http://doubtingtommaso.blogspot.com/2008/03/markov-chains.html Since I’m in the middle of David Blixt’s Master of Verona right now, I couldn’t resist posting this story about a programmer who whipped up an algorithm for generating fake, but authentic, Italian last names. 

http://againwiththecomics.blogspot.com/2008/03/herbie-flaming-carrot-and-billy-bob.html I’m not sure I can explain this comic, you really have to see it for yourself.  It’s got lots of Shakespeare, though, and surely qualifies as “geeky”.

So I had an interesting conversation with a coworker yesterday when he discovered this blog.  The above quote is his.  I wasn’t quite sure how to follow that.  He is in fact from a different country (India), but still, I think I was under the impression that just about every modern school system in the world had some exposure to Shakespeare. So, what would you say?  I don’t think it’s appropriate to just jump in and say “Oh, well then, it’s Romeo and Juliet for you!  Right now, get started!  Come back when you can discuss Queen Mab.”  Especially not without the benefit of a teacher who is going to stop you after every scene, answer your questions, and make sure you’re getting the general idea.  I suggested he make it a point to go see some Shakespeare, and showed him Bard in Boston as a great place to start.  And I lent him my copy of Bryson’s Shakespeare biography.  If he likes that, I’ve got plenty of others to show him….

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2268229,00.html New report called Read Up, Fed Up : Exploring Teenage Reading Habits in the UK Today about the reading habits of 11-14yr old girls says many things to make you sad: * Top winners include celebrity gossip magazines, “reading song lyrics online”, and “reading your own blog.” * Harry Potter is both in the most liked and most loathed categories. * The most loathed is homework, followed by Shakespeare, followed by…ready for this?  “Books of over 100 pages.” I place the blame firmly with Alan K. Farrar, my distinguished visitor from that area of the world.  Looks like he’s not doing enough to pimp the Bard’s good works among the young folk!
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It’s always fun to look at the search logs.  Since I’ve been tracking it, here are the most popular queries that will land you on ShakespeareGeek: 1)  Romeo’s last words  – Somebody explained this one to me. It’s a popular crossword puzzle clue.  The answer is “I die.” 2) Elizabethan recipes – I’ve never understood the popularity of this one.  I think it’s because I’m one of the few links for it in Google, so there’s little competition.  My stats also show that nobody really goes on to buy anything from the shop mentioned in that post, so maybe it’s just a curiosity?  Who knows. 3) Megan Fox tattoo – It makes me happy that a very hot girl has a tattoo that happens to be a quote from King Lear. 4) How old is Romeo – I’m glad we had a pretty in depth discussion on this one, because it’s one of those indirect questions where you’ve always assumed you had the right answer (Juliet is 13, therefore Romeo must be 13, right?) until you give it some thought and say “You know, it never actually says he’s 13…” 5) Simpsons Hamlet – Who is typing this, ya think?  Simpsons fans who recognize their Shakespeare, or Shakespeare fans who watch The Simpsons?   I’m also intriged by #6, which is in fact “Shakespeare geek“.  Not sure if that was the sort of thing people type anyway, or if they are actually looking for little old me, but I’m happy to see so many links pop up :).