Showing results for Non-Computer - The Old New Thing

(In the continuing sporadic series on the wisdom of seventh grade students.) My friend the seventh grade teacher once had to deal with a class that had gotten out of hand by assigning the students a short essay in which they had to address three questions: One of the more disruptive students answered the questions thus:

Steve Makofsky wondered, "How do you throw out a garbage can?". Along similar lines, I always wondered how you washed soap.

In celebration of their tenth birthday, the Paramount Comedy Channel in the UK commissioned a study on how regional accents affect perceived funniness, and the conclusion was that people from Birmingham have the funniest accents. The Received Pronunciation, which is the only British accent most people in the United States are familiar with, came...

The wife of one of my colleagues took a trip through the Far East as part of her work. One of the things she did was buy a bunch of music CDs from the various countries she visited. But not just any CDs. To decide which ones to get, she used a very scientific method that didn't require knowing how to read or speak the local language: She would go i...

It's soon going to come to the point where this is no longer news. The Seattle monorail broke down again, just six days since the previous breakdown, which was in turn just two days after operations resumed. I think they need to put up a big sign at the Monorail station at Seattle Center that reads 6 days since last breakdown. Well, exce...

My thanks to the Annals of Improbable Research for pointing out this recommendation from the TSA. I don't own a gel-filled bra, so I'll have to do some extra shopping before my next plane trip.

Ever since the FAA decided to reconsider its ban on the use of cellular phones on airplanes during flight, there has been quite a reaction over whether this is a good thing. To resolve this issue, I present this modest proposal. Remember back in the days when smoking was permitted on airplanes? When you bought a ticket, you were asked whether ...

Oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer made another appearance on my local public radio station. Among the ocean garbage trivia is the fact that computer monitors float screen upwards (timecode 4:00). Other fascinating facts:

One of my friends introduced me to Bill Monk, which is like PayPal but without the money. You and your friends sign up, and then you can let the site keep track of who owe whom how much. Of course, whether this is useful to you depends on how you and your friends actually deal with money and small debts. With some of my friends, we use the "It'l...

I can tell where you grew up by watching you get on a bicycle. Well, sort of. In my limited experience, I've observed two distinct ways of getting on a bicycle. The first is what I'll call the Chinese method, since it's the dominant technique in China, Taiwan, and Japan, as far as I can tell. To get on a bicycle using the Chinese method, stand to...