Not sure where this came from

As you can see, other projects have (and are still) taking priority over this site. Don’t lose hope – TKBB will return.

Posts will resume later in the day

It’s never a good thing to see daily traffic plunge in Google Analytics and then head to the site and see, “Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress.” Also, the supposedly tech-savvy people like to make error resolution more difficult than it needs to be by posting convoluted and unnecessary fixes do not help. Be sure to use specific keywords for your Google searches. In this case, the fix took minimal effort: BlueHost screwed up the php.ini during server maintenance. Solution: log-in to the account and reset the php.ini file. Done.

First off, we have the Emery Cat, a scratching board for cats. At one point in the commercial, we hear a cat howl. Every cat in the room perks its ears at such a strident sound. Cats also love ads for cat litter that depict meowing cats.

Additionally, outdoor cats (or former outdoor cats) love images of birds. One of the Palladium network segments features a flock of birds in flight, followed by a close-up shot of a crow. Cats react with profound curiosity.

Most importantly, however, is the famous Sarah McLachlan ad for the ASPCA (which raised over $30 million in just 2007 and 2008). When this call for help comes on, one particular cat in the room always gets the bushiest tail ever in order to threaten the animals on screen. It’s that emotional.

Very interesting...

TKBB has now been self-hosted for over 1 year. There have been some exciting moments and a couple of layout changes, but three stastistics stand out:

1. Two visits were from a Netscape 4.0 browser. That’s circa 1997!
2. Fifty-nine visitors use Windows 98. That’s circa 1998!
3. Only 0.6% of visits came from Africa. This isn’t surprising, and actually works in their favor because this site would take a while to load over a slow connection. As in upwards of 20 minutes. That should be looked into…

109 WPM rate sustained for 85 seconds isn't bad

All typing speed sites are flawed and simulate a short burst rather than long term typing assignment. Still, they give a relative idea of where you stand, and allow you to compare with others who have used the site. Estimates place the average typing speed for all computer users around 30 WPM. Professionals often average anywhere from 50-100 WPM. Beat TKBB at goodtyping.com.

TKBB: Not quite as popular as the Three Wolf Full Moon Shirt {amazon}

One year and a couple of re-designs later – the site still exists! This marks the 721st post, although the pace of new material has greatly slowed over the past few months due to distractions and new projects.

• First Post: “An Olympic Style First Post” – Usain Bolt at the Beijing Olympics
• First Month: Marked the end of audio in every post, great image in the celebratory post, however
• Post of the Year: “SNL – Amy Poehler’s Sarah Palin Rap Lyrics” – 40,000 Pageviews in 1 week, first page on Google, Wordpress home page, Top 5 Wordpress Blog for a couple of days (behind CNN Political Ticker, Cafferty File, FOX Forum, FAIL Blog)

The designs:

1. 

   The first two months: Wordpress Kubrick Theme. Simple and effective, but lacking functionality.

2. 

   The next 6 months: Modified Kubrick Theme. More creative, but somewhat sloppy.

3. 

   After 8 months, an upgrade to the Magazeen theme. Much more professional.

4. 

   1 Year Later: A modified Magazeen theme, still a work in progress. Simplicity reigns.

Don’t forget the original header image!

The early days. So immature.

Two sneezes mean twice the velocity

Have you ever noticed that, in general, some people only sneeze once at a time and some always sneeze twice? Have you ever wondered why this happens? Well, there may or may not be a definite answer. First, some folklore from the Persians and Japanese:

A widespread belief in Persian folk tradition considers a single sneeze to be a sign that you have to stop whatever you are doing. This is called sabr Amad (patience is in order). A double sneeze is a sign that you should speed up whatever you are doing. The Japanese believe one sneeze means someone is speaking highly of you and two indicate someone speaking ill of you.

People often sneeze twice when they are doing absolutely nothing. Additionally, people sneeze at odd hours of the day when other people are most likely asleep and not speaking of anyone at all. So, we must turn to science. An early experiment was performed in the Monday, Sep. 02, 1940 issue of TIME:

Dr. Milton Hyland Erickson, director of psychiatric research at Eloise Hospital in Michigan, observed a young woman who, when she sneezed, nearly always sneezed twice in rapid succession. After one sneeze she waited for the second and if it did not come felt “a distressing sense of incompleteness.” Checking the sneeze behavior of the woman’s mother, he ran into another double-sneeze pattern. When a granddaughter was born, Dr. Erickson kept careful record of her sneezing, found three generations of double sneezers. In his report in the current Journal of Genetic Psychology, he concluded: “Variations in the [sneeze] pattern may be inherited.”

A similar condition, the photic sneeze reflex (sneezing when introduced to light), which affects 18-35% of the population, is inherited as well.