short takes

[cellio]

Quote of the day: "Don't worry if you don't know what eschatology is; it's not the end of the world." (From Dani.)

This map shows the dominant words used for soft drinks across the country. I don't know what's going on in Alaska, or in that swirl of yellow over Missouri.

Word of the day: insinuendo. (Applied to the phrase "sometimes it works the first time", referring to software development.)

Seen in a book on design patterns: "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it might be a turkey wrapped in a duck adapter".

This one's been around for a few days, but in case there are folks who haven't seen it: a fun way to deal with folks who are stealing your wireless access (though tsk tsk for not locking it down if you care).

Comments

Re: carbonated drink nomenclature

[(Anonymous)]

One of the things that's going on with the map is plain old sample size. For example, that odd "Coke" reading in northern California? That's Trinity County with a sample size of 2. (Any bets if they're members of the same family?) Similarly, the 100% "coke" and "other" countise in SW Alaska are based on sample sizes of 1 each. The Missouri "soda" swirl is far more likel to be a true regional dialect.