I looked up two words today:
Modal: a sort of fabric which I had never heard of before I bought my new shirt and
Spinel: I got a reproduction of a ring that’s in the Museum of London. The ring originally set with a spinel, mine is set with a garnet.

FP urges you to skank away your troubles!

A little reverse web stalking shout-out to Jamie Jamison AKA niteowl (“That’s NITEOWL, dammit!”) for all his great writing back in the oldy moldy days of UWbb. Thanks to you and some other gun-friendly pals, I’m finally going to use a firearm this weekend. If I don’t break my ass from the kick of a rifle, thanks, man!

Not just because your socks will go all green, but you may find something extra in your luggage. Yikes!

A Wiki cataloging of TV molecules. Okay, “Television Tropes, Idioms and Devices.” Among them, Phlebotinum, which I am under the impression was coined by the Buffy the Vampire Slayer writing staff.
(later: sorry, I’m dumb, lots of this stuff is from the Jossverse- it’s from Buffista org people.)
I must say, I know more than one person who will read this who could probably write a pretty definitive guide just on their own. And perhaps should. I’ll help with the research and footnotes.

Wow, O’Reilly’s Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks looks like super fun! Also, it’s got the first Internet-enabled kitchen appliances that actually make sense- a toaster that tells you about the weather, on your toast!

Okay, confession time: I’m dipping into self-help books again. The last foray was into the works of Albert Ellis, especially A Guide to Rational Living. This time it’s FlyLady‘s Sink Reflections. Interestingly enough (not really) they both touch on the same bad habits of thought that can keep a person in a non-productive cycle in life. Next up, Richard Wiseman‘s* The Luck Factor: changing your luck, changing your life, the four essential principles.

*Hey, it looks like the other work he’s done has more than once been featured in FP. He also did a show with science superstar Simon Singh performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!

Gizmodo gets Cory Doctorow to empty his pockets and now I have gadget envy. I went purse shopping this morning to find something big, sturdy and butch to put all my toys in but was unable to find what I needed. I may have to grow my own…

Knitter’s Review has recommended assorted ways to stash your yarn that sound alarmingly like ways to disguise another problem. On the plus side, yarn hoarding does not cause blackouts. As far as we know.

Los Angeles at Night, from space.