Moore's Law  noun  The observation made in 1965 by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented.  Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future.  In subsequent years, the pace slowed down a bit, but data density has doubled approximately every 18 months, and this is the current definition of Moore's Law, which Moore himself has blessed.  Most experts, including Moore himself, expect Moore's Law to hold for at least another two decades.  Vangie Beal  http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/Moores_Law.html

Ode to the (419) Zip Code Poetry Contest  Write a poem inspired by your zip code.  Poems should be five lines long, with each line containing the same number of words as the number in your zip code.  Submissions accepted March 1 - April 1, 2016  EXAMPLE:  4 Four words go here  3 Now just three   6 This line will give you six  0  4 None above, four here.  The 2016 Ode to the Zip Code poetry competition is brought to you in collaboration with Toledo Fair Housing Center, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, and The Arts Commission.  All submissions will be juried and published online.  The Top 25 authors will be invited to read their work at a special event at the Main Library on April 19, 2016 for 419 Day.  The Top 3 entries will be selected that evening and awarded cash prizes.  Submit your poem at  http://theartscommission.org/company-blog/ode-to-the-zip-code-poetry-contest

Inside Italy’s real life ‘Willy Wonka’ chocolate factory:  How world's richest chocolatier invented Ferrero Rocher, Nutella, Kinder and hid secret recipes in Arabic in Cairo to keep them from spies by Hannah Roberts   Like the rest of Europe, Italy was desperately poor after the war.  With cocoa rationed Pietro Ferrero decided to recreate a mixture invented during the Napoleonic wars of the 19th century when the French emperor had banned trade with Britain and its cocoa-producing colonies, blocking off chocolate supplies.  The idea was to make expensive and imported cocoa stretch further by adding ground hazelnuts, which were cheap and grew abundantly around Alba.  But it was his son Michele who, after he took over in 1957, had the vision to add more sugar, rename it Nutella and start selling it in jars--the first step towards turning the company into a confectionary titan and the world’s third biggest sweetshop.  Around a quarter of the world’s hazelnuts are now used by Ferrero.  In fact Michele was the genius behind all the major products, adding Kinder chocolate and Tic Tacs to his list of creations by the end of the 1960s.  But, like Willy Wonka, Michele was also notoriously secretive, never once giving an interview.  His motto was: 'Only on two occasions should the newspapers mention one's name--birth and death.'   While Kinder, Nutella and Tic Tac--all invented in the 1960s--struck gold, many other products such as Pico Rico Tico, a triangular chocolate treat, Il Budino Baba, a trifle shaped dessert, and the politically incorrect Negrita chocolate bar did not stand the test of time.  Some chocolates such as Pocket Coffee, which was created for lorry drivers in the 1970s when there was no coffee bars at service stations, did not find success in Britain but flew off European shelves.  Mon Cheri, a chocolate with a cherry liquor in it, failed in the UK apparently because of the British habit of biting into chocolate which caused the liquor to spill.   In continental Europe Tic Tac flavours include eucalyptus and mountain herbs while elsewhere you can find banana popcorn.  Some of the company's best creations, such as Tics Tac Mixers, that change flavour and colour midway through, have a distinctly Wonka-ish bent.  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3311559/The-real-life-Willy-Wonka-world-s-richest-chocolatier-invented-Ferrero-Rocher-Nutella-Kinder-hid-secret-recipes-Arabic-Cairo-away-spies.html

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1901 or 1903–1937), born Joseph-Casimir Rabearivelo, is widely considered to be Africa's first modern poet and the greatest literary artist of Madagascar.  Part of the first generation raised under French colonization, Rabearivelo grew up impoverished and failed to complete secondary education.  His passion for French literature and traditional Malagasy poetry prompted him to read extensively and educate himself on a variety of subjects, including the French language and its poetic and prose traditions.  He published his first poems as an adolescent in local literary reviews, soon obtaining employment at a publishing house where he worked as a proofreader and editor of its literary journals.  He published numerous poetry anthologies in French and Malagasy, as well as literary critiques, an opera, and two novels.  A street and a high school in Antananarivo have been named after him, as well as a dedicated room in the National Library of Madagascar.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Joseph_Rabearivelo  See also Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo’s Poetic Art  at  http://nurt9jageneral.blogspot.com/2014/12/jean-joseph-rabearivelos-poetic-art.html

"Roses are red" can refer to a specific poem, or a class of poems inspired by that poem.  It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19798.  The most common modern form of the poem is:  Roses are red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet, And so are you.  The origins of the poem may be traced at least as far back as to the following lines written in 1590 by Sir Edmund Spenser from his epic The Faerie Queene (Book Three, Canto 6, Stanza 6):  It was upon a Sommers shynie day, When Titan faire his beames did display, In a fresh fountaine, farre from all mens vew, She bath'd her brest, the boyling heat t'allay; She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew, And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.  Find other versions, including satirical ones  at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roses_are_Red

