Tim's Hybrid Phonetic Alphabet

I've spent a few minutes coming up with a phonetic alphabet that has a blend of different phonetic alphabets.  This should may help with phone calls where I need to communicate letters.

A - Alligator
B - Broomstick
C - Chocolate
D - Donkey
E - Echo
F - Frisbee
G - Giraffe
H - Hotel
I - Indigo
J - Joker
K - Kangaroo
L - Lemon
M - Manatee
N - Ninja
O - Onion / Oasis
P - Parade
Q - Quebec
R - Rainbow
S - Shampoo
T - Tango / Tomato
U - Unicorn
V - Vampire
W - Walrus / Worcestershire 
X - X-ray
Y - Yahtzee
Z - Zombie

Duplo

Lauren's getting more and more personality, and in looking for toys that we can all enjoy, we ended up getting a bunch of Duplo pieces.  Back when I was a kid, Duplo block meant 'dull and boring' blocks.  However, these days, they are just oversize legos that are hard to swallow.   Not just the blocks themselves, but the price of Duplos and Legos are also hard to swallow.  After looking around a bit, I bought some Duplos off of craigslist, and also from sellers on the website Bricklink.com.  We ended up with a tractor, a backhoe, a barn on wheels, a ship, a castle.  A small mountain of high density plastic.  Probably the best feature of the castle is indoor plumbing, which is an unusual feature for plastic castles.  A close second would be the portcullis, however.

Books

I recently finished reading (last year) Wool by Hugh Howey.  An interesting read for sure.  A futuristic post-apocalyptic fiction where life exists in a siloed reality.  It was an exciting and good read.  I also read the next part of the saga, Shift.  The first book was like the original Matrix, and the second part was kindof like the Matrix 2... or perhaps even the Star Wars prequels.  Answering questions that fill out the universe, but don't really fit the paradigm that the original set.

I also read Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett.  Another fun read in the Discworld series.

I am currently working through The White and the Gold; the French regime in Canada, by Thomas Costain.  Costain has a technique in his writing that makes reading history more enjoyable.  Perhaps it is the drawing of character into the history that enables him to make often bland subjects sparkle.  It is about the French colonization of Canada.

Roguelikes

A rogue-like computer game:
Like Rogue and Nethack, Brogue is an single player dungeon crawler.  It uses a software library specifically made for the creation of Roguelike games.  If you are going to download it, and play it, I recommend using the edition with character fonts:  Brogue with Tiles by Oryx




Legend of Dungeon, another rogue-like but with 3D voxel based graphics.  Probably best with a gamepad.  This one is pretty simple, with only a few controls.  It also features an online scoreboard.

Coffee Rant - Ethiopian Yergacheffe

A fighter jet designed from the ground up to push the envelope further than it has even been pushed before.  A formidable force.  Possibly the best in the world...  and at least one of the best in the universe.

Characteristics:
A wholesome earthy taste, with a strong hint of berry, specifically the tartness of huckleberries.  Smooth with a pleasant aftertaste.  Afterburners...

Quack Quack Quack

Scientific Method for Home Remedies

Ever wonder if the homeopathic remedy that you are trying (instead of forking out against your deductible) is actually helpful?   Here is a graphic (though a few years old) that gives you an idea of what is actually helpful, according to research and medical journals.  There is a newer interactive chart which automatically updates from changes to a catalog of recent research.  Interesting to see fish oil and green tea move to lesser status in the intervening years.