tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94355602008-08-16T16:19:01.891-07:00Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-49532542289465233482008-08-09T16:31:00.007-07:002008-08-15T23:53:34.934-07:00

Microsoft Encarta gives you less when you upgrade. Year # articles # pictures # sound clips #animations 2005 68,000 25,000 2,800 400 2006 68,000 25,000 2,500 300 2007 66,000 26,000 3,000 300 2008 60,000 25,000 3,800 800 (incl. activities) 2009 62,000 ? ? ? In using Student 2006 and Student 2009, less encyclopedic content is evident everywhere. The number of articles has been reduced by 6000.

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-23255515825020410512008-08-05T07:00:00.006-07:002008-08-05T17:13:36.407-07:00

Dave and Devon discuss some recent observation in the ongoing battle to get good trivia games at thrift stores. Devon: I don't see the "big corporate store" really as a friendly force based on some of our recent purchases. Dave: I fully agree. They appear to have some system to price games based on condition, so that a poorer looking box of TP1 can go for $2 while a newer looking one will be $3

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-8577008180134218482008-07-22T09:04:00.009-07:002008-07-27T20:11:26.727-07:00

Dave and Devon discuss what they might do with the trivia boardgames being collected. Dave: When I bought the first trivia game -- Trivial Pursuit, the main purpose was to collect trivia games to use them as information resources. In other words, I'm treating them like books on cards. Devon: Then we found out there are too many editions of TP to get them all, and in fact there were many other

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-83588397212182305742008-07-21T13:01:00.006-07:002008-07-24T12:21:53.299-07:00

Dave and Devon reflect on the trivia games that they didn't collect. Devon: We hesitated on certain trivia board games, which were then promptly snapped up by our competitors. On hindsight, some of them could have been worthwhile buys. Dave: How true. The Da Vinci Quest was one such game. With categories such as Genius and the Grail, People Places, Faith and Fable, and Quest Curiosities, it

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-41427867877725372372008-07-18T09:03:00.006-07:002008-07-20T21:43:06.509-07:00

With a slowing growing collection of trivia board games but not any actual gameplay, Dave and Devon conjecture about what makes a good trivia game. Devon: Although factors such as gameplay and design are important issues, I think the most vital part is the trivia questions themselves. Dave: I agree. When one plays a trivia game, it really comes down to the challenge of answering the questions.

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-19739151874267672542008-07-17T13:42:00.006-07:002008-07-17T14:14:31.520-07:00

With the recent discovery of possible competitors to Dave and Devon's quest for question based boardgames, the plot takes another unexpected turn with ... betrayal! (Dave and Devon had just returned from an excursion from a thrift store) Devon: I still can't believe those prices... and such limited selection of games. Dave: I'm surprised too. I thought stores from the same chain would have

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-50971911163249285282008-07-17T08:47:00.004-07:002008-07-17T12:15:20.546-07:00

In the fiercely competitive, dog-eat-dog world of bargain hunting high drama, I've portrayed myself and my alter ego Devon as the protagonists. But for each protagonist there must also be an antagonist. And now, I sense a disturbance in the force. There maybe another... Devon: What gave you the suspicion that we have a competitor? Dave: In the past several weeks, we've made multiple trips to

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-41836849477375337202008-07-16T12:35:00.006-07:002008-07-16T23:14:28.389-07:00

Is there any etiquette for bargain hunting? When you are looking at several boardgames, is it OK for someone pickup something that you have just put down, but intend to look at again while you think about it? Is it consider greedy to hang on to several items, knowing that you'll buy only one or none, just to keep other greedy hands away? The term bargain hunting says it all -- it is a hunt and

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-80423507154342859852008-07-05T22:33:00.005-07:002008-07-06T23:23:01.729-07:00

My alter ego Devon and I had a chat about my developing love-hate relationship with thrift stores. Devon: I thought bargain shopping is all about thrill of the hunt. When did it become an emotional issue? Dave: In visiting nearby thrift stores, I've noticed these stores can also reflect typical issues in retail marketing. One example is the difference in the "little guy" vs "big corporation".

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-25493071233870945022008-06-25T23:49:00.005-07:002008-07-16T12:31:04.083-07:00

A conversation about reference books overheard in Dave's mindscape. Devon: Hey Dave, there are some new editions of science dictionaries available, namely Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry, and Biology. Are you going to get them? Dave: With only 200-300 new entries in each one, I don't think that provides enough value to purchase a newer edition. I bought the current ones in 2006, and they're the

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-68023863933198347542008-06-23T14:54:00.006-07:002008-07-05T22:27:03.908-07:00

My alter ego Devon noticed something about the categories of questions in subsequent Trivial Pursuit (TP) editions, and had a discussion with me about it. Devon: The first edition of TP had what I think are more cerebral categories, or at least more academic sounding, such as Geography, Art and Literature. In later editions you have People and Places, and Arts was rolled into Arts and

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-73413716877882678152008-06-13T15:03:00.047-07:002008-08-16T16:19:01.911-07:00

Here are some statistics on the question-based board games that I have. Like much trivia, they make for trivial collection and might be of interest to other trivia fans. Game Year # Questions/Cards Genre, Categories Battle of the Sexes 1990 672/224 male vs female; 92 "Countdown" couples or movies with 3 hints, 120 "Showdown" categories Beginner's Marathon1991 2500/600 general kids Gender Bender

