: Where Your Brain Takes its Vacations

last updated:

08/05/2003

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"I am better than your kids" (pdf, 2.8 mb. author unknown)

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Claiming that their beloved Clay Aiken was robbed of the "American Idol" title, fans of the geeky singer flooded the Federal Communications Commission with letters calling for a federal probe of the Fox show's voting process and Ruben Studdard's victory. "Something stinks here and it's not Ruben's sweaty 205 jersey," one fan moaned. 

It is now the best time since the advent of federal student loans to be an indebted former student.  According to Kiplinger's, "On July 1, rates on Stafford [student] loans will fall to 3.42%."  If you've graduated within the past six months or are soon to graduate, your rate is only 2.82%.  "These rates have fallen 4.77 percentage points over the past three years. The savings might not seem like a lot. But if borrowers were paying the maximum 8.25% rate instead of the record-low 3.42% rate, they would pay almost $5,000 more in interest over the life of a $17,000 ten-year loan." | Consolidate your student loans to lock in these low rates for up to 30 years. 

The FAA has eased the burden of queasy fliers: if you are prone to airsickness, take a window seat over a wing, and don't drink the booze (if you're sitting over a wing, you're overpaying for it, anyway). 

Go to Google.  Search for WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION and click "I'm feeling lucky."

The Federal Trade Commission has launched donotcall.gov, the National Do Not Call Registry. 

A public-library janitor recently threw away a public "art" exhibit.  He complained that it smelled.  It was, after all, made of trash.

The Segway has failed the Presidential Fitness Test, as the Presidents Bush found out on Father's Day weekend (nobody in the family fell off but W).

The best reason to vote for John Kerry in 2004: He most certainly has the coolest wife, Teresa Heinz. | According to The Atlantic, "Teresa Heinz Kerry isn't just overshadowing her husband, she's becoming the story of the 2004 campaign."

Book Review

Seen & Heard: America’s Youngest Political Pundit Tackles the Lies and Truths of Politics and Culture.  Kyle Williams, 2003.  Kyle Williams claims the credential Youngest Columnist for the respected news authority WorldNetDaily.com, a news site belatedly devoted to exposing the evils of Bill Clinton and gay people ("All the Lies Fit to Print," its masthead oddly boasts).  Williams' new book -- containing his prescriptions for abortion is proudly featured in the Amazon.com lists "Conservative Basic Training," "Get Hannitized!," and "Save America From Stupidity."  In it, Williams has issued his challenge to the maxim that children should be seen and not heard.  My verdict: children should be seen and not read.  Published by Thomas Nelson. Disclosure: I have not read the book.

Google Answers is becoming to specific information-seekers what eBay is to shoppers for very specific things only in reverse: It allows individuals to post requests for very specific information and offer money to ensure a quality response.  Answered questions range from requests for the name of an obscure song that somebody remembered a few lyrics to when they heard it on the radio decades ago, to "Please provide a list of every European country's historical inflation data."  It used to be that to find answers to questions like these, you had to be lucky enough to find someone with the answer or buy the rights to the places where these facts privately reside (e.g., databases).  Now, you just have to offer someone with access to that information source $2 or $20 to tap into it.  Although the seeker of each answer pays for it, the Internet community wholly benefits; Google publishes every answer along with its archived question.  This bringing of people with information to people who need information results in a global knowledge base whose constant use only makes it more useful, fulfilling the Internet's economic promise.  And it makes for some very interesting reading.  Google publishes a wealth of very worthwhile and innovative Internet search tools that it does not publicize on its home page. 

Fox TV's "Paradise Hotel" is being filmed in Acapulco, Mexico.

Watch the English language change before your very eyes: Webster's has updated its dictionary, adding "comb-over" and "dead presidents" (paper currency) to the official manual of our lexicon.  Merriam-Webster publisher explains, "It's a reflection of society's changes."

Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly. Peanut Butter, Jelly with a baseball bat.

Individual investors are pouring money back into stocks, particularly the same sectors, still overvalued by most traditional metrics, that burned them when the bubble burst.  As the market rises, should we be optimistic or alarmed?

Remember this?  Honda built a better one.

The website of Orrin Hatch, who suggested at a Senate hearing that copyright owners be allowed to seek out pirated software users and "destroy their computer[s]," was created with pirated software.

Ryan Harvey is unquestionably the most talented eight-year-old writer I have ever encountered. "The Cougar and the Drum." "The Night I Met Santa." 

An unknown author explains: "I am better than your kids."  An instant favorite. 

Colonel Kassem Saleh, of the United States Army, was on a mission to infiltrate the hearts of hundreds of women worldwide.  "Kasanova," as some of the more than 50 women to whom he proposed marriage via online dating sites while serving in Afghanistan.  The women were intoxicated the international man of intrigue who punctuated his phone conversations by narrowly avoiding peril: "Baby, I love you . . . vehicle coming!" The Kasanova's engaging verbal repartee, however, was no match for his writing prowess.  Gushed one object of his desires, "He wrote better than Yeats. He wrote better than Shakespeare. He totally intoxicated you with his feelings."

The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players buy old slide shows at garage sales and compose music to go along with them.  The New Yorker positively reviewed the innovative band, featuring a nine-year-old drummer.

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