Yippee! My other blog (Books, Words, and Writing) has been short-listed for an award in the Best Book/Literary Blog category of the 2007 Best of Blogs Awards.

If you’d like to vote for it, you can vote daily until Friday 13 April. Voting is simple; just go here.

Alternately, you can visit my Books blog and click on the link I’ve put up in the left sidebar.

I think the winner will be (and should be) Kimbooktu. If I weren’t voting for myself, I’d vote for her. But I’m not that generous.

Posted by Amy as Blog Housekeeping at 1:14 AM EDT

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I’ve recently discovered the award-winning, critically acclaimed Grey’s Anatomy and I’m hooked.

Now there’s a quiz you can take at the official website for the show; you can find out which of the women on Grey’s Anatomy you most resemble.

I turn out to be most like Dr. Miranda Bailey (aka The Nazi). That works for me—she’s my favourite character.

Posted by Amy as Television & Movies at 8:29 AM EDT

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You Are 90% Psychic

You are so very psychic. But you already predicted that, didn’t you? You have “the gift” - and you use it daily to connect with others. You’re very tapped into the world around you… Just make sure to use your powers for good!

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 8:24 AM EDT

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Those of us who spend any amount of time on the computer have at least one password. Because it’s hard to keep them all straight in our minds, we often have the simplest password we can get by with, and we tend to use the same password at different sites.

Techs have long been warning against the problems that arise with poor passwords; now here’s a very scary article that really drives the point home: How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords.

He starts off by talking about how certain pieces of information (which are easy for hackers to obtain) are used much too commonly:

• Your partner, child, or pet’s name, possibly followed by a 0 or 1 (because they’re always making you use a number, aren’t they?)
• 123 or 1234 or 123456.
• “password”
• Date of birth - yours, your partner’s or your child’s.

He goes on to tell us about free password crackers that can be downloaded, and then says that using one of those tools, if you have a password that’s only 6 characters long (all lowercase), then it would take 5.15 minutes to crack it.

Well, that’s certainly an eyeopener.

Via The Presurfer

Posted by Amy as Technology at 1:12 AM EDT

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If you’re a fan of SF, here’s a snort: The Top 10 Science Fiction Musicals.

See if you can imagine the following:

• Jesus Christ Supernova
• Clone Me, Kate
• Wormhole Side Story
• The Ring and I

Someone has way too much time on their hands.

Via SF Signal.

Posted by Amy as Television & Movies at 1:11 AM EDT

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If you’re interested in criminolgoy, you might like to check out Undercover Police Work.

This web page gives a brief overview of working undercover; it goes into details about several aspects of the job.

To begin with, there is a discussion about how a police officer is chosen for undercover work:

In many cases, the undercover officer is new to the department, and something about their “looks” makes supervisors feel they are right for the job. They may have been interviewed and identified for such duty while attending the training academy or while waiting on some civil service eligibility list, but generally, they finish up a rookie year or two first as a regular officer. In rare cases, an applicant is sworn in secretly by the Chief and Personnel Officer the first day on the job.

Even more interesting is the information about how criminals can spot the undercover operative:

How the undercover officer dresses and what they drive are also factors. The clothing of drug addicts always doesn’t fit right because they’re constantly losing or gaining weight. By contrast, most undercover officers can’t simulate this particular “fit” of clothing; they’ll only look sloppy and carry themselves like they have their “street uniform” on. Scraggly beards that look recently grown also are a dead giveaway. The cars they drive are also too well-maintained. A dope addict’s car usually has three different types of tires, a bunch a hamburger wrappers all over the inside, and screaming kids in the back.

This is an entertaining introduction to the topic.

Posted by Amy as Crime at 1:10 AM EDT

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Your Driving Is is: 28% Male, 72% Female

According to studies, you generally drive like a typical female. You are a careful, skilled driver. And you are patient in sticky driving situations. You may get aggressive from time to time, but normally you’re a cool, collected driver.

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 8:07 AM EDT

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I’ve just learned about the medieval monasteries at Meteora, Greece that were built on pillars of rock.

Tom Dempsey has a website with some eye-catching photos and a bit of background:

The conglomerate rock at Meteora, Greece, has eroded into fantastic peaks upon which medieval monks built monasteries, several of which are still active. The isolated monasteries of Meteora helped keep alive Greek Orthodox religious traditions and Hellenic culture during the turbulent Middle Ages and Ottoman Turk occupation of Greece (1453-1829).

