And now for another in the line of stupid Google tricks (thanks Jeff), we present the phrase Brandy, the boxer dog with the 17 inch long tongue translated into other languages...

der Boxerhund mit der 17 Zoll langen Zunge ...
el brandy, el perro del boxeador con la lengüeta de 17 pulgadas de largo ...
l'eau-de-vie fine, le chien de boxeur avec la languette de 17 pouces de longue ...
il brandy, il cane dal boxer con la linguetta lunga 17 pollici ...
o conhaque, o cão do boxer com a lingüeta de 17 polegadas de comprimento ...

I love Google.

6:46:43 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    

OK, so I actually tried some of the wacky search attempts...

It would appear that this blog is now 'above the fold' on most of the search attempts by folks looking for Brandy, the boxer dog with the 17 inch long tongue...

And now Jeff tells me it has put him at number one for one of the searches, just by blinking me.

6:24:30 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    

Jeff sez this might work. Or not.

Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
Portuguese

5:55:17 PM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    

Well, you could get this for US$40, using the Radio news aggregator feature. New and improved, and now with special commenty flavor!

Franz Kafka. "You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait. Do not even wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet."

9:31:52 AM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    [blinked via Motivational Quotes of the Day]  

Stolen from McGee. This looks like it'll be useful, and I'm afraid I will have to drag this one out sometime...

Policy and Path Dependence: From QWERTY to Windows 95: "Welcome to the world of path dependence, a world governed not by our stars, not by ourselves, but by insignificant accidents of history. In this unpredictable world, small, seemingly inconsequential decisions lead inexorably to uncontrollable consequences. Ingestion of a fly leads an old lady to swallow a spider, a bird, a cat, a dog, a goat, a cow, and then, tragically, a horse. A typewriter keyboard arrangement that solves a temporary mechanical problem on the first typewriter becomes entrenched as the standard for generations to come, even though it is notoriously inefficient."

Path dependence came up in last night's class. Economist Kenneth Boulding puts it more succinctly: "Things are the way they are because they got that way." (The Boulding reference is courtesy of one of Gerry Weinberg's typically excellent books, The Secrets of Consulting).  This is a good starting point if you want a refresher on the idea. If you want to dig deeper into the topic, the place to start is probably Brian Arthur, now at the Sante Fe Institute

1:17:06 AM  [] blah blah blah'd on this    [blinked via McGee's Musings]