Table of Contents
inter alia
04 June 98
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Quote of the Day
3. HotSites
1. A Word A Day
chivalry (SHIV-ahl-ree) noun
1. The medieval system, principles, and customs of knighthood.
2. The qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy,
honor, and gallantry toward women. A manifestation of any of these
qualities.
3. A group of knights or gallant gentlemen.
[Middle English chivalrie, from Old French chevalerie, from chevalier,
knight.]
WORD HISTORY: The Age of Chivalry was also the age of the horse. Bedecked in
elaborate armor and other trappings, horses were certainly well dressed
although they might have wished for lighter loads. That the horse should be
featured so prominently during the Age of Chivalry is etymologically
appropriate, because chivalry goes back to the Latin word caballus, "horse,
especially a riding horse or packhorse." Borrowed from French, as were so
many other important words having to do with medieval English culture, the
English word chivalry is first recorded in works composed around the
beginning of the 14th century and is found in several senses, including
"a body of armored mounted warriors serving a lord" and "knighthood as a
ceremonially conferred rank in the social system." Our modern sense, "the
medieval system of knighthood," could not exist until the passage of several
centuries had allowed the perspective for such a conceptualization, with
this sense being recorded first in 1765.
2. Quote of the Day
"He's the kind of lawyer that if you were indicted
for murder, found guilty and hanged, you'd still think
you had a good defense."
--Former senator Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), about Jacob Stein,
one of Monica Lewinsky's new lawyers. Stein represented
Packwood in an ethics investigation.
3. HotSites
No matter the operating system, you can find help
for your computer problem at NoWonder. Check postings
on the OS-specififc bulletin boards, or send your
note to the experts for a reply within 24 hours.
It's all free!
NoWonder http://www.nowonder.com/
Table of Contents
inter alia
05 June 98
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Cool Fact of the Day
3. HotSites
1. A Word A Day
assonance (AS-oh-nans) noun
1. Resemblance of sound, especially of the vowel sounds in words, as in:
"that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" (William Butler Yeats).
2. The repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds, especially in
stressed syllables, with changes in the intervening consonants, as in
the phrase tilting at windmills.
3. Rough similarity; approximate agreement.
[French, from Latin assonare, to respond to : ad-, ad- + sonare, to sound.]
"Rankine sculpts trenchant lyrics that titillate with staccato rhythms and
craft. In `West Harbour,' for instance, where Country is boarding a ship
for the U.S., ships leaving port `cut clean lines through blue water. At
the ship's rear, the sea heals itself.' What a self-assured moment of
personification, imagery and assonance."
David Mills, Nothing in Nature is Private,
Quarterly Black Review of Books, 28 Feb 1995.
Pronunciation: http://www.wordsmith.org/words/assonance.wav<
2. Cool Fact of the Day
Largest Art
The largest works of art on the planet are the "Nazca Lines"
in the Nazca Desert of Peru, 185 miles south of Lima. Some
of these shapes, which are visible only from the air, are more
than seven miles long!
The Nazca figures were scratched into an arid plain
somewhere between 100 BC and 600 AD. There are
geometric shapes, figures of plants and animals, and straight
lines. They were first noticed in 1928.
No one knows why the Nazca Lines were drawn, or who
drew them.
To learn more and see pictures, visit these sites:
http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/nazca.htm
http://www.kelt.com/hippo/travels/peru/nazca.html
3. HotSites
The website of the Louisiana Ornithological Society
offers information about the organization as well as
links to scads of sites about birds and birding.
The design is nice, too.
Table of Contents
inter alia
08 June 98
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Humor
3. HotSite
1. A Word A Day
integument (in-TEG-yoo-ment) noun
1. A natural outer covering or coat, such as the skin of an animal or the
membrane enclosing an organ.
2. Botany. The envelope of an ovule.
[Latin integumentum, from integere, to cover : in-, on + tegere, to cover.]
Lown, Bernard, Clearing the debris.(The Atomic Age at 50),
Technology Review, 18 Aug 1995.
"The bestialities unleashed in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Chechnya provide
evidence, if such be needed, that barbarism is just below the integument
in all human societies, whatever their purported moral values or avowed
religious persuasions. In the words of an Auschwitz survivor, the
psychotherapist Victor Frankl: `Since Auschwitz we know what man is
capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.' It would be
no small contribution for generations yet unborn to declare genocidal
weapons the exclusive property of the savage twentieth century."
