Just blogging along

Today  First published 01.03.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:25:44

is March 1st, also known as my father's birthday. On this day in history Frederic Chopin, Glenn Miller, David Niven, Harry Belafonte and Nik Kershaw were born, and Pope Leo VIII, Anna Paulowna Romanova, Archibald Scott, Tor Bernhard Vilhelm Aulin, Edwin H Land and Katharine Blake died. March 1st was the start of the revised Julian calendar in Rome, the day that Roman emperor Maximianus introduced tetrarchy and Spanish occupier Estacio de Sá founded Rio de Janeiro. It was also the day on which Michigan became the 1st English-speaking jurisdiction ( in the US) to abolish the death penalty, Rebecca Lee (US) became the 1st black woman to receive a medical degree, Germany began attacking ships in the Atlantic (1st WW), Henry Pu Yi was crowned emperor Kang Teh of Manchuria, "Captain America" appeared in a comic book and German troops invaded Bulgaria (2nd WW). For additional information about March 1st in history, visit Any-Day-in-History.

Being a nerd  First published 29.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:25:06

I really enjoy it when I run into sites like Wolfram Web Resources. They've got links to everything you want to know about math, astronomy, calendars, chemistry and physics. Do you feel like checking out a mathematical formula? Visit Mathworld or Wolfram functions site. The site even has a tool to solve integrals online.

2004 is a leap year  First published 29.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:24:31

but does anyone know why? Technically speaking, a leap year comes around every 4 years with the exception of years that can be divided by 100, but not by 400. For example, year 2000 was a leap year, 1900 was not. At least this is true for the Gregorian calendar which is used in large parts of the world for keeping time nowadays. The Gregorian calendar is a 400 year old follow up or modification of the Julian calendar if you wish. The Julian calendar consisted of cycles of three 365-day years followed by a 366-day leap year. The way the leap years were calculated in the Julian calendar was modified, and the Gregorian calendar was "born" in 1582. Many of the European catholic countries followed the decree of Pope Gregory, and swithced from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calandar the same year, other countries didn't do so until centuries later. To learn more about the calendars of the world, please visit scienceworld.wolfram.com. Please also visit Claus Tøndering's FAQ sheet on calendars. If you are born in a leap year, LeapZine, the online newsletter about February 29, Leap Year Day, might be of interest.

It's Valentine's day  First published 14.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:22:02

Valentine's day has turned in to yet another excuse for us to go on a shopping spree. As if Christmas, Mother's day, Father's day, bad hair day, feeling sorry for myself day and birthdays was not enough. It seems people think "shopping" whenever one of these days comes around. Who was Valentine anyway? What was so special about him that we figured we had to celebrate his day? When did Cupid aka Eros come into the picture, and why are people receiveng cards from secret admirers, the so called Valentines? Cupid: A Fickle Little F**ker presents a slightly more cynical, perhaps even sarcastic opinion about the whole charade called Valentine's day. Good reading, but do so at your own risk. You might lose some illusions along the way. I quote: "Valentine's Day is to misfits/the recently widowed/the recently divorced, separated or dumped what Thanksgiving Day is to anorexics or Christmas is to people who live in cardboard boxes...a merciless, raging hell." If you still feel like doing something romantic today, why not cook up some love, or make some sweets for your sweetie? If you have a hard time coming up with ideas, I am sure Valentine Be Mine can give you a helping hand: breakfast in bed, heart shaped cookies, Valentine shaped toast for breakfast. Visit the site and find lots of interesting ideas. If you still haven't had enough, why not visit your guide to Valentine's day for some more? The page contains a collection of links to Valentine's day related pages. After writing all this, I am still stuck with one question: who will be my Valentine????

OMG....It's Friday the 13th....  First published 13.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:21:20

and I don't care! I'm at home and tired after a long week at the office. One of my cats is purring away on my desk while I am typing this. I believe she just fell asleep on her back with my carafe as a pillow and my screen as a foot rest. How sweet! :-)) I guess I won't be pouring any more wine from that carafe tonight. So Friday the 13th is supposed to be a special day for many people. I've heard some of you are scared of this particular day. I've heard that many people choose not to drive on this day. No wonder there was no traffic jam today, though I must admit I was quite scared for a second or two. My heart was pounding quite hard when I realized a car was about to hit mine from behind. All I could see in my rear view mirror while I was stepping on the breaks as hard as I could, trying not to hit the car in front of me, was the lights of the car behind me. Fortunately for me, the car didn't hit mine because the driver managed to change lanes just in time. It could have been really nasty; I drive a small car. I guess Friday the 13th is my lucky day. So what's so special about Friday the 13th anyway? There are many theories. One tells us that Jesus was supposed to have been crucified on a Friday - I didn't know it was the 13th, though. I guess this page or this one can tell you more about Friday 13th and superstitions. Stay safe out there!

Still going strong.  First published 13.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:20:43

As I wrote in my last post, my ISP has installed a spam filter, and guess what: IT WORKS!!!!! I haven't had one single spam message in my inbox since I activated the filter. LONG LIVE DEMON! (Demon is my ISP....) I guess I am going to have to think of a new mission for this blog. Any suggestion? No? That's great! Leave all the hard work to me ;-). Well.... I am going to log out and watch some TV: "Raymann is laat", a show by a Surinamese stand-up comedian living in the Netherlands - of all places! He's good, though. Wish I could see him live once.

Great news!  First published 12.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:20:11

My internet provider has setup a spamfilter! I activated it about 48 hours ago, and it has picked up 23 messages already. My normal inbox is squeaky clean. The filter has made NO mistakes yet. I love it! This doesn't mean the end of my blog, though, because I can actually access the spambox if I want to. I can have Mailwasher load all the messages so that I can filter out the interesting ones and post them here. I am so relieved!

Spam Poetry  First published 10.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:19:35

You've got to see this lady's blog! It's fantastic! I quote: "I write poetry using only the subject lines from the hundreds of pieces of SPAM I get every day." Another lady on a mission ;-) Visit her page at Kristin Thomas Spam Poetry Enjoy!!

Here we go!  First published 10.02.2004 - 2004-May-17 17:18:39

I can't believe it! The moment I uploaded my last message, my anti-spam-filter intercepted another one of these nasty litte monsters. Of course I didn't have time to post it there and then :-( It was short and sassy: Subject: health care spending analysis Please visit our site for more information on how to save up to 70% on your health care costs! The link to the "page" is ridiculous: http://pungent.ductwork.bismark.checksummed.flee.bucolic.doorkeep. brushfire.parabola.meal.coop.guignol.meltwater.magna.capybara.approximant. temperate.embroil.muskegon.arden.deserve.lyric.royal.oven.law.gawk.grapecherry.info/health.php OK, I had to add a couple of line breaks to that incredible link to make it viewable. I don't think it is going to work at all, but if you feel like having a go at it - do it at your own risk - click THIS link: Please visit our site for more information on how to save up to 70% on your health care costs!