We use technology all the time — telephones, computers, the Internet, television, cars and so on — but do you ever wonder how these things work? What happens after you press the "on" button or turn the key? In plain English, Marshall Brain (yes, that’s his name, and no, it’s not a pseudonym) demystifies everyday things from tattoos to airplanes to cell phones in How Stuff Works, a fun reference book featured on today’s Oprah. 
If you’re not sure whether to invest in the book, start with the HowStuffWorks.com web site, which features explanations of Google Earth (how it works), dieting (how it works) and chocolate (how it works), as well as experiential things you may not have even realized had explanations, like laughter and dreams.
Posted January 19, 2006 by Mariva in books, education, fun, innovations, resources
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968)
Posted January 16, 2006 by Mariva in community, education, holidays
Googlism: Find out what Google "thinks" of you — or of anyone or anything else.
The Dialectizer: Turn the verbal content of a web page into any of a variety of funny dialects, including "Jive," "Cockney," "Elmer Fudd," "Swedish Chef," "Moron," "Pig Latin" or "Hacker." I sound quite cornpone when Mariva’s Guide has been Redneck Dialectized.
5ives: Lists of five things within a random topic, such as "five ways to get on the del.icio.us home page" or "five terrible fake ideas for a retro TV comeback."
Keepers of Lists is a similar idea to 5ives, but each list has a different number of things, such as "top 65 signs you’re obsessed with Harry Potter" or "top 33 things to do with a paperclip."
Dilbert’s Ultimate Cubicle: Kind of like Scott Adams’ Ultimate House.
Million Dollar Homepage: Yeah, I’m envious, too. A great idea like this is akin to winning the lottery, because it most likely can’t be replicated.
KidSites.com: A good directory of educational activities, coloring books, comics, crafts, games, sports, story books, companion sites to children’s television programs, and sites specifically for girls’ interests.
Bored.com: If you really need to visit this site, you might want to get a hobby.
Linky & Dinky: Even better than Bored.com.
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Posted January 11, 2006 by Mariva in business, education, entertainment, fun, games, innovations, resources
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When I was conducting research for my post on scented paper, I came across some interesting smell-related sites: |
- Better Living with Essential Oils: information about and uses for essential oils for body and home care. #24 is instructions on infusing scents into paper, although I would suggest adding the drops of essential oils to a cotton pad rather than directly onto the paper.
Posted December 29, 2005 by Mariva in bath & spa, beauty, education, health, home, resources
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Courtesy of Wikipedia, please have a happy and well-informed: |
Posted December 23, 2005 by Mariva in education, holidays, resources, social
When I was in the eighth grade, my English teacher assigned the class a unique exercise in vocabulary building: an empty table with general categories (cities, vegetables, animals, etc.) across the top, and single letters down the left-hand side. Our task was to complete the table with category-specific words that began with each of the letters. I was under the impression that I had to fill in every cell of the table — or fail the assignment.
So, with a little help from my family, I set about doing the assignment, which was more fun than I’d expected. Most of the cells were easy to fill in (an animal starting with the letter M could be moose or mouse or mink, and so on), but some of the cells seemed nearly impossible to fill in. In the end, I got creative, using nasturtium for a vegetable starting with N (with an asterisk, I explained that nasturtium was an herb that could be used in salads). Manhattan was my choice for a city starting with M, even though technically, Manhattan is a borough. For a vegetable starting with the letter D, I explained that "domato" is tomato pronounced with a bad head cold. My teacher seemed to appreciate my creative license, especially since I turned out to be the only student who’d managed to complete the entire table. I didn’t realize at the time that I’d been playing a handmade version of Scattergories, to which I would be been introduced five years later by a couple of little girls who beat me handily.
The San Francisco Chronicle publishes an annual review of board games, a terrific resource for game- and gift-buyers. The article claims that because of their annual imitators, "Trivial Pursuit and Balderdash are like the Beatles and Rollling Stones of board games . . ." To borrow this analogy, I would contend that Scattergories is the board game equivalent of — bear with me — Talking Heads. Perhaps marginal compared to the Fab Four or the Stones, but oh so cool. The centerpiece of Scattergories, a nifty icosahedral die with twenty usable letters, is worth the price alone.
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Posted December 15, 2005 by Mariva in education, entertaining, fun, games, gifts, resources, social
Feeling creatively blocked? Try a pack of IDEO Method Cards, a tool that helps designers, innovators, entrepreneurs and others come up with new ideas, approaches and strategies for business and creative endeavors. Each card features a photograph, diagram, drawing or other image on the front and a suggested approach on the back. You don’t have to be a professional designer to appreciate how these cards can help you think about things differently or conduct thought experiments in the everyday world. IDEO provides four examples online; if you’re intrigued by these, you’ll hunger for the whole deck.
Posted December 9, 2005 by Mariva in business, career, education, fun, games, gifts, innovations, resources
Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ‘fore the rain starts a-fallin’,
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’,
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’,
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
Posted December 2, 2005 by Mariva in education, innovations, music, resources
Jumble is my favorite newspaper game — and it’s even better online (requires Macromedia Shockwave). Unscrambling each word, and then using the circled letters of those words to unscramble the punch line of the goofy joke — the whole thing gives me a thrill. (Sometimes I cheat a little.)
More word games:
Reference.com Fun & Games
Yahoo word games
wordplays
WordCentral.com
FunBrain.com Kids Center: Words
Vocabulary University
Merriam-Webster word games
east of the web word games
BlackDog’s word games
Etymologic: "the toughest word game on the web"
more…
Posted November 16, 2005 by Mariva in education, fun, games, resources
A couple weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I found out that it was an hour earlier than I thought it was. I’d forgotten to "fall back." I ran a search for the semiannual time changes so that I could mark my calendar once and for all, and therefore know when to expect them. During my search, I stumbled upon WebExhibits and learned not only when the time changes occur, but all about Daylight Saving Time in fascinating detail, the dates of which will be changing in 2007.
If you haven’t visited a museum in a while, you can satisfy your craving for enrichment at WebExhibits, which features online exhibits that "encourage people to ask questions and examine issues from several points of view." It’s a public service of the Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement (IDEA) in collaboration with Brandeis University, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and el Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid. Currently, you can view the Bellini’s Feast of the Gods, three different exhibits on color, calendars through the ages, and the global history and production of butter, which is more interesting than you might think. Browse the archive for more exhibits on art, science and history.
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Posted November 11, 2005 by Mariva in arts, education, innovations, resources
