BBB Geek-toid

Halloween brings us many things but two stand out: costumes and ghost haunts.

What better costume could there be for a geek than to dress up gadgets (as opposed to dressing up as gadgets [left])? iPods are the "in" thing and costumes abound. Consider pirate, mummy, cowboy, and iGuy among others.

Looking for a haunted spot to hang out tonight? Here's a list of haunted places around the globe. And here's America's Most Haunted.

Gothic Martha

On Halloween, thoughts turn to dark, gothic images. Surely you have wondered what it would take to incorporate elements of this subculture into part of your decor. Enter Gothic Martha.

So Now You Know

According to Irish legend, there was a miserly old drunkard named Jack who, accepted in neither heaven nor hell, was forced to wander the earth, with a coal from hell stuck in a turnip to light his way.

Today in History - 1926

Harry Houdini, the most celebrated magician and escape artist of the 20th century, dies of peritonitis in a Detroit hospital. Twelve days before, Houdini had been talking to a group of students after a lecture in Montreal when he commented on the strength of his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows. Suddenly, one of the students punched Houdini twice in the stomach. The magician hadn't had time to prepare, and the blows ruptured his appendix. He fell ill on the train to Detroit, and, after performing one last time, was hospitalized. Doctors operated on him, but to no avail. The burst appendix poisoned his system, and on October 31 he died.

BBB Sites of the Week

The days grow shorter, the wind brings a chill, the nights turn dark and stormy ... it must be time for ghost stories! Sit back, relax with only the glow from the screen lighting your face across from a cracking fire ...

Ghost Stories 1

Ghost Stories 2

Ghost Stories 3

Ghost Stories 4

Today in History - 1919

On this day, Congress passed the Volstead Act providing for enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified nine months earlier. Known as the Prohibition Amendment, it prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States.

The movement to prohibit alcohol began in the early years of the nineteenth century when individuals concerned about the adverse effects of drink began forming local societies to promote temperance in consumption of alcohol. The first temperance societies were organized in New York (1808) and Massachusetts (1813). Members, many of whom belonged to Protestant evangelical denominations, frequently met in local churches. As time passed, most temperance societies began to call for complete abstinence from all alcoholic beverages.

[Previously noted: As Twain said, "Temperate temperance is best. Intemperate temperance injures the cause of temperance, while temperate temperance helps it in its fight against intemperate intemperance."]

News from all over - Obermillstadt

A masked robber was arrested after he held up a bank where his high school sweetheart worked - and she recognised him by his blue eyes. The 21-year-old bank clerk was on duty in this Austrian lakeside town when a masked man carrying a gun burst in. He demanded she hand over all the cash from the safe. She gave him the money and the man ran off.

But when the police came the clerk told them she had recognised the robber as her first boyfriend and gave them his name. Police arrested the man after they found the stolen money at his home.

BBB Web Toy of the Week

This is one of those "can't bear to turn away" toys. There's not much for you to do but I suggest you make your browser window about a quarter of your total desktop size, then enjoy the little guy doing his thing.

Today in History - 1904

"Now I, as Mayor, in the name of the people, declare the subway open!" says New York Mayor George B. McClellan.

With these words, a morning of oratory was concluded at City Hall in honor of the opening of the first official Manhattan subway system, the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT). At precisely 2:35 PM on this date, the first subway train emerged from City Hall station with Mayor McClellan at the controls.

Twenty-six minutes later, the inaugural express arrived at its destination at 145th Street. The system opened to the general public at 7 PM. Before the evening was out, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company had tunneled some 150,000 passengers around the city.

News from all over - Nesconset

The Gourmet Impressions Roller and Stamper are award-winning kitchen tools that are nothing less than revolutionary. Chef Pizzal demonstrates beautifully on video. In seconds, anyone can now easily and quickly turn a vast variety of 40+ foods including pizzas, cheeses, breads, melons, vegetables, potatoes, and cookies into edible messages, and hopefully in good taste. In fact, CEO Rich Errera trademarked the company's motto ‘Tasty Smiles’ which embossed foods, called ‘pizzals'(pronounced 'pit-zells') are meant to evoke.

Quotable Quotes

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible." -- A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

BBB Comix of the Week

OK, I get it, Crime Does Not Pay ... Men Who Love Murder and Senorita Sin definitely belong behind bars, but Mad Dogs of Oklahoma? I grew up in Oklahoma and the only Mad Dogs were those who accompanied Englishmen, trust me.

