The symbol for division (÷) is called obelus. On the other hand, the division slash (/) is called virgule. You like mathematical trivia? Here’s a fun list.
Remember your / your dad’s / your grampa’s Sting-Ray? I don’t either, but here’s a short history. Its precursor was owner-modification – remove and reverse the handle bars from an old Huffy, angle them upwards like steer horns and remove the plastic grips; then hit it with sandpaper so it rusts and looks badass. Gears? You got one, and hand brakes were for pussies. Clip playing cards to the forks with clothespins for motor sounds. If you scored a Sting-Ray, the next thing was to save up for a sissy bar so you could pop wheelies effortlessly and be the envy of the kickball crowd.
On 24 January, Mozilla disabled the popular “Web Of Trust” (WOT) add-on to the Firefox browser due to security / privacy breaches. Other browsers that allow the add-on (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, etc.) are affected as well. The problem was verified by a German team last November, and has yet to be remedied by the WOT engineers.
Agoraphobic? This SpyCam Suit records 360° videos of your surroundings so you can walk around with your eyes closed and check out your surroundings in private later.
From the Fun Facts to Know and Tell Department:
Americans say, “Van Go,” the Brits say, “Van Goff.” Neither pronunciation of Vincent Willem Van Gogh‘s surname is correct. In Dutch, it’s “von khakh,” with “kh” as a guttural [ˈvɪnsɛnt ˈʋɪləm vɑn ˈɣɔx] but if you can’t handle gutturals, it’s pronounced “Vahn Kahk.”
10 minutes; 1 minute; 10 seconds – A Speed Drawing Challenge. This fun exercise has been around for decades as a way to teach students how to sketch. It forces you to focus on the essentials.
[Top image found here. Looks like me when I was 12.]
Here’s a great title from 1553: “Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle” (“Bring a Torch, Jennette, Isabelle.”) Basically, two girls are directed to create a fire hazard in a stable, someone bangs on the door to deliver cakes, but there’s a sleeping newborn so everyone better shut up.