Mildly sick

Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat. Today it’s not as bad, but I’m coughing more. I’m somewhat congested and feeling slightly blah. Yes, folks, for the first time since I started blogging in July 2003, I am sick.

But I’m only mildly sick, mind you. If I were really sick I’d be planted in front of the TV right now, covered in blankets and with a tissue box or two at my side. Just thinking about it makes my nose run. I’d better keep this short.

I don’t know how I’ve got this; after all, I haven’t really done anything this week. But hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow. I’m just glad that I didn’t get sick during the school year; I know I haven’t been sick in over two years because (a) I would have blogged about it, and searches turn up nil; and (b) I had perfect attendance in school this past year and the year before.

I’ve posted some cool stuff before, but this is truly amazing. Everyone knows that colorizing black-and-white movies (or still photographs) is a time-consuming and expensive process. Well, a few smart folks at a university found an apparently simpler method (warning: image-heavy site) of extremely lifelike colorization. I’ll admit I can’t remember the last time I saw a colorized movie, so I don’t know how this stacks up to more traditional processes, but I’d imagine it’s much easier. But it’s not just for giving lifelike colors to black-and-white images. They also show its usefulness in the more mundane task of changing the colors of certain objects.

Untitled

In an unexpected turn of events, The Dvorak Keyboard and You has received over 700 hits today. According to my Extreme Tracking stats (you know, the funky planet-type button you always see at the bottom of pages), the rush of hits seems to have tapered off, and since it only displays the most recent 20 referrers, I don’t know exactly what the cause could be. (I don’t have referrer logs turned on because they quickly grow to massive size.)

Of course, the first site I checked was Slashdot. This is probably where the link came from; I found that they had recently posted about a new Dvorak-related site that as a result has received waaay more hits than The Dvorak Keyboard and You and thus seems to be down at the moment. I figure there’s a link buried in the discussion.

After having checked Boing Boing, Fark (I won’t link to them, find them yourself), and del.icio.us — all in vain — I have to conclude that the link came from the aforementioned Dvorak site which may be up by the time you read this, so you can verify it. Either way, I’ll look into it and review it later.

If you’re not Asking Jordon, then you’re doing something else!

Stanwyck: Do you think the is works Sapir-Whorf hypotheswith number bases to some extent?

I’m pretty sure you meant “Do you think the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis works with number bases to some extent?” That’s an easier question to answer.

Well, maybe not. I’m not sure if the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis can be applied to numbers at all. I guess it could. But heck, I don’t even know if it works with language. It seems to be a hot topic even to this day. But I’m almost positively sure that I know you in real life (Brian, is that you? How did you find out about my site?), and if it is you, then you can probably use logic and reason to give yourself an answer. It has to be you. You’re the smartest person I know, and no one else would ask such a question.

kyle: what does mexico get in there imports

According to the CIA World Factbook, Mexico gets 87.6% of its imports from the United States, 1.8% from Canada, and 1.2% from Germany. I’m sure the remaining 9.6% comes from a multitude of nations.

Next time, just Google it or something.

Jack: My budgie refuses to talk to me. Does he hate me? or is he just retarded?

Yes, Jack, he hates you. You mean you couldn’t tell by the fact that he goes through a newspaper a day? Oh, and by the way, your carpets hate you too. That’s why they’re getting all dingy and stuff. Your budgie isn’t retarded, it’s the salad in your fridge that is.

But seriously. As a former budgie owner, I can assure you that not all of them are inclined to talk. My bird never really said anything besides his name because that’s the word I said to him the most. I never really tried that hard to get him to talk, but I guess you have to try harder. I’d try one word or phrase at a time until he picks it up.

“What would you say, given one free minute of anonymous, uncensored speech?” One Free Minute is an artsy experiment that asks you just that. It allows you to call them, and, for one minute, their mobile sculpture will play your minute of free speech live (or, if you get an answering machine, it will be taped and played later). It’s an interesting idea. Go to the “listen” section to hear some people’s Minutes.

By the way, that minute is free as in speech, not free as in beer. You still have to pay for the call.

Adventure

So, yesterday I went with my friends to Islands of Adventure. The purpose of this excursion was to give my friend Kevin’s foreign exchange pal a good time here in America. And a good time was had by all.

It seemed, though, like everything was against us on the trip. We left dark and early yesterday morning and stuffed eight people in an SUV that could only seat seven (though I would personally say six, tops). They said it couldn’t be done, but we figured out the right arrangement.

