Online newspaper location Jan 10, 2007
I find it pretty difficult to determine a newspaper's location based on its title and front page.  This is especially true with online versions of newspapers.  An actual paper newspaper is usually pretty easy to figure out because you normally wouldn't be reading it unless you were from that area.  But with newspaper-article-sharing sites like Obscure Store, it's often hard to figure out where a particular online newspaper is from.  For example, take the Sun-Herald.  They couldn't have come up with a less descriptive name.  Going to the website doesn't really shed any light on the matter either.  There's no mention of "the newspaper for Stupidsville, TN" or anything like that.  A few city names near the top of the page give us a hint:  Charlotte, Englewood, North Port.  Charlotte is in North Carolina, so that would be my guess.  But I'm wrong.  The newspaper is actually for a region in Florida. 

It's the same with Woonsocket Call, Mining Gazette, York Dispatch, and many others.  The only semi-useful location indicator on any of those newspapers is for the Mining Gazette:  "Serving Houghton, Keweenaw, Baraga and Ontonagon Counties Since 1858."  While that's probably great for the 6 people who read that paper, it doesn't help people like me, who've never heard of those counties and couldn't even come up with a wild guess as to where they are. 

My advice to newspapers is to mention a specific geographic location on the top of every page or at least on the front page.  It makes things that much easier for people like me who don't know the difference between Charlotte, FL and Charlotte, NC. #entertainment
Fake WordPress page Jan 10, 2007
Sean Hickey came up with a way to make a fake page in WordPress.  The obvious question is:  Why would anyone want a fake page?  Sean's answer is that it's sometimes better to execute PHP on a page outside of WordPress rather than creating a WordPress page and using Exec-PHP.  In addition to that, I would add that it's a solution to the biggest problem/feature in WordPress since 2.0 came out:  Restricted page slugs.  Normally, a page slug can't be the same as the category base or any of a series of other special words like "search" and "comments".  With this plugin, you can do exactly that without screwing up anything else.  It's a small thing, but I think it's useful. #technology
Single potty Jan 10, 2007
I've come to the conclusion that multi-person public bathrooms are completely useless unless they have enough facilities for more than 5 people.  For this reason, the world should eliminate all 5-person and less public bathrooms and replace them with single potties.  Here's why: 
  1. Bathroom conversations.  I don't think I could possibly find the proper words to describe how much I hate bathroom conversations.  I'm there to do my business and get out, not meet new people and network.  It's always awkward and uncomfortable, and I can't stand talking to people when they or I am in a vulnerable position (more info).
  2. Space and resources.  Down the hall where I work, there's a 3-person men's bathroom and a 3-person women's bathroom.  At no time in the history of the universe have all 6 facilities been in use at one time.  Plus, the male to female ratio where I work is about 30 to 1.  So instead of two separate bathroom complexes, I think there should be 4 or 5 completely separate singles, each containing a urinal, a toilet, and a sink.  The chances of all 5 being in use at one time are slim to none.
  3. Cleaning.  When I walk all the way to bathroom only to find that it's temporarily closed for cleaning, I'm mad enough to pee on the floor.  With several single potties, only one would need to be closed for cleaning at any one time.  Now that's efficiency.
  4. Bathroom etiquette.  If everyone was in their own separate room, there'd be no urinal-next-to-urinal issues or inter-stall conversations.  No one would have a problem following the rules.
I think I have some good points here.  This idea doesn't really apply to big public bathrooms like the ones at some airports or rest stops.  Conversations never happen because everyone's a stranger.  Space would be wasted with multiple rooms.  The cleaning crew always has a system that doesn't interfere with the main function of the bathroom.  And although bathroom etiquette would still be a problem, I think we might just have to accept the fact that there will never be a solution to the problems faced when entering a public bathroom.  I'm just hoping to eliminate a few. #entertainment
Electric heat (1) Jan 10, 2007
My house is heated by electricity.  More specifically, it's heated with electric baseboard heaters.  Think of a toaster.  That's essentially how it works.  A heating element gets some electricity pumped into it.  This creates heat, which is dissipated through a series of metal fins.  Natural convection (as opposed to forced air [e.g. fan, blower]) moves warm air around the room, making it warm enough to live in. 

When we were looking at buying our house, this was a major downside.  Electric heat is known to be pretty expensive, so it was obviously frowned upon.  But we went with it anyway because we didn't have many other options.  On the plus side, there's no chance of an oil tank leak (like a house we almost bought), and there are no bills for gas or oil, just electricity. 

After living in the house for a year and a half, I'm convinced electric heat is the best way to economically heat a multi-room house.  Here's my reasoning: 
  1. Cost.  Because of various wars, natural disasters, and stupid dictatorships, oil and gas are just as expensive as electricity.
  2. Simplicity.  We only pay an electric bill.  It gets larger in the winter and smaller in the summer, but it's a single bill, making life a little simpler.
  3. Control.  Every room has its own heater and thermostat, meaning that the rooms we don't use are never heated, and the rooms we do use are heated to the exact temperature we want.
  4. Efficiency.  When we only want heat in a specific room (such as our bedroom at night), there's no need for an oil or gas burner to turn on.
#science