"Oh, so THAT'S what he said!"

Everyone has had the moment where, after hearing a song on the radio a million times, you finally realize what the real lyric is.

A word or phrase misheard in this way is called a mondegreen, and that word was recently added to the latest edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. More than 100 words were added to the dictionary, including the ones listed on the front page of yesterday's Daily Breeze. Many of them are a mouthful, but this one is an earful. Merriam-Webster defines it as "a word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung."

According to Merriam-Webster, the word traces its origin to the mishearing of the line "laid him on the green" in a Scottish ballad as "Lady Mondegreen."

You've likely never heard that song, but you can find a collection of more than 100,000 misheard lyrics on the Web at http://www.kissthisguy.com/.

If that phrase sounds familiar to you, you're one of people who have misheard the line "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" in Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," after which the site is named.

The site is searchable by both artist and song title. If that's not enough for you, there's even an RSS feed of the funniest additions of the week. Happy (mis)hearing!

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Internet Archive, a digital library that makes it possible to find Web sites that may no longer be normally available, fended off a bid by FBI to get information about one of its patrons. If you want to see what the library offers go to the Internet Archive and try out the Wayback Machine.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The sale of the Santa Monica Ferris Wheel is bound to make many people recall their times riding the wheel above the pier. Of course, there will soon be a replacement but if you're nostalgic here are a few links that explain how the Ferris Wheel came into being.

The Ferris Wheel is named after its designer George Washington Gale Ferris, who conceived of the wonder of the time for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. For an account of the project go to The Big Wheel.

If you miss the Santa Monica Ferris Wheel too much to wait for its return you might want to consider a trip to London, the home of the --- British Airways London Eye. The 443-foot tall wheel was the largest in the world, before the 525-foot Nachang Star opened in 2006.

The Star lost its title as world's largest when the 541-foot Singapore Flyer opened to the public in March.

But the Flyer is expected to lose the title at end of 2009 when the 676-foot Great Wheel of Bejing will open.

But if those foreign Wheels aren't enticing then visit Steve Wilson Rides, Towers and More. The site features images of amusement rides around the world.

And if you crave speed and thrills then check out Coaster Buzz, which lets you know about roller coasters and news from amusement parks around the world.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, GR8.

A study released this week has found that the abbreviations and symbols teens use when texting are now infiltrating their schoolwork.

A telephone poll of 700 youths ages 12 to 17 and their parents found that 74 percent of the teens admitted to using the shorthand (including emoticons) in school assignments.

Perhaps we shouldn’t encourage it, but to help you help your teens move in and out of formal and informal language, we’ve tracked down some online resources to help build your texting vocabulary.

Lingo2Word includes a searchable dictionary, as well as a translator that goes from plain English to text English and back. And at Net Lingo, you’ll find a long list of chat acronyms and shorthand.

Plus, a family that texts together just might stay in touch better. A story published in our Know section earlier this week highlighted the growing use of texting to keep families close as children spread their wings.

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A British digital radio station that only broadcasts bird sounds from a country garden as a placeholder until it can get a commercial station to fill the spot on the dial has become an unlikely hit with listeners. But despite the fact that the recording was designed to be soothing, the station's devotees are staging a battle to keep the chirps on the air, the according to the Telegraph.

The recording was made by Quentin Howard, chairman of DigitalOne, who taped birds in his Wiltshire garden in 1991 for the sound effects of an amateur dramatics play.

"At the time I thought it was just the sound of an ordinary garden on the edge of Salisbury Plain but now it has become famous and part of radio folklore," he said.

"It has become the soundscape to people's lives. I am very proud of that." Birdsong was first heard as a filler on Classic FM's frequency in the run-up to its launch 15 years ago and was a huge hit.

But despite its popularity, Mr Howard warned the station could not work as a commercial venture. "It is not designed to make money as it has to run uninterrupted," he said.

However, the listeners who love Birdsong are not about to give up without a fight. Two campaign groups have been set up on Facebook, the social networking website, with one group trying to raise £1 million from an "eccentric millionaire" to keep the station going.

You can hear what all the flap is about on the station's Web site.

On the off chance that you get hooked on the birdsong and the station pulls the plug, we've compiled some backups.

The Sound Sculptures Web site broadens your choices with variety of calming background sounds for your computer, including falling rain, waterfalls, ocean waves and wind chimes:

iSerenity takes soundscapes a step further. Its ambient loops come with slide shows, and, in addition to the expected babbling brooks and nature sounds, you can select vacuum cleaner noise, a ticking clock, and even old-school typewriter typing -- with and without carriage returns!

Posted by Daily Link at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With the Grand Prix going on in Long Beach this week, there's been a lot more talk about this new form of, well, hmmm, how exactly do you describe drifting? Our friend and car guy explains it as an impressive display of car control but a complete waste of good tires. Visit this website to get a rundown of what drifting is and how you do it. The page contains a video of Keichii Tsuchiya, who our car guy friend describes as the Drift King of Japan.

Posted by Daily Link at 2:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)