There are some more good photos here and a few photos with more background here.

Meteora, Greece, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1998.

Posted by Amy as Travel at 1:12 AM EDT

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If you’re reduced to calling the tip of your shoelace a thingamajig, you might like to check out the list 33 Names of Things You Never Knew Had Names.

Here are a few of the spiffy names/definitions:

• keeper: the loop on a belt that keeps the end in place after it has passed through the buckle.
• obdormition: the numbness caused by pressure on a nerve; when a limb is `asleep’.
• rasceta: creases on the inside of the wrist.
• wamble: stomach rumbling.

I think my favourite is the hemidemisemiquaver.

Via The Presurfer.

Posted by Amy as Language at 1:00 AM EDT

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It looks like I missed the boat yesterday; it was International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Better late than never, though; this is one day that I don’t want to overlook.

Here’s the Government of Canada’s home page for the site dedicated to this day. It’s aimed mostly at young people, but anyone can benefit from it.

The page defines racism as follows:

According to the United Nations Association in Canada, racism refers to a set of beliefs that asserts the superiority of one racial group over another (at the individual as well as the institutional level), as well as individuals or groups of people exercise power that abuses or disadvantages others on the basis of skin colour or racial or ethnic heritage. This can be both subtle and obvious, by doing things like unfair reporting in the media, jokes, name-calling, discrimination at work and even hate crimes.

There are also some anti-racism videos that won awards; they’re short and worth taking a look at.

Posted by Amy as Special Days/Weeks, Social Justice & Social Welfare at 1:37 AM EDT

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If you’re not a country and western music fan (and maybe even if you are), you might enjoy the 25 Best Country Songs Titles of All Time.

Here are a few of the titles listed:

• “If The Phone Don’t Ring, You’ll Know It’s Me”
• “She’s Actin’ Single and I’m Drinkin’ Doubles”
• “You Done Tore Out My Heart And Stomped That Sucker Flat”

I don’t listen to enough country music to know if these are genuine, although the webpage says they are.

Posted by Amy as Music, Humour at 1:45 AM EDT

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Have I found the blog for you! It’s called Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World and you have to go see it. Really. Check out the cupcake video (who knew there were cupcake videos?).

It helps to be a hard-core cupcake fan for this blog; there are discussions of dreams about people marrying cupcakes.

This blog is a promotional effort for Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule (a cookbook that is going on my wish list right now).

I just wish that my cupcakes (and everything else that I make) could look as good as these.

Posted by Amy as Food at 1:33 AM EDT

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You Are A Fig Tree

You are very independent and strong minded. A hard worker when you want to be, you play hard too. You are honest and loyal. You hate contradiction or arguments. You love life, and you live for your friends, children, and animals. A great sense of humor, artistic talent, and intelligence are all gifts you possess.

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 1:59 AM EDT

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If you’d like to know more about the higher beings of Christian theology, a good place to start would be Catholic Online’s list of Saints and Angels.

The site gives lots of information on saints. There’s a lengthy list of the saints as well as a set of FAQs that answer such questions as “Exactly how many saints are there?” and “How does the Church choose saints?”

There’s a list of feast days—I had no idea that one day could be the feast day for more than one saint. Today, for example, is the feast day for ten saints, including St. Edward the Martyr, St. Anselm of Lucca, Sts. Trophimus & Eucarpius, and St. Salvator of Horta.

Angels are also treated thoroughly; here are some of the topics covered in their section:

• Guardian Angels
• Angels of the Church (from Revelation)
• The Fallen Angels
• The Nine Choirs of Angels

There’s also information on the stigmata.

Posted by Amy as Religion & Spirituality at 1:30 AM EDT

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It’s St. Patrick’s Day today, so some of us who want to celebrate are dressing in green and thinking of leprechauns.

There’s more to Ireland and St. Patrick than these cliches, though, so you might like to check out how well you know Ireland by taking the How Irish Are You? quiz. I scored 70%–not bad, considering my only acquaintance with Ireland is through Maeve Binchy novels.

However, I would like to learn more about a country that looks so beautiful and has given the world so much. IrishAbroad, the website that hosts the above quiz, has a wonderful amount of other information.

In addition to having lots of general information about Ireland, there’s also a great section on Irish recipes. That’s one I’ll be revisiting.

Posted by Amy as Special Days/Weeks at 1:43 AM EDT

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If you’re feeling the need for a few guidelines for ethical living, check out Ben Franklin’s Thirteen Moral Virtues.

