Today I Learned

It’s been a while, but the Latin plural should be “Linuces” ( 3 rd declension noun ), but don’t worry – I won’t use that. Non-technical...

#TIL that the iconic image of the album cover for the famous album The Wall was not actually the original cover. In fact, the text “Pink...

When I write, I sometimes have a topic in mind, and look for an interesting way to introduce it. This time, I ended up going down an...

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” A vastly amusing quote from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith , about which I will, erm,...

The great John Cleese describes the Dunning-Kruger Effect in a brilliantly concise way which is vastly entertaining. Brilliant!...

Over the decades, the way we listen to music has changed, and it’s interesting to wonder about the implications of those changes. Prior...

A farmer asked a physicist to help him figure out how to increase milk production. After gathering data and studying the problem, the...

Recently, I was listening to an old episode of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe , (actually, episode 803, dated 28-Nov-2020 ), in which...

It’s interesting that everyone needs to come up with their own “process” for writing. And, while there are certain common elements, each...

Mr. Peabody ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Peabody ) is a figure whose influence is truly incalculable. For any not familiar...

While thinking about a topic for this post, I listened to a podcast I had not previously included in my online playlist (...

In the late 1980’s I liked to collect “taglines” to include in my interactions with people. While these included many “pithy” statements...

I’ve heard a number of people say that they “don’t like X”, only to discover that their only exposure has been some “pop culture” version...

Everyone knows what a jerk is. And everyone knows someone who is a jerk. But why? Why are some people jerks? Or rather, why do we...

The film Highlander ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_(film )) was enormously popular when it came out, as were several of the...

Recently, after I described the way I was approaching a project and its “ultimate goal”, a colleague laughed, and called me a dreamer. ...

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Chamber_of_Secrets ), there is a scene...

One of the key catch-phrases of the classic “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_t...

The phrase “full of sound sound and fury, signifying nothing” is part of one of the most famous soliloquies in the English language. It...

The start of school is often a busy time, but it gave me a bit of time to think about my high-school experience and led me back to...