Wednesday 30 May 2007

Thing #87: Learn to use long words

I am Greek. And Greeks are used to long words. In fact their names are usually very Greek and make everyone say: that's Greek to me. That's what Xenophon Zolotas (economist and prime minister) (warned you about the names!) stated in one of his historical speeches:

"I always wished to address this Assembly in Greek, but realized that it would have been indeed "Greek" to all present in this room. I found out, however, that I could make my address in Greek which would still be English to everybody. With your permission, Mr. Chairman, l shall do it now, using with the exception of articles and prepositions, only Greek words."

And then we went on..

"Kyrie, I eulogize the archons of the Panethnic Numismatic Thesaurus and the Ecumenical Trapeza for the orthodoxy of their axioms, methods and policies, although there is an episode of cacophony of the Trapeza with Hellas. With enthusiasm we dialogue and synagonize at the synods of our didymous organizations in which polymorphous economic ideas and dogmas are analyzed and synthesized. Our critical problems such as the numismatic plethora generate some agony and melancholy. This phenomenon is characteristic of our epoch. But, to my thesis, we have the dynamism to program therapeutic practices as a prophylaxis from chaos and catastrophe. In parallel, a Panethnic unhypocritical economic synergy and harmonization in a democratic climate is basic. I apologize for my eccentric monologue. I emphasize my euharistia to you, Kyrie to the eugenic and generous American Ethnos and to the organizes and protagonists of his Amphictyony and the gastronomic symposia".

Being able to read and actually understand what he is talking about qualifies me for Thing #87.

Monday 28 May 2007

Things to do for 3 years!

It's now 5 months since I started going through the list and I have completed 14 Things. With this rate it will take me 3 years to complete the entire list, which is a good thing (ironic isn't it?) because it means I will have something to do for some time. If nothing else, the list and my adventures provides a good source of topics for discussion over a top: "so, how come with your fitness levels you managed to survive the stairs thing?"

Thing #46: Go as fast as you can (done!)

I think I flew once with a Boeing 747 which has operational speeds of over 1000 km/h. That's fast! However as I can not really recall whether it was a 747, I will consider flying with a MD-11 a few days ago as the closest thing to flying as fast as I can. The MD-11 has a speed of about 945 km/h. Both airplanes are very easy to spot. The 747 is massive, you just can not miss it! The MD-11 is a three-engine medium to long-range wide body airliner, with two engines mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer. For example, click here for a photo of a FedEx MD-11 or the one below.

Of course, the above speeds are nowhere close to those of the Orbiter Specifications (for Endeavour, OV-105) which has a speed of 27,875 km/h but this will do for now! Speaking of which, did you know that the Boeing 747 is used to transport the Space Shuttle? Check it out!

Saturday 26 May 2007

How much does Wired cost in Canada?

And the answer is CAN$5.99, which is still cheaper than it is in the UK. And you can buy the June issue in the third week of May. And there are many of them available to choose from (hm... but they are all the same, aren't they?). Anyway, I got a few to read while going there to find out how much it costs to buy Wired, but ended up adding one more to the collection of unread Wired magazines.

Friday 18 May 2007

The problem with collections

In a previous post I mentioned I had a collection of unread Wired magazine. Well, I decided to start reading them, which would have meant that I would not have a collection of unread Wired magazines anymore. So, I put them in chronological order only to find that I was missing one! It's like you are about to complete a puzzle and then you find out that one piece is missing. Even worse (and you can blame Murphy for this), this piece is ALWAYS in the middle of the puzzle.

Friday 11 May 2007

Links are good!

I just found out that the book's official web site has add a linked to my site. Thanks! :)

http://www.101thingstodo.co.uk/kids/Gallery.htm

If you have a blog or personal web site, why not add a link here too?

Thursday 10 May 2007

Thing #32: Visit...

"There are thousands of amazing sites to visit around the world..." and it's good to see that I have already visited those required for this Thing to be completed:
  • safari park (the nearest safari park is a few thousand km aways, so a zoo will do for this)
  • carnival (got the t-shirt)
  • castle (no knights there, but still...)
  • theme park (A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away...)
  • a farm (mooouOOOOO)
  • an aquarium (ohh... there's a fish, and another one, and another one... etc)
  • the countryside (I almost live there)
  • another country (done)
  • your capital city (done)

So I guess I can claim this Thing is now completed!

It would have been soooo much better, if I had to show you a video clip like the one below:

Saturday 5 May 2007

Thing #25: Start a collection

Collecting things is an addiction that can become easily become obsession. You buy a couple of things that you really like and then you need to have the rest of them. Then, the whole universe conspires against you in order to miss or not find the last thing that will complete the collection!

Anyway, for this Thing I put forward my collection of... unread Wired magazines. I have now 12 issues that I have not managed to read due to other committemments (i.e. work). Still, every month I make sure I pay the -now regular- visit to the local newsagent.

You may wonder why don't I just subscribe? Well a subscription in the States costs $20 for two years (no this is not a typo), while in the UK a subscription for one year costs £59.64! WHY? And if you think this is due to the magazine travelling over the big pond called Atlantic Ocean, well think again. The yearly subscription in the UK costs about 25% more than buying 12 individual issues from the newsagent!
And if you thought that only applied to one magazine's subscription rates, then think again! Read this review in PCPro about IT related prices.