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I've never been much of a snooze bar pusher, but I can't say the same for some of my college roommates. I never understood why they would purposely set their alarms early and then be awakened six or seven times before actually waking up. That's more than an hour's worth of sleep lost to, in my opinion, just being lazy.
In case you missed it (or somehow, didn't even know it existed), the Eighth Annual USA Memory Championship was held March 12. Ram Kolli, a 24-year-old computer science student at Virginia Tech, placed first and now has the opportunity to compete in the World Memory Championship in London on August 13-15.
Not all people troll the Internet looking for happy things like puppies, flowers and pot pies. While you could certainly find them, they are not nearly as easy to find as corporate hate sites. Maybe hate is a strong word ... then again, after checking out some of them, hate is pretty mild. "Loathe" and "personal vendetta" come to mind when describing them.
Your local (or not-so-local) scientist is currently busy trying to figure out many things, including cures to terminal illnesses, ways to make the environment safer and the reason why reality TV is so popular. But on top of that, there are numerous other things that have researchers scratching their heads, wondering basically why the universe doesn't collapse on itself and why aliens keep playing peekaboo.
Surely by now, you've started to realize that many of those ads you see on the Internet for free stuff might just be bogus.
Of course, there might be some truth to the "free" part, but that could involve talking to a sales rep for 53 hours, wrestling an alligator or taking part in a survey about going to the bathroom in foreign countries.
I'm not usually one to steal ideas for a column, but this one was too good to pass up. Macworld had a story in its April edition about free stuff on the Internet. I wouldn't consider myself one of those people who go to different fairs with the sole intention of seeing how many magnets and pencils I can collect in a plastic Go Army bag, but if something's cool and free, I'll give it a try.
This year, 2024, marks the 42nd year (should be 43 years in a row since the tournament was canceled in 2020 due to COVID) that I have picked at least one NCAA men’s basketball bracket. I have copies of many of them, including the one from 1981, when I picked my Louisville Cardinals to win the championship. That was the year they lost their first game on a halfcourt shot. Some people might be deterred after that jarring experience, but not me! Then again, I was only 5 when it happened.
If you're a fan of "Fight Club" or "Choke," you won't want to miss Chuck Palahnik's appearance at 7 p.m. June 7 in The Clifton Center Reception Hall (2117 Payne Avenue). Carmichael's Bookstore is hosting the event, but due to the expected crowd, the venue has been moved just down the road. Palahniuk will be reading from his new book, "Haunted," and will be signing books as well.
I owe a bit to Palahniuk because after reading "Choke," I realized that maybe I could write "The Developers." Not that my stuff is as good, but it's a similar style ... at least, I'd like to think so.
I oftentimes pass along links to other news sites, but I rarely pass along sites you should bookmark. That is, unless you go ahead and bookmark every single site you visit, just to see if you can collect the whole set on the Internet.
But if you want to read interesting technology news, visit The Pulpit, which is the home of PBS' technology writer, Robert X. Cringely.
Let's get to the point quickly here -- all Web sites look different depending on various factors: the type of computer you are using (Mac vs. PC), the type of browser you are using (Netscape vs. Internet Explorer vs. WebTV vs. others), the types of extensions you have enabled (Java vs. QuickTime vs. others), your favorite soft drink (Coke vs. Pepsi vs. RC). It's complicated because there are so many variables, more than you had during your entire high school math career.