The Old New Thing

Non-Computer - The Old New Thing

Tinkering with the look

December 17, 2003 Dec 17, 2003 12/17/03
Raymond Chen
I've been tinkering with the look of the comments section, based on initial feedback. Took me a while but I think I found something that works pretty well...

Tote Hose in Weilburg

December 12, 2003 Dec 12, 2003 12/12/03
Raymond Chen
Wenn Teenies shoppen gehen: Flugzeuge im Warenkorb. This article caught my eye because it opens with a German slang phrase I learned just a few weeks ago: "Tote Hose" which means roughly "Absolutely nothing doing". Here's an English version of the article for those whose German isn't quite up to ...

Voyage to Our Hollow Earth

December 11, 2003 Dec 11, 2003 12/11/03
Raymond Chen
Slashdot's story about the amateur adventurer who is now stranded at McMurdo Base (because he underestimated his fuel requirements for a trip over the South Pole) reminded me of a controversy abrew at the other end of the planet: The hole at the North Pole. To resolve this matter, Steve ...

At least she represents the United States faithfully

December 7, 2003 Dec 7, 2003 12/7/03
Raymond Chen
The MPR show Marketplace (note: MPR, not NPR) had a brief story about the reaction to China being the host of the Miss World pageant. (Last story on the page.) What I noticed was the comment at timecode 23:50 from Miss World - United States Kim Harlan. (Not to be confused with ...

Hello Sweden, you're on fire

November 28, 2003 Nov 28, 2003 11/28/03
Raymond Chen
(Geek talk resumes on Monday.) The longstanding tradition of Norwegians telling Swedish jokes and vice versa, was recently refueled by a border story. A Norwegian man called Sweden on his mobile phone to tell them they had a forest fire. Not only did the firefighters not know about the blaze, they didn't recognize the name of the place on ...

It's like the Swedes don't want you to learn their language

November 27, 2003 Nov 27, 2003 11/27/03
Raymond Chen
(It's a holiday in the States today and tomorrow, so I'm not going to talk about geek stuff. That'll resume on Monday.) If you pay a visit to Deutsche Welle, the German international broadcasting service, you will find a wide array of online German learning materials, such as the daily news in slowly- and clearly-enunciated German (...

Stay healthy: Drink Guinness

November 17, 2003 Nov 17, 2003 11/17/03
Raymond Chen
Flavenoids in Guinness combat fatty deposits in arteries. Note, however that the beer was consumed by being "fed ... via tubes directly into their stomachs." On the other hand, a friend of mine points out, "I thought a tube leading directly to the stomach was also called the esophagus. That's my ...

British newspapers are much more fun to read

November 13, 2003 Nov 13, 2003 11/13/03
Raymond Chen
You can always count on The Register for a snarky take on the day's technology news. Today's favorite is this "review" of the nTAG, which ends with Well, we think that any sane person would have to held at gunpoint to induce them to carry an electronic device which, besides containing personal or...