From the category archives:

FYI

Fess Parker RIP

03.18.2010

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The Ballad of Davy Crockett, 1955

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MISSING SAN PEDRO GIRL: Megan Pentecost

03.09.2010

*UPDATE* The family has heard from Megan, and she’s OK.

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Let’s get these straight, please.

03.09.2010

From ProofreadNOW:
On, upon, up on. Do you know someone who is bookish? You might be considered bookish if you misuse upon when you could simply use on instead. Apart from a few set phrases in which upon comes automatically to lips or pen — e.g., Depend upon it! and, for Britons perhaps, Upon my word! [...]

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Milo

03.05.2010

From kabalarians.com, a brief analysis of the new nephew’s first name:
Your First Name of: Milo
– Your first name of Milo has given you a practical, logical, analytical approach to life and a great deal of patience.
– You enjoy working at anything of a mechanical or technical nature, and believe that what is worth doing is [...]

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New nephew, born March 2

03.04.2010

Still no name as of this morning, so I figured I’d throw this one out there.

Welcome to the world, little dude!
*UPDATE 03.05.2010: Milo Hudson Albao. Rhymes with Shiloh, not kilo. (But honestly, as of this moment, I don’t see how he’s not gonna forever be Dime.)

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Avenged Sevenfold to enter the studio with Mike Portnoy

02.17.2010

How poetic is this?
On December 28th, just weeks before going into the studio to record their next record, Avenged Sevenfold lost their drummer Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan. Not just a drummer in a rock band, The Rev was the backbone of the whole thing. A pivotal part in the songwriting. Jimmy was particularly excited about [...]

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The best awkward conversation between two strangers in an elevator ever

02.17.2010

I was just standing in the lobby waiting for the elevator, and a courier guy shows up. The elevator door opens, and the two of us get in.
“Floor?” I ask, pushing mine.
“Seven,” he says. “Thanks.”
I hit the 7 button, assume my spot in the back of the elevator, and take the habitual look at my [...]

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Pronoun Paranoia

02.03.2010

From ProofreadNOW, as a follow up to this:
The article It is I vs. It is me brought in some great comments. It all proves that misuse of pronouns is the most common mistake people in all walks of life make. Fumbled pronouns are distractions, and they can kill your proposal, or your brochure, or your [...]

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Video Confessional Jams: Episode 123

01.20.2010

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01.20.2010, in my truck waiting at the light at 9th and Pacific in San Pedro, which has been an epicenter of flooding this week. Approaching the light, I look to my left, and it’s Gordon Tokumatsu from NBC News here in Los Angeles. Tune [...]

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It’s me or It’s I?

01.06.2010

From ProofreadNOW:
You’re trying to make the right impression as you knock on the door of your blind date’s apartment, or on the door of the personnel manager who has your job application. “Who’s there?” you’re asked. What’s your reply? If you’ve ever been unsure, read on.
Pronouns as subject complements.
A subject complement is a word [...]

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Be a Human Calculator

12.23.2009

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A cool little trick for quickly multiplying two ninetysomethings.

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The golden ratio in a pentagram

12.15.2009

Above is a pentagram colored to distinguish its line segments of different lengths. The four lengths — defined at the intersection of edges — are in golden ratio to one another. (The red is 1.618 times the length of the green; the green is 1.618 times the length of the blue; the blue is 1.618 [...]

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Construction of a golden rectangle

12.14.2009

1. Construct a unit square (red).
2. Draw a line from the midpoint of one side to an opposite corner.
3. Use that line as the radius to draw an arc that defines the long dimension of the rectangle.

More on all that here. Also see The Golden Ratio Line.

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Do you really know these words and phrases?

12.09.2009

From ProofreadNOW:
We think it was Mark Twain who said, “Better to keep silent and let people just think you’re an idiot than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” That could be true in writing as well. Sometimes people write cute words and expressions but manage to bungle the spelling or the application. If [...]

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DIY Home Repairs: Replacing Your Dryer Belt

11.30.2009

Doing a load of laundry overnight, I woke up to learn that my dryer’s belt was busted. Not a great way to start a Monday. I spent the first part of the morning hanging wet socks and underwear from my Gold’s Gym Power Tower out in the backyard, imagining how much cash it’s gonna cost [...]

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Visualizing empires decline

11.25.2009

Visualizing the decline of the world’s four maritime empires (British, Portuguese, French, Spanish) from 1800 to 2009. Watch what happens to France in about 1960.

Source: Pedro M. Cruz

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