Happy Thanksgiving! Back on Monday.

Female turkey suffrage! OK, not quite, but this year’s presidential turkey pardon was the first one to grant a stuffing-free life to a female turkey. Unaccustomed to the gender change, President Bush referred to Katie as “he” for his first few impromptu remarks until he got to his written speech. Katie and male alternate turkey, Zach, will join last year’s pardoned turkeys at a farm. All previously pardoned turkeys have gone on to those turkey-safe woods in the sky.

Here’s a site for the tea connoisseur, 763 tea caddies collected by a Czech Republic resident. What? Your tea comes in a bottle with a “Snapple” label? Maybe you’d prefer a related site, World of Napkins, selections from a collection of over 13,000. That’s a lot of napkins. (via Coudal Partners)

Very nifty: a book design weblog. Most people don’t think about how books get to look they way they do, but there’s a designer behind the choice of fonts, layouts, cover art, author name placement, and all those other elements that can help convince us to pick up a book and keep on reading. (via Typographica)

Expensive sparkly ice will be coming from Canada soon as high-class jeweler Tiffany & Co. begins production early next year on diamonds from the Diavik mine in the Northwest Territories. Tiffany used to get their diamonds the old-fashioned way by buying cut stones at the diamond markets in Antwerp, Tel Aviv and New York (most likely funding DeBeers’ hefty cartel in the process). But with the bad press of African conflict diamonds and also their wish to control more of their jewelry manufacturing process, Tiffany has invested instead in Canada’s mining operations. Not to be left out in the cold, so to speak, DeBeers also has invested in a Canadian diamond mine, but production won’t begin until 2006 because of permitting delays. The negative publicity about conflict diamonds has certainly made an impact.

Moved by my plea for fall apples, someone sent me information about the Apple Hill Growers Association. It’s a group of ranches out near Placerville, California who banded together to market their apples. Now they also have wineries and Christmas tree growers in their ranks. (thanks Melissa!)

My main reason for majoring in Computer Science in addition to Cognitive Science was to increase my employability. Potential employers would understand the C.S. degree instantly and I had taken the majority of the courses needed for a major anyway. I wasn’t sure how marketable a cogsci degree was going to be, though I knew it would help me design better user interfaces. It’s been ten years since then, and where has the Cognitive Science field gone? To the marketers. According to a bit in Wired Magazine, cognitive science departments are “filling up with profs who specialize in the psychology of acquisition and the science of material desire.” They’ve found the money, and it’s in the old trade of making people want something they don’t know they need. Apparently “there’s a new push for relevance” in selling the field to students. I suppose this trend will further the eclectic mix at the cognitive science conferences.

Charles (of six different ways) noted my mention of bookkey and suggests Powermarks as a better (though $25) alternative.

At one of my first baby-sitting jobs, the toddler had not yet mastered how to build things with blocks, but his parents would build him structures so that he could knock them down. They demonstrated this skill to me with great pride. Sometimes I wonder if he grew up to be a building demolition expert. I think he would enjoy the ImplosionWorld site. It’s all about controlled demolition. (via memepool)

A power plant may not seem worthy of preservation, but the NY Times reports that the Mechanicville Hydroelectric Station in New York is attracting attention from engineers and historians who believe it is worth saving. Built in 1897, the station generated power until 1997. Its seven cast-iron generators supplied power for General Electric, and were eventually purchased by a local utility company. Current owners Niagara Mohawk aren’t interested in funding a restoration; the power it can generate wouldn’t be worth the cost of operation. As time marches on, preservationists are realizing the value of the structures from our early industrial era. I have to wonder if my grandchildren will be taking field trips to nuclear power plant museums.