Here’s one for all the cat lovers out there; These are all cat names which have appeared in either history or fiction. Name the owner or text where they appear. 1. Koko and Yum Yum 2. Pyewacket 3. Mehitabel 4. Hot Dog 5. Macavity 6. Graymalkin 7. Polar Bear 8. Hodge 9. Spot 10. Selima …
R.I.P., Alan Lomax. The NYT article is pretty good; if you want a better feel for the man and his accomplishments, go to his website. It’s not too much to say that he educated an entire country about its musical history. Thanks to Skarlet for pointing me to the website. Another leading light in American …
SMASH. That stands for “simple, many, self-healing.” It’s a concept more grandly called “autonomic computing,” and it’s becoming a mantra at IBM. The idea is to create computer systems which instantly recognize internal failure (at the processor, at memory, etc.), figure out how to resolve the problem, do so, and go on with the job. …
If anyone is up for political action, and in particular action which strongly opposes the diminution of American civil liberties, tax giveaways to the corporate sector and the wealthy, and energy policy centered on resource use rather than conservation, I recommend you sign up for MoveOn. Read their FAQ and their press notices; then sign …
Here’s a heartfelt op/ed from Andy Grove, expressing dismay at what’s happening in corporate America, with ideas for solving the problems. On the other hand, here’s a pr?cis of objections to current suggestions in Congress from the business community. Digital photography is being used by prosecutors in more and more domestic violence cases, according to …
Ezrael might appreciate the irony here: Sci-fi and sci-fact are merging more quickly than ever before. For those art history majors out there (to quote Click and Clack), here’s an astronomer who’s pinpointed the exact date on which Van Gogh painted “White House at Night”, using the star depicted in the painting as his guide. …
This smacks more of Stalinist Russia than the United States of America; a DOJ program called TIPS hopes to enlist ordinary citizens in its attempts to thwart terrorism. Sounds fine in theory, but the practice could easily devolve into a nation of informants. So says the WashPost in a Friday editorial. (Thanks to Michele for …
As a preface to this, I should say that I was 14 when I got a copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes, and I still have it. I’ve been a fan forever. Batty made a remark in her comments which contained sufficient mystery for it to remind me of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, a …
Remember all those “Day in the Life” photo books which came out about ten years ago? Well, Patti proposed a similar project for today within her circle of blogging friends, and the issue has been what in Wall Street parlance would be called oversubscribed. She’s got a whole list of participants and links to their …
The nice voice on the answering machine yesterday told me that the prospective trial I might have had to sit for was cancelled; no reason given, which I find annoying. What? Plea-bargained, charges dropped? What? Ah well. From Mr. Bush’s speech in Minneapolis yesterday: “the bottom line and this corporate America stuff, is that important?” …