Baptistina may be off the hook (sort of)

For years, no one knew exactly why the dinosaurs died off.

Then we figured it out. In March, we were told that we can finally be definitive in declaring why the dinosaurs died off: an asteroid called Baptistina slammed into our planet and triggered earthquakes larger than 11 on the Richter Scale, giant tsunamis, global wildfires and dust storms. These events, all due to Baptistina, killed half the species on earth, including the dinosaurs.

But now a new report says the real culprit may not have been a single hit but rather a meteorite shower raining down over thousands of years.

I guess we're back to where we started: we don't know exactly why the dinosaurs died off.

In and out

SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. — When it comes to swimming in the ocean, the words in and out mean the same thing.¹

From the shore, looking toward the water: "Do you want to go in?" That means into the water.

From the water, looking toward the shore: "Do you want to go in?" That means into shore.

From the shore, looking toward the water: "Do you want to go out?" That means out into the water.

From the water, looking toward the shore: "Do you want to go out?" That means out of the water.

From the shore, looking nowhere in particular: "Do you want to go out?" That means a date.

¹Steven Wright contends that yes and no mean the same thing. For example: "Yes, it is not raining out." "No, it is not raining out."

Gone fishin'

LEWES, Del. — Every once in awhile, you sit down to watch a TV show only to discover that it's a clip show that offers only a small amount of new material wrapped around old footage. I'm sorry to break the news that this right here is the blogging equivalent of a TV clip show.

While on vacation in Lewes, Del., I'm sharing some old blog posts I've written over the years here in America's first city in America's first state.

• In which I came across a gravestone dubiously dated February 30, 1760
• In which I discovered that Delaware is named after Baron De La Warr
• In which people in Lewes who don't have quarters for the parking meters can wait to get ticketed and then use the convenient Ducan Pay-O-Meters® (located on the maters themselves) to deposit the parking fine
• In which I woke up to the news that Brett Favre had been traded to the New York Jets
• In which I toured the Dogfish Head Brewery
• In which I learned the lesson that just because Josh likes a restaurant doesn't mean it's terrible
• In which my six-year-old cousin beat me at chess
• In which my dad is happy in Lewes because there are stores that sell the New York Times
• In which I said goodbye to Lewes on my last day in town

Double-yolk egg

I cracked a double-yolk egg the other day for the first time in my life. This rare occurance is supposed to be good luck. But my recipe had called for egg whites.

Expanding broadband not important to Americans

In my lengthy lament that the next major Internet innovation will take place abroad, I complained about two things:

1. A third of Americans don't have broadband.
2. The broadband that’s available to us sucks.

I made what I thought was a compelling case for increased investment in Internet infrastructure as a way to save good jobs — the ones that require vision and innovation in the consumer technology space.

But it appears that most American don't agree with me. From today's Washington Post:

More than half of Americans generally disagree with federal government efforts to expand broadband connections around the nation, saying those projects are not important, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Pew Center.

Not important?

Internet connection speeds in the United States are about four times as slow as the world’s leaders. It won't be long before we simply don't have the bandwidth to do functions the rest of the developed world does everyday.

This is it

Brett Favre is a great quarterback. But he's terrible at text messages.

While the football world waits for a decision as to whether he will retire or continue playing for the Minnesota Vikings, ESPN published the news that he will retire. The sports network based its conclusion on a text message that Favre sent to Vikings players saying, "This is it."

This is it?

That could mean anything!

This is it, he's coming back? This is it, he's retiring? Or maybe it's a nod to the ambitious concert tour that Michael Jackson planned before he died.

We're slowly starting to define what type of announcement we want from our superstars. The answer is somewhere in between Favre's text message (which came nowhere close to the 160-character limit) and Lebron's hour-long "The Decision."