Since the eruption of Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, the International ATA reports that airlines have lost over $1.7 billion.

What!?!

Yeah, I know that European air travel was halted for a period of time because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, and that sucks… But I’m more concerned about how someone comes up with the outrageous name Eyjafjallajokull (“AY-yah-fyah-lah-YOH-kuul”).

Now that makes perfect sense.

An Ode to Spot
From “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

Felix Catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature.
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.
I find myself intrigued by your sub-vocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.
A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents:
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance;
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.
Oh Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient, Spot, and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

While some people see April’s Fool’s Day as a childish way to spend your April 1st playing practical jokes on your peers, the internet has changed everything. The lighthearted have now jumped on the April Fool’s Day bandwagon and use the day to gain laughs and increased site traffic. Google, an innovative company, has previously had jokes such as “Gmail Paper“, and I’m sure that Google’s recent announcement of their name change to “Topeka” is just following suit. I’m not sure I’d go Topeka something, but you can head on over to Topeka and try it yourself.

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CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — A call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the school. All over a giant burrito.

Someone called authorities Thursday after seeing a boy carrying something long and wrapped into Marshall Junior High.

The drama ended two hours later when the suspicious item was identified as a 30-inch burrito filled with steak, guacamole, lettuce, salsa and jalapenos and wrapped inside tin foil and a white T-shirt.

“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” school Principal Diana Russell said.

State police, Clovis police and the Curry County Sheriff’s Department arrived at the school shortly after 8:30 a.m. They searched the premises and determined there was no immediate danger.

In the meantime, more than 30 parents, alerted by a radio report, descended on the school. Visibly shaken, they gathered around in a semi-circle, straining their necks, awaiting news.

“There needs to be security before the kids walk through the door,” said Heather Black, whose son attends the school.

After the lockdown was lifted but before the burrito was identified as the culprit, parents pulled 75 students out of school, Russell said.

Russell said the mystery was solved after she brought everyone in the school together in the auditorium to explain what was going on.

“The kid was sitting there as I’m describing this (report of a student with a suspicious package) and he’s thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, they’re talking about my burrito.’”

Afterward, eighth-grader Michael Morrissey approached her.

“He said, ‘I think I’m the person they saw,’” Russell said.

The burrito was part of Morrissey’s extra-credit assignment to create commercial advertising for a product.

“We had to make up a product and it could have been anything. I made up a restaurant that specialized in oddly large burritos,” Morrissey said.

After students heard the description of what police were looking for, he and his friends began to make the connection. He then took the burrito to the office.

SEE! There are plenty of geeks out in the “real world” (as opposed to teh cyber world) that are far ge3kier than I. So yes, I can call myself a geek, but you can call me Paul.