natasha's corner

The Boston Herald: Saturday, November 23, 1963 When my parents bought their house, we found a box in the attic full of newspapers and magazines from 1963 and 1964, all about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. All the newspapers are local to the Hartford area, with a few exceptions like The Boston Herald. [...]

… leaves turn brown and decompose if you leave them on the ground, but stay pretty and fresh-looking if you press them in a book?

An interesting observation came up today at the UI13 lunch: you can tell a lot about a person based on the combination of their ringtone and choice of start page for their browser. I had never made the connection before, but I always go without a ringtone (either silent or vibrate) and my start page [...]

I observed an interesting pattern at the train stop this morning. A message came up on the LED message board saying that the next inbound train to Boston would be arriving on the outbound track this morning. A few people noticed this and you could see the inner dialogs in their heads about whether they [...]

Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame, writes: This summer I found myself wishing someone would give voters useful and unbiased information about which candidate has the best plans for the economy. Then I realized that I am someone, which is both inconvenient and expensive. So for once I asked not what my country could do for [...]

I’ve been on Facebook for a long time – pretty much since it first started – and it’s been interesting to observe the evolution of my “friends” list. The first wave were people I met in college because that’s who Facebook was originally available to. Then they opened it up to high schools, but that [...]

What is the worst place to leave your car key when you go to work? Not at home, not in the office. Nope, the worst place is inside your unlocked car. I misplaced my keys a couple days ago and while waiting to somehow stumble upon them, I’ve been using Nick’s keys. This morning, I [...]

… it’s more comfortable to sit with my computer bag in my lap than it is without it?

I take recommendations seriously. If I’m going to recommend something to someone, I have to be willing to accept the consequences if they end up not liking what I recommended. I usually worry that if someone doesn’t like what I recommend it means either a) I have bad taste, or b) I really don’t know [...]

I had a dream that I was on vacation with my parents and grandparents. We were staying by a lake and I wanted to go night kayaking. As we were walking to the lake, I went to a hair salon instead. The hair dresser had fun with my hair and was excited to show me [...]