] Geek care and feeding is easier than many think, because
] we are generally healthiest when left to our own devices.
] This doesn't mean we can't do things together; but we do
] thrive when given a little time to do our own thing.
] (This conveniently frees you from having to be part of
] it.)

MSN Dating & Personals - Loving your geek, tolerating his hobbies

"This webpage will redirect you to a Google image search using a random search term based on the filename scheme used by many popular digital cameras. What results is the most random, random sampling of pictures."

What a playfield for our pattern-seeking brains!
"What is the story here? And now, what about them?"
Like a creativity tool for storytelling.

The Google random picture generator

crankymessiah wrote:
] ] Since the earliest research into the the English Language
] ] as spoken in North America was begun by Noah Webster in
] ] the early 18th century, the regional variations in
] ] dialect have always been the most challenging and
] ] difficult to explain field. Since the development of
] ] carbonated beverage in 1886, one of linguistic
] ] geography's most important and least investigated
] ] phenomena has been the sharp regional divisions in the
] ] use of the terms "pop" and "soda." Due to the domination
] ] of hard-line conservative lingusitic geographers in such
] ] leading institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and
] ] the University of the West Indies, this dilemma has been
] ] swept under the rug . . . until now. Using the new
] ] technologies of the Internet and the World Wide Web, I
] ] and my colleagues at the California Institute of
] ] Technology and Lewis & Clark College are undertaking a
] ] bold new research into this fascinating area.
]
] Great maps to go along with this.

It's neither. It's Coke. Then there are lots of different kinds of Coke, like Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and Co-Cola. Well, at least South of the Mason-Dixon line.

RE: The Pop vs. Soda Page

] The Wollemi Pine, a plant from the Jurassic age which
] survived in a single isolated Australian grove, is set
] for an amazing comeback.
]
] It was once thought to be extinct, but in 2005 small
] plants cultivated from the pines will go on sale.

While the story for this is neat. I just love the title of the article.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Jurassic pot plants on sale soon

Read on for the interesting conclusion :)

...

Scientists have discovered a one-celled protozoan parasite called Toxoplasma gondii that frequently lives in the brains of wild brown rats. It is a normally harmless parasite commonly found in most mammals, including man.

But T. gondii can only reproduce in the guts of cats.

Researchers at the University of Oxford in the past couple of years have been studying the parasite and now have found it appears to be influencing the behavior of rats.

Scientists say it makes infected rats unafraid of cats, their natural enemy.

But the Oxford researchers found that when infected, normally super-cautious rats not only are significantly less fearful of cats, but they also are actually drawn to them.

No one knows how it happens, but they do know why.

The parasites need to be eaten by cats in order to get into their digestive system and reproduce. Somehow, they are changing the behavior of rats to make that more likely to happen.

Of Cats and Rats

] An old battery stalwart is hoping to ride the wave of a
] new portable power technology with an investment in a
] young, upstart company.
] Gillette Co. is betting that fuel cells running on
] alcohol will give batteries and rechargers a run for
] their money. The Boston company has formed a strategic
] alliance with MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. to develop fuel
] cells for consumers.

I wasn't aware that Gilette owns owns Duracell.

BostonHerald.com - Business: Battery maker becomes investor: Gillette bets future brings fuel cell use

] Which is to say I have become the expert on the origins
] of Murphy's Law. This happened by accident and
] if I'd known what the consequences would be of
] sticking my nose into it - how I'd draw the
] wrath of Chuck Yeager, get caught in the middle of a
] nasty 20-year feud, and nearly wind up in a hospital bed
] - I probably wouldn't have bothered.

The history of Murphy's Law

The phaomnneil pweor of the hmuan mnid.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it
deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod
are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and
lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a
total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Fcuknig amzanig, huh?

naet ltilte ticrk!

] An exotic kind of nuclear explosive being developed by
] the US Department of Defense could blur the critical
] distinction between conventional and nuclear weapons. The
] work has also raised fears that weapons based on this
] technology could trigger the next arms race.

New Scientist: Gamma Bombs

] Each evening, thousands of Americans drift into Chinese
] restaurants or, if they are too lazy to go out, pick up
] the phone and order one of the most popular dishes on the
] menu: General Tso's Chicken, a sugary-spicy melange of
] dark-meat tidbits, deep-fried then fired up with ginger,
] garlic, sesame oil, scallions and hot chili peppers.
]
] Not one in 10,000 knows who General Tso (most commonly
] pronounced "sow") was, nor what terrible times he lived
] through, nor the dark massacres that distinguished his
] baleful, belligerent career. Setting their chopsticks
] aside, patting their stomachs, the satisfied diners spare
] scarcely a thought for General Tso, except to imagine
] that he must have been a great connoisseur of hot
] stir-fried chicken.
]
] Who was he?

Who Was General Tso And Why Are We Eating His Chicken? (washingtonpost.com)