A financial problem the US Postal Service is facing is less items to deliver but more distinct places to deliver them. An AP article says “the flagging economy devastated advertising mail, which had become the agency’s largest volume. At the same time, the number of delivery points — homes and offices where it must bring […]

me: all my friends are getting married
slightly older coworker: all my friends are having babies
somewhat older coworker: …well, all my friends are getting divorced

I have Personal Twitter; it’s great. Every so often I think something clever to myself. (I make sure not to think too many characters.)

There are two main ways that some nonprofits annoy me.
1. Sending me lots of mail
I can’t help but wonder how much of my, say, $50 donation goes toward postage, printing, and designing of mail telling me to donate more. That is not why I made my donation. And did you ever even ask me if […]

The NY Times article “Mortgage Plan May Irk Those It Doesn’t Help” includes this quote about people who don’t really need to be bailed out of their mortgages seeking aid anyway:
“If the lunch truly is free, the demand for free lunches will be large,” said Paul McCulley, a managing director with the investment firm Pimco.
One […]

1998 is the same as 2009, except for the year
…at least in terms of dates falling on the same days of the week.

I love how Recaptcha takes an action that is going to be performed anyway and makes it useful. (It is “a captcha system that uses successful decodings to helps digitise books for online use”.) I wonder if something similar could be done with schoolchildren’s work, like feeding their incorrect spelling test answers to spellchecker suggestion […]

Too bad this library book vending machine is only at the Pittsburgh/Bay Point BART station (so far, anyway):
A vending-like machine located at the station will hold some 400 books that can be checked out for free by anyone with a valid Contra Costa County library card. A patron will insert the card, get access to […]

ajazzy
Function: adjective
1. using ajax in a way that is hip and lively
2. using ajax in a way that is excessively fancy or flashy
Example usage: Your new social networking website is so ajazzy!
The beauty is that you can let your audience decide which meaning you have in mind.

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a Möbius strip that you could wear — in the form of a t-shirt with just one never-ending side? I did a quick web search and found a company named Möbius t-shirts, but I think that is just their name, not something they make. Maybe once I learn to […]