Kevin’s dad drove. As we embarked, it got unbelievably rainy. It turns out that we were being hit (though not directly) by Tropical Storm/Depression Arlene. Kevin’s dad talked of turning around, but at one point the rain stopped and it became a beautiful day. So we kept on going, and we made it to Islands of Adventure at around 10 or 11 in the morning. Most of the rest of the day was uneventful, with one exception.

When I went to Islands on a class trip in May 2003, my friends and I thought we could take another ride on the Dueling Dragons twin roller coasters, but we ended up being a little late and had to run back to the bus after we were supposed to have been there. It’s hard enough running from this corner of the park all the way to the bus parking lot, but try doing it while keeping track of about six of your friends. While we were running as fast as we could, I set my watch back minute by minute so we could say we didn’t know we were late. I ended up setting my watch 15 minutes behind, so we arrived back at the bus right “on time.” The principal and our teachers weren’t amused, but we didn’t get in trouble.

Back to yesterday. By the time we got to the area of the park with Dueling Dragons, the weather was beginning to look a little dreary. The lady by the entrance of the ride said that they were closing it due to lightning within a five-mile radius, but that we could go ahead and wait for it anyway. So we did. The line for this ride is extremely long and winds around not only outdoors, but indoors as well. When we walked inside we came across a bunch of people who had the same idea as us: they were determined to ride the Dueling Dragons, no matter what.

Inside the building, which was decorated like a dungeon, the line moved forward, but not because people were getting on the ride. (They constantly played a pre-recorded message over the sound system saying that the ride had been closed.) People were actually abandoning the line. But my group didn’t give up. Eventually we got to the end of the line, in the area where you’re supposed to get on your track of choice. But we could see that it was raining buckets outside. Relentlessly.

We sat around a bit (there was hardly anyone there by that point) and then eventually got towards the boarding areas when things started looking better. Finally, they took off the trains that had apparently been caught in the downpour and opened for business. And there was much rejoicing. So we got to ride the ride and all that, but only after having to wait for two and a half hours. I think Dueling Dragons is unlucky for me.

I took some pictures too. This one is of our group (and I took the picture).

Quentin is third from right. He didn’t smile in any photograph; I think it’s because he has braces or a retainer or something. Or maybe they just don’t smile in France. I was looking through my photos on my camera when Quentin asked to see. When he gave my camera back, I had one less photo of him. Now, it annoys me when people refuse to be photographed, but when they destroy my photos — my property — I find it extremely rude. Never mind that it was a bad shot of him, anyway. It’s a thought-provoking moral dilemma.

(On a similar note, my sister’s friend Katherine — third from left — is really photogenic, even though she doesn’t seem to think so. It would be cool to have her do a photo shoot or something.)

We left when the park started to close at around 8:00. We changed (the water rides left us wet), ate dinner at Friday’s, and then went to our hotel to sleep.

This morning we drove to Melbourne, which Kevin’s dad wanted to go to because he wanted to see the waves for which the almost-but-not-quite-coastal city is renowned. The town that is actually on the coast is called Indialantic. We ate lunch (we didn’t have breakfast) at a Wendy’s on the beach there. And then we drove home.

I survived… my room

Today I had to clean my room. No, I really had to. If you know me, you know it takes a threat to get me to do it. Even if you don’t, you could probably guess.

So my mom told me I had to clean my room by tomorrow or she was going to do it for me… and you know what that means. She’d throw away everything. I actually took a little while to weigh the consequences. Clean my room or have someone else do it for me? Anyway, I opted for the former.

I started working on the floor, so I could have a place to put stuff when I was cleaning everything else. It was littered with old books and notes from last semester… not the one that just ended, but the one that ended in December. They had been there since then. While I was at it, I threw away my stuff from this past semester, too. It was also on the floor, but it hadn’t been there for long. It was weird actually throwing that stuff away, though. I usually keep it.

Next I cleaned the top of my dresser. It wasn’t that bad because there isn’t much room there. Remember when I pulled a little prank on Google and got free stuff in return? Well, the Google T-shirt and the letter were still sitting there from November. (I had put the Google Goo elsewhere, and the pen ran out of ink a few days after I got it.)

