Tuesday, March 28, 2006

The Curiously LESS Strong Peppermints

For many years I've been a fan of Altoids, the "Curiously Strong Peppermints" from Callard and Bowser. The mints have evolved, but the original formula dates back to the 1780's!

Recently I saw a new Altoids tin in a store. It's the same size, but the design has been changed and is more old-fashioned looking. Oddly enough, the mints tasted just a bit different, so I compared the list of ingredients with an old tin I had on hand.

OLD LIST: sugar, oil of peppermint, gum arabic, gelatin, corn syrup

NEW LIST: sugar, gum arabic, artificial flavor, oil of peppermint, gelatin, glucose syrup

Oil of peppermint has gone form the second to the fourth ingredient! *sigh*

Time to try another mint.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

History All Around Us

It's not surprising that there's a lot of history around us... people have been living in this country for a long time. And in almost every community, there are people who care about that history, and work to preserve it. Hostorical societies and small museums abound. Some communities may have "living history" centers that cover many acres and preserve dozens of structures; others may have a small room in the city hall or community center where a handful of artifacts are preserved.

It's hard for these history exhibits to compete with multi-media entertainment centers, but they are there, year after year, waiting for you. It's worth your time to see what your community was like in the past. It's not something that's "good for you" - it's just plain fun.

Take a little time this week and seek out a local history exhibit or museum! And maybe - just maybe - you'll want to become a little more involved in preserving your community's history for others to enjoy.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Fun with Photoshop?


The story below has been circulating around the Internet in recent days. I have no idea if it's true... it certainly has the "feel" of an Internet hoax. Nevertheless, the picture is funny, so I'll post the accompanying story as well:

Edge Designs is an all women run company that designs interior office space.

They had a recent opportunity to do an office project in NYC. The client allowed the women of this company a free hand in all design aspects. The client was a company that was also run by all women execs. The result
............well.......!

We all know that men never talk, never look at each other, and never laugh much in the restroom. The men's room is a serious and quiet place. But now, with the addition of one mural on the wall, lets just say the men's restroom is a place of laughter and smiles.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Search your Photos

Most of us have searched for images on the Internet, or perhaps searched a stock photo site. The image searches don't really have anything to do with the images... they consider files names, tags, and words surrounding the image.

The premise behind Riya.com is different. The site can be "trained" to recognize images of particular people, and then can recognize other photos of the same people. The site, which is currently in beta testing, offices a service allowing users to automatically catalog thier photos.

Similar technology has been around for many years, but has never worked well enough to be broadly used. (El Cotoro recalls a demonstration in which the software repeatedly confused photographs of Humphrey Bogart with a lamp.)

The small number of images I tried on the Riay site didn't give very good results, but maybe you'll have more patience and better luck!