November 26th, 2008:
- Yesterday's Wall Street Journal and New York Times (and many other outlets) reported that the Houghton-Mifflin trade division will be “temporarily” suspending acquisitions of new books. (The textbook division, which provides most of the company's revenues, is not involved.) This comes in the wake of H-M's purchase by an Irish software company last year. I applaud; there are too many books chasing too few readers, and monster publishers are tempted to “buy” store space with co-op budgets that small publishers cannot afford, while publishing whatever they can find just to meet a preset publishing program.
- Here's a hilarious takedown of one of the most precious and irritating new-media types I've ever had the misfortune to read—with, as a bonus, a rare example of the use of the word “gnomic” in its classical sense.
- And while we're on Slate, here's a slightly lightweight item on the psychology of car-horn honking.
- Computer-hardware-as-tasteless-joke is something I've not seen before, but these guys certainly get credit for balls…
- …and so do people who rant and rage against grade-school Pilgrims-and-Indians pageants, especially when there are plenty of American Indians who support them. (School administrators seem to exile balls to the school playground in such cases…but never mind.)
- Here's an interesting but fairly tough 33-question quiz on American history and civics. I scored 100% without “peeking,” but I also read history as a hobby and actually think about politics rather than blindly wave a tribal banner. Let's say that I wouldn't have done this well had I taken the quiz right after my mostly indifferent college education. I had to guess on one question (correctly) and probe really stale memories for another. Can you guess which two questions I had trouble with? (Thanks to Terry Dullmaier for the link.)
- While trying to be a Nice Guy, I bought a bunch of CFLs after they became politically correct, only to see every damned one of them burn out in about six weeks. I lose a lot of filaments here—must be the altitude, or top secret Air Force projects at nearby NORAD—but incandescents go at least six months in the same exact sockets. Finally, an article in the engineering press about why CFLs aren't necessarily a gift from the angels. (Thanks to Pete Albrecht for the link.)
- Where can you get “extra” Lego bricks without buying sets full of stuff you don't want? (This was and remains a serious challenge for Meccano/Erector hobbyists.) One word: Bricklink.
- Damn. I never tried Zima. Now I guess I won't get the chance.
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