Lost Letters: Old English Letters
In previous installments of this series, we’ve looked at letters of the alphabet made and lost in the days of ancient Greece and Rome. Now let’s look at some of the Old English Letters...
Sprinkler Systems and the West Nile Virus
This summer has had one of the worst droughts on record, yet here in Dallas, we’re dealing with a mosquito-borne epidemic called West Nile Virus. Now mosquitoes thrive in wet areas, laying their eggs...
Music and the Fabric of Space and Time
Music, more than other forms of art, is tied to place and time. We can see this best in teenagers. Each generation of teens rejects its parents’ music. When you’re 14, your musical tastes...
Lost Letters: The Claudian Letters
Last week, we looked at some of the letters dropped from the Greek Alphabet — letters that never even made it into Latin. This week, we’ll look at the Claudian Letters, three new letters...
Lilliput, Excel and Arabic Numerals
Our numbers are backwards. I’m talking about the Arabic Numerals we use everyday. I realized it one day while using Microsoft Excel. Type any letter into a blank spreadsheet, and it will align to...
College Parties and Riots
Back when I was freshman at Michigan State University, the Princeton Review ranked my school as the number three party school in the country. It was all the talk around campus, as people debated...
Lost Letters: The Greek Alphabet
Why does the English Alphabet have 26 letters? There’s nothing magical or important about that number. In fact, there’s nothing special about the 26 letters we ended up with. It’s just an accident of...
Muses for the Modern Age
According to ancient mythology, there are Nine Muses that inspire all the forms of art and science. The Ancient Greeks believed that great ideas came down from the heavens. The muses brought these ideas...
Advertising Cliches
Sometimes advertisements have a language of their own. Some gimmicks are obvious: phrases like “sale”, “call now” and “free”. Others are more subtle. Here are some of the marketing and advertising cliches that annoy...
Memories of MS-DOS
My first exposure to MS-DOS was at my aunt’s house. She had an old IBM computer in the basement. It had an amber monitor, and all the words on the screen were a hideous...
