Site is a real name brand
How Many of Me?
According to HowManyofMe.com, there are two people in the United States with my name (Tom Sowa). It’s a higher number if I use Thomas instead of Tom.
My wife’s name is not as special; the HowMany site says five U.S. residents share her name.
It’s unclear how accurate those results are. HowManyofMe says it’s tracking data from about 299 million names, and we know, at least we think we know, the nation has just hit the 300 million mark.
But who’s to argue with them? As the site’s operators admit, to establish HowManyofMe’s accuracy requires comparing it with someone else’s already established, accurate database. Maybe Homeland Security has something like that, but they’re not telling.
The past, present and future of gadgets
The serious tech people already know this site. Engadget is among the five or six top favorite blogs/sites for people tracking new developments in gadgets, tech rumors and opinion. It’s a great site for quick browsing. We recommend adding an RSS (really simple syndication) feed to keep track of new postings.
It breaks down topics by subjects: if you only want stuff on cell phones or digital cameras, that option is front and center.
Not afraid to be silly, it also showcases the strange and quirky things produced by daring inventors or product labs. A recent post featured a clear-plastic disembodied robotic hand that moves its fingers as it “plays” any of six classical pieces.
If the geeky Slashdot.org is all about being cool and brainy, Engadget is much more mainstream and consumer focused.
It IS rocket science
Aerospaceweb.org/question/
Ever wonder about the difference between aircraft and airplane? Do you have a technical question about space flight or, say, the speed of sound on Mars?
Aerospaceweb.org has a question-answer section filled with information on all sorts of historical and scientific matters related to air and space flight.
One strange tidbit — part of the answer to how dangerous an airplane bomb really is —was that a flight attendant survived a bomb blast after falling, inside a detached tail section, 33,000 feet to the ground. She was the only survivor in that 1972 destruction of a Yugoslav airlines flight, caused by Croatian extremists.
Note: the site managers are not taking new questions until later this year, until they move to new offices.
Gather up some useful trivia
Not a new site, MentalFloss.com is the online counterpart to the kitschy magazine of the same name. We call it out here because at this time of the year, with parties looming on the holiday calendar, this site is an ideal trough to gather up odds and ends to use when conversations lag.
Mental Floss is the nerd’s answer to heady sites like New York Review of Books or Harper’s. Sure, we all want to be brilliant. But more often, all we need is yadda-yadda-trivia.
Get your fill of trivia here. A photo of the world’s smallest horse? They have it.
A daily question can take your mind off mundane matters. One recent query: did Mama Cass really die by choking on a ham sandwich?
Plenty of ways can be found to spend time testing your trivia knowledge. A whole section of quizzes can keep you going for a week.