Bing Things

I've recently started using Bing more often, not especially for search (because Google pretty much does it the best) but because I enjoy their daily interactive and informative page, and also because they give points for visiting and for clicking on links. Granted, it looks like it would take a LOT of points to get anything worthwhile, but I imagine that after a year of using it the points would add up to some substantial total.

My problem is this: often, when I visit the page, I see I'm not signed in. The good thing is all I have to do is click on the "Microsoft account" and I'm signed in. (I certainly don't want to connect my Facebook account to anything!)

What I don't understand is how I'm not signed in, but it knows my points total. Strange. What's really odd is this next message after signing in:

You HAVE to click "Continue" to continue because if you don't, you're sent to a blank white page.  Yeah, that's great;  if I wanted a blank white page, I could just go to Google and put in "blank white page". -snicker-  I know enough HTML to where I could make my own!

Another reason I started using Bing is that Google is doing away with the iGoogle home page I've used for years.  I really liked it; I had various modules on it for news and local weather and sports headlines along with a Gmail preview.  I don't understand what's up with Google lately;  they did away with file storage a couple of years ago which was annoying but understandable, but their explanation for ending Google Reader didn't make much sense. 

The 'net is great, but it's also frustrating as hell.  It could also be described as fleeting, because as soon as you get used to something, get it the way you like it, it changes or disappears. 

All The Young Girls Love Alice - Elton John

One of my favorite songs off of one of my all-time favorite albums: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I wouldn't say it would be the only album I'd take if deserted on an island (honestly, who would want only ONE album to listen to all the time?) but it's definitely in my Top Ten of all time. It helps that it's a double album (twice the tunes!), but there's not a song on it I don't like.

I was thinking of what music video to post and I first thought of Social Disease, but a quick search showed I had posted it not long ago. (glad the Blogger search works better than my memory!)

This song doesn't have any personal meaning to me, other than it was quite controversial for its time and I don't remember it being played on the radio...while at least a half-dozen of the other tunes off the album were. I'm fairly certain I didn't know what a lesbian was and certainly didn't know any. (which, come to find out much later, wasn't true) I like that it tells a story, even if it's a sad one.

If I had a gripe about Elton John's singing, it's that the lyrics are sometimes hard to understand, so here they are, along with interpretations of them.

"With a double barrel name in the back of her brain
And a simple case of Mummy-doesn't-love-me blues"

Two Offical Languages of Israel

The two official languages of Israel are Hebrew and Arabic.

Here's that sentence in Hebrew:

שתי השפות הרשמיות של ישראל הן עברית וערבית

And in Arabic:

اللغتان الرسميتان إسرائيل هي العبرية والعربية

Gerald Ford Trivia

Did you know Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States, was originally named Leslie Lynch King, Jr. when he was born? He was also the only President not to be elected by the Electoral College, having been appointed to the Vice Presidency when Spiro Agnew resigned, then becoming President upon the resignation of Richard Nixon.

Ford was also a star football player for Michigan and in 1934, against the University of Chicago, "became the only future U.S. president to tackle a future Heisman Trophy winner when he brought down running back Jay Berwanger, who would win the first Heisman the following year."

Nights in White Satin - Justin Hayward

Summer Sense

Your Summer Sense is Sight

You are very visually oriented. It's likely you're an artist - or at least a good photographer. You are good at taking in a lot of visual stimuli at once ... the more the better. Your eyes love the bustling scenes of summer. You could spend hours at a crowded beach people watching. You are equally moved by the sights of nature. You can be endlessly entertained on a quiet hike.

What's Your Summer Sense?