Here are a few of them:

• Order. Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your Business have its Time.
• Justice. Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.
• Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

It’s a fairly complete list of the basics—and it’s certainly easy to understand.

Posted by Amy as Ethics at 1:01 AM EDT

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New York Times writer John Tierney wrote an article the other day about humour. He started it out by telling what he thought was a completely unfunny joke about two muffins.

He was shocked to discover that some of his readers thought it was funny, and he spent his next column trying to figure out why.

I was helped in my reaction by Ed Willett’s funny intro to the whole matter. I read the joke and actually did laugh, but then I called my husband in to the room and read him the joke. Suddenly, when I read it out loud, it seemed much funnier. I started laughing so hard I was gasping for breath with tears rolling down my face.

Now, I’ve just spent two weeks working frantically to meet some grant-writing deadlines, so maybe at this point anything looks funny. At least my husband’s reaction was more along the line of what John Tierney expected—he wordlessly patted me on the shoulder and left the room.

Posted by Amy as Humour at 1:18 AM EDT

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The results of the 2007 Bloggies were recently announced, and some of my favourite blogs won an award.

Here are a few of the winners:

• Best Web Application For a Weblog: YouTube
• Best European Weblog: My Boyfriend Is a Twat
• Best American Weblog: Cute Overload (It beat Dooce, Boing Boing, and PostSecret—go Meg and the kittens!)
• Best Food Weblog: Help! I Have a Fire In My Kitchen
• Best Writing of a Weblog: Waiter Rant

If you’ve got some time to spend, the short lists and the winners in each category make for great browsing.

Posted by Amy as Blogs and Bloggers at 1:06 AM EDT

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Here’s a site for opera fans: The Aria Database.

It’s a major achievement that covers a lot of ground:

The Aria Database is a collection of information about opera and operatic arias. Besides providing basic information about each aria, the Database includes translations for many arias and aria texts for those that are not affected by copyright restrictions. The Database also provides access to a collection of operatic MIDI files to give visitors an idea of what each aria sounds like. Currently, the Database holds information on the complete operatic aria collections of Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, Wagner, and Puccini as well as the partial collections of over 50 other composers.

You can browse or search the database.

The work on this is ongoing, and if you’d like to make a donation to support it, there’s a Paypal button set up.

Via El Dorado County Library’s What’s Hot On The Internet This Week.

Posted by Amy as Music at 1:05 AM EDT

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You Are More Yin

Feminine Devoted Forgiving Fall Winter Afternoon Moon Time Passive Metal Honey

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 1:28 AM EDT

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Rita Rudner is a comedian whose standup act I always enjoy watching.

I’ve just found a representative sample of her work on the Internet. It’s called Rita Rudner’s 50 Facts About Men and I can just hear her gentle voice delivering these lines.

Here are a few of them:

• Men are very confident people. My husband is so confident that when he watches sports on television, he thinks that if he concentrates he can help his team. If the team is in trouble, he coaches the players from our living room, and if they’re really in trouble, I have to get off the phone in case they call him.
• Men are sensitive in strange ways. If a man has built a fire and the last log does not burn, he will take it personally.
• Men have higher body temperatures than women. If your heating goes out in winter, I recommend sleeping next to a man. Men are like portable heaters that snore.

If you’d like to know more about Rita Rudner, check out her official website.

Posted by Amy as Humour at 7:55 AM EDT

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Kate at Kate In The Kitchen has posted a list of little known facts about bananas.

Here are three of her tips:

• Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
• PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
• want a quick shine on [y]our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe…polish with dry cloth.

I had no idea bananas were so helpful.

Posted by Amy as Food at 6:35 AM EST

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Here’s a page that tells people who are thinking about acquiring an animal (a cat, specifically) what they should think about–from the animal’s point of view: The Ten Commandments of Owning a Pet.

Here are three of them:

• “Give me time to understand what you want from me.”
• “Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don’t understand your words, I understand your voice when it is speaking to me. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget.”
• “Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say ‘I can’t bear to watch,’ or ‘let it happen in my absence.’ Everything is easier if you are there.”

I agree that every person who lives with an animal should memorise these.

Posted by Amy as Animals at 1:41 AM EST

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Today is International Women’s Day, a day established in 1909 by the United Nations.

This year’s theme is Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls.

