The Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century is one man's amateur look at history in the 1900s. He's got some interesting maps showing things such as Wars and Atrocities and the increasing density of telephones. (Link from metafilter).

Videogames.com has a timeline of videogames. What I found particularly interesting was how long some company names have been around. For example, "In the early '50s, Maurice's son Leonard creates a leather-cutting machine, and the company, which soon trades under the acronym COLECO (short for Connecticut Leather Company), begins selling leather craft kits."

Another one: "(1945) From their garage workshop, Harold Matson and Elliot Handler produce picture frames. They come up with the name "Mattel" by combining letters from their names. Elliot uses the scraps from the picture frames to begin a side business making doll-house furniture."

And finally: "(1954) The name SEGA, short for SErvice GAmes, is stamped on the games that Rosen produces, and eventually Rosen adopts it as his company name." (Link from pcjm)

Road to Springfield is doing an NCAA-type tournament to determine the best supporting Simpsons character. Today's matchup is Krusty the Klown vs. Dr. Marvin Monroe. Go vote! (Yet another link from metafilter)

A mildly amusing selection of Jack Handey (the Deep Thoughts guy) job rejection letters from the New Yorker.

Dear Sir:

You recently applied for a position with us, but you did not get it, as we have informed you by phone and by mail. However, we have not heard back from you that you completely understand that you failed to get the job. Please call or write and let us know that you realize that you are not employed by us in any way, and never will be.

Sincerely,
Personnel Department
(Link from metafilter)

Great. No women crew are planned to be aboard the potential Russian mission to Mars (2015-2020) because they would increase the "probability of conflicts" among the crew. Hey guys, how about an all-female crew instead? This is rather disappointing, especially considering the Russians were the first to put a woman into space. (Link from metafilter)

Eeewwww. Disneyworkers who dress up as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, etc. have finally won a battle to be allowed to wear their very own undergarments while in costume. (Link from John)

Well, with all the recent dot-com layoffs, people are getting creative. Or desperate. Or something. Here are some photos of people outside this week's JavaOne conference in San Francisco, carrrying signs such as "Will thread, parse and develop back-end applications for food" and "Database driven web sites for a latte grande".

The first Crayola crayons came out in 1903, and there were 8 colors: Black, Brown, Blue, Green, Orange, Red, Violet, and Yellow. Between 1949 and 1957, 48 colors were available. Then came the glory days of the 64-color box with built-in sharpener. Man, they got rid of Orange Red and Green Blue! You can see the history of the Crayola crayons, or see the 10 most popular colors. Blue came out on top, but my favorite, Periwinkle, is number 7.

An interesting bit of history: in 1999, the color Indian Red was renamed to Chestnut, because some teachers felt that children wrongly perceived the color to be representative of the skin color of Native Americans. But the crayon was actually named for a reddish-brown pigment found near India, "commonly used in fine art oil paint". (Link from metafilter)

Do you ever wonder about those critics who are credited with quotes reviewing terrible movies? I mean, who would call Rob Schneider's latest film, The Animal, "another winner!"? Well, guess what. That particular critic, David Manning, was made up by Columbia Pictures. (Link from metafilter)

Here's another one of those "make someone dance" websites. I thought this one was cleverly done. I'm sure you need Flash. (Link from Margaret)

Here's a sample of spam I got recently:

Dear Sir,

I have been instructed by my colleagues to look for partners who can assist us execute an urgent business transaction involving huge profits and international cooperation.

We are interested in the importation of Solar Panels, Agricultural equipment and computer accessories. We need a foreign partner who can assist us with the transaction involving US$27.350.000.00, which has been set-aside in an escrow account. We have resolved that a negotiable percentage will be your commission for participating in this transaction on our behalf and any other assistance you may give in this deal. A percentage will also be set aside from the entire sum to settle any expenses we may incur in the cause on these transactions.

Uhhh. What? I'm now an expert in the importation of Solar Panels? Maybe they saw my infomercial.

The Lewis estate and its publishers have "started shaping a marketing makeover of Aslan and assorted Narnia habitues to expand readership and extend the brand". They plan to make toys and write more novels set in the Narnia world. "'What is wrong with trying to get people outside of Christianity to read the Narnian chronicles?'" says an adviser to the estate.

Look, when I read those books (over and over again) as a child, I completely failed to pick up on the Christian allegories. It wasn't until I re-read them in college that I realized Aslan was a Christ figure. Since when do only Christians read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? They just want to get on board with the Harry Potter craze. (Sorry, you have to be registered with the online NYTimes to read this--though it's free.)

Here's the plane my friend Ryan flies. If you go to Continental Express's website, you can get a virtual tour, including the lavatory. I am not exactly sure why you would want a virtual tour of the lavatory, but this is important to some people I suppose. Be on the lookout for Captain Ryan flying for Continental Express from Cleveland. Maybe he'll tell you the story of how he made people throw up.

Last night I was at Chili's, where I ordered my usual: broccoli cheddar soup and a Caesar salad. Delicious, and cheap too. The waiter brought me a cup of soup instead of a bowl. This happens sometimes; I said, "Um, it's supposed to be a bowl," because although I hate conflict and consider pointing this out a bit high-maintenance, I was hungry, darnit, and I ordered a BOWL, not a CUP. The waiter said, "Oh, okay, if that's what you want." No... it's not what I WANT...it's what I ORDERED. Grrr.

That is all.

Interested in getting your name off junkmail and telephone marketing lists? You can write to these organizations to have them remove your name. You must include your name, address, and telephone number.

Mail Preference Service
c/o Direct Marketing Assn.
PO Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008

Telephone Preference Service
c/o Direct Marketing Assn.
PO Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014

There is now also a similar list for email, but I doubt it'll do much to stop your spam. However, any business that registers with the Direct Marketing Association won't send you unsolicited email if you're on this list. Even one less piece of spam is a good thing in my book. Go to www.e-mps.org and fill out their form.

Speaking of spam, Hormel has decided it's okay with the fact junk email has the same name as their delicious meat product. However, they'd like people to refer to theirs as SPAM, which they have trademarked. They make an official statement on their website, where they compare the case to other trademarks being used with alternate meanings, such as "TEFLON, used to describe President Reagan." I have no idea what that means. President Reagan: Food Doesn't Stick to Him.

They also reference the Monty Python SPAM (tm) skit. (Link from PCJM)