ICANNetwork, and so Can You!

I've been wondering for a long time: Who's in charge of the internet? As a web designer, I'm familiar with the process for getting sites up on the web - but it always involves paying someone for a domain name. If I want to put up content at ManeAttractionsSalon.com (new from ABC Innovations!), I have to buy it first. But what gives Network Solutions the right to sell me a domain? What if someone in Germany wanted it - what stops their companies from selling it to them? Is there a big international organization for the web? Who prevents me from getting a ".gov" address? Thus began my research.

Show Google Some Love

I couldn't resist. Polar bears? Space travel? Chocolate cake? Yes, yes, yes! When Google asked "What do you love?" at the bottom of their homepage today, I just had to check out their new little toy.

My Pig Ate It

No, I'm not blaming a four-legged animal for lost homework; I'm blaming it for lost coins. If you've ever dropped half-dollars into a piggy bank, you may have ended up in this predicament. The slot on the top of the pig, through which one deposits coins, is plenty large, but the diameter of the hole in the bottom of the ceramic porker is much smaller. Drop large coins in, like half-dollars, and they'll go in fine...but they won't come out.

Benjamin Franklin half-dollars ($0.50)

I've spent hours reaching through the bottom of an overturned piggy bank, grabbing the large coin inside, and attempting to drop it directly through the slit from which it came. The process is frustrating and painstakingly slow. Having been asked to assist with the stuck coins predicament recently, however, I've coined a new solution.