[This is pretty obscure. Oklahoman Leon Russell (pictured in above link) was the band leader / pianist and one of the many who toured with Joe Cocker in 1970 in the "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour. So cool. (And not to be confused with Noel Coward's lyrics of the same name - which I'm pretty sure had nothing whatsoever to do with Oklahoma.)]

Today in History - 1825

The Erie Canal opened on this day, providing overland water transportation between the East Coast and the Great Lakes region. Under construction for eight years, the project was the vision of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. He convinced the New York state legislature to commit seven million dollars to the construction of a 363-mile ditch, forty feet wide and four feet deep. The canal flowed from Buffalo on the east coast of Lake Erie, through the mountains near the Mohawk Valley west of Troy, and terminated at the upper Hudson River at Albany. A tremendous success, the waterway accelerated settlement of the upper Midwest including the founding of hundreds of towns such as Clinton, in DeWitt County, Illinois.

News from all over - Boston

"Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination," opens on Thursday is the first public display of props and costumes from all six films in the Star Wars series, including a replica cockpit of Han Solo's asteroid-battered Millennium Falcon is .

The $5 million exhibit goes beyond entertainment and turns "Star Wars" into a educational tool for science and technology, fields in which U.S. dominance faces a challenge from a new generation of engineers in Asia.

Lucas's LucasFilm Ltd. and Boston's Museum of Science to give some scientific basis to the fantasy of the films. Luke Skywalker's gravity-defying "Landspeeder" appears on stage in original form -- accompanied by lessons in magnetic levitation and the powerful electromagnets that can hurtle high-speed "maglev" trains at speeds of up to 310 mph.

Rows of "Star Wars" androids and Anakin Skywalker's prosthetic right hand from Episode III -- before his transformation into Darth Vader -- are used to explain advances in robotic technology and modern medical prosthetics.

The cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, built to a blueprint provided by Lucas, is transformed into a high-tech planetarium with a recorded voice of Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO, explaining the stars and how modern scientists view them.

So Now You Know

In 1618 the feather golf ball or 'Featherie' was introduced (an "improvement" from its wooden predecessor). The Featherie was a handcrafted ball made with goose feathers tightly packed into a horsefeatherie golf ball or cow hide sphere. The feathers and leather were fashioned into a ball while wet. As the assembly dried out the leather shrank and the feathers expanded to create a hardened ball. The ball was then finished off by painting it and punched with the ball-makers mark. Quality varied according to the skill of the craftsman. Unfortunately, the handcrafted nature of the balls meant that they were priced beyond the pockets of the masses, sometimes more expensive than a club. Notable ball-makers of the 1600s were Andrew Dickson, Leith and Henry Mills, St Andrews.

BBB Etymology - Cappuccino

Cappuccino was first the Italian term for a Capuchin friar. The colour of the coffee reminded Italians of the brown robes of one of the Roman Catholic orders of monks, namely the Capuchins. They wore brown robes with pointed hoods. It is said the first cappuccino coffee served had little peaks of milky foam that looked like these pointed hoods.

The Capuchin order was founded by Matteo di Bassi of Urbino (died 1552), split from the Franciscans. The name refers to the pointed cowl or capuche worn by the brothers. The rule from 1529 emphasized the Fran-ciscan ideals of poverty, austerity and contemplative prayer. They were an important force during the Counter-Reformation. The severity of the rule has been somewhat mitigated, but they are still the strictest of the Franciscan orders.

Today in History - 1870

The first postcard was used in the US - thus ushering in a new age of deltiolgy.

So Now You Know

Broadway's Original Name was the Wiechquaekeck Trail. It was an old Algonquin trade route.

Your Homeland Security at Work

Kentucky has been awarded a federal Homeland Security grant aimed at keeping terrorists from using charitable gaming to raise money.

The state Office of Charitable Gaming won the $36,300 grant and will use it to provide five investigators with laptop computers and access to a commercially operated law-enforcement data base, said John Holiday, enforcement director at the Office of Charitable Gaming.

The idea is to keep terrorists from playing bingo or running a charitable game to raise large amounts of cash, Holiday said.

BBB Geek-toid

As anyone knows who has entered a retail establishment in the last month, the Christmas shopping season has arrived! (When I was a kid, it seemed like there were unspoken rules about Christmas decorations and sale items. Somehow, magically, the displays would appear no earlier than the day after Thanksgiving. I predict by 2020 the Christmas stuff will go up July 5th. But enough about me.)

