Readings 5-17-08

A 30,000-Volume Window on the World

My library is not a single beast but a composite of many others, a fantastic animal made up of the several libraries built and then abandoned, over and over again, throughout my life. I can’t remember a time in which I didn’t have a library of some sort.

via Bookninja
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Agenbites

But what about jab or fluffy or sneer, each of them true in a way that goes beyond logic? Verbose has always struck me as a strangely verbose word. Peppy has that perky, energetic, spry sound it needs. And was there ever a more supercilious word than supercilious? Or one more lethargic than lethargic?

I would also note the euphonious delight of the curse-word.
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Instant messaging 'a linguistic renaissance' for teens

Nor do teens use abbreviations as much as the stereotype suggests: LOL (laugh out loud), OMG (oh my god), and TTYL (talk to you later) made up just 2.4 per cent of the vocabulary of IM conversations - an "infinitesimally small" proportion, say the researchers. And rumours of the demise of you would appear to have been greatly exaggerated: it was preferred to u a whopping 9 times out of 10.

via KurzweilAI.net
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Obesity contributes to global warming

One more stigma attached to being fat.

And they're eating all the food!

via Laurent Haug
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Pistorius primed for Beijing after overturning ban

Double-amputee Oscar Pistorius won his appeal and can now attempt to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.

hat tip
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Shrimp can see beyond the rainbow

Mantis shrimps, dubbed "thumb splitters" by divers because of their vicious claws, have the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom, capable of seeing colors from the ultraviolet to the infrared, as well as detecting other subtle variations in light.

If we could see one more color in the spectrum, what would it look like?
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New Jellyfish Species Discovered In Aquarium

Marine scientists in Australia have discovered a new species of jellyfish, right under their noses.
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143 Simpsons continuity errors

I wish I had that much spare time.

via A Welsh View
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ends