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Video Challenge No. 21: This week we use a YouTube video called “NASA tests lunar rovers in Moses Lake.” It’s a two-minute video made by a Tri-Cities TV crew showing how NASA is using central Washington terrain to test designs of planetary and lunar rovers. (Search for NASA and Moses Lake to find it or use this: http:// tinyurl.com/ 5x9jde.)
The question: What material is the vehicle called a chariot made of? First person to e-mail the answer to TXT@ spokesman.com gets a $5 coffee card on us. Past winners are not eligible.
Jargon 2.0: Delitionists. (n)
No, it’s not the name of the new band from Portland. Delitionists are a band of Wikipedia users and editors focused on deleting articles found there that are short, badly written or generally trivial.
On the facing side of the coin are the Inclusionists. They don’t mind including lots of short articles or “stub” entries on Wikipedia.
How do I?
How do I use the Web to add attractions or enhance a summer vacation?
As fuel prices soar, it’s natural the Net take on a larger role in helping find good choices and ways to save some money.
You can find dozens of fine sites that address affordable travel in the U.S. Most find ways to cut costs on travel or accommodations.
Other sites, such as Travel.Yahoo.com, offer suggested additions or destinations while you’re on vacation.
Yahoo’s My Travel starts with a Trip Planner button. Create a trip, list dates and locations, then save.
The site soon will feed suggested places to consider seeing while you’re on that trip. It also pops up links to other Yahoo travelers who’ve posted social comments on trips they’ve taken much like yours.
Smart search: We just noticed that Google Trends (a handy search tool that tracks the popularity of search terms) added a feature that lets you see the geographic origin of nearly any popular search. Start at the trends site, www.google.com/ trends. In the trends search bar, enter something, such as “HD DVD” and “Blu-ray.” The resulting trend graph shows the timeline of that search (you can limit the time as you enter search terms).
Among the choices are locations of search as well. If you enter United States, you get the choice of a subregion. There you can choose Washington or Idaho, then begin the search. For Washington, our results found Redmond was the leader of that search; Spokane was eighth. When selecting Idaho as the base, it produced too few results to produce a graph.