Since we are in pre-(pre-pre-)Christmas mode, maybe consideration needs to be given to the geeky folks on Santa's list. At first blush, some of these items might seem a bit odd or pricey but who am I to judge the nature of the geek on your list?

"Danger, Will Robinson!" To ensure a very happy Christmas indeed for your geek (and I think this one will work universally), try the seven-foot, operational Robbie the Robot!

"Planet of the Geeks." Now I ask you, what geeky desktop would be complete without a fully animatronic chimpanzee head?

"No Members of the Opposite Gender Allowed" To get away from those pesky "others", some of us retreated to tree houses of one sort or another. Here's an entirely different sort.

"Now Showing ..." When you really need to show off your video electronics, where better than outdoors on a big screen?

"I'll hover right over." Ever since one of the Bush boys fell off of the amazingly simple to operate Segway, many have been seeking alternative futuristic transport - and what could be more futuristically cool than a Levitating Hover Scooter?

OK, these items *are* a bit out there but you have to admit, they're pretty cool and as a public service I wanted to make you aware of the offerings since these tend to require a substantial lead time to arrive for the big day.

(Future BBB Geek-toids (TM) will present geek gifts for the rest of us.)

Today in History - 1945

The United Nations was established by charter on this day. Initially, the United Nations included only the 26 countries that had signed the 1942 Declaration by United Nations, a statement of war against the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) in World War II.

Caught on Video

What can you say about a guy having this much "fun" in a Best Buy store? But then it *is* the Miracles' "Going to a Go-Go"!

So Now You Know

It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.

BBB Site of the Week

"Gone to the dogs" usually means something negative but at Dog Island, it's a dog's life.

News from all over - Samara

A sculpture, of a cat lying on a windowsill over a heater, was unveiled at a power station in the city of Samara, south-east of Moscow.

Russians say the device was invented in St Petersburg 150 years ago. It is commonly claimed that the Romans invented central heating, but the Samara company did some research which it said showed the radiator itself first appeared in 1855 in the then Russian capital, St Petersburg.

Its inventor, an ethnic German of Italian origin named Franz San-Galli, named it the "hot box" and patented it in Germany and the US.

Today in History - 1959

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opens in New York City. Designed by acclaimed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the modern structure marked a bold departure from traditional museum design. Its exhibition space, designed to house contemporary art, features a six-story ramp that spirals upward a quarter mile and provides access to four levels of galleries. The spiraling ramp encircles a large open center naturally lit by the building's dramatic glass dome. Frank Lloyd Wright died six months before the dedication of the architectural masterpiece.

So Now You Know

If you can see a rainbow you must have your back to the sun.

BBB Web Toy of the Week

If you are good at finding the common thread in a set of images, then this game is for you. You get 20 seconds to determine the keyword that would have returned the displayed images. It's Guess-the-Google!

So Now You Know

"Star Trek" actor James "Scotty" Doohan's cremated remains will be launched into space in accord with his last wishes. Commercial space flight operator Space Services Inc. will launch the late actor's remains into space aboard its Explorers Flight on December 6, a company spokeswoman said on Friday. She said the remains of more than 120 others will be aboard the flight.

Today in History - 1803

On this date, the Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase Treaty by a vote of twenty-four to seven. The agreement, which provided for the purchase of the western half of the Mississippi River basin from France at a price of less than three cents per acre, doubled the size of the country and paved the way for westward expansion beyond the Mississippi.

News from all over - London

Doctor Who is to be given a sexy spin-off series for adults after the 9pm watershed on the BBC. Creator Russell T Davies says Torchwood, an anagram of Doctor Who, would be "dark, wild and sexy".

BBC3 is to screen Torchwood next year to cash in on the anticipated success of the next series of Doctor Who, starring David Tennant. Davies is likely to deploy a similar sense of irreverence in the new series, which he said would unfold over 13 episodes "with humour". The star will be John Barrowman, who plays the bi-sexual Capt Jack Harkness.

BBB Comix of the Week

You may think I present this 1940s Weird Comics classic because of the great stories of Dr Mortal or Blast Bennett or Thor or Typhon or perhaps Voodoo Man - but no, what's *really* cool about this cover is the promise of a Giant Comicscope. Yes, you too could have obtained "A Picture Projector, A Film Projector, A Movie Viewer". Why it's "Just Like Having Your Own Theater". Check it out.

Today in History - 1849

On this day Elizabeth Blackwell graduated from Geneva Medical College. She was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States.

