You may have seen this on 60 Minutes last night, during a piece they were doing on Google. There's also been a fair amount of buzz on the 'net about this, but just in case you weren't aware...

Go to the Google page and type in "books about xyz", where xyz is anything you want (for instance, I tried "stonehenge" and then "submarines"). When your search results are returned, at or near the top will be a listing marked by several colorful books. These are links to online copies of books. But that's just surface cool, because this feature goes much farther.

Click on a listed book link, and you'll see the scanned pages of the book. But over on the left side is a search box. Yepper, the entire text of the books are searchable! How cool is that?

Go play and be amazed. Thank you Al Gore, for making this all possible.

Posted by: Ted at 12:15 PM | category: Links
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1 Wow! I had no idea! Thanks for passing that on!!! I only hope they have Max Born's Relativity 'cause I'm sick of checking iy out of the library every six months.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at January 04, 2005 09:21 PM (dqsg4)

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I was thinking about making this a series, but I'm not sure I have the time to do it up right. At least for now, I'll post the story and link, and I might revisit later.

In the 1950's, Burdick presented himself and his drawings to a publisher who was fascinated by them and wanted to read the stories that the pictures illustrated. Burdick promised to return the next day with those stories but did not keep the appointment. The publisher tried for many years to find the
man but was never able to discover who Burdick was or what had happened to him.

Then, in the '80s, the publisher showed the images to an author friend -- hence the book, published in 1984.

When the author received the pictures from the publisher, he was also given a box containing dozens of stories written over the years by the publisher's children and their friends. He read and found all of them remarkable -- some bizarre, some funny, some downright scary -- the makings of another great book.

Since Burdick never did return as promised, you'll have to write your own stories. You have a jump start, as Harris Burdick had written a title and caption for each picture.

-- from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg

Chris Van Allsburg has written and illustrated other children's books, with a similar technique so the question becomes, was there really a Harris Burdick?

And does it matter?

This looks ideal for exercising the creative writer inside you or for firing up a child's imagination. Even a child too young to write can be encouraged to tell a story based on the picture.

This nifty site has all of the mysterious illustrations and more links to some of the creative writing submitted by students as inspired by the pictures.

As a teaser, I've included the first picture, complete with title and caption in the extended entry.

If you'd care to, write a story based on it and link back to this post, or send me the link and I'll include it. If the response is favorable, maybe we'll do more of them. I'd especially love to hear the tales from the little ones. Those can be magic. more...

Posted by: Ted at 05:38 AM | category: Links
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Need advice? Ann Landers too tame and Dear Dotti too conventional? Try this column. The questions seem rather typical:

"Jane" and I have been in the same sorority for two years, and we were best friends from the time we met at freshman orientation. Last week I found Jane in bed with my fiance "John." I have been deeply hurt and don't know what to do. I can't break my engagement with John or he'll take his credit card back. And I just couldn't stand to look at Jane at the mixer last night. Do you think we should all go to some sort of counseling?

What a bunch of touchy-feeling crap. You need a dose of Klingon wisdom (edited for brevity):

The first thing you will need is a spear. If you don't have a conventional spear, any long sharpened wood will do. Now, go to Jane's house... Leaving her writhing body impaled on her front lawn as a warning to others might be a nice touch.

Since we're talking Klingon (not really, I'm a fan of the original series, but far from a trekkie), my favorite book from the original series is called The Final Reflection. Besides an early alternative view of the Klingon Empire (much different than as realized during the many incarnations of the Star Trek universe), the book revolves around the Klingon equivalent to human chess, known as Klin Zha. The glimpses of the game in the book are fascinating and not surprisingly have been formalized and expanded by trekkies. This site has the rules and many variations here, including this PDA version that I'll be downloading and testing just for fun.

But I digress (yeah, like I have a point). The best of the original Star Trek books (to my mind) were the ones where the focus was primarily on the alien cultures. Besides the prologue and epilogue, The Final Reflection told a great story without Kirk and the Enterprise. Only one regular makes an actual (and brief) appearance, and another is mentioned in passing. Other than that, it's all Klingon. It's very refreshing to see them as the good guys for a change. Big fun.

Another title focusing on the Klingons is Pawns and Symbols. The Enterprise crew is part of this tale, but only in a peripheral role. Once again you see the people behind the ridged foreheads and get to know the culture as more than the warriors usually depicted on television.

Coming from the other side of the sector (quadrant? nuetral zone? whatever.), is a story from deep within the Romulan Empire - The Romulan Way. Lots of outrageous SciFi action and adventure and a look inside a proud and haughty culture.

So there ya go, three of the better Star Trek books. Recommended by Rocket Jones.

Kai Kassai Klingon!

Posted by: Ted at 05:06 PM | category: Links
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1 Love that site!
But, I wonder what voice the author has in mind.

At first I read in a Wharf voice, but it wasn't working for most of the posts. Then I tried Kahless, which, again, was hit and miss.

Then I settled on Kruge. Brilliant!

The only Star Trek novel I ever read was The Vulcan Academy Murders. While the Enterprise crew were in it (mainly Spock), they were very much in the background. A great presentation of Vulcan academia with many (strike)cool(/strike) fascinating "Surakisms".

