Today’s factoid:
The earliest surviving written examples of the word “girl”, dating from 1290, used it to mean a child of either sex. A male child was called a “Knave girl” whereas a female child was termed a “gay girl”. Over time “girl” gradually came to be used exclusively for female children. There are examples dating from 1530 in which the word “girl” is used to mean “maiden” (also originally applied to both sexes), or any unmarried human female.
Source: Wikipedia.
My letter was read out on LugRadio this week (at almost exactly 1 hour in). The letter was a calm, considered rebuttal of some points raised in last fortnight’s episode… Well I might have been a bit stronger than I remember but hey.
The cool bit was being not quite famous enough for anyone to actually know anything that I’d done. They recognised my name but failed to know why. This, in microcosm, is the exact level of fame I think is nice to have. Just like Michael Fenton Stevens :).
Today’s factoid:
In rare cases rain can fall which fully evaporates before reaching the ground. Such precipitation is termed virga which means that spam filters have almost certainly just blocked this post. Normally virga is caused by high-altitude rain forming ice crystals which then melt and evaporate due to compressional heating.
The evaporation of the rain causes interesting weather effects in that it removes large amounts of heat from the air causing powerful cold-air downrushes (called a microburst). These can be a danger to air traffic.
Source: Wikipedia.
Mixing grape and grain then not getting enough sleep makes for a sad Rich. I had to get up this morning at silly o’clock to a) return the van we rented for the weekend and b) go and see the doctor. I have now a bit of paper from the doctor, a followup appointment and the beginnings of a red-wine headache.
OTOH, I had a good time last night for the first time in what seems like ages.
No factoid yesterday due to moving house. Today’s factoid:
Many countries (notably Scandanavian ones) have a set of legislation requiring Daytime Running Lights (DRLs) to be installed in all cars. DRLs are special headlight modes which cannot be turned off while the engine is running leading to a low-level glow from the front of all vehicles. The rationale for them is that, in certain countries, light levels are low even during the daytime and so extra visibility, both of the car and the road, is advantageous.
Volvo cars ship with DRLs by default so next time you are near a road, see if you can spot Volvos by their headlights. For those Volvo owners, there exists instructions for diabling DRLs on certain models.
Source: Wikipedia. Factoid bunny: beenabadbunny.
I can’t sleep so instead I’m going to midlessly propogate some links. How to date your (UK) childhood in 4 easy steps[1]:
According to this, my childhood started in 1984 :).
[1] Unless you’re a weird fscker like Clive.
Update: Why did my, normally over-pernickety, friends list not point out that it was in fact 4 easy steps?
I can’t sleep so instead I’m going to midlessly propogate some links. How to date your (UK) childhood in 3 easy steps[1]:
According to this, my childhood started in 1984 :).
[1] Unless you’re a weird fscker like Clive.
From The BBC:
He [Tony Blair] told the forum in Davos, Switzerland it was possible because of a “quantum shift” in the attitude of the US.
WTF does he mean by that? The attitude of the US has changed by the smallest amount it could?
Today’s factoid:
Many species (famously black widow spiders) engage in sexual cannibalism where the male is in danger of being eaten by the female after copulation. Male members of these species have developed various strategies to avoid this fate. Male scorpions sometimes sting females while depositing their… deposit. Male black widows and crab spiders often restrain females in silk prior to copulation.
Source: Wikipedia.
Today’s factoid:
The word ‘travesty’, with its associated critical overtones, originates from long established theatre term for “cross-dressing” (from the French travesti).
Source: Wikipedia.