Although Blackwell had been studying medicine on her own for four years when she began applying to medical schools, Geneva Medical College, a forerunner of Hobart College in upstate New York, was the only institution to accept her application. She entered the college in 1847 and graduated the head of her class two years later, despite having endured ostracism by students and townspeople for daring to challenge barriers against women in the field of medicine.

In 1851, after completing graduate studies at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, Blackwell returned to the United States. Barred from practicing in city hospitals, she opened a small dispensary in the tenement district of New York City. In 1857, she and two other recent medical school graduates opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, a hospital staffed entirely by women.

So Now You Know

The Roman Colosseum was not so-named until 400 years after it was built, it was originally called the Palladium Ampitheatre.

The Coloseum's name was derived from a colossus (a 130-foot or 40-metre statue) of Nero nearby. This statue was later remodeled by Nero's successors into the likeness of Sol, the sun god, by adding the appropriate solar crown. The link to Nero's colossus seems to have been forgotten over time, and the name was corrupted to Coliseum in the Middle Ages.

News from all over - Lewiston

A Maine scientist is preparing to release details of a $1 million reward for a photograph that leads to the live capture of Bigfoot, the abominable snowman or the Loch Ness Monster.

Loren Coleman, a professor at the University of Southern Maine, said the bounty would be paid for by an unnamed company and that he will release more details at a cryptozoology symposium at Bates College over Halloween weekend. Cryptozoology is the scientific study of hidden, rumored or unknown animals.

"It's the time for something like this," Coleman said. "Back in the 1960s, hardly anybody was talking about this. Today, it's phenomenal."

The $1 million bounty would be paid by a company to anyone who produces a photograph that leads to the live capture of one of the three creatures, Coleman said.

"We don't want people running around with guns trying to kill something to get the money," Coleman said. "It's not a contest, either. It's a very specific bounty that depends on the permanent capture of a live specimen, with emphasis on 'live.'"

BBB Etymology - Horsepower

The idea of horsepower came from James Watt, the 18th-century inventor who developed the unit of measure as a promotional device to equate the work that could be done by his improved steam engines with the number of horses they could replace. (A watt of power - one joule of energy per second - is named after him as well.)

Today in History - 1867

On this day, the American flag flew for the first time in Alaska, marking the formal transfer of this massive northern territory from Russia to the United States.

Separated from the far eastern edge of the Russian empire by only the narrow Bering Strait, the Russians had been the first Europeans to significantly explore and develop Alaska. During the early 19th century, the state-sponsored Russian-American Company established the settlement of Sitka and began a lucrative fur trade with the Native Americans. However, Russian settlement in Alaska remained small, never exceeding more than a few hundred people. By the 1860s, the Russian-American Company had become unprofitable. Faced with having to heavily subsidize the company if an active Russian presence in the territory was to be maintained, the tsar and his ministers chose instead to sell to the Americans.

So Now You Know

The Ottoman Empire once had seven emperors in seven months. They died of (in order): burning, choking, drowning, stabbing, heart failure, poisoning and being thrown from a horse.

News from all over - Forsyth

The Sooners may have slid from the top-ranking spot in the polls this football season, but Oklahoma fans can find solace in the fact that OU is still No. 1 at something — casket sales.

Collegiate Memorials, based in this Georgia town, has been making college-themed caskets for die-hard college sports fans and alumni since 2000. The caskets, available in wood or steel, bear the school colors and insignia. The OU-themed casket, which Collegiate Memorials began producing in 2001, is the company’s top seller this year, said Scott Walston, Collegiate Memorials president. Walston estimates the company has sold 50 OU caskets in the past year.

“The caskets are a great way to pay homage to someone, it’s something that’s been personalized,” Walston said.

BBB Geek-toid

Surely we all remember "magic slates" or "mystic writing pads" - consisting of a thin sheet of clear plastic over a gray sheet above a waxen board. The tip of a stylus presses through the sheets of plastic and makes a faint indentation in the wax below which appears as a dark trace on the gray sheet. When the sheet is lifted away from the surface of the waxen tablet beneath, the dark traces disappear; the pad is clean again.

So, wouldn't it be cool if there was an electronic version of the magic slate? Or even better, something lighter and more versatile - like paper? Enter Electronic Reusable Paper.

News from all over - Jefferson

Next to a lifelike replica of a giant ape head, the believers milled around tables Saturday covered with casts of large footprints, books about nature's mysteries and T-shirts proclaiming "Bigfoot: Often Imitated, Never Invalidated." While they can have a sense of humor about it, the search for the legendary Sasquatch is no joke for many of the nearly 400 people who came here to discuss the latest sightings and tracking techniques at the Texas Bigfoot Conference.

