TAPEWORM

#11. Thou Shalt Not Use Caps Lock

Source: BoingBoing Gadgets

Finally...

Hey, kids!

Are you a geek and don't know how to show it?

Then you need the R2-D2 backpack!

This plush, Stars Wars-themed carry all will be sure to let people know that not only do you LOVE Star Wars...you're also completely unafraid to humiliate yourself with an almost-life size replica of Luke's very famous (and helpful) droid!
______________________

Yes, this is goofy.
And yes, my six-year-old is going to lose his mind when he sees this.

Source: BoingBoing Gadgets

I (Heart) BoingBoing...

I know, I know. I keep linking articles from BoingBoing. (And plan to do more...) But I'm constantly amazed at how much cool info they dig up. Found this the other day and thought it was all really cool.
___________
"Meet our new guest blogger, John Hodgman. Here is a brief introduction:

Before he went on television, John Hodgman was a simple writer, expert, and Former Professional Literary Agent living in New York City. In this capacity, he has served as the Humor Editor for the New York Times Magazine, Occasional Public Radio Personality for This American Life, Advice Columnist for McSweeney’s, and a Freelance Journalist specializing in Food, Non-Wine Alcohol, Battlestar Galactica, and most other subjects. This was enough of a career for any human. But then he wrote a book of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE entitled Areas of My Expertise and was asked to appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he continues to provide commentary as the show’s Resident Expert. Now, at 37, he has unexpectedly become a Famous Minor Television Personality, appearing as the 'PC' in a series of television ads for Apple brand computers, and accepting guest roles as 'the person wearing glasses' in a variety of films and TV shows, including Battlestar Galactica, a show he once wrote about as a journalist. From time to time, he is asked to describe his professional life, and in particular, the effect of this dramatic and surprising change of fortune, and typically, he finds he cannot do it.

His new book, More Information Than You Require, just came out today."

(Image: Jan Cobb)
___________
Source: BoingBoing

Not A Real Word...

"Whenever I see 'not a real word' used to stigmatize what is (usually) a perfectly cromulent word, I wonder why the writer felt the need to hang a big sign reading 'I am not confident about my writing' on it. What do they imagine the penalty is for using an 'unreal' word? A ticket from the Dictionary Police? The revocation (as the joke goes) of your poetic license? A public shaming by William Safire? The irony is that most of these words, without the disclaimer, would pass unnoticed by the majority of readers. (In case you noticed cromulent, that was invented in the 1990s for 'The Simpsons.') Writers who hedge their use of unfamiliar, infrequent, or informal words with 'I know that's not a real word,' hoping to distance themselves from criticism, run the risk of creating doubt where perhaps none would have naturally arisen."

-Erin McKean, Boston Globe

Source: BoingBoing