The UN website lays out the reason for this year’s theme:

While manifestations of violence against women and girls vary across social, economic, cultural and historical contexts, it is clear that violence against women and girls remains a devastating reality in all parts of the world. Existing research, data and testimonials from women and girls world-wide provide chilling evidence. It is a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality, development and peace.

Here are some of the statistics gathered by the UN to demonstrate the reality for women in too many parts of the world:

• It is estimated that between 113 million and 200 million women are demographically “missing.” They have been the victims of infanticide (boys are preferred to girls) or have not received the same amount of food and medical attention as their brothers and fathers.
• The number of women forced or sold into prostitution is estimated worldwide at anywhere between 700,000 and 4,000,000 per year. Profits from sex slavery are estimated at seven to twelve billion US dollars per year.
• Globally, women between the age of fifteen and forty-four are more likely to be maimed or die as a result of male violence than through cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war combined.
• At least one out of every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her. Domestic violence is the largest form of abuse of women worldwide, irrespective of region, culture, ethnicity, education, class and religion.
• It is estimated that more than two million girls are genitally mutilated per year, a rate of one girl every fifteen seconds.

There is also an interesting online exhibition: Ending Violence Against Women.

Posted by Amy as Special Days/Weeks, Women at 1:11 AM EST

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If you’re a John Travolta fan, check out Staying Alive: Test Your Knowledge of John Travolta.

This CBC feature asks questions about Travolta over the course of his career, including his part in Welcome Back, Kotter.

I managed to score 7 out of 10, which is remarkable, considering that I’ve only ever seen him in one T.V. show and two films.

Posted by Amy as Television & Movies at 1:24 AM EST

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You Are Elektra

There’s really no superhero with more style than you. Because who could beat being sexy assassin ninja?

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 1:24 AM EST

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Here’s a page that everyone should read: The 25 Most Common Mistakes In E-mail Security.

This page presents thoughts for everyone who uses E-mail. You don’t have to be a techie to benefit from this—the suggestions are good even for those of us who just use E-mail to stay in touch with friends and family.

A few of the tips:

• have more than one E-mail account (e.g. one you use with family and friends, another to use for placing online orders and to post comments on blogs)
• back up your E-mails
• learn how to recognise fraudulent E-mails (details are provided)

This page is written in very readable language—the few technical terms (e.g. phishing) are explained.

Via The Presurfer.

Posted by Amy as Technology at 1:34 AM EST

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If you’re a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, you’ll know that Data has a cat he’s imaginatively named Spot. I’ve just discovered that Spot has her very own fan page.

There are photos, a list of trivia, links, E-cards, and much more.

Spot also has a Wikipedia entry and a page on my new favourite Star Trek site, Memory Alpha.

Via A Sweet Familiar Dissonance

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Television & Movies at 1:04 AM EST

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Here’s a helpful site: time and date.com.

It has many features; here are a few of them:

• a calendar specific to the country you input; this works for the current year, past years, and future years. It comes complete with statutory holidays
• day and night map
• international dialing codes
• sunrise and sunset
• moonrise and moonset
• time zone converter

There are fun things there too. I learned that on Saturday, 30 December 30 2017 at 8:00:00 AM it will be 500,000 hours since I was born (give or take a few hours).

On a more practical note, you can get a clock for your blog or website.

Posted by Amy as General at 1:28 AM EST

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I like to work with numbers in an accounting setting, but advanced mathematics (or even intermediate mathematics) is beyond me.

However, it interests me enough that I like to highlight sites that feature it. This is certainly the case with MathPuzzle–it’s a website for diehard math fans.

Here are some excerpts:

• “Triangler is a massive collaborative geometric outdoor mobile interactive game. Two teams of 100 players play a two-hour match in a city or rural area. The object of the game is to enclose enemy players with 2000-meter equilateral triangles formed by you and your team buddies.”
• a sketch of “the best known 30-degree snake that fits in a diameter 4 circle.”
• largest twin primes: “2003663613*2^195000-1 is prime! 2003663613*2^195000+1 is prime!”

If they’re speaking your language, check out the site.

Via Weblog V2.

Posted by Amy as Math at 1:26 AM EST

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If you are a fan of optical illusions, you’ll like this site: Rotating Illusions.

It’s exactly what it says it is—optical illusions that appear to move in a circle. Some of them have explanations of the phenomenon attached, but most do not.

Warning—staring too long makes your eyes cross!

Posted by Amy as Fluffy Stuff at 1:06 AM EST

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