I am feeling particularly grumpy right now. But since the main reason for the grumpiness is gone, I see no reason to leave this post up any longer. If you really want to read it, look harder on this page.

So instead, here’s a factoid that may be useful the next time you play Trivial Pursuit: Ray Tomlinson sent the first email ever some time in the last two months of 1971, and he rescued the @ sign from extinction from the conventional keyboard (when was the last time you saw a ¢ or ♣?) by making part and parcel of sending email.

Whoever’s responsible for coming up with names like Basil Thai @ Urbana or library@esplanade should pay homage.

« Improbable Research.