Miscellaneous

If you own a domain name, you may be targeted by Chinese domain name scammers. Don't register any domain names through these crooks, and don't respond to their emails.

In praise of Doctor Who’s Sarah Jane Smith…

(via The Great Geek Manual)

Cincinnati Computer Recycling handles all kinds of electronics in an environmentally responsible manner. If you have computers or other electronic devices that you want recycled, and you're in southwest Ohio, these are the folks you should call.

I recently proposed to my lady love, and I did a pretty good job of it, if I do say so myself. But the way that Sid Ceaser (the photographer, not the TV comedian) proposed to his Sara will blow you away.

Everybody loves saving money around the house. This Old House has fifty ways to do just that.

1. Shorten your dryer-vent hose. First, disconnect it and vacuum it out. Then trim the hose length so that it's just long enough for you to pull the dryer a few feet out from the wall. A short and unobstructed line makes your dryer run more efficiently.
Cost: Free.
Savings: $25 a year on electric, gas, or propane.
Bonus: Your clothes will dry about 20 percent faster.

2. Borrow specialized tools—gas-powered post-hole diggers and table-mounted routers—from a DIYer in your area for a small fee. Go to Zilok for far better deals than rental retailers offer.
Cost: $1 to $100 per day.
Savings: $50 or more for the same tool at a rental center.
Bonus: Getting to know fellow renovators in your neighborhood with whom you can swap tips.

3. Close closet doors to lower the square footage you're heating (and cooling). Shuttering closets along exterior walls also helps to insulate the house.
Cost: Zilch—although it may take a few minutes for your clothes to reach room temperature before you put them on.
Savings: About $50 per year off your energy bills.
Bonus: You and your guests won't see closet clutter.

Cincinnati, OH is accepting computers and televisions for recycling for the next six months.

Inventables is a marketplace for new and unusual materials and devices.

We believe that it is currently too difficult for designers, artists, and inventors to source materials. To solve this problem, we are building an online store that will streamline the process of innovation and inspire everyone — regardless of profession — to explore what’s possible.

(via BoingBoing)

Iva Casian Lakos and Eric Tinkerhess play a traditional Macedonian love song (Jovano, Jovanke) on a single cello:

I don't normally think of the cello as a romantic instrument, but… did you see the looks that passed between those two?

Doing research for a school paper? You need these 100 Google Search Tricks for the Savviest of Students.

Reference

These tricks make it easy to use Google as a reference tool.

18. Get definitions: Find definitions for words, abbreviations, and more using define:.
19. Get a timeline: With view:timeline, plus a keyword, you can get a timeline for the topic.
20. Find numbers: Add phone to your search, and Google will look for anything that looks like a phone number.
21. Do fact searches: Population, location, motto, and more are all available as Google fact searches.
22. Glossary: With a word, plus ~glossary, you can find glossaries, lists, and dictionary entries for the word.
23. Conversion: Google's search makes it easy to convert any unit of measurement.

[R]ead on for the best why-didn't-I-think-of-that ideas for shrinking your household expenses, from getting free trees from your town's public works department to installing an under-sink filter to cut costs on pricey bottled water.

Science fiction geeks in the USA generally work on perfecting their Klingon or Browncoat costumes. British fans are a bit more ambitious — they toil at building their own Daleks.

(via The Great Geek Manual)

Is it possible to live with more digital possessions than physical ones? Those who have joined the 'cult of less' are trying to find out.

The Honest Person's Guide to the Orchestra will tell you everything you ever wanted to know (and then some) about the members of your local symphony orchestra…

The members of the orchestra are divided into four sections. These are: the strings, the woodwinds, the brass, and the percussion.

There is also someone standing in front of all these other folks playing no instrument at all. This person with the ego that is bigger than some of the musicians is called the conductor. It is generally believed that the conductor is required to make musical decisions and to hold all of the instruments together in a cohesive interpretation of any given work. Not so. But never tell a conductor this, because they are easily offended. The conductor is necessary because the four groups would rather eat Velveeta than have anything to do with someone from another section. And as we know, musicians are quite serious about their food. Why all the animosity? Before I begin my explanation, let me set the record straight in plain English about some of the characteristics which typify the four groups.

(via a very special lady…)

 
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