Sin-a-Map

This “American Vice” chart from the September 2009 issue of Wired is an entertaining geographical look at the seven deadly sins in practice in America today. I’m a bit surprised there isn’t more “devilish” activity overall in the Northeast, though the high Greed stat makes sense. Then again, the Pride count seems to represent an amalgamation of the other six, so we might not be excelling in one area, but instead hitting for high overall average.

Fiddlin’ About

I suggested to the fiddle-playing wife that this might be the next thing to add to her repertoire. But, given that I haven’t heard any sound of breaking glass yet, I don’t think she has taken me very seriously.

The Sounds of the Sea ... Sort of

The amazing sea organ on the shores of Croatia. Click the link for the audio sample. Sounds a bit like William Orbit or some of Bill Nelson’s instrumental stuff. Wonder what the whales make of this.

A Perfect Match

Each month, Wired magazine has an interesting column dissecting the complex contents of some common household item. A couple of  months ago, there was an interesting lab analysis of the closely guarded ingredients in WD-40 (“The Superlube’s Secret Sauce”). In July’s issue, they put Diamond Strike-Anywhere Matches under the microscope. I know this sounds rather esoteric and geeky (it is Wired, after all), but these concise columns are, in fact, very interesting. I always find myself, saying, “Wow! Who knew?” after reading them. In the case of the matches, I bet you never knew how much went into making a simple stick burn ... in a very specific way.