Random Thursday
Category: Random Thursday...
Posted Thursday, August 17, 2006 at 06:33 AM [GMT-6]

Burning question of the day: mayo, mustard, or ketchup/catsup/squished tomatos?

  • In the comments of this post about the the "25 Most Influential Products" of the PC era, I posed a question about a "classic computational device" that I saw in action as a mere pup in my first real job out of college (way back in the 70s). I couldn't remember what it was called, but I do now: a comptometer. Check them out here; I think the model I observed was similar to the electric Burroughs shown about 2/3 of the way down the page.

  • The cool thing about the comptometer was that its tiny little mechanical brain could perform rather complex ciphers, but it was very slow. You could leave the room and take a coffee break while it computed a square root. I'm sure it's an urban legend, but some say that you could divide a large number by zero on Friday afternoon and return Monday morning to find that the machine had exploded at some point during the weekend, giving up its very life in pursuit of the infinite.

  • Bicycle riders often accuse car drivers of being inconsiderate, but that street runs both ways. Only thing is, drivers have more options for payback.

  • Given the ongoing crisis in the Middle East -- and especially Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons -- something tells me that CBS ought to rethink the appropriateness of its new fall series, Jericho, the plot of which centers around an apparent nuclear explosion in Kansas.

  • By now, I'm sure everyone has heard that Google has now launched its free citywide WiFi coverage in its home town of Mountain View, California. While this certainly sounds appealing from a user's perspective, "free" is perhaps a bit misleading, especially if you want to use the service indoors. A wireless modem will set residents back $70-$150, and there will be a certain set of users who will be too intimidated by the technology to even bother with it.

  • Font of the Month is the aptly named Killer Ants, a distressed typeface that evokes absolutely nothing related to ants, as far as I can tell. But, it's still a cool font.
Example of Killer Ants Font

Closing here with a gentle reminder that there are only about two weeks left in the "Give the Gazette a Tagline" contest, the new game sensation that's sweeping the country. Feel free to leave your suggestion here, or email it to me at info -at- ericsiegmund dot com.

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Comments

My answer to the burning question is dependent on what we're putting it on. If it's just a general preference, then I need more specifics on what kind of mustard (though Ketchup is by far at the bottom of general preference list - unless it's hot dogs, in which case it's mandatory, though I'm one of the strange people in the world who prefer mayonnaise on their french fries. Ranch dressing is even better.)

Comptometer. Is that Comp-toe-meter or Comp-ta-muh-ter?

Happy Random Thursday :)

Posted by: beth at August 17, 2006 06:41 AM

Ah, a mustard connoisseur...very good. Anyway, I was intentionally vague with the question, hoping to stimulate precisely the kind of culturally-relevant response you've provided. ;-)

And it's the latter pronunciation, assuming that you're putting the accent on the "ta."

Posted by: Eric at August 17, 2006 06:50 AM

Apparently you and I are the only ones concerned with these deep, philosophical issues, Eric. That is why plain ol' mustard continues to have such a market share - thoughtlessness. Plain thoughtlessness.

Yep, accent on the 'ta'. That's what I figured, but the first way is more fun :)

Posted by: beth at August 17, 2006 10:41 AM

Cool font! It should go well with your new tagline, "this blog has absolutely nothing to do with Fire Ants, or Killer Ants"

My 2 cents? Mustard...dijon, honey, german, chinese, and plain old yellow. I have a whole rack in my frig filled with various forms of mustard. The only thing I want to see ketchup on is my hamburgers, along with the mustard and pickles. No mayo unless it's used to make potato salad or deviled eggs, both of which require copious quantities of mustard as well.

Beth must be European since they are the only folks I know who prefer mayo with their fries. ;-)

Posted by: Gwynne at August 17, 2006 10:46 AM

but the first way is more fun

Beth, dear, it's time you learned that the terms "fun" and "accounting" are mutually exclusive. (Oooh...I'm gonna get letters for that one! ;-)

Posted by: Eric at August 17, 2006 10:46 AM

Actually...I learned that already. I took 2 courses in accounting at a local community college cause I adored running payroll and keeping books for the charity where I was treasurer so I thought, hey, maybe new career. Loved the heck out of 101, got to 201 where we're dealing with stocks and the fun just got sucked out.

But hey, at least Gwynne is right about the dijon. :)

Posted by: beth at August 17, 2006 11:33 AM

Sounds like I need to do a post on the mutual exclusivity of fun and accounting...and I do agree, these are mutually exclusive in text book form, but in the real world, we really know how to live it up! ;-)

Posted by: Gwynne at August 17, 2006 12:14 PM

The CORRECT answer to the burning question of the day is......Salsa

Posted by: lyle at August 17, 2006 01:23 PM

Well, of course, salsa is just assumed to form the base coat...we're just discussing what goes on top of that. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at August 17, 2006 01:37 PM

See, salsa opens up a whole new sticky wicket though - cause there are so many wrong kinds and very few right kinds and, well, I don't even know why you'd call the wrong kinds salsa, but people do - restaurant people even!

Posted by: beth at August 17, 2006 01:42 PM

See, salsa opens up a whole new sticky wicket

The Gazette has never shied away from controversial or difficult issues, and we'll not start now! Salsa is now in the mix. ;-)

Posted by: Eric at August 17, 2006 01:48 PM

If that ain't a tag line, I don't know what is...

The Fire Ant Gazette: Salsa is now in the mix!

(... which leaves the second option waaaay open ...)

Posted by: Brian at August 17, 2006 07:41 PM

Brian, that's not bad. Now, if we could just find a baby squirrel tie-in...

Posted by: Eric at August 17, 2006 08:49 PM

Not to state the obvious, but why not: Baby Squirrel Salsa is now in the mix.

Oh...wait...

Posted by: beth at August 18, 2006 06:47 AM

I don't know from comptometers, but your post triggered my memory of a device called a Magic Brain adder that I used to use when I was a kid. I wonder if those can still be had anymore?

Posted by: Foo at August 18, 2006 10:31 AM
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