Heinz's Email Blog August 2005 Archive

Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus was born on this day 1993 years ago. He was later to become known and feared for his eccentric behavior and pathologic despotism. Before that, however, ... Read More

Does anybody remember the good old Freddie Mercury-fun Seaside Rendezvous (which you can listen to on A Night At The Opera, named after the Marx Brothers film with the same ... Read More

To prevent a drain from getting clogged, boiling water used to cook potatoes, the occasional splash of dishwashing liquid to scare the fat away and, naturally, vinegar and baking soda ... Read More

Emailias, the service that lets you drop spam like hot potatoes, has been updated with a few nifty new niceties. You can now create Emailias aliases using your own domain ... Read More

"Open, Sesame!" are the magic words that open a thieves' cave in the wonderful Stories from the Thousand and One Nights' Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, providing access to ... Read More

I love to get email from all of you, about anything and everybody under, in or above the moon (in their customarily lovely way, the ancient Greeks divided the cosmos ... Read More

Left, right, breathe, look, admire, left, right, breath, look, marvel. Autumn is, of course, the most wonderful time to spend in the mountains (as are summer, spring and winter). If ... Read More

IncrediMail, the email program built to appeal to Mission: Impossible actors, gets a new spam filter. JunkFilter Plus is a Commtouch-powered subscription service that, while it could spot more spam, ... Read More

Gmail, the email service that grows with every email you receive, can now take over even more of your mail: it's now possible to send messages from any of your ... Read More

In a typical competition, be it figure skating or looking for a new apartment, the last contender usually leaves the best impression. This is not only everybody's gut feeling, it ... Read More

A vacuum cleaner is a wonderful thing to have. Yet all that is needed to spoil the whole clean fun is a small construction oddity. I had a vacuum cleaner, ... Read More

Google Desktop Search, GOOG on your computer, now includes a Sidebar that does everything from showing you pictures you might like and acting as a QuickSilver-like application launcher to displaying ... Read More

Ah, the command line. Yes. You have not witnessed the full power of the command line if you have not encountered ed, also available for Windows nowadays. (And of course ... Read More

When somebody tickles you, it tickles you. When somebody approaches form behind and puts her hands over your eyes, the world goes dark. When you tickle yourself, it is usually unusually ... Read More

"This message sent around the world" read the telegram that left the New York Times building at 7.00 PM on September 20, 1911. When it was received — at the ... Read More

The hottest of all deserts in North America, the Sonoran desert is also boasting biodiversity thanks to predictable rainfall during two seasons. But it is not only beautiful nature you ... Read More

August 19, 1887, was a sunny day above the cloud cover — although, for a short while, the moon cast its shadow on the Earth. Oblivious of his total lack ... Read More

In Ancient Rome, August 18 was the day of vinalia rustica celebrations. On this occasion, the vintage was opened and grape juice was allowed to enter Rome. If you have something ... Read More

Yahoo! Messenger, the seriously funny instant messaging app that has had voice chat in the past, now features much-improved sound quality and likes to speak of itself as Yahoo! Messenger ... Read More

As a child, I would not only sing for hours on occasion, I would also say the same sentence over and over again — possibly when and because I was ... Read More

If computer programs can mark essays in what seems to be a useful manner (especially if the alternative are multiple choice tests), using computer programs to forward essays cannot be ... Read More

"Faces that have charmed us the most," wrote the great Sir Walter Scott whose 234th (what a number!) birthday we celebrate today, "escape us the soonest." Emails that have pleased us ... Read More

Knowing that nothing is certain (if anything is at all), tormented by the ubiquitous guilt of destroying the planet and surviving nonetheless, disillusioned by our own past dreams and with ... Read More

It's true. Since entering the northern hemispheric scene, summer has slowly been leaving it. But before autumn takes over with its color-boasting leaves, there still is (and it is in ... Read More

An email a week puts you on a winning streak (so to speak). At least a bit, and at least in a recent University of Alberta study that exposed about ... Read More

Squirrels yes, but tigers? Tigers will eat on a large prey for several days (they do not mind decaying flesh; or they have learned from Francis Bacon not to experiment ... Read More

A news service that knows what you will want to read and delivers it to you conveniently by email? The interesting Bayesian News by Email sets out to do just ... Read More

If, like me, you are not quite sure what on Earth (on Earth, yes?) a Disruptor is, brimming with hope that it is not as disruptive a technology as it ... Read More

The frantic pace at which new products in the dairy and cosmetics industries are introduced has never failed to amaze me. Isn't it lovely to guess and astonishing to see ... Read More

While potatoes are usually served (and deliciously served) as a side to something else, you should never underestimate the delight of a pomme de terre without anything, not even butter ... Read More

Whether the legends and stories concerning Sir Alexander Fleming's stumbling into the antibacterial powers of staphylococci are true or merely made up well, this is certainly his birthday, and the ... Read More

I am currently caring for, looking after and rejoicing over a friend's phalaenopsis. A humid climate, light but no sun, enough water for the plant but none around it and ... Read More

The presents you give and the pages you link to in your blog are not the only things that tell others who they think you are. The emails you forward ... Read More

Schopenhauer's — World-as-Will-and-Representation-Schopenhauer's — first name, Arthur, was not given to him by accident or without a reason by his parents, Heinrich Floris and Johanna. Heinrich Floris was a merchant, ... Read More

To find out what life looked like in a Medieval street (and with all the romantic images of guilds and earthy living who could resist the temptation?), there are few ... Read More

I had always believed aloe vera was for the skin (possibly also good for the skin; some claim it can function as an antimycotic agent). Not so, not only so. ... Read More

Only the second best can appreciate how good the best really is. Only by means of the atomic clock, which recently celebrated its 50th birthday not a second too late, ... Read More