Internet Wanderings, or: Hello Wikipedia; Goodbye Productivity.

I would like to begin by saying that it would be impolite to ask how many hours I spent creating the above flowchart.

Yesterday morning I woke up to the latest Strange Maps post that overlays the results of the 2007 Polish election with the imperial borders of the last century (seen above, center). This chart is a rough recreation of the ensuing hours of my life as I eagerly followed hyperlinks across the interwebs. I had an amazing time. Did you know the term 'Cisleithanian' or 'palimpsest'‽ How about that the Aral Sea has been in 2 pieces since 1987? The difference between the Kingdom of Prussia, The Duchy of Prussia, and Royal Prussia? When the British Monarchy lost its claim to Hanover, and why? These are just a few of the things I learned yesterday. And so many maps! [I loved seeing this old friend again.]

Fortuitously, that map of magnetic anomalies was this week's Morning News map quiz. In addition, I expect some of this raw data to be put to good use tonight at JD's game night.