Pronunciation: http://www.wordsmith.org/words/assonance.wav
2. Humor
On a Trans-Atlantic flight, a plane passes through a severe storm. The
turbulence is awful, and things go from bad to worse when one wing is
struck by lightning.
One woman in particular loses it. Screaming, she stands up in the front of
the plane. "I'm too young to die!" she wails. Then she yells, "Well, if I'm
going to die, I want my last minutes on Earth to be memorable! I've had
plenty of sex in my life, but no one has ever made me really feel like a
woman! Well I've had it! Is there ANYONE on this plane who can make me feel
like a WOMAN??"
For a moment there is silence. Everyone has forgotten their own peril, and
they all stare, riveted, at the desperate woman in the front of the plane.
Then, a man stands up in the rear of the plane.
"I can make you feel like a woman," he says.
He's gorgeous. Tall, built, with long, flowing black hair and jet black
eyes, he starts to walk slowly up the aisle,unbuttoning his shirt one
button at a time. No one moves.
The woman is breathing heavily in anticipation as the strange man approaches.
He removes his shirt. Muscles ripple across his chest as he reaches her,
and extends the arm holding his shirt to the trembling woman, and whispers:
"Iron this."
3. HotSite
Recipes with background info for popular and not
so popular beverages with a punch.
http://www.hotwired.com/cocktail/
Table of Contents
inter alia
11 June 98
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Quotes of the Day
3. HotSites
1. A Word A Day
maieutic (may-YOO-tik, mi-) adjective
Of or relating to the aspect of the Socratic method that induces a
respondent to formulate latent concepts through a dialectic or logical
sequence of questions.
[Greek maieutikos, from maieuesthai, to act as midwife, from maia, midwife,
nurse.]
"It cannot consist in supervising the activities involved in acquiring
skills - it must be the Socratic mode of teaching, a mode of teaching
called `maieutic' because it helps the students by bringing ideas to
birth..."
Stellwagen, Joel B., The teacher as coach: re-thinking a popular
educational paradigm., The Clearing House, 15 May 1997.
Pronunciation: http://www.wordsmith.org/words/assonance.wav
2. Quotes of the Day
I am confident that the Republican Party will pick a nominee that will
beat Bill Clinton."
--DAN QUAYLE, about the presidential election in the year 2000
(Time Magazine)
Q. Do you recall ever walking with Jane Doe 6 Lewinsky down the
hallway from the Oval Office to your private kitchen there in the White
House?
A. Well, let me try to describe the facts first, because you keep talking
about this private kitchen. The private kitchen is staffed by two naval
aides. They have total, unrestricted access to my dining room, to that
hallway, to coming into the Oval Office. The people who are in the outer
office of the Oval Office can also enter at any time.
I was, after I went through a presidential campaign in which the far right
tried to convince the American people I had committed murder, run drugs,
slept in my mother's bed with four prostitutes, and done numerous other
things, I had a high level of paranoia.
--Excerpt form the deposition of Bill Clinton
(Washington Post)
3. HotSites
The tree of life
When biologists talk of phylogeny, they mean the
relationships between groups of animals - the tree of life.
Phylogenetic analysis uses many tools: morphology;
stratigraphy; cladistics; molecular analysis; and more.
Any Web site trying to cover the phylogeny of all life
had better have access to limitless resources and desk
space. The University of California Museum of Paleontology
has both. Don't expect to find the entire history of life
here, though that may be an ultimate aim. The pages here
do enough to just skim the theories, the methods, and the
phylogenetic groups. Links to special projects, like one
on vertebrate flight, enliven your visit. The sheer amount
of content and numbers of links here cannot possibly be
covered in one evening. Bookmark it, and take your time.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/phylogeny.html
IBM U.S. Patent Site with pages on the weird, the useless
and the Gallery of the Obscure.
IBM: http://www.patents.ibm.com/ibm.html
Table of Contents
inter alia
18 June 98
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Quote of the Day
3. HotSites
1. A Word A Day
arcanum (aar-KAY-nuhm) noun [plural arcana (-nah). or arcanums]
1. A deep secret; a mystery.
2. Often arcana. Specialized knowledge or detail that is mysterious to
the average person.
3. A secret essence or remedy; an elixir.
[Latin, from neuter of arcanus, secret.]