After that I tackled my desk. The junk was piled up there. I found some AOL CDs I’ve been meaning to send to No More AOL CDs. I also found the script of the World of Stuff Christmas video from last year. Buried deep under everything were my birthday cards from last year. Before throwing each one away, I checked to make sure there wasn’t still money inside. I did find a few gift cards, though.

Finally I did the inside my closet, which was really what I was supposed to be working on. All my mom wants to do is open the sliding closet door without anything getting in the way. So I threw away the stuff that was in the way — old shoes, mostly — and that was that.

During this little expedition I found several dollars in change and a $50 check that I got for Christmas. I hope it’s still valid. I’d like to apologize to my godparents if they haven’t been able to balance their checkbook for the past six months.

Also, I noticed that my allergies have gotten better. I have been allergic to dust for a while now. Last year when I cleaned my room, I had to wear one of those masks that doctors wear. This year I hardly suffered more than some itching and a general feeling of uneasiness. And I even came into contact with some clumps of dust! The allergies must be going away.

Ever read this in your inbox?

Snopes isn’t sure if it’s true, but it’s an interesting concept. After all, you could read the text, couldn’t you?

Anyway, The Scramblizer is a tool that gives the treatment to a given URL. It rearranges the letters of each word but leaves the first and last letters intact. The result: surprisingly readable gibberish. Try it out.

The French connection (part deux)

Has it really been four days since I last posted? What, you may ask, could I be doing during this fine summer that would detract from my blogging?

On Tuesday I met Kevin’s French pal, Quentin. He had arrived on Monday night. It was kind of awkward as we (my sister and I) didn’t have much to say to him, nor him to us. That night we took him to see Star Wars. I had forgotten how boring it was. At 140 minutes, it was much too long. And Quentin said he had already seen it in French. I guess it’s a good way to learn English, though. Once Yoda’s English you can understand, anyone you can understand.

Yesterday we took Quentin to a mall, where we killed some time before going to a friend’s house, in a fancy gated neighborhood, for a barbecue of sorts. It pretty much consisted of eating hamburgers by the pool. There was no backyard to speak of, but there was a canal. The neighbors across the canal had a Coke machine by their pool. No fair, I thought. After that, we walked to the neighborhood club house to play chess, exercise, swim, and play billiards. By this time Quentin had warmed up to us, and us to him, so I think he’s enjoying things more now. My sister (who takes French at school) even got the nerve to practice her French on him.

On Saturday we’re going to hit Islands of Adventure, and then on Sunday we’re going to do Orlando before heading home. I hope Quentin likes it. I think he will.

Askay Ordonjay

Mary : What is the most common first name in the world?

I once said that it was Mohammed (or variants). A quick Googling doesn’t seem to give any reliable sources, but Mohammed seems to be the most common answer.

TYNARRATAYLOR: WHY DO YOUPLAY BASKETBALL

I DONT KNOWWHAT YOUR TAKLING ABOUT

Oh, please don’t tell me you think I’m Michael Jordan or something. That would be so pathetic.

Interesting: public domain newsreels from 1929 to 1967 available for download. It’s a good way of looking at history firsthand. A popular download is Dead A-Bomb Hits U.S. Town, from March 13, 1958. Aside from the title story, the newsreel reports on the use of computers in automation of factories. I was so bored yesterday that I made a sort of music video for my band using some of the footage. It is uncopyrighted, anyway.

No S’s allowed

Tonight as I was preparing myself a dinner with uncharacteristic hope and enthusiasm, my sister said, “I hate how everybody’s obsessed with dieting.” I simply replied, “Read my next post.”

This, of course, is my next post.

I happened to come across this web site: The No S Diet. The No S Diet, or the nosdiet, consists of three rules and one exception: No snacks, no sweets, and no seconds, except (sometimes) on days that start with “S” (i.e., Saturday, Sunday, and special days). And that’s it. It’s so short that it fits in the title bar when you go to the web page.

Why would this work better than fad diets? For the full details, check out the web site. But in short, it codifies basic rules for healthy eating into a handy mnemonic. “No snacks” because you inevitably end up eating more when you snack throughout the day. “No sweets,” obviously, because they provide little nutrition. And “no seconds” because overeating leads to being overweight. It all makes sense. So I think I’m going to give it a try.

