Randomnews

Old Town Alexandria, VA makes the New York Times.
PG-13

I love the caption: The windows of Le Tache suggest that its wares may not be wholly in keeping with those sold elsewhere in the historic district.

... because, partially they do somehow? Please do tell in which way.

Fact for the Day: ZIP

ZIP = Zone Improvement Plan

 

I had no idea "ZIP" stood for anything. Here's a few more interesting tidbits about the ZIP code:

 

From the 1930s to the early 1960s, the volume of mail -- particularly business mail -- grew significantly, and the need for a better system became apparent. On July 1, 1963, the USPS introduced the ZIP code (Zone Improvement Plan) system. In 1967, the ZIP codes became mandatory on all mail.

A ZIP code is a five-digit number representing a specific location in the United States. The extended ZIP + 4 code adds a hyphen and four additional digits for an even more precise location. Here is how it works:

• The first digit represents the state. Numbers increase as you move west. Several states share each digit -- 2, for example, represents the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia
• The second and third digits represent regions within the state -- the first three digits create the Sectional Center Facility (SCF) code. SCFs are the regional headquarters for mail sorting and distribution.
• The fourth and fifth digits represent more specific areas, like post offices and postal delivery zones within a city or town.
• ZIP + 4 has four extra digits that identify a specific segment of the five-digit delivery area -- like a city block, office building or individual high-volume mail receiver

(from How Stuff Works)

The luck of the Irish

(Or whatever I am...)

Life with Jill is great. We have a lot of fun, even if we seem kind of boring sometimes (trivia games with just the two of us, watching documentaries, doing taxes, cleaning the house, blogging, etc.).

Tonight we finished up dinner, made lunches, and got off the 'puter. Somehow (no finger pointing) we ended up getting in a tickle war. I'm not so good at these (I blame both nature and nurture). Anyway - it was a fun way to end the evening. Laughter is great medicine (even better when you're inflicting, er, administering, it on someone else).

I'm really lucky to have someone like Jill in my life (cue sappy music). We live quite the adventure together.

Thx babe - I <3 u mucho

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St. Patrick's Day - the original eco-holiday. Going green since the early 17th century.
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Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

A "new media" primer

For those of you who may not be familiar with some of the "new media" that is out there, or who wonder what in the world I'm talking about sometimes ...

Today's lesson is about Twitter. If you know what I'm talking about, STOP! And go look at one of my other blogs and read (and comment on!) something else.




















You don't listen well, do you? Well, you can read on, but you probably know more about Twitter than the article will share. [Sorry to those new to Twitter; keep scrolling.]












For those of you who see Twitter and say, "Huh?" - I point your attention to this great article over at eNilsson. It's a great synopsis of what's going on. It still can't make money (which means it's living off the good graces of venture capital companies who are likely finding their pools of investment funds available shrinking along with the economy), so it might not be around as long as some would like it to be, but it's here now.

And it's part of the "now web." [Click HERE for an interesting article about Twitter that incorporates this concept.]

Later, at my tech blog, I'm going to talk about a different aspect of the web: the deep web.

Religion, Darth Vader, and Trekkies

How Science Fiction Found Religion

There is a young man, different from other young men. Ancient prophecies foretell his coming, and he performs miraculous feats. Eventually, confronted by his enemies, he must sacrifice his own life—an act that saves mankind from calamity—but in a mystery as great as that of his origin, he is reborn, to preside in glory over a world redeemed. Tell this story to one of the world’s 2 billion Christians, and he’ll recognize it instantly. Tell it to a science-fiction and fantasy fan, and he’ll ask why you’re making minor alterations to the plot of The Matrix or Superman Returns. For reasons that have as much to do with global politics as with our cultural moment, some of this generation’s most successful sci-fi and fantasy movie franchises follow an essentially Christian plotline.

Curious? Read on!