Friday Fodder

A few odds and ends here at the end of the week.

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Spring seems to have finally come to us here in Michigan. I know because yesterday we had our first tornado watch of the season.

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Long time readers will know that I am a fan of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books. In that world, posits Adams, the Earth is merely a supercomputer built by a super-intelligent race of beings to come up with the question to the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Well now, apparently, certain physicists are going to see if there's any truth to that fictional hypothesis.

And you thought I was kidding.

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Have you been to Disney World and gone into one of their theaters where you get to experience *more* than just 3-D? Where the seats move, things tickle the back of your legs, a breeze blows across your face ... all in conjunction with what's happening on screen?

They are now calling that "4DX." At least in Japan. And that's where they will test it out on none other than the upcoming Iron Man 3 release. PC Magazine has the story here.

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Finally, a link that I'm sure will not work in a month, possibly even next week ... but here's breaking news on the Boston Marathon bombing brought to you by CNN and Yahoo.

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761.

Where Does Your E-Mail Go When You Die?

Many of us have something known as a "Last Will and Testament." This is a document that describes, rather in detail, what we would like to have done with our worldly goods and other possessions when we shuffle off this mortal coil.

But what happens to our digital possessions? What happens to your e-mail when you die?

The answer is nothing. It just sits there, taking up digital space on an Internet server. The same thing for your Facebook account, Twitter, LinkedIn, GooglePlus+, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr, LiveJournal, or any of a hundred other websites and social media networks where you might have an account residing.

Google - as they do with many things - is attempting to get ahead of the curve by introducing a concept they call an Inactive Account Manager, which sets up a series of actions for them to take if your Google account goes silent for a specified number of months. These actions include simply deleting your data, or shipping it off to a contact you have named. You can read more about it here.

Let me go on record right now as being an advocate of this. It is conceivable that, at some point (undoubtedly far in the distant future), there will be more inactive data on the Web than active users. I am not tech-savvy enough to say if this will clog or impede the use of the Internet, but why take the chance? I recommend that all my readers include instructions - and passwords - in their wills that will allow your estate to delete or properly archive your data on personal hard drives once you are deceased.

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Theologically Incorrect...

Three men who seldom went to church passed away in the same vehicle accident and stand before Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.

"I will allow you through these gates," Saint Peter says, "if you can tell me one simple thing, that all men should know by now."

The three men looked hopeful.

"Tell me about Easter."

The first man steps up and says, "I think I know. That's the holiday the whole family gathers together to watch football and eat turkey."

Saint Peter says, "Umm, no," and the man disappears in a puff of smoke and brimstone.

The second man, looking a little rattled, says, "Isn't that the holiday where the whole family gathers and we give each other gifts and decorate a dead tree?"

Saint Peter sighs heavily and sadly says, "Wrong," and the second man is gone in a puff.

Saint Peter turns to the third man, who looks confident, and asks, "What can you tell me about Easter?"

The third man smiles and says, "From what I remember, that's the holiday that usually occurs in early Spring and is the culmination of Holy Week, after Christ's crucifixion. He is buried and placed in a cave and a large rock is rolled across the front of it. Three days later, the rock is rolled away by angels and Jesus emerges..."

Saint Peter smiles. Then the man says, "...and if he sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter."

Puff.

--near-death.com

Edited

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. There are never any endings, only beginnings in disguise.

Friday Fodder

Just a few random musings for a lazy Friday...

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A weather haiku I dashed off just now:

Nature Doesn't Do Calendars
Nice having winter
Cold, wet, windy, snow, blowing
But isn't it Spring?

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So the U.S. Navy has taken a giant step forward into the Star Trek future, and has installed a working laser - called LaWS, for Laser Weapons System - that has supposedly been 100% accurate in taking down attacking drones, because no matter how they fly, they're not faster than light.

Here's a video released by the Navy in the last day or so.



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And here's a cute little animated GIF sent to me by former list member Dianne F. ... my daughter wonders if this cat is naturally talented or if there was training involved. Your thoughts?

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. Spending the weekend with my Dad. See you Monday!