“But, oh, Jordon, you’re not fat,” you say. “But oh, reader, yes I am,” I reply, mocking you. I am overweight. I’m not obese or anything, otherwise they’d have me checked out by now, maybe. Now, I’m not exactly sure of my height, but I do have a good idea of my present weight. At any reasonable estimate of my height, my BMI is firmly within the “Overweight” category. Not to mention that visibly, it shows. My face is kind of fat. When people see my profile they can hardly see my eyes. I can’t, anyway. Ever wonder why I don’t smile much? The fatness becomes more apparent.

I started the No S Diet today. Yes, today has been an S day, and all the longer until the next one (Saturday). But I tried not to indulge even though the diet technically kind of allows it. For dinner I had some rice and beans with onions on top. I also had a can of turkey soup, but instead of having the whole can as I usually do, I had one helping (i.e., half the can) and saved the rest for later. And look, ma, I’m full.

I know that dieting in itself won’t make me any more cool. But diet and exercise will. So I’ll try to exercise a bit also. The guy who brought you the No S Diet has a page about the benefits of walking.

After whenever I feel like it, I’ll keep you updated on how I’m doing with these strange concepts of diet and exercise.

Let’s do some Ask Jordoning.

don: how common is the name ‘wong’

Sorry, Don, but I don’t know. I could guess, but I’d probably be Wong.

Wong is a Chinese name, if I am correct, and I’ve heard that China has only about 600 last names among its billion or so people. That’s about 1.6 million people per name. (It’s actually closer to 1,666,667, with the last two-thirds of a person rounded up.) According to this list of surnames, Wong was the 459th most common last name in the U.S. in 1990. About 62,175 Americans were named Wong at that time. There’s probably more updated information out there, say, from the 2000 census, but I trust you know how to Google it.

Andrea: I have a $5.00 bill signed by Roy Orbison. I have had it for years. I was wondering if you could tell me if it is worth anything. Thank you

I’m not an autograph dealer, so I wouldn’t really know. But I’m sure that, if authentic, it could rake you in a lot, especially if the bill’s in good shape. You might want to have it looked at by an autograph dealer, if possible. And if you’re going to sell it, sell to a collector, not a dealer. Dealers buy low, while interested collectors will be willing to pay a higher price.

And now, everything you ever wanted to know about the Color Television Revolution. Seriously, a sick amount of information about the history of color TV. Strange, but cool nonetheless.

The French connection

The other day I mentioned that I would be going to Islands of Adventure next week. Now, about that… But first, I have some backstory.

My friend Kevin, a frequent commenter on this site (if there is such a thing), is a Francophile studying to be a Francophone. He’s even joined a foreign exchange program for this summer. This French kid named Quentin is going to stay with him for a few weeks, and then he’s going to France to stay with Quentin for a few weeks. When Quentin and Kevin were instant messaging each other about the upcoming visit, Quentin said he wanted to go on a trip as far from Kevin’s house as possible.

We (my circle of friends which includes Kevin) thought this was kind of rude, but I could see where he was going with it. After all, if Quentin wants to see America, he might as well see America. I’m sure that if I were staying in France, I’d want to go see Paris, no matter how far. Anyway, it was decided that Kevin’s dad would take him and Quentin (and some of Kevin’s friends, including me) to Islands of Adventure next Saturday.

But Quentin is arriving on Monday. So before the grand excursion we’re going to immerse him in some good American culture. On Tuesday night we’re taking him to see Star Wars because he likes Star Wars (maybe he won’t understand it in English, but it shouldn’t matter much because he’s probably seen it in France already). On Wednesday one of Kevin’s friends happened to be having a barbecue, so he’s taking Quentin to that. (It can’t be a coincidence, though; after all, who has a barbecue? I don’t even think I‘ve been to a real, all-American, hamburgers-sizzling-on-the-old-fashioned-grill, picnic-table-with-red-and-white-tablecloth, playing-ball-in-the-grass-with-sprinklers-relieving-you-from-the-hot-summer-sun barbecue.)

Anyway, I want Quentin to get a taste of the real America. I hear we get a bum rap over there in his country, and maybe even others. When he comes to my house (as he almost certainly will, because Kevin lives in my neighborhood), I want to shake his hand heartily and say “Welcome to America,” and then maybe add a “bonjour” to make him feel at home.

