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Winning, but before a true prize even existed

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.

Figs are fun

figs are fun

It is really remarkable that after writing online stories for 25 years, I have a topic today that I’ve both never written about and something I know more about than almost anything else.

That thing is figs.

How did we get to this point? My uncle had a fig tree in his backyard, and we lived at his house 16 years ago. Coincidentally, my father-in-law also had fig trees, so when we bought a new house 14 years ago, we accepted a gift of a fig cutting and planted it in an auspicious backyard location.

Book review: "The Genesis Machine" by Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel

Great book that runs the gamut of synthetic biology

The term "natural" used to be substantially easier to apply to basic items like fruit and animals. It is both exhilarating and frightening to consider "improving" genetic material, but humans have a knack for putting their marks on everything imaginable.

Super Recognisers unite!

During high school and college, I worked at Kentucky Kingdom amusement park in Louisville, Ky. Besides battling racuous crowds and the blazing heat, one thing that was interesting to me was trying to keep track of the different people I was seeing throughout the day. As a games attendant (a.k.a. carnival barker), I would attempt to personally say things to people that I saw multiple times, whether at different games or at different parts of the park. This was mostly just a sales tactic, and I think the customers likely thought I was training to have my own magic show.

Knitting

I did this. It is fun.

From the Archive

I almost forgot about the memory tournament

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.

Create your own error messages

Regardless of what type of machine you are using to read this article (assuming it's not some new-fangled toaster), you are certain to see a barrage of error messages. Then again, I suppose that depends a bit on exactly what you're doing on your computer. Sometimes, the messages make perfect sense: "Do you want to continue?" Other times, it's tough to tell whether or not there's an error in the error message.

Cell phone all you need to compare prices

During a normal week, I probably receive circulars from 15 different grocery stores, which I assume are in my area. I have visited many of them; others are a little too far out of my way; and still others are no where to be found. One reason I've tried a few of them is to compare prices. More often than not, there are good enough sales to warrant specific trips. Although, sometimes that backfires, as was the case in a recent trip to SuperFresh.

You always have a chat buddy online

One of the more depressing things online is when you notice that not a single one of your AIM buddies is at his or her computer. Even though you may actually have to do some work (or, at the very least, envelop yourself in Internet "research"), it's always to find at least one additional soul you know that's also available.

Pick the best musicians, win a prize

Leading off, Green Day. Batting second, Snoop Dogg. Batting third, Tim McGraw. And the cleanup hitter, Britney Spears.

If you think this is a weird baseball lineup, you're right. On the other hand, if I were playing in the Fantasy Music League, I'd probably be in the World Series.

This is not a joke. The object of the FML, according to the website, is to create a label that generates the most revenue, based on the world music charts. Apparently the winners share in $25,000 cash and prizes.

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