Piano maker Steinway is seeking its oldest existing piano. To see if yours is in the ballpark, check its serial number against their handy “How Old Is My Steinway?” chart.

“Query by Humming” may be coming soon to a search engine near you. The Fraunhofer Institut in Germany created the MP3 audio format and now they have a solution to “name that tune.” It matches pitch differences to a database of songs. Other companies are creating similar software. Wouldn’t if have been neat to hum a tune into Napster and have it fetch matching mp3s for you? Composers could check to see if they are unintentionally plagiarizing.

Matt Pfeffer has started a news digest called Today’s News which is his version of what is newsworthy, without any extra fluff. Part of it is a fun category called Non-news which is perfectly named. Some of those items feature amusingly pointed headlines like “German man doesn’t fly plane into building.”

Anil Dash goes to town on one of my favorite topics (I’ve posted ~10 times about it), the diamond deception. Unfortunately, he publishes it on the day I discover a teeny tiny chip in the sapphire on my engagement ring. That’s what I get for dragging my knuckles on a stone church floor (I wasn’t praying; I was reattaching pews after a concert). Tears were shed.

Thanks for all the Ninas Mr. Hirschfeld. The NY Times obituary is appropriately extensive.

An large collection of telegraph keys with links to even more information about the telegraph. (via larkfarm)

Plans for a Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial at the National Mall in Washington D.C. germinated more than 20 years ago. Congress passed a law authorizing a memorial in 1998. The project needs to raise the funds this year; the amount is in the “tens of millions” to complete the construction and it must be raised privately.

Foodie TV meets Reality TV in an upcoming NBC series called “The Restaurant” (clever name, huh?). Chef Rocco DiSpirito will be in the TV fishbowl as cameras chronicle life in the kitchens and in the dining room. Diners make reservations just like any other restaurant, but aren’t guaranteed a TV appearance. Will someone concoct a tableside drama to get themselves featured on the show?

Cybill Sheperd has signed on to play Martha Stewart in an NBC movie based on the unauthorized (i.e. unflattering) Martha, Inc biography. I would’ve preferred Candice Bergen, but it’s nice for Cybill to have a gig where she can wear comfy shoes. Cybill wore sneakers on the set of “Moonlighting” unless her feet were in the shot, and sometimes wore her tennies with evening wear.

Money, money, money. It grows on trees, you know — well, except for the ones printed on plastic.