So, Kevin’s learning French, Quentin’s learning English. I wonder who’s better at the other’s language? That’s the thing about languages, you know. I’d hate to be in a country where strange people would expect me to master all the subtleties of their native tongue. It makes me glad I’m learning Esperanto, which is a neutral language that belongs to nobody. If I were to go to France and chat it up with an Esperantist, we’d be meeting each other halfway instead of having me make a gargantuan effort to learn French (or having him do the same to learn English). Esperanto is big in France, I hear. The Pasporta Servo, which is a hospitality service for Esperanto speakers, has a bunch of hosts in France. If I ever want to go to France sometime…

Pass the Ask Jordon, please.

ashleigh: Would you lie about your age?

Depends. I wouldn’t do it on any official forms or anything, but I might do it to a real person. For example, if someone asked for my age, and I told them to guess, and they said, “Oh, I dunno… 17?” I might say “Hey, you’re right!”

Tom: I’m in the middle of moving. Half of my stuff is in storage, and I can’t find the tv remote. Do you have any idea where it is?

Don’t worry, Tom, it’s here under my desk. I just bumped it with my foot. Oh, and if you’re missing a sock, I think there’s one back there, but it’s probably Todd‘s.

Mick: Sexy pics

I’ll construe this as a question and answer “No.”

About a year ago, I linked to a LiveJournal whose entries are typed by a cat. Looking back at the LJ, which is still active, I find it sad that Ripley the Cat’s blog routinely gets way more comments than this one.

Has The Year really been The Year?

On August 15, 2004, the day before the 2004-2005 school year began, I declared that the impending school year would be “The Year.” In that post, I set forth some goals for the year. Let’s see how I did.

• Be more outgoing. I’d say I improved in this area, probably because I had met a lot of people from my first year. However, I met fewer people during The Year.
• Learn to drive. They were passing out copies of the Driver’s Handbook last week at school, and suffice it to say it was the first time I had ever laid eyes on one.
• Umm… Yep, I definitely did that.
• Win the girl of my dreams. Haha, yeah right. Haha, yeah right. I was in fact alluding to a specific person, who has always eluded me and ever will. In other news, I still have never had a girlfriend or anything like one. The End.
• Let me think, here… I apologize belatedly for this misplaced comma.
• Maintain my good grades? Though my final report card hasn’t arrived yet (and is not due to arrive for another two weeks), I can safely say that I have kept my grades up throughout the year.

Since I did not achieve all of these goals, I have no choice but to declare The Year a failure.

As promised previously, here are several photos of the destruction caused to Hutchinson Island, which was battered by two hurricanes last year.

Facing southeast. These trees were mangled by the storms; probably more so by Hurricane Frances because it moved much more slowly. Though the eye of Hurricane Jeanne made landfall on this island, the eye of Frances hit just nearby.

The same trees from a different angle (facing southwest, taken in the field to the right of the pool in the previous photo). Note the condo in the background: apparently some people have kept their places boarded up.

This is the sort of thing I’d like… and hey, I do! As in the olden days, you can send a Western Union telegram. The telegram was once the medium of choice for stuff that had to get there immediately. It’s a good way to impress people, I bet. If I were to write to my Congressman, I’d send a telegram, probably.

The only downside is that each one is $15 a pop. And I bet they don’t use Morse code or anything to transmit the message. These days it’s probably just a glorified fax.

Summer vacation!

That’s it! The 2004-2005 school year is over. O-V-E-R.

Yesterday my exams were pretty hard. In world history, I had to answer some pretty deep questions, like “What has been man’s greatest achievement?” (World trade, I said, for allowing the exchange of information and ideas) and “What has been man’s worst failure?” (I said the Second World War, for bankrupting Britain and weakening France, encouraging those countries and other colonial powers to decolonize too rapidly and carelessly [after which former colonies became today's third world countries {this had been a recurring theme in our lessons}], and also for kicking off the Cold War.) And other stuff which I now forget.

The Spanish exam was kind of hard because I didn’t know some of the words. It was written by the county; go figure. I’m sure if the teacher wrote her own exam I would have aced it.

I took the next two exams today. Algebra II was a very hard exam. Once again, there were things we did not learn on the test. I’m talking specifically of a probability-related question. Sure, it was easy, but that’s not the point! Much of the exam was hard, anyway. I worked until the bell, by which time I had gotten to the end of the test, but only after skipping several answers. I had to Christmas-tree them. There were maybe four or five (out of 80 questions). I’ll never know the exact grade I will have gotten on that test; exam grades are stored as a letter, which could signify a number anywhere in the range of 10 percentage points. Using my handy “Assume-the-worst-and-you’ll-never-be-disappointed” method, I’ve calculated that I’ll probably get C, or, if I’m lucky, a B.

