At least it's easier than learning Finnish

Raymond Chen June 24, 2004 Jun 24, 2004 06/24/04

Finnish Radio station YLE offers weekly news summaries in classical Latin. Because practically nobody outside Finland would understand the news in Finnish... In my random travels around the Internet, I stumbled across this article on the subject of teaching Finnish to foreigners: Finnish's status as an official EU language has ...

The only way you're going to wake up next to Claudia Schiffer

Raymond Chen June 23, 2004 Jun 23, 2004 06/23/04

Dominic O'Brien, world speed-memorization champion, on his technique for memorizing over 18 decks of shuffled cards in an hour: "I remember things by personalising them," explains O'Brien, 43. "With playing cards, for instance, I memorise each one as a face. The queen of hearts I think of as Claudia Schiffer, the ace of clubs as Nick ...

When cafeteria pricing meets mathematics

Raymond Chen June 22, 2004 Jun 22, 2004 06/22/04

Prices in the Microsoft cafeteria are often illogical. For example, a "special sandwich" costs $4.25. A piece of whole fruit costs $0.50. But a "special sandwich with a piece of whole fruit" costs $4.95. If you're not careful, the cashier will ring it up as a "special sandwich with a piece of whole fruit" instead of as a "special ...

Drug dealers have to pay taxes too.

Raymond Chen June 21, 2004 Jun 21, 2004 06/21/04

In the state of Kansas, "The fact that dealing marijuana and controlled substances is illegal does not exempt it from taxation. Therefore drug dealers are required by law to purchase drug tax stamps...

Too late, Mr. Jenkins. You were an F7 back at question 2

Raymond Chen June 18, 2004 Jun 18, 2004 06/18/04

The story of somebody who worked for a job screening service. Companies hired the service to do preliminary filtering of job applicants. The best part: When applicants mistake the screener for the receptionist. When I launched into the actual interview, it really pissed them off. They'd get furious that the freaking receptionist had...