The latest trend in websurfing: the Googlewhack. Named after the search engine, it refers to people's attempts to type two words into the engine and only get one result.

"You've already found yourself. You've already found the people you know," Stock said. "There's really nothing left to search but concepts. You've evolved to a higher state." The thing about Googlewhacking is it keeps you on your toes. No sooner have you found a Googlewhack than it ceases to be one. "It's ephemeral," Stock said. "The day I created the word 'Googlewhack' it was a Googlewhack. Not anymore."

(Link from robot wisdom)

Friday five:

1. Have you ever had braces? Any other teeth trauma? Oh yes, I had braces for two years in junior high/high school, and now I'm supposed to wear retainers at night. Which I manage to do sometimes. I've always had teeth troubles...I had a lot of teeth removed when I was a child, plus I briefly wore a retainer. I used to think going to the dentist meant having a tooth pulled.

2. Ever broken any bones? Not a one.

3. Ever had stitches? Nope.

4. What are the stories behind some of your [physical] scars? Chicken pox scar on my forehead (I had chicken pox at age 20); scars where I had three birthmarks/moles removed because the dcotors thought they might become cancerous (big toe, next to my belly button, and a long scar on my right calf). I also still have a small scar on my right index finger that's black from a time I cut myself changing my oil.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Ya know, I don't even know yet. And that's fine.

Did you know ice cream was around in the year 62 AD? And that Romans ate rice pudding in the first century? The Caeser salad didn't come about until 1924 though--the Romans weren't eating that.

Well, last week was rough around here...more layoffs at work, though I once again survived the cut. But things are really changing. And I'm getting kicked out of my office! Man, I've been in this same office almost two and a half years. Change is good though, right? Right.

From Josh Benton, who maintains the blog crabwalk: a series of articles written by him in 1999 about the little South Pacific Island known as Pitcairn. About 50 people live there today, most of whom are descendants of the mutineers from the Bounty and the Tahitian women they kidnapped. Yep, the people from Mutiny on the Bounty. I found the articles fascinating...the population is dwindling, because the kids go off to New Zealand for school at age 15, and most don't come back. There are inter-island squabbles about money and business, and now, there have been accusations that many of the male are sexually abusing the girls on the island. It's a very western culture--most people have TVs, VCRs, etc. There is no airstrip and no harbor, so it's pretty tough to get there.