Keep It or Toss It?

Wondering if that jar of horseradish is still good to eat? Find out at StillTasty, your ultimate shelf life guide. There's a fridge-full of other info on the site with answers to many common perishable food questions:

Can You Safely Drink Milk After the Sell-By Date?
Is it OK to Put Hot Food Directly Into the Fridge?
Are Eggs Still Safe After the Expiration Date?

(yes, yes, yes, but as for me re: the milk-ONLY after intensive sniffing and extremely cautious sipping. Personally, I would rather get slapped in the face than drink sour milk.)

StillTasty.com

10 Common Myths about Fast Food

Wolf Spider

The Wolf spider carries its young on its back.

Smugopedia

From the website:

Smugopedia is a collection of slightly controversial opinions about a variety of subjects.

We offer you the chance to buy a fleeting sense of self-satisfaction at the small cost of alienating your friends and loved ones.

Smugopedia

Nighttime Image of Texas Cities

From the site: One of the Expedition 36 crew members aboard the International Space Station, some 240 miles above Earth, used a 50mm lens to record this oblique nighttime image of a large part of the nation’s second largest state in area, including the four largest metropolitan areas in population. The extent of the metropolitan areas is easily visible at night due to city and highway lights. 

The largest metro area, Dallas-Fort Worth, often referred to informally as the Metroplex, is the heavily cloud-covered area at the top center of the photo. Neighboring Oklahoma, on the north side of the Red River, less than 100 miles to the north of the Metroplex, appears to be experiencing thunderstorms. The Houston metropolitan area, including the coastal city of Galveston, is at lower right. To the east near the Texas border with Louisiana, the metropolitan area of Beaumont-Port Arthur appears as a smaller blotch of light, also hugging the coast of the Texas Gulf. Moving inland to the left side of the picture one can delineate the San Antonio metro area. The capital city of Austin can be seen to the northeast of San Antonio. 

For larger sizes, visit the Nasa website: Nighttime Image of Texas Cities

Moths of the Texas Panhandle

I stumbled across this video after seeing an article about hummingbird moths and wondering if they were found in these parts. Back when I worked on drilling rigs, all sorts of insects and moths would be attracted to the lights of the rig at night, sometimes so thick around the lights on the floor that they blocked out most of the light and it was hard to see and often far-too-easy to have one fly into your mouth.

I remember one guy I worked with insisting they were hummingbirds, but those are fairly rare up in this part of the country.  Another guy I worked with would catch the huge moths, unroll their "nose" with a pencil, then tape it inside someone's locker.  When he opened it up the next morning, it was always funny to see him startled by the moth frantically fluttering at the guy's eye level.

(EDIT to add: funny to see the guy scared by a moth, but I always felt sorry for the moth; it was cruel, even though I doubt the moth had a very long lifespan.)

My landlady's son, the younger brother of a classmate, was a sophomore one summer when the moths were prolific around the rig and had to do the same project his brother and I had to do at the same age;  catch 50 different insects and pin them to a board and label them.  I took the young man a lunch box full of moths and asst. other insects I caught one night and he later told me he had over 70 different types of insects and got an "A" for the project!

I used to have some Four O'Clock plants by my porch and during the summer,moths would gather nectar out of the flowers that opened in the late afternoon and stayed open until sunrise the next morning.  I had an old black cat that absolutely loved those moths;  he grew tired of playing with them and discovered he liked the taste.  He wouldn't eat the entire thing, but I would find just the head and wings all over the place, even inside where he had brought them in through the cat flaps. (along with lizards, garden snakes, birds and all sorts of creatures.)

Chile in Texas

From Wiki:

The flag of the U.S. state of Texas is similar to the Chilean flag, which was created and introduced 21 years before that of Texas.



The national flag of Chile is also known as la estrella solitaria which is Spanish for "the lone star". The star represents a guide to progress and honor; blue symbolizes the sky and the Pacific Ocean, white is for the snow-covered Andes, and red stands for the blood spilled to achieve independence.

The Texas flag



Also from Wiki:

The Texas flag is known as the "Lone Star Flag". This flag was introduced to the Congress of the Republic of Texas on December 28, 1838, by Senator William H. Wharton. It was adopted on January 25, 1839 as the final national flag of the Republic of Texas.

