Telephone exchanges There was an "Anti digit dialing association," back around 1964, which positioned itself against the eradication of what were called telephone exchanges. Telephone exchanges were the earliest versions of phone numbers. Named telephone exchanges were introduced in the 1930's and 1940's when 5 digits were no longer sufficient for the number of subscribers. They became mandatory in the 1950's when 7-digit dialing was instituted throughout (most of) the United States. It was believed that a word plus 5 digits would be easier to remember than would 7 digits.

Clark and Michael. "What have I always said is the most important thing?"

Rutka Laskier Short but very moving. more inside

It's hard being rich

Friday YouTube: Scraper bike. personal disclosure: I live about 2 miles from where this was produced.

Castlewars, a fun little castle-themed card-based flash game. via Ol' Blue

Numa numa - the USS Enterprise version [via] more inside

Idiot Comics
More cynical than Perry Bible Fellowship even, but well done.

To the lighthouse with stories from New England, New Zealand and Cape Wrath.

At the Barbiere, Milano. A simple visit to the barbershop, but everything's just better in Milan.

Don't know much biology. A biologist replies to Kansas senator and presidential hopeful Sam Brownback's questioning of evolution.

Canada's tallest pingo under threat from a bush-fire. What's a pingo? I'll admit -- I had to look it up. Happy Scrabbling!

Goodbye Everybody! Afer 50 years in daytime TV, Bob Barker tapes his last The Price Is Right more inside

Historical references to the Tiananmen Square massacre have been eliminated from most of mainland China. So it it surprising that mistakes will be made?

But I'm not well (Flash video thing.)

British sofa sets new 92 mph speed record. More details: "The souped-up sofa from furniture-modder Edd China laid claim to the top spot in the Fastest Furniture category in the Guinness Book of World Records reaching a top speed of 92 miles per hour. Sofa-driver Marek Turowski (who won his place in the driver's seat in an eBay auction) described the record-setting run as 'terrifying,' adding that 'you feel every bump... worse, you feel like you might take off.'" The previous speed record was also set by a British sofa.

Man buys 'Boost Plus', gets what he paid for.

UK 2012 Olympics Logo causes fits So far, the reaction to the logo is uniformly negative, with only one brave pundit trying to make lemonade...but in addition to grave concerns for epileptics, one witty commenter noticed that it looked suspiciously like Lisa Simpson performing an indecent act.

Curious George: myspace judicata Should I create a MySpace profile for my business? more inside

Demotivators, a spin on the always-annoying motivational posters. more inside