Onyms

The Greek word for "name" is onyma. This gives us the back end for several word descriptions:

Antonym: a word that is the opposite of another word. For example, "bad" and "good" are antonyms of each other. (The front end comes from "anti," which is against or opposite.)

Homonym: words that sound the same but have different meanings. For instance, "him" and "hymn." One is a person, the other a song. The front end here is from the Greek "homo," which means same and is used in words like "homosexual" and "homogenized."

I've recently been introduced to words that are, thanks to English usage, contronyms, though sometimes that word is spelled "contranym." The front end of the word is, again from the Greek, something that means against, (like "anti") but with the inference of being compared to something else. Contronyms are words also referred to as auto-antonyms.

What they are, in plain language, are words that can have opposite meanings, all by themselves, depending on use and context. They don't depend upon having to have another word like the two examples at the top of the post. Generally, it depends on whether or not the word is being used as a noun or a verb.

You know what? Mental Floss can probably explain it better than I can. They have a short list with further details here.

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Funny Thoughts

It cost me 75 cents to put air in my tires the other day. I remember when it was free. I asked the gas station guy why the price had gone up. He replied, "Inflation."

What do you call it when you feed a stick of dynamite to a steer?
Abominable. (Say it slowly to yourself.)

I bet the butcher at my grocery store $50 that he couldn't reach the meat on the top shelf behind him.
He looked and said, "No bet. The steaks are too high."

Did you hear about the numbering snafu on the spaces at the new multi-level parking garage?
It was just wrong on so many levels.

Never hit a man with glasses. It's usually better to use a blunt object.

Oldie but a goodie: What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
Well, anybody can roast beef....

Do attorneys have to wear law suits to court?

--Laugh Factory

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761.

R.I.P., Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, the very first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, passed away yesterday. He had announced on Tuesday that he was taking a "leave of presence" as they had discovered his cancer had returned and he was going to undergo further chemotherapy. He died two days later.

I had always held a soft place in my heart for Roger, for he was the critic who came closest to my own feelings about movies. What he liked, I enjoyed; what he disliked, I generally wouldn't spend money on seeing.

How did I discover this? By using the WiseGeek website, where they have a database of critics and their reviews of movies. Here's how it works: They have a list of movies here, and you personally rate each movie you've seen. Then they compare your ratings of those movies with their database list and match you up with a movie critic who has also rated those movies similarly to your scores.

It's that easy.

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The WIT and WISDOM of ROGER EBERT

From his review of "The Brown Bunny": I had a colonoscopy once, and they let me watch it on TV. It was more entertaining than The Brown Bunny.

"No good movie is too long and no bad movie is too short."

From his review of "Mad Dog Time": Mad Dog Time is the first movie I have seen that does not improve on the sight of a blank screen viewed for the same length of time ... [it] should be cut into free ukulele picks for the poor. 

"If a movie is really working, you forget for two hours your Social Security Number and where your car is parked."

From his review of "Armageddon": Whatever they're charging to get in, it's worth more to get out.

"Kindness covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."

From his review of "Freddy Got Fingered": This movie doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.

"Every great film should seem new every time you see it."

From his review of "Crocodile Dundee": I've seen audits that were more thrilling.

"Yes, I was fat, but I dealt with it by simply never thinking about it. It is useful, when you are fat, to have a lot of other things to think about."

From his review of "A Lot Like Love": To call A Lot Like Love dead in the water is an insult to water.

From his review of "The Last Airbender": The Last Airbender is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented.

From his review of "Seven Days In Utopia": I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again.

 In his last public statement, on his blog, he had reminisced about the beginning of his film criticism career, some 46 years earlier. He summarized by saying, "So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I'll see you at the movies." 

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. I understand that Gene Siskel is waiting, and has saved Roger a seat on the aisle.

An American Road Trip?

I have been on several fabulous vacations with my Dad in recent years. There was the cruise to Alaska, the long road trip - spent mostly in the car, frankly - to Nova Scotia and back, and our most recent jaunt to sunny Florida where, I think, we finally got it just right.

But now I will suggest another road trip for you, sparked by the news that this past Monday the Obama Administration declared five more sites in the good ol' U.S.A. national monuments. Go visit 'em all!

