Closing a ton of links - a ton!

I'm two weeks into my intensive eight week classes and I'm doing well but I am severely pressed for time. Script Frenzy starts in a few minutes and I'm not sure if I can squeeze the time in to do it. I have been writing at least one script a year since 2000 and I'd hate to miss it. But...

I've piled up a bunch of links since my last post so without further ado:

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150116123017115

The top story in the above link, about the barricaded person, has robots and swords, a can't miss combo. Someone in the comments was complaining yesterday that too many police responded to the incident, which I find quite strange. Take as many as you need. Nobody died and that's the important thing.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-at-least-14-different-types-of-animals-craw,19798/

Did you know at least fourteen different types of animals, including mountain goats, crawl on you while you sleep?

http://www.petitelapgiraffe.com/about.php

My dream is coming true. I'm getting a tiny giraffe.

http://nedroid.com/2011/03/i-see-a-bad-mood-arising/

Nedroid comic I can totally identify with.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110329/ts_yblog_thelookout/fbi-asks-public-for-help-breaking-encrypted-notes-tied-to-1999-murder#mwpphu-container

The FBI is looking for people who are good with codes to help them solve a murder. I would love to see a psychological analysis of the comments for this post. So many people who don't realize the notes were written by the victim and are making crazed killer translations. Creepy.

http://www.fastcompany.com/node/1739774/print

How carrots became a fast food. Very interesting marketing campaign.

I think that's it for now. I've run out of time. Sigh.

MONSTER FRED SCHNEIDER

All the boys start to scream and the girls start to shriek

when they see its giant claws and its razor sharp beak

This song was very popular in my household in the mid-eighties.

Alcohol Doesn't Burn off in Cooking

You know how everyone says it's fine to cook with alcohol even if it's against your religion, or you're in AA or your medication says don't mix with alcohol? The common misconception is all the actual alcohol will burn off, leaving just the flavor of whatever you added. But this isn't exactly accurate.

Cam is taking Introduction to Culinary Arts, which is basically cooking from eight until two once a week, and his teacher told them that a certain amount of liquor remains, depending on the food.

This is a pretty good chart. http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol12.htm The percentage that stays in your food ranges from five percent all the way up to a whopping eighty-five percent. That was quite surprising to me.

Google People Finder

App from Google to help locate missing people in Japan.

How important is it to have keywords in a domain name?

This is an interesting video. One of my sites, the saving money site, has a keyword in the domain name related to the subject matter. The other one, my entertainment column, has a domain name that matches the column title, which sort of has to do with entertainment.

I'm researching a new site and I've been giving a lot of thought to whether I want something simple that doesn't necessarily already have a meaning or if I want something descriptive. It's nice to get something straight from Google's mouth.

It's Got a Kick like a Brontomerus

I enjoyed this article about a new dinosaur discovery; a big fellow with super strong thighs. None of the other dinosaurs tried to waylay him in an alley as he could kick the crap out of any attackers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/feb/23/thunder-thighs-dinosaur-kick-brontomerus

@EricColossal tweeted about this poem not too long ago. It was considered so obscene that it took about 1800 years for most collections of his poetry to translate the entire thing. Some editions edit out so much that all that left is the part about delicate verse. Too funny for words. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16

And finally this dog from the Victorian age looks a lot like my Akita. http://fuckyeahvictorians.tumblr.com/post/370962735/fuckyeahdogs-bibi-girl-with-a-dog

The dog in the pic can't be an Akita or even an Akita cross as they didn't come to the US or the UK until 1937. Helen Keller brought the first one to the US.

Looking through various Victorian themed tumblrs is often surprising. I expected most of the dogs to be mutts, especially since animals were not spayed or neutered at the time. Instead most of the pictures I see are of dogs that look like purebreds. And it's not that I'm only looking at pics of wealthy people; all classes are represented in the images I'm looking at.

Freak Accident

This press release from my county police department discusses two freak accidents, one fatal. The not fatal accident is pretty amazing. The driver of the car had a kind of domino effect, but not the normal kind you get in traffic. These cars were parked and apparently there was some distance between them. There was also a house involved. http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=500968957114

The driver is in stable condition, thankfully. I hope they have excellent insurance because one of the cars is a brand new Toyota. There were four cars involved plus the house, plus the cost of medical care at Shock Trauma. This is going to be a very expensive accident.

Have you checked your policy lately? I switched companies a few years ago and wasn't told I had only thirty thousand worth of coverage. That doesn't even cover a fancy SUV, much less any of the other charges that can crop up. You might want to make sure you have the coverage you thought you did.