Fore!

Fore!

When golfers hear that word, their head naturally duck down and their arms go up to cover themselves.  The word is usually yelled to warn golfers, caddies, and anyone else who might be on the golf course that an errant ball is coming their way.

The use of the term "fore" in golf dates back to 1881 when it was mentioned at the British Golf Museum.  Literally, it means "look ahead," which stems from the military term, "beware before."  Artillery men used it to warn infantry to get down on the ground to avoid shells.

Some people believe that the term really came from the word "forecaddy" which is used for the caddy-type person who used to be sent out ahead to find balls for golfers.  If a golfer were to hit an errant ball, they would yell "forecaddy" to warn that person.  The word was shortened to "fore."

So far, nobody has been able to prove either story false over the other.  Do you have any idea which story is the right one?

Inkjet Printers

Inkjet technology is such that digital images are created as a result of ink propulsion onto the paper.  This concept was developed in the 1950s but never quite took off until the mid-1980s.  There were many things to think about with this particular technology.  Somehow, there had to be a way to propel the ink onto the paper, creating the same look as the screen.  The ink also had to somehow dry quickly, without smearing all over the place.

In 1984, inkjet printers started to replace dot-matrix ones, allowing people in homes and businesses to print more reliably and conveniently.  The death of dot-matrix printing (although some have hung on to the antiques and still use them) brought forth the ability for people to print documents that looked exactly like what they saw on the screen.

By 1990, inkjet printers were much more widely used than their dot-matrix predecessors.  This was due to the convenience inkjet printers provided.  For one, when ink ran out, the old dot-matrix printers would be a pain in the rear to manage.  The machines either had ink ribbons that had to be replaced, or ink cartridges that required surgery to remove and replace.

The revolutionary ink cartridge made life easier for consumers.  With each inkjet printer requiring a certain ink cartridge, it became easier for users to find replacements.  In addition, the new ink cartridges easily slid in and out of their slots on the printers.

Today, inkjet printing is the preferred method, even over laser printing.  The latter is not economical for most homes and small businesses.  Most laser printer consumers are corporations, schools, and other larger entities.  Inkjet printers are here to stay, at least for now.

In 2013, inkjets are still the preferred method of printing.  In fact, many inkjet printers can now be accessed wirelessly by hooking them up to the Wi-Fi system.  Inkjet printers are also now equipped with faxing, scanning, and copying capabilities, making these all-in-one or multi-function machines greatly desirable.

At my house, we just recently switched from a line of HP inkjet printers to one made by the Brother Corporation.  I am now convinced that Brother makes a better inkjet printer.  If you are looking for a printer, you might want to consider the Brother MFC-J825DW.

Blogs

The blog, short for weblog, was born in 1994 in the form of personal diaries.  These daily personal accounts were written by diarists, journalists, and journalers.  +Justin Hall, a blogging pioneer, started a web-based diary, initially offering guided tours of the web and eventually detailing his life.  In 2004, the New York Times referred to Mr. Hall as "the founding father of personal blogging."

Other forms of journals were also kept online as the blogging community started to grow in the late 1990s.  +John Carmack maintained a widely read journal and Steve Gibson, who was the first hired blogger for Ritual Entertainment.

During the earlier years, as companies started to build their web presence, they started to add 'what's new' and 'news' sections to their websites.  These manually updated sections evolved into what we know today as blogs.

In 1997, the term 'weblog' was coined by +Jorn Barger when he started his Robot Wisdom Weblog. He came up with term because he was essentially "logging the web" as he browsed.  Two years later, Peter Merholz shortened 'weblog' to 'blog'.

Blogging really took off in 1999 and the first hosted blog tools, like Blogger, came about.  These blog tools made linking from webpage to webpage easier.

In the early 2000s, blogging grew tremendously.  According to Jesse James Garrett's compiled list, there were 23 blogs on the Internet in 1999.  By 2006, there were 50 million blogs.

Today, blogs can be found all over the Internet.  There are personal blogs, company blogs, theme blogs, event blogs, among others.  It is a tool used by corporations, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and other professionals to share information and thoughts about current events and issues.  Blogging is now a part of the mainstream and an integral part of the online culture.