Misc.
Sometimes, a person just has to write about something that doesn’t quite fit with other, more established topics.
Web 2.0 quiz, 2009 version
Remember Sesame Street's "One of these things is not like the other" song? Once again it's time to apply that thought to a list of "Web 2.0" website names. So if you think of the "e" in "-er" words is as vestigial as a human appendix then you're ready to take this quiz and spot the made-up name. (But you can take it even if you still have your appendix and spell "flicker" with an "e.")
Read MoreCan you name the Five Freedoms?
One in a thousand Americans (0.1%) can name all five freedoms afforded under the First Amendment. Sad? Yes, especially considering 22% can name all five Simpsons characters. Count'em with me: religion, freedom of speech/press; peaceable assembly, and petitioning the government.
Read MoreAn open letter to the yellow pages
To whom it may concern: I'm writing today to offer a generous thank you for the years of faithful service you've provided by delivering to my home--unbidden--thick piles of bound, yellow paper. Though appreciated, I politely request that you stop. Please... stop already. I don't need any more doorstops, fire-starting material, or props. That, and I've heard of the Internet.
Read MoreCross-post: The fight against academic falsification
I recently wrote an entry over at the UW Registrar's blog about "academic falsification," otherwise known as academic fraud.
Read MoreUnipocky
Pocky, to the uninitiated, is a delicious chocolate-coated biscuit in slender stick form. There are variations, such as the interestingly-named "Men's Pocky," and a number of flavors ranging from strawberry to green tea. It does, after all, come from Japan like so many other wonderous food products. But I recommend you keep them away from the heat.
Read MoreCoffee on the Ave – (3) Trabant Coffee and Chai
A friend who worked at for the UW right at 45th and the Ave. used to tell me all the time about how great the coffee at Trabant was. He is a serious coffee connoisseur and is typically a very difficult judge so I figured it must be good stuff. Oh boy, was he right! Trabant is the best coffee on the Ave. And I'm not the only one who thinks so; Trabant won CitySearch's "Best Seattle Coffee" award in 2008.
Read MoreNow Reading
Planned books:
None
Current books:
The Player of Games (Culture) by Iain M. Banks
Recent books:
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
- House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
- The Santaroga Barrier by Frank Herbert
- Stardust by Neil Gaiman