Thursday, December 29, 2011

interpolation \in-tur-puh-LEY-shuhn\, noun:

1. The act or process of introducing something additional or extraneous between other parts.

2. Something interpolated, as a passage introduced into a text.

3. Mathematics. A. The process of determining the value of a function between two points at which it has prescribed values. B. A similar process using more than two points at which the function has prescribed values. C. The process of approximating a given function by using its values at a discrete set of points.

Interpolation is derived from the Latin word interpolātus, meaning “to refurbish or touch up.”

ghost paranoia

• A condition in which a person is convinced that there is a ghost in his or her house. A person suffering from ghost paranoia will often tell you many different stories in which they have seen a ghost in their house and/or seen a ghost doing things with physical objects in their house.

Duder 1: "No for real. I came home one day and my beagle was on top of that fucking ledge. Way up there. I mean, how did he get up there? He can't jump that high."

Duder 2: "Yeah right dude."

Duder 1: "Oh and I saw her one night at the foot of my bed, she was all white and wouldn't take her eyes off me. I just hid under the covers til she went away. Oh and look at this window. Her hand print is still there!"

Duder 3: "Oh my God dude, there's no hand print. You've got ghost paranoia like a son of a bitch. How do you sleep alone at night?"

Trivia

What is the average speed—in miles per hour—that a dart hits a dartboard in competition play?

• About 40 miles an hour.

History

• Thomas Becket: the Archbishop of Canturbury was killed by four knights in his cathedral; he later became a saint (1170)
• Texas: Lone Star State became the 28th American state (1845)
• YMCA: the first such men's club in the US was founded, based on the London model that was started in the previous decade by George Williams (1851)
• Wounded Knee Massacre: last major confrontation between the Sioux and the US Army ended with hundreds of Indians killed (1890)
• Tian Tan Buddha: 110-ft.-(34 m.)-tall bronze Buddha statue in Hong Kong was completed (1993)
• Guatemala: peace treaty ended 36 years of civil strife (1996)

Birthdays

• Charles Macintosh (1766-1843): inventor of waterproof fabrics, mackintosh; inventor Charles Goodyear (1800-1860) shared this birth date
• Andrew Johnson (1808-1875): 17th POTUS and first to be impeached; England's four-time prime minister William Gladstone (1809-1898) shared this birth date
• Pablo Casals (1876-1973): virtuoso cellist; musicians Ray Thomas (70), Marianne Faithfull (65), Yvonne Elliman (60) and Glen Phillips (41) were also born on this date
• Vera Brittain (1893-1970): novelist, poet; plus, novelist William Gaddis (1922-1998)
• Tom Jarriel (77): broadcast journalist
• Patricia Clarkson (52): Emmy-winning actor for Six Feet Under, on screens now in Whatever Works; also, actors Mary Tyler Moore (75), Jon Voight (73), Ted Danson (64), Jennifer Ehle (42), Kevin Weisman (41), Jude Law (39), Mekhi Phifer (36), Shawn Hatosy (36) and Diego Luna (32)

Read more: http://www.answers.com/