Wall Street Journal website to be free

The last bastion of for fee content is about to tear down those walls. Rupert Murdock who bought WSJ is said to make the website free, increasing the number of visitors from 1 to 20 million. I am not sure if it is going to decrease subscriptions to the print edition, but I never subscribed to the print edition, only to the website. Yay! Read more details in InfoWeek.

Compass Decals at Subway Exits

Thank you New York for installing compass decals at some subway exits! How many times I was straining my eyes to read street signs trying to get a bearing after exiting the subway. Hope the program will expand. Read more about compass decals in New York Times

PS. I've also been asked once to point the direction to the Fifth Ave. Now, I can consider myself proven a native.

Улыбка

My son's first distinguishable drawing, a smiley. (Pen on paper, 2007).

Про Радио Маяк

"В эфире - Маньяк!"

Чурки и сыр

Долго не мог понять почему Винни назвал себя "Чурки" (chaource). Потом одолел свою лень, и гугливо обнаружил, что это тип сыра "Шаурс".

Врач

Потому врач, что все время врет.

A small IQ car

An interesting name for a small car. "What car do you have? -- I have a small IQ."

A tiny, 10-foot long concept car called the iQ was Toyota’s Frankfurt offering (that’s two and a half feet shorter than the diminutive Yaris).[msnbc]

Glass or glaz?

My son who hears English, Russian, and Chinese points at a picture of a guy wearing glasses and says "glas". Is that "глаз" (glaz, Russian for an eye) or "glass"? I now wonder if those two words have a common etymology?

Americans and Iraqis get engaged

After placing the bait, snipers observed the area around it, Captain Didier said in his statement. “If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item,” he said, “we would engage the individual, as I saw this as a sign that they would use the item against U.S. forces.” (Engage is a military euphemism for firing on or killing an enemy.)

According to an article in New York Times, "Snipers Baited and Killed Iraqis"

A bomb or not a bomb?

I think they need to post a sign at Logan saying that home made electronics is not acceptable.

A female MIT student wore a breadboard with LEDs wired to a 9V battery on her jacket to Logan airport while picking up her boyfriend from a red-eye flight. The student, whose name is Star, was arrested at a gunpoint. All the mass media described a "fake bomb" arrest. The photos above from the Boston Channel and the Machinist. More info at MIT The Tech