When Texas became the 28th state of the Union on December 29, 1845, its national flag became the state flag. While the Lone Star remained the de facto state flag, from 1879 until 1933 there was no official state flag. All statutes not explicitly renewed were repealed under the Revised Civil Statutes of 1879, and since the statutes pertaining to the flag were not among those renewed, Texas was formally flagless until the passage of the 1933 Texas Flag Code. The code assigns the following symbolism to the colors of the Texas flag: blue stands for loyalty, white for purity, and red for bravery.

bijou

bijou \BEE-zhoo\ , adjective;
1. Something small, delicate, and exquisitely wrought.

Origin: Bijou comes from the French Breton bizou, "ring."

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I was unfamilar with this word, but when I saw it was today's Word of the Day, it reminded me of a Japanese word - benjou - that was in a Vietnamese War POW's book about his experiences in the Hanoi Hilton. Benjou is a vulgar term for a toilet, something like "crapper" would be in our Western society. It's not a horrible description, just one that wouldn't be used in polite company.

The name of the book escapes me, but the thing I remember the most is the good humor exhibited by the prisoners who were forced to live in the foulest of conditions. One of their punishments was to take away the "honey bucket", the container they had to use for a toilet. The POWs made up a song about it, sung to the old gospel tune of "Brighten Up the Corner Where You Are". (even a heathen like me knows that one)

"If you need to benjou, and the benjou is too far.
Just benjou in the corner where you are!"

Learn Chinese Everyday

Learn Chinese — Learn a Chinese Character a Day

I stumbled across this website the other day and immediately subscribed to the feed. The site's premise/purpose is to provide all the information and tools to learn a single Chinese character each day. Seeing as how the Chinese pretty much own America - or its GDP for the next hundred years - I thought it prudent to learn how to communicate with our future overlords.

For example, today's word is pronounced - mén - meaning:

1. door. (n)
2. valve; switch. (n)
3. knack. (n)
4. school of thought. (n)
5. (measure word) used for subjects of study, cannons, marriage, relatives. (n)

They even show how to draw the character with a nifty little animation:



The site also has sound files to listen to the word, plus gives examples in translated-to-English sentences such as these:

Open the door, please.

That's the least of what we'll have to do for our Chinese bosses.

How many courses did you select?

I don't think this will mean anything to do with education. No, I think it will be pertaining to food. "How many courses...?" will be a subtle (in the Chinese way) but stern reminder that we Americans don't need all that protein we're accustomed to. One small bowl of rice, two or three dehydrated minnows and a half-cup of pickled frog intestines will be three courses.

I just hope they don't insist upon me using those damn chopsticks. I always get splinters in my lips when I've use those.

He finally got the hang of repairing computers.

That's what I might hear my own personal master say to his boss while pleading that my life should be spared. I've earned the death sentence by insolence, laziness and possession of a banned firearm as well as a prohibited radio found tuned to decadent Western rock and roll .

He has already converted to Buddhism.

Again, he's arguing my case. I haven't converted, I just shave my head in hopes they'll think I'm a monk. (the celibate part is in my favor, too)

The first thing we shall do is to turn on the switch.

That's probably one of the last things I'll hear as they strap me into the electric chair.

(just kidding on that last...everybody knows the Chinese just shoot you in the head)

---

Sorry, couldn't help but crack wise on this site, even though it's very informative and useful and I DO plan on trying to learn a little bit of Chinese. (I recently read it's much, much easier learn than is Polish)

Still, there's a grain of truth to what I wrote, the hyperbole regarding the US and China and our future relations. I'd like to take this time to point out that Ron Paul has been warning us of this for years.

Regardless, this site is still worth featuring.

Learn Chinese Everyday

50 Welcome Signs From 50 States

50 Welcome Signs From 50 States

(It's a wonder that sign hasn't been vandalized.)

Unexpected Inventions from Unexpected People

From Neatorama:

There are some inventions and inventors you just grow up knowing about – Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone, Thomas Edison and the lightbulb (even though he really just improved upon it). But there are a lot of inventions lurking out there that you didn’t learn about in your elementary school history and science books – inventions from geniuses known for other creations and discoveries, and inventions from people you didn’t expect to be inventors at all. Here are a few of them.

This is a fascinating article. Among the inventions: Marlon Brando had patents to tune drums, Thoreau invented raisin bread, Margaret Thatcher helped invent soft serve ice cream and Zeppo Marx owned the company that built the clamps that held the atomic bomb in the Enola Gay.

Unexpected Inventions from Unexpected People

The US Civil War In 4 Minutes

EDIT: 12/10/12

Sorry, but the video was taken down due to copyright issues. There are short trailers on the 'net, but I couldn't find the full video. You can purchase a copy here.