President Barack Obama paid tribute February 24, 2016 to Ray Charles and the late singer-songwriter's unmistakable "singular sound" that the president said continues to influence generations of musicians.  "Over the past seven years, Michelle and I have set aside nights like this to celebrate the music that shaped America," he said, adding that it had become one of their most-cherished traditions.  "I will not sing.  But for our last one, it is fitting that we pay tribute to one of our favorites."  But the president immediately failed to keep his promise, joining in and eventually leading the call and response portion of Charles' "What'd I Say."  (Beginning about 4:50 in the article's video)  Usher, Demi Lovato, gospel singer Yolanda Adams and The Band Perry were among a group of contemporary artists who performed Charles' music for an audience that included some of the musician's children, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and the Rev. Al Sharpton.  Usher performed "Georgia On My Mind," one of Charles' most-recognized hits, along with "What'd I Say," which brought the audience to its feet.  Mrs. Obama said the event would be "a little bittersweet for all of us" because it's the final one.  The Obamas have hosted more than a dozen "In Performance" events, including the tribute to Charles.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/ct-obama-ray-charles-20160227-story.html

Wesley Allison Clark, a revered computer engineer whose work from the 1950s through 1970s underpinned the revolutions in personal computing, computer graphics, and the internet, died February 22, 2016.    He was 88.  Clark trained in physics at the University of California / Berkeley and joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in 1952.  His first computer job was to test the nascent memory technology for MIT's Whirlwind, which was a vacuum tube computer for the U.S. Navy.  By 1955 he co-invented the lab's TX-0 project, which built one of the first transistor computers.  This set the course for Clark to influence the shape of an industry.  Clark designed TX-0 so it could be operated by a single person. He put that logic into technical partner Ken Olsen's hardware, which was small for its time, resulting in what defined the new class of systems called minicomputers.  Olsen two years later formed Digital Equipment Corp. to commercialize such hardware.  Minis exponentially grew the world's number of computer installations because they were the size of desks instead of rooms, could be owned by midsize businesses instead of only leased by major corporations, and were easier for non-experts to learn compared to mainframes.  Evan Koblentz  http://www.techrepublic.com/article/wesley-a-clark-legendary-computer-engineer-dies-at-88/  See also http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/business/wesley-a-clark-made-computing-personal-dies-at-88.html and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_A._Clark

Pancakes inspire children’s book and performance by Wayne F. Anthony   Wit, merriment, and mirth are the hallmarks of The Great Pancake Escape, Ballet Theatre of Toledo’s winter production, which finds three of the city’s most creative minds joining forces to lift characters from the pages of a children’s fantasy for two weekend performances.  The project began in 2002, when local author Paul Many brought his lifelong cooking passion into the pages of the book he was writing at the time.  He says, “I have been making pancakes since the time I was a kid, throwing everything that children love into the batter. It became a sort of joke with my parents, and when I grew up I continued the tradition with my own family.  “It fascinated me.  How a gloppy bowl of lumpy flour gravy transforms into tasty, crisp pancakes through the wizardry of cooking remains above my comprehension grade.  The result, however, I do understand, is the perfect delivery system for syrup, blueberries, or whipped cream.”  That magic inspired his rollicking children’s story and eventually this new ballet’s plot.  A wizardly father inadvertently uses his magic book to whip up breakfast for his children rather than a cookbook.  The result is a wayward group of flapjacks that take flight and must be retrieved in order to save the city from the antics in which they engage.  The finale is a bit of irony involving store-bought, frozen waffles.  Enter creative contributor number two, Toledo composer David Jex.  He and Many are colleagues at the University of Toledo, and shortly after the book’s publication, the two of them sparked on the idea that the story was perfect for a ballet.  With the assistance of an Arts Commission of Greater Toledo grant, Jex undertook to write music for the project.  His vision was to use jazz as a vehicle, a small combo of piano, bass, drums, and himself on trumpet and flugelhorn.  Enter creative component number three, Ballet Theatre of Toledo Artistic Director and Choreographer Nigel Burgoine.  In searching for ideas for this season’s programming he happened on a score and proposal that had crossed his desk years ago.  His creative wheels started turning.  He approached Jex and Many about resurrecting the work in its original concept as a full-length ballet.  Although his call came from out of the blue, the composer and librettist were completely re-invigorated over the prospects.  Even Scrambler Marie’s Restaurant makes a contribution by providing vouchers for a free order of pancakes to everyone who comes to see the performance.  The goal was that this production be a whole new dance concept:  a fantasia mix of narration, magic, movement, and music.  Public performances of The Great Pancake Escape are scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6, 2016  at the Valentine Theatre, 410 Adams St. Toledo. There is a special student performance at 10 a.m.  Tickets are $7 to $14 and are available at the Valentine Box Office at 419-242-2787 or valentinetheatre.com.  For more information call the Ballet Theatre of Toledo at 419-861-0895 or balletheatreoftoledo.org.  http://www.toledoblade.com/Art/2016/02/28/Pancakes-inspire-children-s-book-and-performance.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1433  February 28, 2016  On this date in 1935, DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invented nylon.  On this date in 1940, Basketball was televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden).  Word of the Day:  unbirthday  noun  A day that is not one's birthday but is celebrated as though it were.