Maybe this is old news and I just realized it but there is a nifty service called Answers.com which is great for quick definitions. For example, try one of my favorite words, “transubstantiation” It provides definitions from various dictionaries, available translations, and also the Wikipedia entry (I wonder if this is dynamic swipe from wikipedia, [...]
For those blessed with access to JSTOR, there is a new search interface which is much more powerful than before. I would provide a link to their news page about it, but it seems to be beyond their wall. I wish we all could have access to databases like this. I remember what it was [...]
I think most US domestic travelers are familiar with bus companies like Greyhound and the Amtrak trains. They also know how expensive and time consuming they can be. The more seasoned among us know where to get the cheapest plane tickets or the best deal on renting a car. But, short of hitchhiking, you can’t [...]
Testing Footnote.1 UPDATE: As some of you may have noticed, I have been playing around with something funny here on a post which appears and disappears as I play with it. Here is the thing: I want to include footnotes/endnotes in some blog postings (like the many footnotes in my last posting). I hate having [...]
I have recently finished a fairly close reading of David Harlan’s The Degradation of American History and some articles by Thomas L. Haskell on “objectivity” in the practice of history. Below are some of my own comments and criticism on them. Because the article is around ten pages when printed out, you can also download [...]
Try the Viking History game over at BBC. It is a great idea to use games like this (this one using Flash) to teach history. I learn some things about viking ship building and the routes ships took to the British Isles. However, the point of the game seemed to be to kill lots of [...]
Speaking of Umberto Eco, he has a new book out! I wish I read Italian but I will have to wait until June of this year when the English version of his new La Misteriosa fiamma della regina Loana is due out.
How is that I have lived just over 29 years without ever having discovered Jorge Luis Borges? How did I manage not to hear about him or read his work? I have just been reading some of his essays/stories. He absolutely blows my mind. He is like some perfect combination of Edgar Allen Poe and [...]
My sister works at the reference desk of the Bartlesville library. She is apparently supposed to know everything about everything…or at least know where to find it. I simply can’t understand how they balance this. They also answer calls from anyone wanting information about…anything. Since directory services cost money, apparently she receives calls from people [...]
As I’m sure you all know, the South Korean Kim Ki Ho has defected to North Korea on December 29th because of his, “yearning for the man-centered Korean-style socialism” He was born in North Kyongsang province, in the year Juche 34 (1945). Thankfully, “Kim Ki Ho is now spending happy days amid the hospitality of [...]