"The technology of modern weapons is a vast arcanum presided overby a
scientific priesthood. Those who may use the weapons, or vote for their
use, are not to be privy to their secrets. Any blood shed will be that of
citizens, but the decisions are beyond the information of those actually
dying, or sending others to their death."
Garry Wills, Lincoln, Life, 1 Feb 1991.
Pronunciation: http://www.wordsmith.org/words/arcanum.wav
2. Quote of the Day
The Ass and His Purchaser
A MAN wished to purchase an Ass, and agreed with its owner that
he should try out the animal before he bought him. He took the
Ass home and put him in the straw-yard with his other Asses, upon
which the new animal left all the others and at once joined the
one that was most idle and the greatest eater of them all.
Seeing this, the man put a halter on him and led him back to his
owner. On being asked how, in so short a time, he could have
made a trial of him, he answered, "I do not need a trial; I know
that he will be just the same as the one he chose for his
companion."
A man is known by the company he keeps.
--Aesop
3. HotSites
SUPERNEWS WREN
http://wren.supernews.com
Trying to find a particular newsgroup can often be an exercise in
frustration and futility. Enter Supernews' new Web-Reading News
interface. Currently in beta, the site lets you use its search engine
to filter newsgroups by keyword. Rather than transporting you to a
newsgroup reader to peruse the results of your search, WReN then lets
you view the contents directly from within your browser. Simple and
effective.
== == == == == ==
Northern lights
The Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights - is illuminated for
us by the Department of Geological Engineering and Sciences at
Michigan Technological University. With prolific links (mostly
valid) and several outstanding images (including some from space),
the visitor has access to a variety of articles, tutorials,
forecasts, and other scientific information. You don't need to
imagine that the sky is on fire, that the government is performing
bizarre electromagnetic experiments, or that the drive-in by the
lake is showing another double-feature when you can learn the true
facts of nature, as collected here. Did we mention the great pictures?
Northern Lights: http://www.geo.mtu.edu/weather/aurora/
Table of Contents
inter alia
22 June 98
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Quote of the Day -- Aesop
3. HotSites
1. A Word A Day
splendiferous (splen-DIF-uhr-uhs) adjective
Splendid.
[Middle English, from Medieval Latin splendiferus, from Late Latin
splendorifer : Latin splendor, splendor + Latin -fer.]
Magnuson, Ann, Phair play. (rock artist Liz Phair), Harper's Bazaar,
1 Sep 1994.
"But soon the party's over and the splendiferous dresses are returned to
their rack."
This week, we take a glimpse at high sounding words which describe a rather
simple idea. Here's a week focusing on substituting the complex and unknown
for the known or words that make you ask "Why make life easy?" -Anu
Pronunciation: http://www.wordsmith.org/words/arcanum.wav
2. Quote of the Day
The Ass and the Frogs
AN ASS, carrying a load of wood, passed through a pond. As he
was crossing through the water he lost his footing, stumbled and
fell, and not being able to rise on account of his load, groaned
heavily. Some Frogs frequenting the pool heard his lamentation,
and said, "What would you do if you had to live here always as we
do, when you make such a fuss about a mere fall into the water?"
Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do
large misfortunes.
--Aesop
3. HotSites
Netscape Communicator 4.5
Netscape released the latest version of their browser/package this
week, for all major platforms. One important change is the
incorporation of a search feature in the URL input box, called
Smart Browsing. Type a phrase where you would normally type a URL
and you'll be taken to a Netscape search engine. Another major
change improves the handling of IMAP and LDAP e-mail protocols.
It will be easier for people who travel with their laptops to manage
their mailboxes. The press release has details. Strictly speaking,
we never found the software on the site, but we're it'll pop up soon.
Netscape also unveiled a beta version of Netcenter. Give it a look and
tell them what you think.
Communicator: http://home.netscape.com/communicator/v4.5/index.html
Press Release: http://home.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease634.html?cp=nws06flh1
Netcenter: http://home.netscape.com/beta.html?cp=hmp06tbet
Table of Contents
inter alia
23 June 98
In Today's Issue
1. A Word A Day
2. Quote of the Day -- Who's on first!
3. HotSites
1. A Word A Day
philoprogenitive (fil-o-pro-JEN-i-tiv) adjective
1. Producing many offspring; prolific.
2. Loving one's own offspring or children in general.
3. Of or relating to love of children.
"The government draws the poverty line according to family size and age.
