Triskaidekaphobia

The English language has a lot of specialized vocabulary. On this Friday the 13th, I discovered that there is a word for "the fear of the number 13" — triskaidekaphobia. There are even words for "the fear of Friday the 13th" — paraskavedekatriaphobia, paraskevidekatriaphobia, and friggatriskaidekaphobia.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

We saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the theater last night. The story deviated a bit from the book, but the spirit was intact. We enjoyed it a lot.

John Hargrave's Credit Card Prank

It is a well-known fact that no one checks your credit card signature in the US. What I did not know was how crazy it can get!

Most Densely Populated Island

According to Guinness World Records, the Most Densely Populated Island in the world is Ap Lei Chau. Hey, that's where my grandma lives!

California High-Speed Rail

From KESQ:

The California High-Speed Rail Authority today adopted routes and station locations that will be used in detailed environmental reviews for the 700-mile system, which would link San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and San Francisco with trains running at top speeds of more than 200 mph.

I went to check out the official web site of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, and this line really caught my attention:

With bullet trains operating at speeds up to 220 mph, the express travel time from downtown San Francisco to Los Angeles is just under 2½ hours.

That will be so cool!

A gasoline-saving sticker

Via Denver Post:

The disc is to be taped or glued to the bottom of your car's gas tank. Promoters say it significantly increases gas mileage and improves air quality. They don't say how it works, beyond claiming it sends "holographic frequencies into the gas tank and changes the molecular structure of the gasoline."

Yeah, right.

My favorite patent, #5443036

Method of exercising a cat:

A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct.

Eyezmaze Grow

The Grow game from Eyezmaze is so addictive! There are all these interactions between the objects, and you have to install them in the right sequence to make everything grow to the max. A very well done game.

Rocket Mania

Lately I've been playing the game Rocket Mania a lot. The goal is to connect the fuse to the rocket. If you launch three or more rocket at the same time, you get some coins on the board. Grab them, and your rockets will be upgraded when you advance a level. I love these strategy games. Another game I like is Alchemy, also by PopCap.

Free hotel room for Jesus' parents

A British hotel chain is offering couples called Mary and Joseph a free night's stay over Christmas, according to Reuters. Quite a creative way to get some free press coverage!

Rear Window

Just saw Hitchcock's Rear Window. I always thought that the movie was about the rear window of a car. The rear window in question actually belonged to an apartment, and it faced into the courtyard. The fact that we could only get a glimpse of life from this window added a lot of suspense to the movie, and made it very interesting.

zipdecode

Now you can see how zip codes spread :)

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

Just saw Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I saw the trailer a couple of times, and was intrigued. The soft lens gives it a very dreamy feel. The plot is kind of weak, but I think it is worth seeing, just for the cinematography.

Angels and Demons

After reading The Rule of Four, I started reading Angels and Demons. It is remarkably similar to The Da Vinci Code, in terms of the plot and the writing style. And just as captivating.

Snoopy Museum

Today we went to the Snoopy Museum in Santa Rosa. The exhibit sets the Peanuts comic strips against the cultural background at large, which made me appreciate the jokes a lot more. I also got to know why it is called "Peanuts" -- it means "little children" in American English!

The Rule of Four

Just finished reading The Rule of Four. I couldn't help but keep comparing it to The Da Vinci Code. Both involve solving Renaissance mysteries, and both of them have a web game. I like The Da Vinci Code a lot more though. The writing flows a lot better, and the web game was much better too. That said, reading The Rule of Four brought back a lot of memories from Princeton, and made me smile from the heart throughout.

Bang H8

Yesterday we went to the Haight district in San Francisco to play in the treasure hunt Bang 8. It is a part of the Bay Area Night Game series. My team was very frustrated last time in Bang 7 since we couldn't solve a problem which required the knowledge of the middle names of US Presients, so this time I invited 4 Americans to play with us. That proved very useful in the first puzzle "Cookie Monster!".

"Cookie Monster!" consisted of a bag of cookies and a crossword puzzle. The task was to identify all the cookies in the bag and fit their names in the crossword. I only knew Fig Newtons, but my teammates came up with names like Nutter Butter, Nilla Wafer etc. I was so glad that they were on the team!

Initially I was a bit worried that a team of seven was too large, but since we had at least two puzzles on hand each time, we worked in smaller groups, and that was quite efficient. In fact, we were the first team to get to the finish line! That really surprised me. I had been to several treasure hunts, but I was never even close to having a decent rank. Three cheers to the team!

Google News, Hong Kong edition

Finally there is a Hong Kong edition for Google News. Yay!

Bourne Supremacy

Just went to see Bourne Supremacy. The movie has a lot of exciting action, just as I expected. It would be even better if they did not shake the camera so much during the combat scenes.

Whale Rider

Just saw Whale Rider on DVD. It is set in a Maori tribe, where traditionally the first-born male child becomes the new chief. Pai is born into this line of heritage, but she is a girl. The rest of the movie is about her struggle to earn the love of her grandfather, who believes that everything went wrong the moment she was born.

After watching this movie, I have this question in my mind: Why is most part of the world dominated by male? How did that happen?