Xah's A Word A Day — the making of belles-lettres

Early Greek used a system called boustrophedon (literally, “ox-turning”). In boustrophedon writing, characters are arranged into horizontal lines, but the individual lines alternate between running right to left and running left to right, the way an ox goes back and forth when plowing a field. The letter images are mirrored in accordance with the direction of each individual line.

Beijing and Taipei have been rivals since their split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but trade, investment and tourism have blossomed since detente began in the late 1980s. Taiwan investors have poured up to $100 billion into China, lured by low land and labor costs and a common language and culture.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must relate that I own a bunch of HP and Agilent doodads. Mostly, I like all of them, too.

Figurehead is the carved sculpture on the prow of ships, often female or bestiary.

stone skipping; ricochet aross the pond. Guinness World Record is 34 skips.

Robin is English (residing in Turkey), and Nick is Greek-Australian (residing in the U.S.A.) So don't be surprised if you see some unfamiliar language usage in this text. We are particularly unrepentant about using Commonwealth spelling. (here the word Commonwealth refers to the USA.)

It appeared they [ODE support team] knew of the problems with Cdilla and were told to stonewall the issue.

Different kinds of income have different values to different people, and most income streams have some uncertainty attached to them—a rental house might be vacant, a business might fold.

The “Zelda” series is a chronicle of heroic adventures in fantasy lands; the latest game, “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker,” features a character named Link who sails the seas searching for his sister and using a magic staff that can summon windstorms.

The typical home user never notices NAT; it just works. But that user is no longer a peer of all other Internet users as the original architecture of the network intended. In particular, the home user behind a NAT box has been relegated to the role of a consumer of Internet services. Such a user cannot create a Web site on their broadband connection, since the NAT box will not permit inbound connections from external sites. Nor can the user set up true peer to peer connections with other users behind NAT boxes, as there's an insuperable chicken and egg problem creating a bidirectional connection between them.

“Yes Solstice” — Beautifully designed time keeper, with many features.

One other consideration to an artistic endeavor is whether an artifact expresses some sentiment or statement that is incipient to a coming Zeitgeist

Woe betide those who fails to see ataris, no wonder such people keep losing Go games, and then complain that Go is not the game for them.

[Steve] Jobs [Apple Computer CEO], known for his powers of persuasion and marketing savvy, clinched licensing deals with the five biggest record labels, and industry executives have given the Apple online music service high marks.

Missing South Bay Hiker Found Alive: Marvin Matsumoto was missing for five days. Rescuers found him wedged into a crevasse at the park two weeks ago

The most frequently-asked question of all by visitors to this site has to be “Where do you get all those crazy ideas?”. Well, I read a lot of books. Starting in January 2001, I decided to keep a list of what I’ve read to share with folks with similar interests. I read all kinds of stuff—technical books, science fiction, trash novels, history, fringe science, political screeds—you name it. My taste in literature is as indiscriminate as it is voracious.

LONDON (Reuters) - Sex shop chain Ann Summers, which brought sex toys and saucy lingerie to the masses, won a legal battle on Wednesday when a judge ruled that government job centers must post its help-wanted ads.

there's a beauty named Narcissus, who spurned love of both boys and girls. Among them is a nymph named Echo, who pined away her life till she became nothing but a lone echo. Those rejected souls, prayed to the goddess Nemesis to fall the meaning of rejection upon this beautiful boy. One day, Narcissus found love inside a pond, not knowing it is his own reflection, and with unrequited love ogled to his death.

Synesthesia is a pretty interesting phenomenon to experience and even just contemplate. Those kooky scientists are at it again, with new insights into 'hearing smells', 'seeing sounds', and 'tasting colors'. A recent study seems to shed insight into the brain mechanisms involved in synesthesia

Yet have they many baits and guileful spells. To inveigle and invite the unwary sense.