How the states got their shapes

How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein (who looks so strikingly similar to Ben Stein that they could very well be related) had potential to be painfully boring and dry, or thrillingly exciting and full of obscure, interesting bits of knowledge. It was, at times, both. Here's my top five favorite bits of trivia:

Why does Tennessee's northern border seem to stagger instead of riding a straight line? Because people along that border bribed surveyors so that they would be listed as residents in their state or county of choice...and they bribed those surveyors with locally made moonshine.

What state is Ellis Island in? It's in New York and New Jersey. The original boundary between those two states was an invisible line under water between the two states. Jersey got to keep everything attached to their mainland, and the land underwater to the official border running along the bottom of the Hudson (which is why when riding in the Lincoln Tunnel, you cross into New York halfway through the tunnel. Developers expanded Ellis Island in the 1890s due to the crush of immigrants coming to the country, and did so with land dredges from the bottom of the Hudson. In 1998 the Supreme Court ruled that all the parts of the island made up of the dredged silt (about 80% of Ellis Island) belong to New Jersey.

Which is the widest state? Actually, from east to west, Hawaii expands over 1,000 miles.

What's with all those square states in the west and midwest? The US government wanted to make the new states as equal as possible...so, where they could, they made them 3 or 4 degrees tall and 7 degrees wide. The founders of our nation wanted our rules and our map to convey the ideal of equality.

Why even bother with Rhode Island? Well, it was developed as the first colony devoted to the idea of religious freedom...much unlike Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and others. They got their colonial charter and expanded beyond the Aquidneck Island to encompass more land...and got their official royal charter in 1663.

For someone who has driven or ridden through 48 of the 50 states, this is the kind of stuff that hits just the right nerdy buttons...though it was even a bit too nerdy for me at times. Some of the semantics of the border disputes seemed more clinical than passionate. That said...It was definitely a worthwhile read, and something I'll likely go back to before taking a trip to another state or making another long drive.

Predicting the future?

It's Friday...which means it's time again for something fun. The story comes from i-am-bored who was linked by Techcrunch, who was linked by Fishbowl NY.

KRON, a San Francisco TV station did a story in 1981 about something that sounded like something out of make-believe: getting your newspaper at home without even opening your front door.

The story talks about a brand new service which allowed the '2,000 to 3,000 home computer owners in the area' to sign up to receive the newspaper on their computers over the phone.

The near-mocking tone of the reporter and anchor (why would you spend money to get the paper on your computer when you can just buy it on the street for twenty cents?!?) is what really makes this story a trip into the way back machine. What emerging technology is out there today that we may react to like this in 25 years?

I wanna use my computer on the TV!

On a site that addresses issues often related to TV and the internet, it seems only logical that there'd be a mention of how to integrate the two...literally.

For years I wondered: how can I see my laptop on my TV screen? I knew there had to be an existing, simple solution...but that solution evaded me for years. I didn't even figure it out until I came home one day, and my roommate Guillaume Andrieu was watching his laptop on my television.

I was in shock! What advanced foreign technology had Guillaume recently discovered that allowed him to operate and view the content of his laptop on my decidedly outdated TV? The answer, he explained was an S-Video cable.

Nearly every TV from 1991 to last year was built with an S-Video input...and most laptops are built with an S-Video output. All you need is an (aptly named) S-Video cable to connect the two, and then tell your computer to send the video signal through the cable (usually with a command like hitting the "Fn" key along with the "F5" key) and you'll see your computer screen on the television.

There are also cables that convert S-Video to RCA jacks (those little red, yellow and white round plugs used for older video games and DVDs) as well as standard S-Video to S-Video cables.

It's rare to find such an elegant solution for an obvious problem...and figured anyone reading this blog would appreciate that as much as I do.

The art of the status update

My friend Lisa Holm posted an interesting article in her Facebook status. Its a blog piece about, ironically enough, Facebook status updates.

For those of you somehow unaware, Facebook is a social networking application that allows you to post a 140 character update of your status...and the statements that people use to occupy that status can range from bizarre to utilitarian to intensely personal.

The piece Lisa posted goes through the different kinds of posts people normally put, and declares that 'Facebook is now officially open to the oldsters.'

It's a worthwhile read: http://www.good.is/?p=15011&gt1=48001

Urbandictionary.com

Have you ever come across that little bit of slang that everyone seems to recognize...except for you? Maybe it's a clever acronym being used on a website or in a forum (like NSFW - meaning Not Safe For Work) or something a bit more crude being bandied about by the IT guys (RTFM for example...something NSFW, btw). Maybe it's just some expression that part of the slang at your new job or school, or a team name being used at a game of trivia at the bar.

Urbandictionary.com is here to save the day.

Just as Wikipedia has become the default place to go when seeking out common knowledge, UrbanDictionary is the place to go when seeking out common language.

In addition to an extensive database of words, expressions, and acronyms the site also has a 'word of the day' email that can range from political (see obamama) to business (like blind transfer) to topical (like 'Land it in the Hudson').

To accommodate the multiple interpretations that slang words can carry around the country (and the world) there are multiple entries for many words...and each one is voted up or down by readers...so that the most popular definitions rise to the top.

BE WARNED - Like most slang, there's plenty of foul, inappropriate language used on the site. That said, it can be an invaluable reference...especially when you're faced with the situation of not knowing what a slang word means and are too embarrassed to ask.

Kthxbi!

I don't understand...

One of my favorite internet memes is that of Oolong, the rabbit.

The meme started in 2001 when the context of a post on 4chan wasn't really clear, and instead of stating that the context of the post was unclear, the respondent simply said:

I have no idea what you're talking about...so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head

The picture, and the rabbit soon became a part of the internet lexicon, and the meme lasted for two solid years before dying down in 2003.

As with many things internet-related you can delve into this story as deeply as you like, or simply ignore it in favor of more substantial fare...but don't worry. This rabbit doesn't care:

Hulu - the brainless way to watch TV on the web

More and more, I find myself surprised to discover how many people have STILL never heard of Hulu. I initially heard of it in some TV industry publications about the future of video on the web, and the conclusion among those smarter than me about this is that Hulu.com gets it.

The great qualities about Hulu seem endless:

• Great, established, popular, new content from FOX and NBC that comes in on a daily basis (Simpsons, The Office, Monk, SNL, Prison Break, Family Guy, etc)
• no requirement to register
• looks great when played full screen (you can even play it on your TV - it's easy...but that's something to be explained in the near future)
• takes only seconds to buffer (over a broadband connection and a decent machine)
• FREE MOVIES! (and not crappy movies either...how about The Fifth Element or Liar Liar!)

Here's their little explainer video, but I'd recommend just checking it out for yourself!