#RowanAtkinson didn't pass-away this week (again), but let's honor him anyway as the #inventor of the #selfie.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2nL1PSE

#AlbertEinstein was born in March 14, 1879, which was 3 years *AFTER* #AlexanderGrahamBell invited the #telephone, making the world's first phone call on March 10, 1876!

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2nB4BZK

60 cents equals 1.43 dollars

It's one those mornings where I pay cash for some breakfast and the math works out to this:

• Check = $6.42
• Cash = $7.02 (five dollar bill, two dollar coins and two pennies)
• and the change you get back is $1.43. 

Being the guy that I am, I don't attempt to just take the extra 83¢.  Knowing that something is seriously wrong since there's a dollar bill and 3 pennies in my change, I immediately notify the cashier that something is wrong.

The cashier tells me she thought the two dollar coins were quarters.  Of course, that meant that the change she should have given me based on this mistake was 10¢, not $1.43.  So, the manager comes over to help out.  At first, he insists that my bill was $6.52 (the change that the cashier thought I tendered). I had to correct him twice.  He finally figures it out, takes the change back and hands me 50¢.  I don't know where everyone learned math, but that isn't quite right either.  After correcting him one last time, I finally get back my 60¢ change.

That will learn me not to pay cash!

It can't be a financial tool without a bottle opener.

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2mUrri9

Don't pollute drains to waterways - #drainage

via Instagram http://ift.tt/2ngGL6e

Is it really Frankenstein's Monster?

Is the term really "Frankenstein's Monster" rather than just "Frankenstein" when talking about the monster?  How often has the term "Frankenstein's Monster" really appeared anywhere?   Why is there confusion about the monster's name?  Well, that's because he isn't actually given a proper name in the original story by Mary Shelley.

Without much context, a quick search on Google ngram reveals that the term "Frankenstein's Monster" does indeed show up in literature.  However, going back to 1800 finds that the term really didn't get started until well after 1870. Beyond that, the term wasn't really in use until the 1960's. Just for reference, the Frankenstein book was originally published in 1818.

So, what do we get when we compare the usage of the term "Frankenstein's Monster" with usage of just the name "Frankenstein"?

Well, usage of "Frankenstein" does occur well before 1818.  That makes sense since it is a real surname.  However, taking pre-1818 use of the name as noise, there is still substantial use of the term "Frankenstein" from 1818 and on.  "Frankenstein" appears so often that it literally relegates the use of "Frankenstein's Monster" to well below that of background noise.  Usage of "Frankenstein's Monster" is less than a blip, even nowadays.

Beyond that, is the distinction between the mad scientist and his monster really all that important, namewise?  If we count the monster as the scientist's child in a manner of speaking, the monster would carry the scientist's surname anyway.  Both the monster and the scientist carry the name "Frankenstein".  Maybe instead of trying to impose a ill-accepted term like "Frankenstein's Monster", we simply use the term "Dr. Frankenstein" for the mad scientist and "Frankenstein" for the monster.

"Dr. Frankenstein" appears orders-of-magnitude more often than "Frankenstein's Monster".  And, it's a bit more of a blip when compared to just "Frankenstein".