"It's not a matter of believing, like faith, when you believe in something you can't see," said Daryl G. Colyer, a Lorena businessman who has investigated hundreds of reported Bigfoot sightings in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. "It's a flesh-and-blood animal that just has not been discovered yet. And I think we're getting closer and closer and closer," Colyer said.

Today in History - 1835

Texans approve a resolution to create the Texas Rangers, a corps of armed and mounted lawmen designed to "range and guard the frontier between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers."

In the midst of their revolt against Mexico, Texan leaders felt they needed a semi-official force of armed men who would defend the isolated frontier settlers of the Lone Star Republic against both Santa Ana's soldiers and hostile Indians; the Texas Rangers filled this role. But after winning their revolutionary war with Mexico the following year, Texans decided to keep the Rangers, both to defend against Indian and Mexican raiders and to serve as the principal law enforcement authority along the sparsely populated Texan frontier.

So Now You Know

The green stuff on the occasional potato chip is chlorophyll.

BBB Site of the Week

As all fashion mavens know, there are ties and then there are *ties*. Here's a site of knotty proportions that will introduce you to some of the most interesting neckties ever. Plus there's history, necktie cleaning tips, old cartoons about ties, a "Tie of the Week" feature - oh and don't miss the special on duck tape ties!

So Now You Know

Did you know Google has pointed it's maps at the moon? Zoom in all the way to get best resolution.

Today in History - 1947

U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

Yeager, born in Myra, West Virginia, in 1923, was a combat fighter during World War II and flew 64 missions over Europe. He shot down 13 German planes and was himself shot down over France, but he escaped capture with the assistance of the French Underground. After the war, he was among several volunteers chosen to test-fly the experimental X-1 rocket plane, built by the Bell Aircraft Company to explore the possibility of supersonic flight.

For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart.

News from all over - London

An engineer has come up with an invention takes seconds off the chore of cutting perfect toast soldiers. When the hand-held cutter is pressed against a slice of bread, it creates a series of precisely placed perforations.

Once the bread has been toasted to perfection, the soldiers can be torn off ready for dunking in a soft-boiled egg. The perforator is the brainchild of Mike Minton, a 37-year-old electronics engineer, who says the ideal soldier should be 22mm wide.

"I love egg soldiers but the one thing I hate is cutting up the toast, because it is fiddly, messy and time consuming," he said.

BBB Web Toy of the Week

A cross between a-MAZE-ing Labyrinth and Operation, comes this game that certainly will test your mousing skills.

Today in History - 1792

The cornerstone of the White House was laid on this date. President John Adams and his wife Abigail moved into the unfinished structure on November 1, 1800, keeping to the scheduled relocation of the capital from Philadelphia. President George Washington and Charles L'Enfant, the French planner of the federal city, chose the site for the residence. Congress selected a design by James Hoban, an Irish emigrant architect living in Charleston, South Carolina for the structure. Modeled after Leister House in Dublin, Ireland, Hoban's plan featured the Palladian style popular in Europe. It was chosen over several other proposals including one submitted by Thomas Jefferson.

Constructed of white-grey sandstone that contrasted sharply with the red brick used in nearby buildings, the presidential mansion was called the White House as early as 1809. President Theodore Roosevelt officially adopted the term in 1902.

So Now You Know

The Millau Bridge (formally known as le Viaduc de Millau) is the tallest vehicular bridge in the world. Opened in December 2004, the Millau Bridge spans the Tarn River valley in southern France and carries motorists for a 1.6-mile stretch through the Massif Central mountains at a height of 891 feet. The steel-and-concrete bridge is visually distinctive for its streamlined diagonal suspension cables resting on seven pillars, the tallest pillar soaring 1,122 feet high, making it slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower and just a bit shorter than the Empire State Building. (The Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado, which hangs 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River, is the world's highest suspension bridge, but it was designed primarily for tourist foot traffic and has only one lane for vehicles.)

(Thanks to John T)

Your Homeland Security at Work

A 10-passenger charter jet that was reported stolen from St. Augustine, Fla., was found at an airport near Atlanta, and authorities were attempting to figure out who had flown it there. "We've ruled out anything diabolical or sinister," he said. "We didn't find anything threatening on the plane."