For a single person under 65 years, it's an annual income of less than
$5,701. For a couple over 65, poverty means income below $6,630. For a
married couple with two children, it's an income under $11,113. For
philoprogenitive families with nine or more members, the threshold rises
to $21,185."
Louis S. Richman, Edward Prewitt, The Economy, Fortune, 29 Aug 1988.
This week's theme: words that prompt you to say, "eschew obfuscation."
X-Pronunciation: http://www.wordsmith.org/words/philoprogenitive.wav
2. Quote of the Day
Who's On First?
Bud Abbot and Lou Costello
Lou: I love baseball. When we get to St. Louis, will you tell me the guys'
name on the team so when I go to see them in that St.
Louis ball park I'll be able to know those fellows?
Bud: All right. but you know, strange as it may seems, they give ball players
nowadays very peculiar names, nick names, like
"Dizzy Dean." Now on the St. Louis team we have Who's on first, What's on
second, I Don't Know is on third --
Lou: That's what I want to find out. I want you to tell me the names of
the fellows on the St. Louis team.
Bud: I'm telling you. Who's on first, What's on second, I Don't Know is on third --
Lou: You know the fellows' names?
Bud: Yes.
Lou: Well, then who's playin' first.
Bud: Yes.
Lou: I mean the fellow's name on first base.
Bud: Who.
Lou: The fellow playin' first base for St. Louis.
Bud: Who.
Lou: The guy on first base.
Bud: Who is on first.
Lou: Well, what are you askin' me for?
Bud: I'm not asking you -- I'm telling you. WHO IS ON FIRST.
Lou: I'm asking you -- who's on first?
Bud: That's the man's name!
Lou: That's who's name?
Bud: Yes.
Lou: Well, go ahead and tell me.
Bud: Who.
Lou: The guy on first.
Bud: Who.
Lou: The first baseman.
Bud: Who is on first.
Lou: Have you got a first baseman on first?
Bud: Certainly.
Lou: Then who's playing first?
Bud: Absolutely.
Lou: (pause) When you pay off the first baseman every month, who gets the money?
Bud: Every dollar of it. And why not, the man's entitled to it.
Lou: Who is?
Bud: Yes.
Lou: So who gets it?
Bud: Why shouldn't he? Sometimes his wife comes down and collects it.
Lou: Who's wife?
Bud: Yes. After all the man earns it.
Lou: Who does?
Bud: Absolutely.
Lou: Well all I'm trying to find out is what's the guys name on first base.
Bud: Oh, no, no, What is on second base.
Lou: I'm not asking you who's on second.
Bud: Who's on first.
Lou: That's what I'm trying to find out.
Bud: Well, don't change the players around.
Lou: I'm not changing nobody.
Bud: Now, take it easy.
Lou: What's the guy's name on first base?
Bud: What's the guy's name on second base.
Lou: I'm not askin' ya who's on second.
Bud: Who's on first.
Lou: I don't know.
Bud: He's on third. We're not talking about him.
Lou: How could I get on third base?
Bud: You mentioned his name.
Lou: If I mentioned the third baseman's name, who did I say is playing third?
Bud: No, Who's playing first.
Lou: Stay offa first, will ya?
Bud: Well what do you want me to do?
Lou: Now what's the guy's name on first base?
Bud: What's on second.
Lou: I'm not asking ya who's on second.
Bud: Who's on first.
Lou: I don't know.
Bud: He's on third.
Lou: There I go back on third again.
Bud: Well, I can't change their names.
Lou: Say, will you please stay on third base.
Bud: Please. Now what is it you want to know.
Lou: What is the fellow's name on third base.
Bud: What is the fellow's name on second base.
Lou: I'm not askin' ya who's on second.
Bud: Who's on first.
Lou: I don't know.
Bud: THIRD BASE!
Lou: You got an outfield?
Bud: Oh, sure.
Lou: St. Louis has got a good outfield?
Bud: Oh, absolutely.
Lou: The left fielder's name?
Bud: Why.
Lou: I don't know, I just thought I'd ask.
Bud: Well, I just thought I'd tell you.
Lou: Them tell me who's playing left field.
Bud: Who's playing first.
Lou: Stay out of the infield!
Bud: Don't mention any names out here.
Lou: I want to know what's the fellow's name on left field?
Bud: What is on second.
Lou: I'm not askin' ya who's on second.
