Friday Four

1. My daughter has just learned the word "no", and it seems to be her current favorite. Sometimes, context makes her use of the word so adorable and funny that it's impossible not to smile and nearly so not to break out laughing. "Yes" will come later: In the meantime, she makes do with a nod of her whole upper torso. I get the former most often when, in answer to her demand that I sing (a conductor-like wave of the hand), I start a song she isn't in the mood for. I most often get the latter when, on those rare occasions outdoors that I am first to spot a flying airplane, I point to it and ask her if she can see it.

2. Polish architect Jakub Szczesny has built the world's narrowest house.

The House is located on the plot measuring 92 centimeters in its narrowest point and 152 centimeters in its widest point. "That is why at first it seems that the construction of living space within such premise is impossible. Keret House is to contradict that false image, simultaneously broadening the concept of impossible architecture", says the architect Jakub Szczesny. The house itself is 72 centimeters in the narrowest and 122 centimeters in the widest point.

I don't know about that: Szczesny himself jokingly admits that, "It requires a sense of humour, as you cannot stay long in a place like this." The house was originally built as a temporary "art" "installation" and is purported to serve as a temporary home for writers. However, its rapid rise as a tourist attraction may see it remain in place permanently.

3. Being able to reply only to selected text in GMail is a great feature. It's interesting that I am just one of a huge army of long-time users not to have known about it until recently.

4. Yikes! The holidays are headed straight for us and I have to cough up a list of possible gifts for the part of my family that doesn't do Yankee Swap. That part includes my wife, from whom my "big gift" will either be a Turkish Van kitten or a Nexus 7 tablet. Although that's close to nailed down, I took a look at "The 10 Best Linux-Based Gifts Under $500" for ideas and found a few interesting possibilities.

Such a list may be of more general interest since several items are embedded systems, and, as the introduction points out:

Most consumers won't know or care if these devices run Linux. Yet, Linux often quietly makes itself known in lower prices, smarter features, quicker updates and greater customization.

I've also gotten a few cooking-related ideas for "smaller gifts" from product reviews in my subscription to America Test Kitchen's Cook's Country.

-- CAV

Updates

Today: (1) Reworded last sentence for clarity. (2) Changed "for whom" to "from whom" Item 4 for clarity. My wife asks me for gift suggestions each year.