My land

Ever wondered how much "nature" your lifestyle requires? You're about to find out.
This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet.
CAUTION: THIS QUIZ MAY SURPRISE YOU, SHOCK YOU, OR MAKE YOU THINK. PLEASE REMAIN CALM...BUT NOT TOO CALM!!

Take the Ecological Footprint quiz.
(Our results:
CATEGORY GLOBAL HECTARES
FOOD 0.3
MOBILITY 0.1
SHELTER 0.4
GOODS/SERVICES 0.2
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 1
IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 0.8 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.
WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 1.0 PLANETS.
Whew.
And you?)

Where you win even if you lose

CRY's annual quiz, Fact, is coming up.
Since 1998, FACT has been a fun way for corporates to be a part of the movement for a better future for Indian children. It is a trivia quiz for a social cause, not a social cause quiz, considered one of the toughest in India.
Here's the basics:
Two-person teams.
A company can send multiple teams.
Entry fee per team - Rs 8000. (50% tax exemption under Section 80G), which will educate ten children.
At each regional round, a written test will be conducted.
6 teams will go through to the regional finals.
Regional finals will consist of various question rounds including audio rounds and audio-visual rounds.
Mementos will be awarded to the winning teams.
One winning team from each region will make it to the national finals to be held at Delhi on September 26th 2004 at the British Council Auditorium. Arrangements will be made for the travel and stay of the finalists.
National winner will receive the CRY FACT 2004 Trophy, plus other attractive prizes, like free holiday packages, gift vouchers, coupons from leading stores, etc. You can download, fill out and mail in a PDF form or send in an online entry.
Fact 2004 Schedule
Regional Finals
Bangalore   Sept. 05, 2004, Sunday
Hyderabad  Sept. 06, 2004, Monday
Kolkata       Sept. 07, 2004, Tuesday
Chennai       Sept. 09, 2004, Thursday
Mumbai      Sept. 10, 2004, Friday
Delhi           Sept. 11, 2004, Saturday
National Finals
Delhi           Sept. 26, 2004, Sunday

Jazz like dat

It's not often that we get jokes in the mail that (a)we haven't seen at least thrice a year before and (b) make us laugh. Here's one of those rarities. [Thanks Susan.]
Stevie Wonder is playing a gig in Tokyo.
He's just finished playing his seventies classic Sir Duke. The crowd is still going wild when a young man at the front says, "Stevie, you play a jazz chord, you play a jazz chord!"
So the amiable Mr Wonder plays an F# minor on his keyboard and goes off on a jazz riff. Done, he turns to grin at the audience, basking in the applause. As the cheers die down, the young man stands up again. "No Stevie," he says, "You play a jazz chord please!"
So Stevie tries an A and off he goes with the band on this amazing improvised moment. When the blind musical genius finishes, the crowd goes wild once more. But the young man pipes up again: "No Stevie, a jazz chord, a jazz chord!"
By now old Stevie is a little confused. "What do you mean, play a jazz chord? I've just done two for you!"
"But it best song of Stevie Wonder! It velly famous!" comes the reply.
"Ok, well how does it go then?" Stevie asks. The young man clears his throat, closes his eyes, and starts to sing:
"A jazz chord...to say...I ruv you."

The art of titling How "how" can target your readers

At the Guardian, David Aaronovitch has been noticing that there are a lot of political books on the shelves. And that most all of them have a subtitle, which, most of the time, starts with "How."

The subtitle told the possible purchaser what side the book was on. So marked was this polarisation that the bookstore had mounted above its display a diagram created by a Chicago social networks analyst, Valdis Krebs. He had analysed book purchases to look for patterns among bookbuyers. He then plotted these purchases, and created two separated clusters, looking something like two testicles - one blue and one red.
What he showed was that there was almost no crossover at all. Liberals read only liberal books and conservatives only conservative ones. Their authors were not just preaching to the converted, they were marketing their works specifically at the converted.
...
But thinking about it, this is a great business opportunity. If an American publisher is reading this, may I offer them my own forthcoming bestseller: Big Fat Stupid Lying Liars and the Big Fat Stupid Lies They Tell (subtitled: How the Other Side Are Destroying Everything You Hold Dear, Whatever That Is). Open the book one way round and it's a blistering condemnation of Bush and Fox News; open it the other and Hillary and the Washington Post get it in the neck. As ex-CIA chief George Tenet would say, it's a slam dunk and yours for half a million bucks.

Finding Blandings

This, says one study, is Blandings Castle, not this. So there.
And while we were checking that one out, we found these lovely pieces by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, the actors who played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster. And there's more articles on The Master here and you can check on which of his books you haven't read here.

Dave was there

Mistah Barry, covering the Olympics like only he can:
Ready, set . . . TIPIYOTKI!
Looking for ruins? Pick a Tipiyokti and start climbing
No naked athletes in modern times
Take the bus? Yeah, if only it were that easy
At hot-hot-hot sailing, a search for inner yngling
Taking a taxi in Athens is taxing
Life's a beach at volleyball venue
This Olympic shuttlecock is no poppycock
Allow me to burden you with weightlifting facts
Drug-free losers embarrassing to United States
Statue of limitation: Greece wants its marbles back
Indoor cycling: It's a learning experience
Thirst-quenching sponsorships are aplenty in Athens
An apology -- and thank you, before leaving

(: 01/09 :)

So, what do you people think of this blog, then?
We have a Kermit somewhere.
We plannned to clean our room.
This is playing right into your hands, Gentle Reader.

We're in love

Or maybe it's just lust. Sigh. Anyway, the new iMac G5 is here.

The man who made Windows possible

In 1975, David Bradley wrote the code for what is arguably the best-known computer keyboard combinations ever, Ctrl+Alt+Delete. It forces obstinate computers to restart when they will no longer follow other commands. He retired from IBM early this year.
And here's a snippet from an article a friend sent in [thanks Sunil]

At a 20-year celebration for the IBM PC, Bradley was on a panel with Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other tech icons. The discussion turned to the keys.
'I may have invented it, but Bill made it famous,' Bradley said.
Gates didn't laugh.

(: 31/08 :)

Yes, we do believe this is an ability that gets better with age.
Can't top this 'un.
Into each life, some...
Just needs a little sex built in, and Scott has another bestseller.
Our monitor isn't plastic so there.
Glad to see Oliphant going strong.