Helpful Hints from joeeze: Why the grocery express lane may not be your fastest checkout option
High school math teacher Dan Meyerwrote in a September 8, 2009 blog post, "[At express checkout] You attract more people holding fewer total items, but as the data shows... when you add one person to the line, you're adding 48 extra seconds to the line length... without even considering the items in her cart. Meanwhile, an extra item only costs you an extra 2.8 seconds. Therefore, you'd rather add 17 more items to the line than one extra person!"
Wrote Joe Peach, "If you use Google images to find pictures or Clipart, this site is really nice with its 'similar images' option. I wish the main Google would incorporate it."
Long story short: In stores October 18, 2009; $150.
Here's Warren Buckleitner's September 29, 2009 New York Times "Gadgetwise" blog post with details.
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Bust Out the Parachute Pants — Rubik Is Back
While the amount of technology packed into Rubik’s TouchCube is
impressive, the big question remains: Would you want to spend more than
a few minutes with it before tossing the $150 puzzle through a window?
In stores Oct. 18 from Techno Source USA, this is the second
electronic edition of the famous puzzle from Techno Source, following
last year’s Rubik's Revolution. Rather than physically twisting the
interlocked mechanical cubes patented by Erno Rubik in 1977, you swipe
your finger against one of the cube’s capacitive sides to “flip” the
colors. There are no moving parts; instead, the multicolor LEDs change
color with a flipping sound emitted from an internal speaker, while an
accelerometer keeps track of which side is up.
The onboard computer provides hints, or it can solve itself. When it
is not being used, the cube sits in a charging cradle and lights up,
making an ideal geek’s night light.
I bought the book in 2005 (it was published in 2003), then somehow let it sit and gather dust on my "to be read" shelf (actually, shelves — six of them currently), until two weeks ago, when I finally started it one night at bedtime.
One of my top three books of the year (out of perhaps 50–75, would be my best guess), no question.
It's sci-fi but actually makes time travel seem as if it could be real, a tremendous achievement by (then) first-time novelist Audrey Niffenegger.
I was reminded of Alfred Bester's great book, "The Stars My Destination," in terms of the repeated movements through time of the protagonist (and his wonderful time traveling daughter).
The difference being that Niffenegger somehow makes her characters seem like people you or I might actually know, unlike Bester's Gully Foyle.
Browse and read excerpt's from Niffenegger's book here.
Koi are a symbol of love and friendship in Japan; that's quite descriptive of the emotions that you'll have about your own sweet, colorful fish satchel.
The molded PVC shape holds its form and all your girl-on-the-go gear.
Zip closure with one pocket in the lined interior.
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From this past weekend's Financial Times: "Plus Minus Zero's flagship store in Aoyama, Tokyo, will this week take delivery of a quantity of Wallclocks gilded in gold [top], silver [below],
or copper leaf [below]. The [25cm/10" diameter] shadow clock, with its minute and hour markers protruding just enough to read, is usually constructed in coloured ABS plastic. For these special versions, only available in Aoyama and from the brand's website, Fukasawa has chosen to revive the Japanese craft of Kaga leaf from Kanazawa, a city with a rich history of applied arts.
