IT Insights Blog — learning

Just like the song says, when you read you begin with A-B-C, when you sing you begin with do-re-mi, and when you start learning about computers you begin with, well, what exactly? For most kids these days, it's probably a smartphone or tablet that belongs to Mom or Dad, or maybe even one that is their very own. Today's children have technology in their hands at an age that would have been essentially unthinkable just 40 or 50 years ago.

We occasionally shout out some pretty silly national days here at the IT Insights Blog. (Hey, this is a rough gig. YOU try coming up with something new to write about three days a week for an entire year, Mr. Intelligent Trousers.) For example, in additional to being Feb. 27, today is also Anosmia Awareness Day, National Kahlua Day, National Strawberry Day, National Polar Bear Day, and National Retro Day.

Show of hands, who has ever taken a long road trip, say, 10 hours or longer by vehicle to some far-off destination? (On a related note: The IT Insights blog squad was driving home after work last night and saw a service station signboard advertising regular unleaded gas for — wait for it — $1.99/gallon. Shiver me timbers, lads, $1.99! The price of gas hasn't been that low in at least 20 years.)

No definitive or comprehensive origin is known for the seven-note musical couplet associated with the phrase "shave and a haircut." The words "shave and a haircut," of course, align only with the first five notes of the couplet, or the section known as the "call." The two-note "response" is typically matched up with the words "six bits" (or sometimes "two bits" — it would seem that inflation is into everything these days).

There's a new movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood that will arrive in theaters just two weeks before Christmas. Most people have certain expectations of Eastwood, who was an established movie action hero when the empty chair he scolded at the 2012 Republican National Convention was barely a footstool. Eastwood has gotten a little long in the tooth since the good old days, of course, and doesn't beat up quite as many bad guys as he used to.