The FBI is also investigating although the theft does not appear to be linked to terrorism, said Lisa Ray, spokeswoman at the Georgia Office of Homeland Security. The plane landed at the airport sometime between 9 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday, Moloney said. It had some damage to the front edge of one wing but was not disabled, authorities said.

Although the plane landed when the airport's flight tower was not operating, officials said that is not unusual. Once on the ground, an automatic gate would have let the person out of the airport, Moloney said.

BBB Comix of the Week

1954 was a strange year in the world of comics if this cover is at all representative.

Today in History - 1810

Bavarian Crown Prince Louis, later King Louis I of Bavaria, marries Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The Bavarian royalty invited the citizens of Munich to attend the festivities, held on the fields in front of the city gates. These famous public fields were named Theresienwiese--"Therese's fields"--in honor of the crown princess; although locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the "Wies'n." Horse races in the presence of the royal family concluded the popular event, celebrated in varying forms all across Bavaria.

The decision to repeat the festivities and the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition of the annual Oktoberfest, which now begins in late September and lasts until the first Sunday in October. More than 1 million gallons of beer are consumed annually at Oktoberfest.

News from all over - Hannover

Police from this German town came to arrest a 22-year-old man over allegations of involvement in a series of burglaries. But he fled out the back door and hid in the neighbours' garden as police with a search warrant came in the front door.

But the man left behind his American Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Lumpi, and quick thinking police gave the dog the order to seek his owner out. The dog sped into the next door garden and stood wagging its tail near the place where its owner was hiding in the bushes.

BBB Etymology - Wet Behind the Ears

Many newly born animals, wet from liquids in the womb, are slow to become dry. Some places, especially the indentations behind the ears, take the longest because they aren't exposed to the air. The fur on these animals usually stays wet until they are active. For this reason, a person who knows absolutely nothing about some kind of action is referred to as "wet behind the ears."

Today in History - 1968

Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, is launched with astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr.; Donn F. Eisele; and Walter Cunningham aboard. Under the command of Schirra, the crew of Apollo 7 conducted an 11-day orbit of Earth, during which the crew transmitted the first live television broadcasts from orbit. The crew also successfully performed a docking maneuver with a lunar module as preparation for the future manned lunar landing, which was accomplished by Apollo 11 in 1969.

So Now You Know

The main library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

News from all over - Woomera

The age of faster-than-sound commercial travel took a step back from the grave when Japan used a rocket to test fly a scale model of a proposed supersonic jetliner from this rocket range, in South Australia's outback.

Supersonic flight for fare-paying passengers was buried in 2003 when Concorde, crippled by failing economics and a crash in July 2000 that killed 113 people, was withdrawn from service.

However, Japan is developing technology that could lead to passengers again breaking the sound barrier, but in a much more efficient and quieter aircraft. Shaped like an arrowhead, the 104-metre-long plane would carry 300 passengers, three times as many as Concorde, at twice the speed of sound. This could reduce the flight time from Sydney to Los Angeles to as little as six hours (from a current average of 13 hours 30 minutes).

To check the aerodynamics of the arrowhead shape, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency strapped an 11.5-metre model to the side of a rocket and fired it into Woomera's sky. About 19 kilometres up, the rocket hit twice the speed of sound, the cruising speed of the proposed jetliner. The model, dubbed NEXT-1 - the National Experimental Supersonic Transport - was then released to test its aerodynamic characteristics.

The computer-controlled craft glided almost 100 kilometres before steering itself back towards Woomera, performing a series of turns to lose speed "just like the space shuttle does".

Finally, after a flight lasting 15 minutes and 22 seconds, it parachuted back onto the desert. It touched down about 15 kilometres from the launch site, its landing cushioned by an airbag. The aircraft's shape was selected to increase efficiency and reduce sonic booms.

The Japanese jetliner is not expected to be flying for another "15 or 20 years".

BBB Geek-toid

Legos? The desktop computer? Both geeky elements for sure. Hmmm. What would happen if you put them together? Geek heaven.

News from all over - Darlington

Police responding to an alarm at a cash advance business found a naked man hanging from the ceiling early Thursday morning in the South Carolina town. A naked man with scrapes all over his body then dropped from the ceiling and tried to open the front door and leave, according to a police report.

"He had a charming story to go along with it though. He said somebody threw his keys on the roof and that's why he was up there," policeman Watson said. "He kind of got a little fuzzy on the 'taking all his clothes off and sliding in the store' part." Police think 22-year-old Michael Gilbert took off his clothes so he could fit through an air vent on the roof. Gilbert has been charged with burglary.

