In the News: First Private Craft Docks With Space Station The biggest news story you might have missed this week is that a privately funded, designed and operated spacecraft docked with the International Space Station.
Today’s English (and, I assume, other languages) is peppered with old words that have been given new meaning, either by marketing campaigns or by the news media. Sometimes the new meanings come from the slang of youth, song writers, or authors. I’m not sure how or when “piracy” took on its new meaning, but I[...]
One of my many pet peeves is shortened words. Well, words or phrases that are shortened poorly. For example, “cellular telephone” has been shortened to “cell” in the U.S. Fortunately, many people actually say “phone”, which is much better. Why? Phone already means telephone. Cell, on the other hand, never meant telephone. It referred to[...]
Electric Bills At Our New House (Copyright © 2012 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.) Search the internet for “How to cut your electricity bill”, or any variation of that subject, and you’ll see thousands of results. Sadly, most of them aren’t that helpful, and many of them actually encourage buying new products like[...]
After what I would characterize as silence on the issue, several media outlets are now seriously discussing whether Mitt Romney’s religion will affect his candidacy for the President of the United States. Here are two examples: What Would a Mormon President Mean? (ABC4, Salt Lake City) Race, Religion Collide in Presidential Campaign (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Like many eccentric people, my mind often occupies itself with odd thoughts and curiosity. While doing mindless chores (laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming) or falling asleep at night, my brain’s CPU handles unnecessary tasks like the following: taking the letters in the full names of my family members to see which letters are unique and which[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of To Sail Beyond The Sunset (1987) by Robert A. Heinlein, the last novel he published before dying in 1988: “I remember Earth. I knew her when she was clean and green, mankind’s beautiful bride, sweet and lush and lovable… It is futile to mourn over[...]
There is a school of thought, albeit a relatively unpopular one, that poor grammar or punctuation on printed signs should be corrected with a Sharpie or other tool, vigilante style. In the News: Vigilante Copy Editor (New York Times) And there are older instances, such as this one (The Virginian-Pilot).
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners (1985) by Robert A. Heinlein: “It does not do to encourage bad banners; one should retaliate, urbanely but firmly.”
In The News: Adobe starts subscription for Photoshop and Dreamweaver (BBC News) This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; many software companies are moving in this direction. Instead of having to ship millions of boxes and discs every year when they upgrade the software, they’re just going to add the updates to the online[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of I Will Fear No Evil (1970) by Robert Heinlein: “…most people think of money as something to pay the rent. But a money man thinks of money in terms of what he can do with it.” “…it’s impossible for a woman to lay it on[...]
For about $5, I made this measuring cup holder that’s hidden inside a kitchen cabinet: (Copyright © 2013 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)
My wife and I invoked our “30 minute rule” when watching this movie. The rule is: if the movie can’t interest either of us in 30 minutes, then we turn it off and quit wasting our time. According to Wikipedia, this film is based on a 1974 novel and “the story follows the hunt for[...]
Following are some passages I underlined during my 2002 reading of Stranger In A Strange Land (1961) by Robert Heinlein, of which I wrote on Nov. 14, 2002, “Perhaps the best book ever written.” (I no longer feel that way, but it’s still a pretty good book.)
There’s a new White House Tumblr page, and the first entry includes an image with this lettering: “ANIMATED GIFs (HARD ‘G’)”. First, let me say I’m proud that they didn’t put an apostrophe in “GIFs”, as so many on the internet seem to do these days.
Because I assume everyone wants to know my opinion (ha!)… In the News: Is Handwriting Still Important? The Digital Generation Skips Penmanship (BBC News) While I’m admittedly old-fashioned in many ways (for example, I don’t have a “smartphone”), I can usually argue practicality (for example: there’s no point in me having a smartphone). But the[...]
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