On this day in 1923, Howard Carter opened the tomb of King Tutankhamun… and that’s a noteworthy fact I stumbled upon independently. By contrast, I blame Bill Kinnon for every minute I wasted at The Amazing Fact Generator, but now I can share with you the following:

• Though it’s rarely used, the word used to reference half a computer byte is a “nibble.”
• Alan Shepard’s longest golf shot on the lunar surface in 1971 only traveled about fifty feet.
• A researcher at California State University calculated that non-fiction writers live an average of 68 years, longer than their cohorts who write poems, plays, and fiction works.
• Valium is an all-natural chemical. In fact, trace amounts can be found in wheat and potatoes.
• The 1983 film The Right Stuff featured an interesting stepping-stone of cast and character last names: Ed Harris played John Glenn, Scott Glenn played Alan Shepard, and Sam Shepard played Chuck Yeager.
• Picky linguists will tell you that the feminine version of “dude” is “dudine,” not “dudette.”

And here I thought it was “dudess.” On the whole, I’d have to say it doesn’t actually live up to the title of “amazing.”

Okay, on with the linkage… free of US politics for another week!

1. Around here this past week, we’ve been having some good conversation around my interview with Frank Viola… just in case you missed it.
2. Probably the story of the week — Brant Hansen tells Kumar’s story.
3. Photo of the week
4. Only the King James Version can tell you what’s wrong with America, the NIV translators, and all of Germany. It’s all in a sermon clip about “him that pisseth against the wall.” As the man says, don’t blame him, “God wrote the [King James] Bible.”
5. Ed Stetzer comments on a Newsweek article about Tim Keller, then posts some of Tim’s comments on the piece.
6. Lifestyles of the Rich and Religious — Kenneth Copeland (via)
7. Credit for blog posts: this has happened to me before… another reason to remember the hat tip and the trackback.
8. Translations of Christian-ese… they should make it part of the New Believers’ classes.
9. Ads from this year’s Superbowl
10. Inside the cockpit of the Airbus A380
11. Hollywood Physics — the real formulas show why you shouldn’t rely on movies for a valid scientific education… except in a couple of cases that get it right.
12. If Banner Ads Were Forced To Be Truthful… (language/subject warnings)
13. I hope you don’t need the information, but in case you ever need to “un-pop” the dust cover in the center of a speaker cone… visit Ottmar Liebert’s discussion or the DIY-Audio discussion. Never use the pin-prick suggestions, because then you have a hole to repair (nail polish or glue). For the record, it supposedly doesn’t affect the audio quality (unless you poke a hole in it), but I can’t leave it alone. Why do kids always have to press on those little bubbles?
14. Weird signs — church signs & other craziness.
15. Church spires
16. Put down that diet cola: Artificial sweeteners may contribute more to weight gain than food rich in sugar. I knew it.
17. Top 40 Photoshopped Images: the bizzarre, the ugly, the weird, the striking, the creative.
18. On the needs of sons and daughters.
19. 90 Day Jane is blogging her last 90 days on earth… at the end of which she plans to kill herself. Cold; social commentary? (via)
20. CT Feature: The Future Lies in the Past, “Why evangelicals are connecting with the early church as they move into the 21st century.” Comments by Trevin Wax.
21. Perhaps of interest in the aftermath of “Pagan Week” around here: Pastor Admits, “Being a New Testament Church is a Challenge.”
22. Darryl Dash gets Spanish lessons (funny!).
23. Lent Q&A by Robert Webber
24. Out of context theology (A contest) — great premise, the entries alone should be good reading.
25. Hamo on Pastors as CEOs: “I will accept CEO leadership in churches on one condition. That they stop calling themselves a church and start using the term ‘corporation’.”
26. Denver Seminary’s New Testament Exegesis Bibliography – 2008 (via). There’s also an Annotated Old Testament Bibliography – 2008
27. Church Politics and Chess (cartoon)
28. Google Officially Hijacks 404 Pages — Google will take you where they want you to go today?

Let’s wrap up with a movie trailer… Indiana Jones.