Posted by: Tuning Spork at January 02, 2005 08:33 PM (EI8+J)

2 Oh man, The Romulan Way was one of my most favorite books! I loved the stories about the original race and how they eventually split, one group adopting extreme discipline of the emotions--and became the Vulcans--while the other embraced their extreme passions--and became the Romulans.

I thought I'd tossed away my Trekkie-ness when I hit my 20's, but I guess you never really lose it after all, eh? ;-)

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at January 02, 2005 09:25 PM (l3AWL)

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Wish mine included this perk!

Via the CheeseMistress, long may she be unelectrified.

Posted by: Ted at 06:04 AM | category: Links
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It's all over but the shoutin', as my daddy says.

In the Championship game, Munuviana's DFMoore held on to defeat Brendoman for top honors. The last of the points from last night's contest haven't been included, but they weren't enough to close the gap on Daniel. Congrats!

For third place, Victor became a victim of his own success, needing the Eagles stars to have a big game in order to take the victory (wow, three 'vic' words in one sentence!). Since the game meant nothing to the Eagles, they sat most of their starters and Victor came up short on the scoreboard. Sorry Victor, in your shoes I'd be raising hell with the Eagles. Demand season tickets for next year, maybe they'll comp you a jersey or something.

So that's it. The Rockets will be back next year, bigger, badder, and more likely to explode on the pad more explosive next year.

Posted by: Ted at 06:09 AM | category: Links
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The Hockey Whoopass Jamboree is still going on, and last night my Cleveland Barons (represented by a Shark wearing a monocle, natch), were blanked by the Gir's Manitoba Moose. In accordance with the prophesy rules, her logo will by displayed on my main page for the next day.

They play again tonight, so if she wins again, it'll still be there. If not, then I expect massive and prominent displayage on her page. I may have discovered her weakness, and plan to distract her with tanned cabana boys bearing tall glasses full of paper umbrellas. Us silly earth monkeys are like that.

Posted by: Ted at 06:00 AM | category: Links
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Asian style, more cute than raunchy, although the last one has nudity.

Posted by: Ted at 06:23 AM | category: Links
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A magical site full of animated Christmas cards and music. Thanks to Gordon for pointing this one out.

Posted by: Ted at 06:17 AM | category: Links
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Richmond, Virginia.

Hundreds of passengers are stuck at Richmond International Airport, after an airplane edged off a runway Thursday morning and got stuck in the mud.

Of course, in true Murphy's fashion, the plane is stuck in the mud where 98% of airport traffic is blocked, at the intersection between the two main runways.

But it is Christmas, and you know there has to be some good news, right?

Bell told a WRIC reporter that the airport does not have the necessary equipment to pull the jet from the mud, and American Airlines is locating the equipment and will get it to Richmond.

Maybe not.

Posted by: Ted at 11:45 AM | category: Links
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My buddy Rich (hahaha, I made a funny), gives the lowdown on the trendy new Senseo coffee maker that they've been pushing hard this holiday season.

He's moving his blog, so I'm going to copy the whole thing in the extended entry, and I'll update his link as soon as I get it. more...

Posted by: Ted at 06:02 PM | category: Links
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1 But you didn't copy the helpful embedded links! Hehe

Posted by: Maelstrom at December 22, 2004 08:58 PM (L64L8)

2 Gotta give folks something to look forward to when they head on over to your place.

Posted by: Ted at December 23, 2004 05:56 AM (blNMI)

3 The new address to my blog is:
http://ntshma.blogspot.com
(ntshma = nothing to see here move along)

Posted by: Maelstrom at December 23, 2004 08:34 PM (p+1Zn)

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Actually, it's stronger than cheesecake, but still oh-so-yummy (link definitely not safe for work)!

Thanks to Wegglywoo for pointing this one out.

Posted by: Ted at 01:16 PM | category: Links
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1 Ho.

Posted by: dawn at December 22, 2004 06:27 PM (Rgkju)

2 Tattletale.

Posted by: Ted at December 23, 2004 05:58 AM (blNMI)

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The folks at Silent Running are going to be conducting an interesting experiment.

SIMTERROR '05

An interactive blog-based hypothetical scenario in which a terrorist attempt to stage an attack on Australian soil will be simulated in real time, over two weeks in January 1985.

Introduction

Bloggers have opinions. It's what we do. But how many of us have actually wondered what we might do, and how we might respond, in the event of a major terrorist attempt at replicating a 9/11 scale attack? It's all very well for us to opine to our hearts content about what the West ought to do in the face of a generalised threat from radical Islam, but how would the blogosphere respond in an actual emergency? Can we put ourselves emotionally in that position? It isn't easy, is it?

Would we fall to pieces? Would we be simply struck dumb? Would we urge massive lashing out in retaliation? Or would blogs become a useful resource of opinions, options, information, argument and debate? Would it become the closest thing this planet has to a gigantic neural network of linked minds, all concentrated on a single issue?

SIMTERROR '05 is an experiment designed to help us think about the ways blogs might be able to respond to a sudden crisis using a simulation of real world events, but getting blogs to respond as if the events were real. In a sense, SIMTERROR 0'5 will be the first test of the Emergency Blogger System.

The Simulation

Beginning on Sunday, January 1st, at 12 noon, Australian Eastern Time, the blog "Silent Running" will go live as the central information hub of the exercise. It will run news items in real time, based on the decisions taken by the various bloggers playing the roles of significant leaders in this exercise. Those decisions and actions will go through "Silent Running" blogger "Tom Paine", who will act as umpire.

The players will be presented from time to time with updates on the situation as it unfolds, and their responses will help shape the simulation. Once it starts, no-one, not even the umpire, will know how things will turn out.

They have a dedicated Yahoo group set up and the list of players includes many prominent bloggers. Set your bookmarks, because no matter what happens, it's going to be fascinating. I'll be watching this one closely.

Posted by: Ted at 06:10 AM | category: Links
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Forgive the title. Or not. Whatever.

San Francisco has decided to follow in the footsteps of our nation's capital and ban possesion of firearms within city limits. In case you didn't know, Washington D.C. is also the murder capital of the USA, and believe me when I tell you that it's not because of gang-related strangulations. They also expect law-abiding citizens to just turn in their firearms, which will go far in improving the survival rate of criminals in the city.

Practical example: rob a house where the owner might have a gun or rob a pizza place where corporate policy is "be unarmed". Tough choice, eh? Now apply that concept to an entire city.

I've seen this all over the net, but Publicola was the first to bring it to my attention. He's got more, including the text of the proposed law too.

Posted by: Ted at 05:45 AM | category: Links
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Just because I didn't make the playoffs doesn't mean I don't care how it turns out, especially since fellow Munuvians Daniel and Victor are in.

In the first game, Daniel easily handled the inexplicably mediocre Fire Ants. The Fire Ants shared a piece of first place the entire season, so their falloff in production came at the worst possible time for them. Buh-Bye.

In the other game, it looks like another upset in the making. This time Brendoman holds a fair lead over Victor's Rats of Chaos. Victor needs a big game tonight from Miami receiver Chris Chambers to pull this one out. It could happen.

Posted by: Ted at 06:03 AM | category: Links
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Via Dustbury, I learned about Unsafe Search, an idea whose time has come. Basically, they first do a universal Google search on your phrase, then a second one with the full adult-filter applied. Then they remove all the hits from the nice, leaving just the naughty. Obvious and brilliant. But when I went there to check it out, what do I find?

It's a shame when someone searching for pornographic material related to, say, llamas, is forced to slog though many pages of perfectly innocuous llama sites before finally hitting upon the llama porn he was looking for.

I don't know guys, I never took the phrase link whoring as a literal description. I think this also proves that those online polls are full of crap.

This also gave me a chuckle (and it's work safe):

And nobody who does a Google search for "nice tits" wants to find a site like this one.

That site too, while perfectly harmless, has a nice sense of humor about the subject.

Posted by: Ted at 08:24 AM | category: Links
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Send these folks a photo of your tattoo, and they'll recreate it as a piece of silver jewelry. Tres chic, as my biker friends would say.

Posted by: Ted at 08:01 AM | category: Links
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A Perfectly Cromulent Blog, where you'll get such wisdom as:

(discussing what hot dog condiments reveal about your personality) I'm largely ambivalent on the subject of corn dogs, however. On one hand, there are a limited number of useable toppings. On the other, any foodstuff that leaves you with a potentially deadly weapon afterwards is all right by me.

Posted by: Ted at 12:08 PM | category: Links
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Kaya no te wo

Hitotsu hazushite,

Tsuki-mi kana!

A simple haiku, written in the 1700's by the Japanese poetess and Buddhist nun Chiyo.

Her challenge was to write about a square, a triangle and a circle within the 17 syllables of a single haiku, and it is said that she immediately responded with the above verse. Here's the english translation:

"Detaching one corner of the mosquito-net, lo! I behold the moon!"

The top of the mosquito-net, suspended by cords at each of the four corners, respresents the square. Letting down the net at one corner converts the square into a triangle. The moon represents the circle.

There are many more beautiful pieces at the link above.

Posted by: Ted at 05:27 AM | category: Links
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Courtesy of 'Tis the Season, and found via the effervescent Squipper!

Ho x 3 indeed.

Posted by: Ted at 05:55 AM | category: Links
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Sgt Hook is signing off. Thanks to Jennifer for passing on that sad news.

Rachael Lucas is back as Blue-Eyed Infidel. She was the first blog I ever discovered, and if you thought she was full of ranty mc-rants before, well lookout!

...this blog is not going to be as nice as Piquant Rants. Yeah that's right I said not as nice.

Curse words will be used. Insults tossed forth carelessly. That sort of thing. My former blog got to be markedly unpleasant for me the minute I started worrying what elderly relatives or future in-laws or my more conservative section of readers would think if I said I hope Barbra Streisand suffers from chronic yeast infections.

So screw all that. No more touchy-worry-cringey manners. You no likey, you go now!

I'm so looking forward to reading her again. Thanks Jeff for pointing out her new home!

Posted by: Ted at 11:59 AM | category: Links
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