What do you call 3000 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?

2,871 Saabs, Volvos and BMWs were on the TRICOLOR when it sank in the English Channel on 14 December 2002. Funny that I didn't hear about this when it happened; perhaps it should be on Deaf Dude's Deaf Links. Maybe the captain of the Kariba was on Fentanyl?

Microsoft Pleads "No Contest"

Incompetech contained an entertaining item: Microsoft Technical Support vs. The Psychic Friends Network : Which Provides Better Support for Microsoft Products? (no comment about The Smart-Ass Guide to Art, on the same site).

Wash for 30 seconds using soap and hot water ...

Restrooms of the Future is hosted by the improbably named "Caring Hands, Inc." (this site reminded me of urinal.net, which is not for the easily disgusted). Want a more sanitary laugh? improbable.com contains things that go bang|whuff|splat|bad|nowhere else|with beer and the Winners of the Ig Nobel Prizes.

Google Directory - Recreation > Humor > Bizarre

Spotted on AOL Weekender's list of stuff to do in Dallas: The Texas Renaissance Festival (I can only guess they are easily confused by the similarity of Plantersville (Houston) to Farmersville (Dallas). Then again, perhaps the folks at digitalcity.com are just stupid; 200 miles away is not local. I suggest they consult one of the many online maps such as mapquest.com.

There are some useful topographic maps of the states on the poorly named o hwy.com (Online Highways) -- marketed as "the Guide to Travel, Leisure and Recreation in North America and beyond". I had some fun playing with the interactive stuff on National Atlas.gov .. overlaying stuff like the annual precipitation (or the railroads) in Dallas County, Texas along with the names of the cities.

green, Green, GREEN

I was reading the DMN and spotted an ad for Green Living (an environmentally-friendly retail store). I'll visit them when I go to the Angelika (and Kubys!) next week. I don't remember how I came across it, but I also spotted GreenGuide.com (for profit, not to be confused with GreenGuide.org which is non-profit, and based in Minneapolis-St.Paul).

I was nosing around Silk's web site when I spotted Child Labor Coalition which had a link to Candy USA (an item about African child labor).

rock and roll

I've been into photography for a long time .. probably had my first camera by 10 or 12 years old. I'm now on my 3rd digital camera. Am mulling a jaunt to the Dallas Arboretum while the Monarch butterflies are in town. There are good photo hints on the National Garden Month web site.

I've heard of Godzilla, then Mozilla and now Birdzilla. Almost makes me want to join the Lepidopterists' Society.

I've been through many earthquakes, when I lived in the Los Angeles basin (until 1993). I don't even blink unless it's a 5.0 or higher. Here are the ones I remember:

#1) My First Earthquake (circa 1983): I just thought someone was banging on the door - very loud. Turns out it was the doorframe and door meeting in a new way.
#2) I was sitting in my car at a stoplight, and I wondered why the signals were swaying and the car bouncing up and down.
#3) I was on the phone with someone back east .. I (rather calmly) advised them that we were having an earthquake, and if the phone disconnected, I'd call them back when service was restored.
#4) I was working late, on the 18th floor of an office in El Segundo (just south of LAX) and wondered why the window blinds were tinkling .. turns out it was the Bay Area quake (23 March 1991)

after a time, you'll develop a second sense about them. You automatically think where you'll go if it gets serious (door frames are the strongest part of a building .. I second-naturedly will go there). Stay away from windows (glass shards), power lines, nuclear reactors, farmers markets, etc.

Closed captioning dyslexia

Closed captioning dyslexia is the first article I've seen to comment on what I call Closed Caption Bloopers (it appeared in the Toronto Star). There are several good sites for information on Closed Caption, including the National Captioning Institute and captions.org (background information regarding deafness may be found on deafness.about.com and the Closed Captioning FAQ).

Something that doesn't require closed caption is some of the funniest audio (once you understand the Language Removal concept) I've ever heard: California Gubernatorial Candidates (language removed). (this stuff gets old fast, but my initial reaction was LOL - laughing out loud)

The Obscure Organization promises to make you think, but what were they thinking when they posted Yohaun's Head Splitting Translations ?

Some of the best investigative journalism in Dallas comes from the alternative press; The Dallas Observer bills itself as "The Alternative Dallas connection for events, event listings, music reviews, CD reviews, and all of the latest alternative news from the Dallas area". Okay, okay .. alternative. I get it.

Note to self: interesting that Blogspot/Blogger fails the Bobby Accessibility Test

Green Acres

Jill had considered putting bead board on her ceiling, but decided that would be "too country". This, from the woman who's gonna put floor tile on the ceiling instead. I suspect this is a delayed response to her trip Down Under last year, where water swirls backwards. She retorts "I don't do the country look in my house! The floor tile doesn't scream country ducks with blue bows around their necks!" Gene-Bob's prediction: it won't be too long before she moves the telephone, from its current location atop the pole (next to the house). Ah, life in Hooterville!

Here's yet-another article about the food fare at the fair: Texas-Fried Oreos, Anyone?

The weather in Dallas is usually too hot, or too cold. This week (thank you Three Bears) it's just right. So, I've decided to burn a week of vacation next week, and a journey to the Texas State Fair seems in order (I've been twice since moving here in 1993). Another thing I'll certainly do whilst on holiday is take in a daytime flick @ The Angelika.

I have several friends who've been out of work for awhile (no fault of their own). I suggested they practice the interview with these hardcore tech-interview style riddles. It couldn't hurt, and it just might help. One thing they will not be expected to do on the job interview is to Measure The Speed of Light With Chocolate and a Microwave.

blog: InternetWeek.com editor Mitch Wagner