Merriam-Webster has published its Words of the Year for 2004—a list of the top 10 online searches at Merriam-Webster Online. The #1 searched-for word for 2004? “Blog.” Huh. (Being so popular and all, M‑W has restricted this definition to its subscription-only section, so I’ve linked it up to Dictionary.com, instead. :ponder:) Clocking in at #10 was “defenestration,” a word evidently …
The Zeitgeist is In
Google’s annual Zeitgeist for 2004 has been finalized and posted. Check out this page to learn what the most popular Google searches were in categories like Images, Entertainment, Sports, etc. They’ve even added a fancy flash version this year. By carefully studying this information, you may be able to, um…well, draw…conclusions, yeah: conclusions about.…things and whatever. So go! Have a look! …
Let It Schnow II
Maybe the snow gods can be influenced with a little sympathetic magic, eh? Here’s a really cool Flash application that lets you cut out your own snowflake (you can save, email, and download your finished flakes if you want…), and here’s another (when you’re done with this one, you can watch it snow!). Assuming these activities do the trick, here’s …
Rette Weisse Weihnacht!
Oh no! It looks like Zeus or somebody has stolen the sweet old lady who makes schnow on German meteorological maps! And now there’s to be no schnow on Weinacht!!! Fortunately, Santa Klaus seems to have been posing as a mild-mannered Wetteransager, and will try to save the day! (A Donkey Kong-like game mit Zeus und Santa ensues. Happy Christmas!)
Let It Schnow?
AWWRIGHT! No school tomor.…DOH! :xeyed: Oh well. It’s pretty anyway, especially at night. And close to Christmas, at least. It just serves to remind us of the vagaries of local forecasting: “flurries with little or no accumulation” = 1–2 inches; “snow with possible accumulation of 1–2 inches” = cold and rainy. 😛 While I’m at it, let me get this out of …
Elfsong.
Send a singing elf card to a friend (or enemy?), complete with a tune you compose yourself! (If you’re not feeling particularly musical, you can borrow one from those left by others.) A delightful bit of holiday web magicalnificence from the always amazing Ze Frank.
Evolution 101
I’ve had bits of this lying around for a while, and finally got around to putting the page together—a brief history of this site is now available on the About this Site page. Please, try to restrain your excitement. :ponder: I mention it only because the screenshots of the various versions might be vaguely interesting. As an added bonus, you …
School’s Out (Revisited)
Ok. In honor of our recent dismissals, I’ve revamped the school dismissal alert I was playing with earlier. Now, if school has been officially cancelled (at least according to Channel 9), you’ll see this amazingly bright badge at the top of the sidebar when you visit Ferrellweb, along with any other pertinent information. Of course, you can get school closing …
Why Nerds are Unpopular
A little light reading for your day off. 😉 No, seriously—an interesting little excerpt from Paul Graham’s book Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, on Wired’s web site. Here’s a taste: The main reason nerds are unpopular is that they have other things to think about. Their attention is drawn to books or the natural world, not fashions …
The Goose Is Getting Fat…
Here’s a little web-based Advent calendar. Unlike the old-fashioned cardboard kind, though, you can’t sneak around and pry the little windows open ahead of time to peek, and then press them back in to try to make them look like they haven’t been touched…um, not that I’ve ever been involved in that kind of thing before. :nervous: (Um, the title …