i'll show *you* a special character...

so typing special characters is my pet peeve. or shall i say, my pet ineptitude? anyway, i looked up an online chart of key-strokes to create special characters. not the same as making special characters in html or xml - no no! this is for creating special characters - like pound-sterling and umlaats and vowels with niblets on top - in your PC word processor. yes, now i can correctly type the word "résumé" in my résumé. all hail Alt 130.

http://www.forlang.wsu.edu/help/keyboards.asp


also, here is a link to a rather fantastic article from boingboing, called "Xrays made from Scotch tape". apparently when you peel off some Scotch tape in a vacuum, you can create enough x-rays to see some bones through your flesh. picture at the top. researchers stress this happens in a vacuum, and so no one should be dissuaded from using Scotch tape in everyday life.

phew! i was really worried, you guys. here is the link to the original article published in Nature: Sticky Tape Generates X-rays. so it seems you can get the unpeeling tape to emit an eerie light, as well. mechanoluminescence is crazy.