Sunspots 128

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Humor: The Onion on fig newton ads.

The Onion on a remarkable development in Vice President Dick Cheney's attitude.

Science: (or something) I read, in the latest American Bible Society Record, that there are new languages appearing. They mentioned two: a new combination of Arabic and French, and a Polish-related street gang language. Bible translations are being prepared in both of these, and many others.

"California State University Professor Mike Orkin points out that if a person drives ten miles to buy a [lottery] ticket, he or she is about sixteen times more likely to get killed in a car crash on the way than to win the jackpot." Sean B. Carroll, The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution . New York: Norton, 2006. pp.41-2

Politics: An "Issue Tracker" from the Washington Post. The web page lists 17 major party presidential candidates, and has links to press coverage on the issues. If, for example, you want to know how Sam Brownback and the budget have been covered, or made the news, you can click on Brownback, then on the Economy and Budget issue category. If, on the other hand, you want to know who has received news coverage because of their stand on the environment, you move the mouse over Environment, and see that, currently, Duncan Hunter has received no news coverage about that, and Hilary Clinton has seen the most. The page, it says, can be added to your own web page or MySpace page. You can go to the candidate's official web sites (which usually, or always) have something about their positions on various issues, by clicking on this related page.

Can you name more than four members of the U. S. President's Cabinet? (Apparently even the White House webmaster can't name all of them . . .) I got four of them.

Computing: C-Net on how the bad people use information on social networks like MySpace, FaceBook, or LinkedIn to attack corporations, or even governments. This phenomenon is known as Spear Phishing.

Christianity: On the use of words for "up" and "down" in the book of Jonah. This week's Christian Carnival is here. For information on these Carnivals, go here.

Thanks for reading! Keep clicking away.

Image source (public domain)