The list now sits at a total of 108. You can find them all and a bit of background from your friendly neighborhood Wikipedia here.

What a trip that would be, eh?

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SILLY ACTUAL ROAD SIGNS

"If you hit this sign, you will hit this bridge."

"Welcome to Reed City. If you lived here, you'd be home now."

"Extreme Fire Hazard. Don't Even Fart in the Forest Today."

At a gas station: "Regular - Arm; Mid•Grade - Leg; Premium - First Born"

On the road outside of Las Vegas: "Guns - Wedding Gowns - Cold Beer"

"Drive slow, see our village. Drive fast, see our judge."

--Roadandtravel.com

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"When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it."  (Yogi Berra)

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. Be careful when you hit the road. It's hard and often hits back.

Mawwiage

Any fan of the movie, "The Princess Bride" should instantly recognize the title of today's post.

But yes, let's talk about marriage for a moment. There's a new legislative bill being considered in Scotland that would allow a third type of organization to conduct marriages, in addition to religious and civil ceremonies. The third type is being defined only as organizations that must pass certain tests to be defined as a "belief group."

The link takes you to a story where the Free Church of Scotland comes out against it, suggesting that groups as far afield as the Order of Jedi Knights would be allowed to conduct marriages, if the "Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill" passes.

Your thoughts?

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While we're on the subject, here's a relatively thoughtful article from Our Sunday Visitor's blog, a Catholic weekly newspaper, on why same-sex marriage is not necessarily a good thing. Though it's published in a religious forum, the article goes out of its way to set religion aside and makes its point in a kind, civil way. Something quite refreshing, if you ask me.

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When it comes to the whole question of homosexuality and same-sex marriage, I must confess that my thoughts are a very jumbled bag. It's a thorny issue with which I wrestle using the Bible in one hand and my experience and understanding of the way God and nature works in the other. One day perhaps I shall have the courage to make the attempt to put these musings down here on the blog, but I hesitate because a) I have not found any answers that satisfy me, and b) I'm pretty sure my beliefs would offend just about everyone, no matter which side of the question you stand.

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I do have some legitimate thoughts on two people committing their lives to one another, however. And I wrote them back in 2006. You can find those here.

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. For richer, poorer? For better, worse? In sickness and in health? I choose richer, better, and health. Well, it's multiple choice, isn't it?

NASA, Phasers, Guns, and Mr. Rogers

I just keep stumbling across these interesting tidbits in my Internet travels, which have actually increased since I retired (to my work ethic's chagrin).

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was recently called on the carpet by Congress to explain why they haven't done more to locate and advise the public on Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), such as the meteor that exploded over Russia recently.

The answer? Congress keeps cutting their funding.

Duh! And d'oh!

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From the science desk comes the invention and miniaturization of the ... are you ready? ... phaser! Seriously, you know that the word laser is an acronym, right? It stands for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation." Well, scientists in Japan have now done basically the same thing that lasers do, only with sound waves instead of light waves. Those particles are called phonons, so the appropriate name for the process is "phasing."

It was actually first invented about three years ago, but at that time the phonons needed a medium - such as light - to move through. The Japanese research lab has successfully removed the light ride-along piece. Unlike a laser, which can move through the vacuum of space, the phaser needs air to get the job done, so it will only have an earthly application at this time.

They've been able to put it on a microchip, though, so it may well end up replacing quartz as the regulator in all of our timepieces. At least for those of us who still wear a watch instead of peeking at our cell phone for the time.

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Speaking of guns, the website Thumbs and Ammo posits that real men don't need to use a gun, just the power of positive thinking.

So they have dedicated themselves to taking images from popular movies, removing the gun(s), and replacing the trigger fingers with a "thumbs up" sign.

Some of them - such as the one pictured here - are quite funny.

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Finally, today would have been Fred Rogers 85^th birthday. Here's an interesting mashup honoring his life as the children's TV host, "Mr. Rogers."



