crankymessiah wrote:
] ] Since the earliest research into the the English Language
] ] as spoken in North America was begun by Noah Webster in
] ] the early 18th century, the regional variations in
] ] dialect have always been the most challenging and
] ] difficult to explain field. Since the development of
] ] carbonated beverage in 1886, one of linguistic
] ] geography's most important and least investigated
] ] phenomena has been the sharp regional divisions in the
] ] use of the terms "pop" and "soda." Due to the domination
] ] of hard-line conservative lingusitic geographers in such
] ] leading institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford and
] ] the University of the West Indies, this dilemma has been
] ] swept under the rug . . . until now. Using the new
] ] technologies of the Internet and the World Wide Web, I
] ] and my colleagues at the California Institute of
] ] Technology and Lewis & Clark College are undertaking a
] ] bold new research into this fascinating area.
]
] Great maps to go along with this.

It's neither. It's Coke. Then there are lots of different kinds of Coke, like Pepsi, Dr. Pepper and Co-Cola. Well, at least South of the Mason-Dixon line.

RE: The Pop vs. Soda Page

] ATLANTA -- Here's a way to really target a consumer.
]
] Next summer, Coca-Cola plans to use satellites to find
] U.S. buyers who happen to purchase special cans of Coke
] products.
]
] They will be winners in a giveaway that will feature
] Hummer H2 sport-utility vehicles. The giant vehicles will
] be presented in person, using satellites to locate the
] recipients. And in a promotion tied to the Summer
] Olympics, Coke's prize is likely to be $1 million in
] gold, again awarded on the spot.

neat

GPS will pinpoint Coke prize winners

] California (Reuters) -- A company calling itself Lover
] Spy has begun offering a way for jealous lovers -- and
] anyone else -- to spy on the computer activity of their
] mates by sending an electronic greeting, the equivalent
] of a thinking-of-you card, that doubles as a bugging
] device.

]
] Computer security experts said the Lover Spy service and
] software appeared to violate U.S. law, but also said the
] surveillance program pointed to an increasingly common
] way for hackers to seize control of computers.
]
] Marketed as a way to "catch a cheating lover," the Lover
] Spy company offers to send an e-mail greeting card to
] lure the victim to a Web site that will download onto the
] victim's computer a trojan program to be used for spying.

Illegal e-cards to spy on your lover

] Sept. 30, 2003 | JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- A
] 2-year-old girl survived on ketchup, mustard and dried
] pasta for nearly three weeks after she was left home
] alone while her mother served time in jail.

] The little girl had been left alone since her mother
] was jailed Sept. 10 for aggravated assault and petty
] theft. The mother was charged Monday with child abuse,
] and was being held Tuesday on $20,000 bond.

Salon.com News | Toddler recovering after 2 1/2 weeks alone

standard teen angst + available guns == bad things happen

they haven't said shit about a motive, but the fact that it was an acne scarred loner type shooting some people in the weight room probably tells most of the story.

anyone placing bets that this kid is a gamer?

ABCNEWS.com : Teen Kills One, Wounds Another in Minn.

The University of Maryland has named the Cyrillic Projector and its solution as "Lesson 4" in one of their Fall cryptography courses.

University of Maryland - Cyrillic Projector Studies

A drug created by the former KGB to keep its agents sober so that they could drink opponents under the table before stealing their secrets is being sold on the internet to Hollywood stars as a defence against hangovers.

anti-hangover pill

] Sharman Networks, the company behind the Kazaa
] file-sharing software, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday
] accusing the entertainment companies of using
] unauthorized versions of its software in their efforts to
] snoop out users.

Kazaa sues record labels for copyright infringement. No, thats not a typo.

UM, yeah, this is an autonomous robot that goes around cracking wifi passwords. Once it cracks a password it triangulates the person who is transmitting it, drives up to you, and shows you your password on a big LCD screen. Promptly you begin to kick it. Thats why these guys need to talk to the people at battlebots.

ToorCon Pics: Hackerbot

] Several months ago, my husband and I received two rebate
] checks simply for having children, all part of the Jobs
] and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, an
] economy-stimulating incentive. Congress approved this
] quickie tax cut so we'd all go out and buy Pottery Barn
] lamps and Gap boot-cut trousers and then presumably the
] economy, and we, would be saved. Instead, I cashed the
] checks, paid off some bills, and then tucked my dignity
] under my arm and went to file for food stamps.

We've all read plenty of stories about how the economy sucks, but this article strikes a chord because the author has such a great command of imagery. I suggest you read it simply because of the clear picture that she is able to paint.

Falling down