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-42993740679368224132008-06-13T14:03:00.012-07:002008-07-16T22:50:10.588-07:00

I've been buying used board games lately, so my alter ego Devon talked to me about my thoughts and experiences on this current fad. Devon: I know you like reference books. So what got you interested in trivia board games? Dave: I was searching for information on a tile-shifting board game called The Amazeing Labyrinth. That lead me to discover the tile-placing board game called Carcassonne,

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-92130572115207813642007-02-27T08:28:00.000-08:002007-02-27T10:46:12.622-08:00

After I had my MP3 player for a week, my alter ego Devon talked to me about my thoughts and experiences. Devon: Dave, I see you carrying your Creative Nano Plus MP3 player everywhere. I assume you are pleased with it? Dave: I love my MP3 player! It' so nice to have music everywhere. Devon: Are there any usability issues resulting from your daily use? Dave: Specific to this player: the lowest

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1172266224932585462007-02-23T12:59:00.000-08:002007-02-27T08:25:23.534-08:00

Yesterday, I finally join the audio-tech revolution and bought my first MP3 player. Here is a summary of the thought processes I went through during this purchase, as well as some of the initial experiences, presented as a dialogue between me and my alter ego Devon. Devon: So Dave, with 50 gigs of mp3 files and hundreds of unripped CD's, which of the colossal hard drive models what did you buy?

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1161968171139736812006-10-27T09:34:00.001-07:002008-06-16T22:13:08.727-07:00

With the (re)discovery of element 118 announced recently, it gave me an opportunity to update my periodic table. It turned out I did the update exactly one year after I posted my version. What a coincidence! A year ago I wrote about some non-standardness in treating what is in the lanthanide and actinide series. With this update, I resolved that issue by referring to the pattern of the elements

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1148827598929544412006-05-28T07:14:00.000-07:002007-02-24T13:59:13.521-08:00

The Oxford science dictionaries say they included some "one- or two- page feature articles on important topics, and chronologies tracing the history of the key areas in...". While these features and chronologies contains useful information, in the scope of the dictionary they are just marketing devices. There aren't enough of them to represent the breadth of the subjects. For example, is GMO and

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1148591179426651292006-05-25T13:14:00.000-07:002006-05-26T09:47:58.946-07:00

Microsoft Office 2007 introduces six new fonts, whose names all begin with the letter C: Calibri, Cambria, Candara, Consolas, Constantia, Corbel. I guess those names are meant to fit in with Windows Vista's theme of clear, confident, and connected. Here is a quick look at them. Select each font name for a sample of the letters. Calibri is a general purpose sans serif font, like Arial and even

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1147507399851688802006-05-13T01:00:00.000-07:002006-05-13T11:20:47.140-07:00

These are the prefaces from the Oxford science dictionaries. I hope they will be useful to fellow lifelong learners in choosing a science reference book. Oxford Dictionary of Biology Preface This dictionary was originally derived from the Concise Science Dictionary, first published by oxford university press in 1984 (fourth edition, 1999, retitled A Dictionary Of Science). It consisted of all

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1147503276471697772006-05-12T23:51:00.000-07:002006-05-13T16:22:39.386-07:00

These are the covers of the latest editions of science dictionaries from Oxford. Although I do not own a copy of the Dictionary of Science, I have included it here for reference.

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1147328839964512442006-05-10T22:37:00.001-07:002008-06-25T23:48:50.226-07:00

Recently, I bought a set of science dictionaries: “Oxford Dictionary of Biology”, “Oxford Dictionary of Chemistry”, and “Oxford Dictionary of Physics”. Here is a summary of the thought processes I went through during this purchase, presented as a dialogue between me and my alter ego Devon. Devon: You have encyclopedias and some science dictionaries already. Why get more? Dave: Encyclopedias (

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1129447668095983432005-10-16T00:18:00.000-07:002005-10-16T00:32:17.836-07:00

So one would think there are fixed criteria for organizing the periodic table. But soon after I made my version available on the web, I discovered that other tables are not so consistent in several areas. In fact, even my reference materials don't agree on those points. 1. What is the official range of the lanthanide and actinide series? In particular, does it include lanthanum/lutetium and

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1129443960706757352005-10-15T23:16:00.001-07:002008-08-03T23:00:53.991-07:00

I love reference material, and the periodic table of elements is one of my favorite charts. I like how it presents a dense amount of information in a small space and in an organized way. I especially like how the layout of the table also convey important information about the nature of the elements. I am currently doing some personal studying in chemistry/physics areas, using primarily a Chinese

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1120122007157580952005-06-30T01:55:00.000-07:002005-06-30T02:00:07.163-07:00

Taiwan researchers have created new strains of rice that are colorful and nutritious. The first four colors are yellow, green, pink and purple rice. Yellow rice gets its hue from curcumin, a herb used in curries and is believed by some to be an antioxidant. Green rice comes from bitter gourd, pink comes from tomato, and purple from a mixture of vegetables. But the researchers aren't stopping

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1120029477925622202005-06-29T00:06:00.000-07:002005-06-29T00:18:40.946-07:00

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/jun05/06-28NECCProductsPR.mspx Microsoft has announced their new education products. They include: Learning Essentials for Microsoft Office: a set of add-ons to Office XP/2003 that includes toolbars, tutorials and templates for common student tasks. Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP: software tools and documentation for locking down shared

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.com