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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/baldmark. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. Why yes, it *is* a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Miscellaneous Monday

Well, ABC's Dancing with the Stars is back and my wife is ecstatic. Did I tell you she once studied ballroom dancing? 'Tis true. In fact, our local Arthur Murray's studio asked her to become an instructor, but she demurred.

It's something I've promised her we'll take up in retirement, and I intend to keep my word. When she retires and her schedule frees up, watch for us!

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A company that helps develop smartphone applications - called "apps" in the vernacular - has published an infographic on mobile phone use. Internet access is indeed getting more and more portable and ubiquitous. Soon it will be everywhere.

The company - New Relic (love that name!) - says there are now more Android phone activations every day than there are babies being born. And by 2020, half of all your financial transactions will be done over your phone.

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So, hey, my daughter has a blog. It's a work in progress and she's new to all this stuff, but I feel proud of her in a "chip-off-the-block" kind of way. You won't find anything really deep there yet, but she's got an easy way of writing that makes it a fun read.

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And oh, yes, before I forget ... tomorrow is my wife's birthday. That's her, below. Yup, I'm one lucky guy.

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/baldmark. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. No, I won't be telling you how old she is.....

Why Green?

Saint Patrick's Day is this Sunday. So here's a wee video from the History Channel with some facts you probably didn't know.

I learned something. Hope you do, too.




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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/baldmark. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. May ye be in heav'n a half an hour before the devil knows ye're dead!

Attitude Check

According to research too numerous, varied, and over my pay grade to mention, we all have two types of attitudes: the ones we are consciously aware of, and the ones in our subconscious that drive our feelings and choices without our actively realizing it.

An "international collaborative network of researchers" have come together to form Project Implicit, which is a standardized series of quick Internet tests designed to determine how you *really* feel about things, whether you're aware of it or not. That word, implicit, means "implied though not plainly expressed."

You can choose to be part of the study - click the "Participate" button at the link above - or you can choose to just take some demonstration tests here. It's backed by the folks at Harvard, Yale, and other prestigious institutions, it's on a secure server, and no personal information is collected, aside from your IP address.

There are all manner of subjects to choose from: what your conscious and subconscious attitudes are about race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, self-esteem, alcohol, and more.

The group says if you get a result that's widely different than what you expected, take the test again. There is a gentle learning curve, from what I can tell you of my own experience. And, the group is quick to point out, don't take the results too seriously ... unless you want to.

What you do with the results is, in the end, entirely up to you.

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A Congressman was once asked about his attitude and thoughts toward whiskey.

"If you mean," he replied, "the demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, destroys family life, and inflames the unrighteous, then I'm dead set against it.

"If, however," he continued, "you mean the elixir of Christmas cheer, the shield against winter's chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers to comfort crippled children, then I'm all for it!

"This is my position, and I will not compromise."

--jokebuddha.com

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"Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude."  (Zig Ziglar)

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/baldmark. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761

Don't Panic!

Google is making note today of what would have been the 61^st birthday of English humourist and author Douglas Adams, who is most famously known for his Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books.

It started out as a trilogy: Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy was followed by The Restaurant At the End of the Universe and the story mostly finished up in Life, the Universe, and Everything. Only they sold so well, he added a *fourth* book to the trilogy, titled So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. (The title references the last thing said by dolphins before they left the planet. In the Hitchhiker Earth, mankind is only the third most intelligent species, being outsmarted by both dolphins and white mice.)

In the book, a race of beings built a super-computer that would give them the answer to "life, the universe, and everything." It said it would need seven-and-a-half million years. At the appointed time, it gave the answer (which I shall refrain from spoiling for you, though most everyone I know has already heard, such is the popularity of Adams' work). So then these beings built a *second* super-computer, a living experiment of a computer, to come up with the question to life, the universe, and everything, since they could make no sense out of the answer.

That second super-computer, posits Adams, was our Earth. When the scientists who created the Earth wanted to pop in and check up on their experiment, they appeared here as white mice.

The series is quite fun; Adams has a whimsical style of writing with a keen eye for sarcasm and the human condition, and as long as you don't take a word of it for gospel, I think you'd enjoy it. Today I'm going to feature several quotes from the book for your daily chuckle. (At least I hope you'll chuckle.)

