tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94355602010-02-04T10:19:47.303-08:00Dave Lo's musings on life, the universe, and anything.Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-39863561396279756412010-02-04T10:04:00.004-08:002010-02-04T10:19:11.454-08:00

Blogger is changing some of their publishing options and this blog will be affected. Please excuse any broken links or missing images until I find an appropriate solution. Problem 1 is that this post can't be posted! "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-77563237118536470002009-10-11T21:16:00.002-07:002009-10-11T21:40:06.926-07:00

The proposed symbol for element 112 is now Cn, instead of Cp as originally proposed. The proposed name is still copernicium, but the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) has rejected Cp. The main reason is that element 71, now called lutetium, had an alternative name of cassiopeium and symbol Cp prior to 1949.

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-66364237614455309412009-07-22T22:35:00.005-07:002009-07-22T22:40:58.496-07:00

Element 112 (ununbium) will be called copernicium, named after the astronomer and scientist Nicolaus Copernicus.My English-Chinese Periodic Table of the Elements has been updated with this information.

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-65421272719847511472009-04-05T22:24:00.002-07:002009-04-05T22:46:47.423-07:00

What I predicted in my Oct 2008 entry The end of Encarta Encyclopedia? has now come true. Microsoft announced they will stop selling Microsoft Student and Encarta products worldwide by June 2009, and MSN Encarta will be discontinued on October 31, 2009. The reason given was that people search and use information in different ways than with traditional encyclopedias and reference works. They

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-78172444150638183442008-10-23T06:17:00.003-07:002008-10-23T07:43:17.425-07:00

It looks like the reign of Encarta as the leader in consumer electronic encyclopedias is coming to an end. With the release of Microsoft Student, the amount of encyclopedic content added was slowing down, with an emphasize shifting towards homework tools. Starting around the same time in 2006, the amount of articles and media have fluctuated as well, sometimes going down and then gradually

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

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. The

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 similar

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 the

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 the

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". The

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 2003

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-73413716877882678152008-06-13T15:03:00.051-07:002008-09-29T12:29:35.449-07:00

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 Acronym 1985 3456 words: Corporations, Products & Slogans, Agencies, Proverbs, Science, Sports & Rebuses, Movies, Music Battle of the Sexes 1990 672/224 male vs female; 92 "

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, which

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 volume

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.com0tag: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.com0tag: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 more

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9435560.post-1147507399851688802006-05-13T01:00:00.001-07:002008-10-22T22:28:47.970-07:00

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 the

Dave Lohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15818113585590393505noreply@blogger.com0tag: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.com0