Bud: Who is on first.
Lou: I don't know.
Bud & Lou: (together and calmly) Third base.
Lou: And the left fielder's name?
Bud: Why.
Lou: Because.
Bud: Oh he's Center Field.
Lou: (whimpers) Center field.
Bud: Yes.
Lou: Wait a minute. You got a pitcher on this team.
Bud: Wouldn't this be a fine team without a pitcher.
Lou: I don't know. Tell me the pitcher's name.
Bud: Tomorrow.
Lou: You don't want to tell me today?
Bud: I'm tell you, man.
Lou: Then go ahead.
Bud: Tomorrow.
Lou: What time?
Bud: What time what?
Lou: What time tomorrow are you gonna tell me who's pitching?
Bud: Now listen, Who is not pitching. Who is on --
Lou: I'LL BREAK YOU ARM IF YOU SAY "WHO'S ON FIRST!"
Bud: Then why come up here and ask?
Lou: I want to know what's the pitcher's name.
Bud: What's on second.
Lou: I don't know.
Bud & Lou: (VERY QUICKLY) THIRD BASE!!
Lou: You gotta Catcher?
Bud: Yes.
Lou: The Catcher's name?
Bud: Today.
Lou: Today. And Tomorrow's pitching.
Bud: Now you've got it.
Lou: That's all. St. Louis has a couple of days on their team.
Bud: Well I can't help that.
Lou: You know I'm a good catcher too.
Bud: I know that.
Lou: I would like to play for the St. Louis team.
Bud: Well I might arrange that.
Lou: I would like to catch. Now I'm being a good Catcher, tomorrow's pitching on the team, and I'm catching.
Bud: Yes.
Lou: Tomorrow throws the ball and the guy up bunts the ball.
Bud: Yes.
Lou: Now when he bunts the ball -- me being a good catcher -- I want to throw the guy out a first base, so I pick up the ball
and throw it to who?
Bud: Now that's the first thing you've said right.
Lou: I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!!!!!
Bud: Well, that's all you have to do.
Lou: Is to throw it to first base.
Bud: Yes.
Lou: Now who's got it?
Bud: Naturally.
Lou: Who has it?
Bud: Naturally.
Lou: Naturally.
Bud: Naturally.
Lou: O.K.
Bud: Now you've got it.
Lou: I pick up the ball and I throw it to Naturally.
Bud: No you don't you throw the ball to first base.
Lou: Then who gets it?
Bud: Naturally.
Lou: O.K.
Bud: All right.
Lou: I throw the ball to Naturally.
Bud: You don't you throw it to Who.
Lou: Naturally.
Bud: Well, naturally. Say it that way.
Lou: That's what I said.
Bud: You did not.
Lou: I said I'd throw the ball to Naturally.
Bud: You don't. You throw it to Who.
Lou: Naturally.
Bud: Yes.
Lou: So I throw the ball to first base and Naturally gets it.
Bud: No. You throw the ball to first base--
Lou: Then who gets it?
Bud: Naturally.
Lou: That's what I'm saying.
Bud: You're not saying that.
Lou: I throw the ball to Naturally.
Bud: You throw it to Who!
Lou: Naturally.
Bud: Naturally. Well say it that way.
Lou: THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!
Bud: Now don't get excited.
Lou: Who's gettin excited!! I throw the ball to first base--
Bud: Then Who gets it.
Lou: (annoyed) HE BETTER GET IT!
Bud: That's it. All right now Take it easy.
Lou: Hrmmph.
Bud: Hrmmph.
Lou: Now I throw the ball to first base, whoever it is grabs the ball,
so the guy runs to second.
Bud: Uh-huh.
Lou: Who picks up the ball and throws it to what. What throws it to I
don't know. I don't know throws it back to tomorrow --
a triple play.
Bud: Yeah. It could be.
Lou: Another guy gets up and it's a long fly ball to center. Why? I don't know,
he's on third, and I don't give a darn.
Bud: What did you say.
Lou: I said "I don't give a darn."
Bud: Oh, that's our shortstop!
Lou: ABBOTT!
3. HotSites
Bizarre scientific facts
http://www.newscientist.com/weird/weird.html
Editor's Note: <:>inter alia<:> will be down for about two weeks
because of technical dificulty -- i.e., it is technically difficult
for the editor to produce <:>inter alia<:> while vacationing in
Telluride,CO.
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