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"He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

"It is no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase 'As pretty as an Airport' appear."

"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't."

"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened."

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."

"Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws."

"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."

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The story follows the trail of sad-sack human Arthur Dent and his pal, Ford Prefect, who is from Betelguese, though Arthur does not find this out until later. Arthur is our way into the author's world, and he is often as amazingly perplexed as we would be.

In the novels, there actually is something called "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and it is a travel guidebook, of sorts, with the words DON'T PANIC emblazoned on the cover. Which, I hope, explains the title of today's post.

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/baldmark. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. Don't forget your towel.

Branded!

All right, I admit it ... I ran straight up against a stone cold wall today. So I got nuthin'.

Except this.

You can now access my blog by using a much more memorable name!

http://www.markmusings.com

Don't use "marksmusings" with the "s" after my name. That will take you someplace else.

Make a note of it. Update your favorites/bookmarks.

And thanks for reading, everyone! See you on Monday.

I Charity You

At one time, the word charity meant love. For example, in 1 Corinthians 13 - the famous "love" chapter of the Bible, often quoted at weddings - the final line in the King James version reads:

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity."

In the original Latin version of the Bible, the word translated as charity was used to describe God's love. Hence the King James' usage. The French, however, broadened the definition of charity to include mercy, compassion, alms, and benevolence for the poor. According to my word etymology resources, this meaning crept into English around the end of the seventeenth century. 

So for a little over 300 years charity has mostly meant giving aid to those less fortunate.

Anyone who has had their dinner interrupted by a telemarketing fundraiser phone call can surely attest to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of charitable organizations out there - and all of them have called us at one time or another (or so it feels). How do you know which ones to trust?

That's where today's link comes in: check 'em out at Charity Navigator. The website has diligently logged, catalogued, and rated all **1.6 million** charities registered with the Internal Revenue Service. You can read about their methodology, their rating system, and search their immense database to find your favorite organization and see if they qualify for the site's four-star rating, which is the highest.

I particularly liked the "Tips for Savvy Donors" which, in fact, recommended you never give to a charity over the phone!

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A Red Cross volunteer and a lawyer died and went up to the heavenly gates. Saint Peter tells the volunteer to wait a little while, and lets the lawyer in first. As the gates close on the volunteer, she sees the lawyer greeted with much fanfare! Music erupts, cheers are heard, a choir of angels descend from above and sing a joyous hallelujah. Finally, the Lord Himself appears and gives a personal greeting and warm embrace to the lawyer.

Things eventually begin to die down, and the lawyer wanders off to enjoy his eternity in heaven. As the last angel floats away, Saint Peter grants entrance to the volunteer. But there is no music, no choir, no grand heavenly greeting.

Confused, the volunteer looks to Peter for an explanation. "Oh," says Saint Peter, "we get volunteers in here all the time. That was our first lawyer."

--DoSomething.org

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"Volunteering is the time without the crime. Community Service, on the other hand...."  (Anonymous)

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/baldmark. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761.

Monday Miscellany

A couple of bits and pieces, odds and ends today.

With a tip o'the Musings cap to Kim Komando, you can find a list of free wifi locations in your state by clicking those bold colored words. Of course, we all know most of our favorite restaurants, coffee shops and bookstores offer it, but if you're in a strange city or you want to find a new place to hang your @, check it out.

The list is hardly complete and doesn't have many small towns on it, but there's a form you can fill out on the site to update them.

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In a recent post here on the blog, I asked what you do for Lent. Well, Christianity Today has reported out the annual analysis of people who use Twitter to compile a Top 100 List of what everyone else gave up for Lent.

Most went for the joke and said they were going to give up "being Pope." But there are some creative ideas listed, as well.

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Finally, a word on computer security today: namely, passwords. If yours is on this list, change it immediately! (The article is the third or fourth one down on the page as I write this.) The Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3, is a collaborative effort between the FBI and the White Collar Crime Division (yes, USA Network fans, there really *is* a White Collar crime division).

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Enjoy all of today's links, and I hope you enjoy the click-throughs!

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/baldmark. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761.