World Travel

World Travel

Click as close as possible to locations on the map. The faster the better ... Speed counts!

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It was hard for me to suss out the between-question box, but after I got that figgered out, I still didn't do so well.

Spell Quizzer

This came in the mail earlier, just after my previous post (below). That's fast.

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I read your review of Spelling City today in your blog. I've also developed an educational program for Windows called SpellQuizzer that helps children learn their spelling and vocabulary words. It really helped my children with their weekly spelling lists.

I see that you blogged about SpellingCity.com today. SpellingCity is indeed an excellent free tool for teachers and parents. But there are some advantages that SpellQuizzer offers over SpellingCity.com:

• SpellQuizzer doesn't require an open Internet connection. Many homeschoolers prefer not to have their young children working on a computer with an open Internet connection due to all the undesirable material that is on the Internet. With SpellQuizzer there is no need to expose children to the world wide web.
  
  
• SpellingCity.com doesn't have recordings of all the words one might wish to practice. For those it does have the sentences used aren't personalized. With SpellQuizzer you can make spelling lists for literally any words (or even facts) you wish your child to practice with. The recordings you make are in your voice rather than a stranger's. And you can personalize the recordings and even make them funny with an amusing sentence or funny voice. I always try to throw in some funny ones for my daughters such as "Handsome: Your daddy is the most handsome man on earth." That one got snickers. :-)
  
  
• Spelling City has annual fees while SpellQuizzer is a one-time payment of $29.95. You can use it for life after that and never spend a penny more.
  
  
• SpellingCity.com may well be around for ever. Or it may go down for good tomorrow. There's no way to know for certain. A person who purchases a license for SpellQuizzer has the software for life whether I stay in business or not.

As I said, SpellingCity.com is an excellent free resource and I don't mean to attack it in any way with what I've said above. I'm only pointing out reasons one might prefer a product like SpellQuizzer. I would appreciate your reviewing or posting about SpellQuizzer in the Top of Texas Gazette. If you would like to host a giveaway for one of your readers I'd be happy to provide a free license to the winner. You can learn more about the program at

http://www.SpellQuizzer.com.

There's a video demo you can watch at Demo and a community site where SpellQuizzer users can share their spelling lists with one another. I'd be happy to send you a complimentary license for the software. Please let me know if you are interested.

Thank you very much!
Dan Hite
TedCo Software
http://www.SpellQuizzer.com

Spelling City

SpellingCity is a fun online spelling program.

SpellingCity.com has:

- Over 42,000 spelling words and ten learning games!

- A REAL person who says each word and sentence.

- Free home pages for teachers and parents to save lists.

- How To Videos to explain to teachers and parents how to use SpellingCity.com.

- A free forum and newsletter with more vocabulary and spelling resources!
- Ten spelling and vocabulary games to play online or to print.

- Free printables for handwriting practice with your saved lists.

- A Resources Section which highlights features and existing lists for Dolch words, compound words, sound-alikes (their, there, they're), contractions, possessives, and more.

Right or Left?

No, not politics, but why do certain countries drive on the side they do?

Find out why at How Do Countries Choose Which Side They Drive On?

Several times when my British friend elle came over to see me and we'd decide to go somewhere, she would go to the car and stand by the driver's side. I'd go to her with the keys, unlock the door and then hand them to her. "Want me to unlock your side?" she'd ask, probably wondering why I couldn't do it myself.

"Nope." I'd tell her. "Just thought you were wantin' to drive."

Behind the Name

From the website:

Names. Everyone has one, most people have a vague idea what their own means, but few give them much more thought. The study of names is called onomastics, a field which touches on linguistics, history, anthropology, pyschology, sociology, philology and much more.

When people refer to the "meaning of a name", they are most likely referring to the etymology, which is the original literal meaning. This website looks at the etymology and history or all types of given names.

Michael

From the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?". This is a rhetorical question, implying no person is like God. Saint Michael was one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition and the only one identified as an archangel in the Bible. In the Book of Revelation in the New Testament he is portrayed as the leader of heaven's armies, and thus is considered the patron saint of soldiers.

The popularity of the saint led to the name being used by nine Byzantine emperors, including Michael VIII Palaeologus who restored the empire in the 13th century. It has been common in Western Europe since the Middle Ages, and in England since the 12th century. It has been borne (in various spellings) by rulers of Russia (spelled Михаил), Romania (Mihai), Poland (Michał), and Portugal (Miguel). Other more modern bearers of this name include the British chemist/physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and basketball player Michael Jordan (1963-)

America's Form of Govt.