Today in History - 1886

The origin of American formal wear is rooted in the popular military fashions of the antebellum United States. Ballroom styled Tail coats and polished boots represented the elite in our emerging industrial nation. As the years progressed, these fashion statements were sought after by others. Unfortunatly, only the well-heeled members of high society could afford to garnish themselves with such grandiose fashions.

On this day, Griswold Lorillard of Tuxedo Park, New York forever changed the way the world wears formal attire. Donning a black, satin lapelled dinner jacket and bow tie, Griswold stunned an unsuspecting society crowd with his rebellious invention. Since that night, the tuxedo has evolved into the obvious choice for affordable formal attire. This simple garment born in Tuxedo Park, New York has become a true American success story. Or not.

BBB Site of the Week

Let me take you somewhere extraordinary ... a place filled with the wonders of nature. Temperatures here are high enough to melt diamonds - but you will freeze when you come to visit.

You are going to the Magnetosphere... plus this about The Lion Roars:
Natural Wave Emissions in Space Plasmas. Cool.

News from all over - London

The world's first autonomously-controlled robotic fish have been unveiled at London Aquarium. The robotic fish are said to swim as fast as tuna, with the acceleration of a pike and the navigation skills of an eel.

The fish, designed by Professor Huosheng Hu, of Essex University, navigate by sensor based controls, and mimic the motion of fish. Prof Hu's team worked with the London Aquarium for three years to develop a biologically-inspired robot that mimics the undulating movement of real fish.

Prof Hu said the project aimed to bring the public into direct contact with robots, increasing their understanding of science and technology. He said: "This work has many real-world applications including detecting leaks in oil pipelines, mine counter-measures and improving the performance of underwater vehicles."

Today in History - 1868

Cornell University welcomed its first students on this day. Located near Lake Cayuga in Ithaca, New York, Cornell is one of 69 institutions founded with federal funds under the provision of the Morrill Act of 1862. Cornell University was also one of the first colleges to field a football team; the Big Red hit the gridiron in the early 1870s, just as collegiate football was becoming popular.

BBB Web Toy of the Week

If you like (or liked) putting tab A into slot B, consider these Paper Toys. You'll find cars like the VW shown here, buildings including the Taj Mahal, greeting cards, holiday objects, and my personal favorite. Print, cut out, tab and slot at will.

Today in History - 1866

On this day, the brothers John and Simeon Reno stage the first train robbery in American history, making off with $13,000 from an Ohio and Mississippi railroad train in Jackson County, Indiana.

Of course, trains had been robbed before the Reno brothers' holdup. But these previous crimes had all been burglaries of stationary trains sitting in depots or freight yards. The Reno brothers' contribution to criminal history was to stop a moving train in a sparsely populated region where they could carry out their crime without risking interference from the law or curious bystanders.

News from all over - Alamo

Some of the computer software industry's richest moguls may soon be dealing with a case of castle envy. David Duffield, a billionaire who amassed most of his fortune by reluctantly selling PeopleSoft Inc. last year, has submitted plans for a 72,000-square-foot main home (plus 25,000 square feet of outbuildings that include a stable, pool and 20-car underground garage) in this tiny suburb about 30 miles east of San Francisco. This house would eclipse the mammoth mansions custom-made for his more famous peers, Bill Gates and Larry Ellison.

So Now You Know

An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.

BBB Comix of the Week

Thank our lucky stars for Hostess confectionery!

Today in History - 1974

American David Kunst completes the first round-the-world journey on foot, taking four years and 21 pairs of shoes to complete the 14,500-mile journey across the land masses of four continents. He left his hometown of Waseca, Minnesota, on June 20, 1970. Near the end of his journey in 1974 he explained the reasons for his epic trek: "I was tired of Waseca, tired of my job, tired of a lot of little people who don't want to think, and tired of my wife." During the long journey, he took on sponsors and helped raise money for UNICEF.

He was accompanied by his brother, John, but in 1972 John Kunst was shot to death by bandits in Afghanistan and David was wounded. After returning to Minnesota to recuperate, Kunsk traveled back to Afghanistan and continued his global journey with another brother, Peter. Peter had to drop out later for health reasons, and David Kunst completed his trek alone, returning to Waseca on this date.

So Now You Know

When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers play football at home to a sellout crowd, the stadium becomes the state's third largest community.