Finally, in English, I had to write an essay, have it proofread by other students, and rewrite it. Easy.

And that was it! We counted down the last ten seconds until the final bell of the year (courtesy of my friend Gilbert, who keeps his watch synchronized with the bells). There was much mirth in the halls, papers strewn about, the usual stereotypical business. And, just like that, my sophomore year is over.

Continuing a sort of tradition from last year, I have a few things to say. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the friends of mine who don’t go to my school — Alex, Kevin, and Sean — for being my friends in spite of it all. Next, I’d like to thank my friends who do go to my school: Andrew, Autumn, Billy, Bryan, Caitlin, Danny, Donald, Evan, Gilbert, James (whom I recently met again after several years), Jeff D., Katherine, Kim, Lauren, Mandi, Mark, Michelle, Mike, Nick, Omar, Paolo, Sabrina, Sacha, and Yamilee. Finally, I want to thank the new friends I’ve made: Anthony, Amanda, David, Euridice, Heidi, Ipek, Jeff C., Jennifer, Joe, Justin, Kristen, Nicole, Ryan, T.J., and Tanya.

(Note: for those last two lists, I stretch the definition of “friend” very tight. To me a friend is someone who’ve I’ve socialized with roughly about more than onceish. After all, you’ve got to be great to carry on a conversation with me for more than four seconds. If I forgot you on any of these lists, then oops. My subconscious must be trying to tell me something.)

As for my summer plans, this month I plan to go to Islands of Adventure (more on that later), and later in the month, I’m going to the Keys for a week. That will be the extent of my summer traveling.

Learning Esperanto

Note: Since I’m in the process of learning the Esperanto language, I’ll probably be blogging a lot about it for, well, a long time.

On Monday when I got back home from vacation, I was surprised to find that the book I had ordered, Teach Yourself Esperanto, had already arrived. Furthermore, it was not from the bookstore I ordered it from via Amazon, but directly from the Esperanto League for North America. Along with the book, they included some materials about ELNA, UEA, the upcoming Esperanto congress in Lithuania, Esperanto periodicals, and probably other things. I thought that maybe I should join ELNA and/or UEA once I learn Esperanto (probably the beginning of next year; I don’t want to jump the gun and pay a full year’s dues for six months of membership).

After some web searching, it occurred to me that there are no Esperanto clubs or organizations in my area. When the #1 hit at Google for “south florida esperanto” is theworldofstuff.com, that’s pretty darn sad. Maybe starting an Esperanto club around here would be a good idea, if I get really serious about this. There’s gotta be a few Esperantists around here, at least. We could always meet for coffee or something.

Anyway, I picked up the book right away and began my “formal” Esperanto training. The book recommends an hour a day of practice. I’m worried, though, that maybe I’m rushing too far into the book. After all, this is Day 3 and I’m already on Lesson 2 (out of 15). Various reviews indicate that people using the book become fairly fluent in several months. At this rate, I should be done with the book in one month, and where am I to go from there? Maybe I’m just rushing in because it’s pretty easy; I do know the basics of Esperanto grammar and such already. Maybe it’ll get harder and that’ll make up for things. But I’ll just have to see how it goes. Note to self: Study the vocabulary a bit more. Pronunciation wouldn’t hurt either. Maybe once I’m fluent enough I’ll practice listening. (There are recordings of Esperanto radio broadcasts on the web… or, shall we say, la reto.)

Anyway, the last day of school is tomorrow, and final exams began today. I hope beginning my Esperanto studies right before my Spanish exam didn’t hinder my accomplishment on the latter. It probably did a little, but either way, I didn’t know some of those words.

I’m not sure what to think of this: “A birthday that involves copyright infringement is an Unhappy Birthday.” The site explains that the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are copyrighted, and that technically, royalties can (and should) be collected when the song is performed in public. Um, I think it’s satirical. But the facts appear to be true. The lyrics to this little ditty are protected by copyright, but luckily, the melody is not. Says the site: “The melody has since passed into the public domain, and is safe to hum in public without permission.”

It just goes to show that copyright law has gone too far. The song, which was written in 1893 and formally copyrighted in 1935, should have become public domain in 1991, but will continue to be protected (?) till the year 2030… if man is still alive… if woman can survive…