Names Are Becoming Less Common

The Economist reports (with graphs) that the names of newborns in the US are increasing not in the top 100 names.

In fact since the 1950s names have become less uniform across the board. Back then 76% of baby boys were given one of the 100 most popular names. Now the proportion is 43%.

Dolphins Have Names

The Guardian has an article that says that, essentially, dolphins have and use names for each other.

Where the Countries used to be

Flowing Data has a post with a map showing the original continent of Pangea with modern day country borders.  It looks like you could have walked from Newfoundland to Morocco.

Invented in Canada

Mental Floss as a post with a list of 19 things invented in Canada.  In addition to the usual suspects there were a few on the list that I hadn't known were Canadian.

Where Could Snowden Go?

The Economist has a post with a map showing which countries have extradition treaties with the US.  This could be useful information if any of you are considering a life of crime (or whistle-blowing).

Where to see Spaceships (in the US)

Space.com has an article with an infographic (also known as a map) showing where you can see various retired spaceships around the USA.

Montreal Moving Day

The Wall Street Journal has an article about a Canadian phenomena that I have always wondered about.  Why does everyone in Montreal move house on the same day?

DIY Grad School

The Art of Non-Conformity has a post about a do-it-yourself version of grad school.  I have been vaguely considering going to grad school but maybe I should try this instead.  Especially since I already have a subscription to the Economist.

Escher Tile Hardwood Flooring

Technabob has a post about hardwood floor cut into the shape of the Escher reptiles.  I think this might look a bit strange in reality but maybe I'm just hung-up on have long thin strips of wood.

A Bell that has been Ringing for 173 Years

According to this article on io9, there is a bell at Oxford University that has been ringing for 173 years.  Apparently no one knows what is in the battery and they are waiting for it to run down before opening it up.

20th Century Causes of Death

Information is Beautiful has a post with an infographic showing the total numbers of people killed by various causes during the 20th century.

Worldly Personal Space

CNN has a page with an interactive graphic that show the amount of space people take up in various cities around the world.

via Flowing Data

The Most Isolated Man in History

The BBC has an article about Al Worden who was the command module pilot on Apollo 15 and as such orbited the moon alone while the rest of the crew went down to the lunar surface.  When the command module was on the far side of the moon (from both the Earth and the lander crew) he (and the five command module pilots on the other Apollo missions) was the most isolated that any human has ever been.

A Friend's App: Linger

The Atlantic has a write up on my friend Chuck Shnider's new app Linger. The app gives an organised view of the films in the Prelinger Archives.  I was at the NSNorth conference a few weekends ago and during some of the breaks Chuck played films from his app on the giant screen.  This app could be a real time eater.

Fuel Surplus

The Pacific Standard has an article about the amount of oil in the world.

We human beings have consumed, over our entire history, about a trillion barrels of oil.

They continue with:

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there is still seven to eight times that much left in the ground. The oil that’s left is just more difficult, and therefore more expensive, to get to.

Photo: Owl and Mouse

National Geogrpahic Photo of the Day has an awesome shot of an Owl about to pick up some lunch.

World's Oldest Aerial Photo

The Smithsonian has a blog post about the world's oldest surviving aerial photography.  It is a picture of Boston taken in 1860.

Obit: Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist - last of the anti-Hitler plotters

The Economist has the obituary of Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist.  During the Second World War he twice agreed to be a suicide bomber in plots to assassinate Adolph Hitler.  He was the last surviving member of the July 20 plot (which was the subject of the Tom Cruise movie Valkyrie). 

Words from Shakespeare

Mental Floss has a post listing twenty words that were coined by William Shakespeare.  Apparently he created "over 2200 never-before-seen words".  I was amazed that one of them was the word manager.

Obit: John E. Karlin - Dialing Pioneer

The New York Times has the obituary of John Karlin who was involved in the development of the modern telephone numbering scheme.