Adorablog

Panda Madness

by Kathleen, concerning the matter of Pandas, Words

National Geographic has a great story on Pandas.  This video is the best part.

Just a little guy...

by benjamin scott-hopkins, concerning the matter of Babies, Tasty Things, Words

Well, I hope this hasn't been posted here, but it may be my new favorite blog ... For one thing, it's so cute I have trouble breathing. Ok, fine, that's not too hard to pull off with modern technology. For another thing, he's very principled. Apart from one link to a google video of a puppy in free fall, she has a strict "no domesticated animals" policy. Anyone can put a tiny kitten in a Nixon mask and start a website, or whatever, but who else has photos of Darlingest Anteater?

Finally, I really like this guy's style. It seems difficult to remain hard-core, gangsta, and "street" while discussing wuzzy bunnies, but she manages to pull it off, as in this quote discussing the Japanese Flying Squirrel:

The one on the right looks like he's about to fall off. He's just barely got a grip with his toes and his ass is hanging waaaaay off the back of that stick. Woops, falls backwards grabs his friend and they both plummet to their bloody death right? Wrong, douche! These are Momonga, the dwarf Japanese Flying Squirrel. They can fucking fly.

The happiest scholarly periodical ever

by a-dog, concerning the matter of Technological Advances, Words

Have you ever wondered why doctoral programs are such glum, gray places? Do you bemoan the sad lack of warm fuzzy feelings in peer-reviewed journals? Would you like to see controlled experimental research designs become more huggable?

Then the Journal of Happiness Studies is for you. Devoted to such questions as "Why do we feel good or bad?" and "Does imagination affect appraisals of life?", this journal has recently run such cheery articles as "Using the Past to Enhance the Present: Boosting Happiness Through Positive Reminiscence" and "The Pleasures of Eating: A Qualitative Analysis."

The sad part is, access to most of the articles is limited to subscribers. But for those whose academic lives have lately been making them feel all dark and gothic inside, this journal's online articles might be just the right scholarly boost of bliss. And for those outside the academic loop, some benevolent Scotsmen have felicitously summed up the journal's key findings on how to be happy.

Vote YES for Pandas!

by leadlike, concerning the matter of Babies, Pandas, Words

According to a story on CNN, you can vote to name the baby panda! Write-ins are, unfortunately, not accepted (Of the five names given, my personal favorite is Tai Shan, which apparently means "peaceful mountain") Go here to cast your vote. You have til September 30th to name the little guy. He will be named when he's 100 days old. In addition, one lucky voter will be chosen to go to Washington DC for a private, up-close visit with the pandas!

Vote now! It's your right as an American to name adorable critters!

I want these like there's a triple word score on my wrist

by sushiesque, concerning the matter of Words

The NYPL's Scrabble jewelry: "The little wood letter tiles from the travel version of Scrabble appear now as nifty jewelry you can customize with initial, names, or even messages: bracelets, necklace cord, and charms are sold separately for you to create your own jewelry from. And you can choose initials or other significant two-letter combinations for cufflinks." (Thanks, Dana!)

Typography comics

by oboreruhito, concerning the matter of Technological Advances, Words

Webctionary, via The Design Weblog:

Polyglot animal dictionary

by sushiesque, concerning the matter of Words

At Bzzzpeek.com, you can hear different languages' pronunciations of their onomatopoeia for the sounds made by animals such as pigs, frogs, mice, bees, ducks, and so forth (and a few noises emitted by man-made beasts: car horns, fire trucks, trains). "This project focuses on the pronunciation and comparison of these sounds by presenting them side by side"—with a very cute interface of animals shapes and national flags—"as each language expresses them differently." They are soliciting contributions from native speakers. (Via WFMU.)

Mr. and Mrs. Qu

by oboreruhito, concerning the matter of Words

How did you learn phonetics in school? Did you get the letters that formed them hitched?

The choir began to sing as (Q representative Seth) Reid and (U representative Danni) Baham walked down the aisle, covered with a white runner with Qs and Us written all over it by students.

“Here comes the Q, here comes the U, put them together and they form Qu. Qu, Qu, Qu, Qu! Qu, Qu, Qu, Qu,” the student choir sang to the tune of “Here Comes the Bride.”

“Do you, Mr. Q, take Miss U to be her partner and form words like quiet, quail and question?” (paraprofessional Marie) Guzzardo asked Reid.

“I do,” he replied.

“Do you, Miss U promise to stand by Mr. Q to form words like quiz, quilt and quarter?” the minister asked Baham.

“I do,” Baham replied.

Guzzardo presented the couple as “Mr. and Mrs. Qu,” which was pronounced as qua, to the audience. Reid and Baham then opened gifts left by other students. The young couple did not receive money, toasters or blenders but question marks, a quilt, a quarter and some quartz crystals.

The couple nodded their heads in approval when asked about their wedding, but they had their first disagreement of their marriage minutes after tying the knot. Baham nodded her head and said she liked everything about the wedding but Reid offered a different opinion.

“Nothing,” he said when asked if he liked anything about the wedding.

Google In A Dead Language

by sushiesque, concerning the matter of Words

Our Sanskritboy is in grad student hell right now, so I'm reposting this verbatim from Sanskritboy.net—

They really are trying to cover all their bases out there in Google-land. Google has launched a Sanskrit version of their site.

Their translations are cute and intuitive: Internet is āntarajālam, literally "inside-net." And "I'm feeling lucky" is rendered as aho me saubhāgyam- "Hey! Good fortune is mine!" Strangely, some words are roughly transliterated, while others are in devanāgarī.

I'm blown away by how adorable this is. Who would have guessed that in 2005 a major Internet corporation would voluntarily roll out a Sanskrit version of their website?

Update: M. A. O. Mercado gives Google Sanskrit a much-needed facelift.

Insurance policies and swashbuckling

by Gabriel McKee, concerning the matter of Words

From the insurance policy covering shipments from The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. locations:

PERILS CLAUSE

12.  Touching the adventures and perils which this company is contented to bear and takes upon itself, they are of the seas, fires, jettisons, assailing thieves, barratry of the masters and mariners, and all other like perils, losses and misfortunes (illicit or contraband trade excepted in all cases), that have or shall come to the hurt detriment or damage of the said goods and merchandise, or any part thereof, as may be otherwise provided for herein or endorsed hereon.