trivia

This is kind of like the paradox of the library catalogue that doesn’t contain a reference to itself. Is the trademark ‘tm’ symbol trademarked, I wonder? Word Mark CREATIVE COMMONS Goods and Services IC 042. US 100 101. G & S: Providing non-downloadable softwarefor use by artists and other authors of creative works to producedocuments and “metadata” regarding the terms of dissemination of theirworks; providing information regarding the dissemination of creativeworks Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING Serial Number 76381094 Filing Date March 11, 2002 Filed ITU FILED AS ITU Owner (APPLICANT) Creative Commons Corporation CORPORATION MASSACHUSETTSc/o Berkman Center for Internet & Society 1587 Massachusetts Avenue,B205 Cambridge MASSACHUSETTS 02139 Type of Mark SERVICE MARK Register PRINCIPAL Live/Dead Indicator LIVE trademark search registration obtain trade mark

Q. So what should we really be playing instead of ‘six degrees of Kevin Bacon? A. Six degrees of the recently deceased Rod Steiger. In fact Kevin Bacon doesn’t even make the top 10: 1. Rod Steiger 2. Donald Pleasence 3. Martin Sheen 4. Christopher Lee 5. Robert Mitchum 6. Charlton Heston 7. Eddie Albert 8. Robert Vaughn 9. Donald Sutherland 10. John Gielgood a links link!

Via Kottke.org: vote for the New 7 Wonders My Picks: 1. Manhattan Ancient pyramids, Colossus of Rhodes, pah! The collective architecture of Manhattan is mankind’s greatest achievement so far. Van Allen’s Chrysler building, its crowning glory. 2. Downtown Chicago OK, for the purists there are some better individual buildings here, but collectively Manhattan still wins. 3. Tivo God’s machine and all. I love Tivo, it changes everything (I haven’t actually bought one yet, but I don’t care, Tivo rules). 4. Ebay Whenever you are getting bored of the web, there is always something weird on Ebay to cheer you up. See Whowouldbuythat. 5. Long Haul Jet travel When Norman Foster was asked to pick his favorite piece of modern architecture, he chose the Boeing 747. Nothing changed the world more than the availability of cheap long-haul travel that the 747 created. 6. Cellphones The Internet may be cool but if…

“A German family has kept a live eel in its bathtub for the last 33 years and even trained it to swim into a bucket when someone needs to wash. “ CNN.com – Family keeps pet eel in bath, for 33 years – Jan. 7, 2003

Jason notes that Amazon customers who wear clothes also shop for clean underwear and wonders what naked customers shop for: kottke.org :: Nudist in aisle 6. Well according to Dealtime, they like leather bikers’ jackets, it must be that second skin thing.

Is it just me? Whenever anyone mentions the word Singapore – some know-it-all (usually a know-it-all like myself) drones “do you know that chewing gum is illegal in Singapore?” Well apparently it’s true – at least until today, when it will no longer be a criminal offence and will be sold on prescription. Ananova – Singapore relaxes chewing gum ban So now that the traditional Singapore chewing gum anecdote is history here’s an alternative gum trivium: “the ancient Greeks were known to be fond of a gummy substance named mastiche, derived from the resin of the mastic tree. In fact, Dioscorides, a Greek physician and medical botanist of the First Century, refers to the “curative powers” of the mastic in his writing.”

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard. “Go.” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day. It’s possible to lead a cow upstairs, but not downstairs.

Q: Why do sounds like scratching a blackboard and scraping metal make some people cringe or shiver? A: The danger warning sounds emitted by some of the great apes are of a similar frequency and tone to the sound made by fingernails dragged on a blackboard, so possibly a primal instinct for danger is being stimulated. New Scientist: Questions and Answers