nmb

• MCZ Type Database! Well, no, of course you aren’t supposed to know what it means. The MCZ is for Museum of Comparative Zoology (at Harvard), and the database is of insects. This might not warrant mention, if not for the fact that a fair portion of the entries have accompanying photographs. Be sure to check out the greatest hits.
• Playing with knives. The reasonably titled “How to cut” provides instructions for what you might expect (as long as you’re expecting fruits and vegetables), with right-handed and left-handed instructions, fully illustrated.
• LexisNexis AlaCarte. $3 a pop.

I’m personally not that intrigued by The Gates, but it is interesting to see them from space.

(via The Morning News [February 15, 2005])

I’d like to draw your attention to the right-hand column of detritus, where, under the heading of blogs, there are two proud additions:

1. WFMU’s Beware of the Blog
2. Lifehacker

I’m less excited by Lifehacker than I am by the fact that WFMU (radio station, wacky, Jersey City) has a blog, but both are interesting, and you should know they’re there. The WFMU blog is a group effort by a bunch of the DJs, and it appears to cover all things musical and eclectic. The Lifehacker blog offers hints and tidbits on navigating both the electronic and the non-electronic world; kinda like Cool Tools, but more corporate (Lifehacker’s sponsored by Sony) and less physical (seems like most of the tips have to do with software and what-have-you).

• More lies. The BoGlo has a quick & fluffy piece on the relevance of lie detection to modern-day struggles. On the verge of making an interesting statement, the article spends too much time bringing the presumably ignorant reader up to speed on the state of modern lie psychology (or whatever you want to call it). For more on lies, check out an earlier nmb post, Lies, All Lies. (BoGlo: “Liar, Liar,” by Christopher Shea [January 30, 2005])
• Are you the lucky 1? According to a recent Pew survey on search engine users, 92% of those who use search engines are confident about their searching abilities, yet only 38% are aware of the distinctions between paid and unpaid results. (via H20boro blog; Pew/Internet: Online Activities and Pursuits - Search Engine Users)
• The enigmatic dust mite.
  

  Research suggests that while an unmade bed may look scruffy it is also unappealing to house dust mites thought to cause asthma and other allergies.

  (BBC News: “Untidy beds may keep us healthy” [January 28, 2005])

• 2004 was Hot. The 4th warmest in recorded history, actually. Want to know what the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd warmest years were? 1998, 2002, and 2003. In unrelated news, Exxon Mobil posted the highest profits in its history, $25 billion. (NYT: “2004 Was Fourth-Warmest Year Ever Recorded,” by Andrew C. Revkin [February 10, 2005]; Guardian: “Exxon makes $25bn profit,” by David Teather [February 1, 2005])

Ed Emberly has a website, which is fantastic by its own right. But what’s more, you can get instructions on making a valentine’s day mask…

A valentine’s day monster mask.