This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on August 11, 2009). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.
Sometime between August 9th and August 11th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!
- A French Revelation, or The Burning Bush: "Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible’s satanic agents of the Apocalypse. Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their 'common faith' (Christianity) and told him: 'Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins.'"
- Deciphering Windows 7 Upgrades: The Official Chart: Wow — this is horrendous. It's a total mess, and this chart only covers three of the six possible versions of Windows 7. I'm not even going to bother trying to upgrade our laptop: Vista's functional, and I don't want to deal with the upgrade hassle. Compare this to the Mac OS X upgrade path to the upcoming 10.6/Snow Leopard: there is one version of 10.6, which sells for $29. It will install on any Intel-based Mac. The install/upgrade process will automatically transfer over all your applications and settings. And that's all you need to know.
- Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi, Revised Edition: "Technically, the Coca-Cola logo as it exists today can not be replicated with the tools of 1887 which, by the way, is the year the script logo was introduced. Not 1885. Coca-Cola was first served in 1886 and even then, the first official logo of Coca-Cola was not the script logo. It first appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 1886 as both a slab serif and chunky sans serif — it wasn't until mid-1887 that Frank Robinson, Coca-Cola's bookkeeper, drew the first traces of the Spencerian script logo that we all know."
- Where I Write: Fantasy and Science Fiction Authors in Their Creative Spaces: "I spend a lot of time thinking about people's environments — the places they build around themselves, the things they choose to live with. Is there a connection, I started to wonder if there was a connection between the places that writers work and their work itself. Why not find out?"
- We’ll Know When We Get There: Sincerely, John Hughes: "You've already received more letters from me than any living relative of mine has received to date. Truly, hope all is well with you and high school isn't as painful as I portray it. Believe in yourself. Think about the future once a day and keep doing what you're doing. Because I'm impressed. My regards to the family. Don't let a day pass without a kind thought about them."