SMILEY:25 YEARS OLD AND NEVER LOOKED HAPPIER!

By Scott Fahlman
A lot of people have asked me about this. Yes, I am the inventor of the sideways “smiley face” (sometimes called an “emoticon”) that is commonly used in E-mail, chat, and newsgroup posts. Or at least I’m one of the inventors.
SMILEY:25 YEARS OLD AND NEVER LOOKED HAPPIER!

Laptop or Desktop Computer? - Lifehacker

Blogger Ron Schenone insists that the desktop computer is no longer needed to run heavy software, since laptops are nearly if not just as capable as most desktops on the market. Add to that the portability, small footprint and dramatic price drops for good laptops, and Schenone wonders why any normal user should buy a full desktop computer. So what I'd like to know is: 1) What are you using right now? and 2) Which would you purchase right now?
Laptop or Desktop Computer? - Lifehacker

Armless Artist Questioned In Neighbour's Death

Relatives of Charles Keith Teer, 47, claim he died after the armless man, William Russell Redfren, head-butted and kicked Teer during a fight.
Armless Artist Questioned In Neighbour's Death

10 Technologies That Will Change The World

ABCNews asked weekly columnists Jonathan Blum and Dan Evans to tell us about 10 technologies they believe will change the world. This is what they said.
10 Technologies That Will Change The World

Art of Writing - Writing Tips

As the world becomes increasingly digital, writing becomes more important. This is especially true for non-writers. If you work in an office, the majority of your communications are made with text by email or IM.
Art of Writing - Writing Tips

Oomphy Wordsmithery of the Anglosphere

Today’s an exciting day for OUP, as we launch the sixth edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. If this were a birth announcement, we’d have to give the vitals: Oxford University Press joyfully announces the arrival of twin volumes, weighing a total of 13.6 pounds (6.2 kilograms), with 3,800 pages, 6 million words of text, more than half a million definitions, and 84,000 illustrative quotations.
New Entries in the Shorter OED

Corrective Services, Australia, June 2007

This publication presents information on persons in custody and community-based corrections. The statistics are derived from information provided to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from administrative records held by corrective services agencies in each state and territory, and from the Australian Government Attorney-General's Department for details on federal prisoners. Details are provided for each state and territory on: prisoner numbers and imprisonment rates by type of custody (i.e. open or secure custody or periodic detention); prisoner numbers by legal status (sentenced or unsentenced) for all prisoners and for Indigenous prisoners; the number of sentenced receptions into custody; the number of federal prisoners; and the numbers and rates of persons serving community-based corrections orders. Experimental data on the Indigenous status of persons in community-based corrections are also included in the Appendix.
Corrective Services, Australia, June 2007

2007 Australian Federal Election

Follow Australian politics with our map, videos, gadgets & more.
2007 Australian Federal Election

Malacca Strait Pirates

Modern pirates have long plagued Southeast Asia’s Strait of Malacca, robbing sailors, kidnapping crews, and stealing entire ships.
Malacca Strait Pirates - Photo Gallery - National Geographic Magazine

Skull-A-Day: FREE Skull Font!

Skullphabet free font TrueType (for PC) and Opentype (for MAC).
FREE Skull Font!

WOMEN vs. MEN

Punctuation is powerful!
WOMEN VS. MEN

The Steepest Streets in the World

A selection of some of the steepest streets on earth. To explain the grade percentage: as an example, a road with a 30% grade would rise 30 feet in height for every 100 feet travelled horizontally.
the steepest streets in the world

East or West...

All over the world when people decide to name cardinal points, they look at the sky. Terms used for orientation should therefore be immediately transparent: we expect them to mean “toward sunrise,” “toward sunset,” “related to a certain constellation,” “in the direction of a certain wind,” and so forth. And indeed, Latin oriens “east” is akin to oriri “to rise,” while occidens “west” is a cognate of occidere “to fall down.”
East or West...

Do You Recognize These 10 Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking?

Whether you’re trying to solve a tough problem, start a business, get attention for that business or write an interesting article, creative thinking is crucial. The process boils down to changing your perspective and seeing things differently than you currently do.
Do You Recognize These 10 Mental Blocks to Creative Thinking?

Stop: Don’t Send That Angry E-mail!

Over the course of my career, I have fired off my share of angry letters and e-mail. However, I cannot think of a single time when these communiques had a positive effect. Usually, they only served to escalate the conflict and alienate the recipient.
Stop: Don’t Send That Angry E-mail!

Home Inspection Nightmares

The best of the worst home inspection discoveries, courtesy of the ASHI Reporter.
Home Inspection Nightmares

10 Easy Arithmetic Tricks

Math can be terrifying for many people. This list will hopefully improve your general knowledge of mathematical tricks and your speed when you need to do math in your head.
10 Easy Arithmetic Tricks

How to Crack a "Master Lock" Combination Lock

If you’ve forgotten the combination to a Master Lock combination lock, you have a few options. If the lock isn’t locked onto anything, you can make a photocopy of the serial number and send that into Master Lock for the combination. If, however, your lock is attached to something, you can break the lock, call a locksmith, use a shim, or figure out the combination. Of these options, only the last will leave you with a usable lock without emptying your wallet.
How to Crack a "Master Lock" Combination Lock

Number of Lefties Bounces Back

Lefties have been bouncing back in recent decades, following a decline in the beginning of the 20th century, a new study shows.
Number of Lefties Bounces Back

IBM offers free Office Suite

IBM has revived the Lotus Symphony brand, applying it this time to its OpenOffice-derived word processor, spreadsheet and presentation programs.
IBM offers free office suite