.
Get Your Playing Cards:
