For about ten years, Slate has had an intermittent series of articles that explain how to pronounce names of people who are in the news. As someone whose (first) name is frequently mispronounced, I can appreciate the effort. (For the record: I pronounce it like the word “anneal”, used in

If you don’t follow me on Twitter, you’ve been missing out. But fear not! I take care of my loyal blog readers as well, by offering you the highlights of the interesting links I’ve been sharing there: “I find it bonkers, by the way!” That’s Rick

While listicles (articles that are simply lists, as cataloged on great sites like Listicles) are often the laziest form of journalism, they can also be among the most delightful. Something about the “I’m just phoning this in” nature of this form of journalism encourages flights of whimsy. Or maybe

Whoa Is (Not) Me is a site that’s a little over a year old, dedicated to defending the career and reputation of Keanu Reeves. It is distinguished from other Keanu fansites by a number of traits, including that it is “possibly the first Keanu fansite in existence without his

[P]erhaps the two best examples of how [religion-based food] bans have resulted in delicious and fascinating food are Jain cooking, with its ban on anything that remotely involves taking life, like root vegetables (little critters might get killed while you dig them up) or yoghurt left overnight (too alive)

Tom Patterson, of the U.S. National Park Service, wrote a great paper five years ago on improved realism in NPS maps. There’s some very insightful analysis that was useful even to a layman like me. He covers a variety of techniques that increase realism, such as aquafication, texture

From the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language has a delightful family tree of Indo-European languages, though I was kinda miffed at the omission of my parents’ native tongue.

Maybe I’m just a pushover, but I felt like there was something very charming and sweet about this video of a school project that I found on YouTube. It’s a restaging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that takes place on the bridge of the Enterprise during the time

What makes lolcats appealing is that it’s simultaneously obscure and accessible. It’s an inside joke told in an online lingua franca, but with a bit of effort anyone can become an insider. “An in-joke used to be constrained by geography and who you knew socially,” says Anil Dash,

My fellow nerds, the moment we’ve waited more than two decades for has apparently arrived. Soundwave has arrived. He really transforms. And he really plays music.

I don’t know if it’s just that I went to lousy public schools, or that the xenophobic maniacs who resent the common ideals of humanity were successful in their efforts to shield kids from good ideas, but somehow I’d missed ever learning about or reading the Universal

Behold, It’s (K)not Wood. I hestiate to make such a bold prediction, but it just may be the best blog dedicated to fake wood and woodgrain that you’ll see today. I daresay it’s the one you’ve been pining for. It wood knot leave you board.