BBB Etymology - Chocolate

When the Spanish arrived in Mexico they came across the Aztecs. The Aztec language is called Nahuatl. The Aztecs had a drink which they made from a bean they called CHOCO (bitter). They would put this bean into water (ATL) to produce CHOCO-ATL (bitter water).

The TL sound is common in the Aztec language but not in Spanish. The Spaniards inserted an A between the T and L and pronounced the drink CHOCOLATO.

This drink was brought to Europe (with sugar added) where the pronunciation and spelling in English became CHOCOLATE.

News from all over - Munich

Despite having an extra day to celebrate, revelers drank less of Germany's favorite tipple at this year's Munich Oktoberfest tribute to beer which ended Monday. Some 6 million litres of beer -- enough to fill around six Olympic-sized swimming pools -- were downed by the 6.1 million visitors to the festival in the Bavarian capital. That was about 100,000 litres below the 6.1 million litres in 2004.

The 172nd edition of the event was extended beyond the usual 16 days to 17 this year because Monday is the German Unification Day holiday. But unseasonably cool weather and strict limits on the music volume before 6 p.m. kept consumption down. Local tabloid newspapers criticized organizers for dampening the noise of the famous oom-pah brass bands, however officials said it helped cut the drunken violence seen in previous years.

Today in History - 1957

The Soviet Union inaugurates the "Space Age" with its launch of Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for "satellite," was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point) of 143 miles. Visible with binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio operators. Those in the United States with access to such equipment tuned in and listened in awe as the beeping Soviet spacecraft passed over America several times a day. In January 1958, Sputnik's orbit deteriorated, as expected, and the spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere.

So Now You Know

In 1876 the glass merchant Thomas Adams (1818-1905) and his two sons established the first chewing gum manufacturer, Adams Sons and Company. As a result of experiments in a warehouse on Front Street, Adams made chewing gum made with chicle, large quantities of which have been made available to him by General Antonio de Santa Ana of Mexico, who was in exile in Staten Island and at whose instigation Adams had tried to use the chicle to make rubber. Adams sold the gum with the slogan "Adams' New York Gum No. 1 - Snapping and Stretching." Working with flavor addition resulted in liquorice Adams' Black Jack - the oldest (1872) flavoured chewing gum on the market today. Adams brands introduced Beemans pepsin in the 1890's & Clove gum in the early 1930's.

The firm was the nation's most prosperous chewing gum company by the end of the 19th century: it built a monopoly in 1899 by merging with the six largest and best-known chewing gum manufacturers in the United States and Canada and achieved great success as the maker of Chiclets.

BBB Geek-toid

There are all sorts of Geeks, hence all sorts of geeky designs and logos ... and what better place to display such designs than human skin. Enjoy?

Today in History - 1955

On this day, two truly classic television programs premiered - "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "Captain Kangaroo".

The Captain ran from 1955 to 1984 making it the longest running network children's show of all time. Long time regulars included Mr Green Jeans, Grandfather Clock, Bunny Rabbit, Dancing Bear, Mr. Moose, and Dennis the Handyman - plus cartoon appearances of Tom Terrific and Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog (not to mention Crabby Appleton).

The Mickey Mouse Club not only introduced us to Annette, Sharon, Bobby, Bonnie, Tommy, Darlene, Cubby, Karen, and Doreen but also the big kids, Jim and Roy. And who can forget those exciting Adventures of Spin and Marty at the Triple R Ranch?

Remember the Mickey Mouse Club's days of the week ...

Monday - Fun With Music Day
Tuesday - Guest Star Day
Wednesday - Anything Can Happen Day
Thursday - Circus Day
Friday - Talent Round-Up Day

Marketing 101

The nice thing about 3M owning so many lines of products, is that they can cross the brands to make some interesting hybrids.

Nexcare 3M Duct Tape Bandages are bandages made to look and feel like real duct tape. The packaging says they provide "heavy-duty protection for minor cuts and scrapes", and are longer in length to accomodate the meatier fingers of a workin' man.

Google Earth

Google Earth, a satellite imagery-based mapping product that combines three-dimensional buildings and terrain with mapping capabilities and Google search options, allows users to zoom in on any location around the globe. Just type in a street or exact address, and take a slightly dizzying flight to your end destination.

"Google Earth utilizes broadband streaming technology and 3D graphics, much like a videogame, enabling users to interactively explore the world — either their own neighborhood or the far corners of the globe," John Hanke, general manager for the Google Keyhole group, which developed the application, said when the product launched at the end of June.