Carol asks: Do you have advice for a blogaholic?

Blog addiction is something that is often joked about among bloggers, but I believe it can be a serious problem. I don't know if there is any serious research about blog addiction specifically, but there is plenty about internet addiction in general. It seems silly to find internet addiction resources on the internet, but there are some useful ones out there.

Here is a quiz to find out if you might be addicted to the internet:
internet addiction quiz

Here is a scientific article discussing the symptoms, evaluation, and treatment of internet addiction:
article from healthy place addiction community

The article discussing a variety of techniques for dealing with internet addiction:
(a) practice the opposite time in Internet use, (b) use external stoppers, (c) set goals, (d) abstain from a particular application, (e) use reminder cards, (f) develop a personal inventory, (g) enter a support group, and (h) family therapy.

Please read the article for more details.

They mention that it's not practical to stop all internet use, as it's become an important part of the world (for communication, business transactions, etc). The techniques for dealing with internet use are similar to the ideas for dealing with any kind of addiction.

If you believe you have a serious problem, I would strongly suggest seeking professional help or at least discussing it with someone close to you (family member or friend).

Brenda asks: Where did the tradition of St. Nick's day come from? Who celebrates it and why?

St. Nick's day is intended to celebrate the life of the actual Saint Nicholas of Myra (who is, of course, also part of the inspiration for Santa Claus). He died on December 6th and thus, December 6th is his feast day. It is meant to celebrate the spirit of giving. Often it is celebrated by children recieving small gifts in stockings or their shoes on the night of the 5th. It is celebrated in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of France. It also appears to be quite popular in Wisconsin. Do you celebrate it, Brenda?

Sources:
http://www.womentodaymagazine.com/christmas/stnick.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_8243_celebrate-saint-nicholas.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/saint-nicholas
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=391

Brenda asks: Since Christmas is coming up, I thought I'd ask a Christmas question. What exactly is a yule log? I know it's a piece of wood, but is there a yule log that is food too?

Brenda, it's a piece of wood AND a Christmas food! Here's a quote from wikipedia about its origin:

The origins of the Yule Log can be traced back to the Midwinter festivals in which the Norsemen indulged...nights filled with feasting, "drinking Yule" and watching the fire leap around the log burning in the home hearth. The ceremonies and beliefs associated with the Yule Log's sacred origins are closely linked to representations of health, fruitfulness and productivity. In England, the Yule was cut and dragged home by oxen or horses as the people walked alongside and sang merry songs. It was often decorated with evergreens and sometimes sprinkled with grain or cider before it was finally set alight.

A yule log can also be a chocolate cake that is made to look like a piece of wood. You can find recipes for them online.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_log
http://cake.allrecipes.com/az/ChocolateDecadenceYuleLog.asp

Amy asks: Several years ago I inherited a diamond ring that was appraised at about $5000. I am ready to sell this ring and of course I am hoping to get the highest amount possible. The problem is - where do I start? Any suggestions?

Well, most of the things I'm reading seem to be saying that you will never get the appraised value out of a diamond ring and you'll be lucky to get 50% of the retail value. A pawn shop might only offer you 10-15% of the retail value. As with selling most things, your best bets are going to be getting closest to the buyer as possible: ebay, an ad in the paper, local auction, or consignment. Which route you choose will depend on what you're most comfortable with.

From the first link below, here's a rough guide of what you can expect when you sell a diamond, depending on where you sell it:

1. RESALE TO THE PUBLIC (through the classifieds):Wholesale to wholesale plus 15-25%
2. RESALE TO FAMILY & FRIENDS (through word of mouth):Wholesale to wholesale plus 15-25%
3. RESALE THROUGH A MAJOR AUCTION HOUSE (on short term consignment):Wholesale neighborhood
4. RESALE THROUGH A LOCAL AUCTION HOUSE (on short term consigment):Wholesale neighborhood
5. RESALE THROUGH A LOCAL JEWELER (on mid term consignment):Wholesale neighborhood
6. RESALE THROUGH INTERNET AUCTION (through short term listings; Ebay):Wholesale to wholesale minus 10 to 25%
7. RESALE TO A KNOWLEDGEABLE ESTATE DEALER (for cash outright):Wholesale minus 35 to 60% (usually 40-50%)
8. RESALE TO A PAWN SHOP (for cash outright):Wholesale minus 70-80%

Sources:
http://www.pricescope.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=17953
http://www.pricescope.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000014.html
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/26608

Chuck asks: What is the airspeed velocity of a coconut-laden swallow?

Chuck is referring to a quote from Monty Python and the Holy Grail but he got the quote slightly wrong. According to IMDB, it's actually:

What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

I'm going to assume that that's the question that you really wanted an answer to, and not surprisingly, some geeks on the internet have calculated an answer. The most famous of these answers was written by Jonathan Corum and uses some complex math. Follow the link for all the details but his answer boils down to 11 meters per second, or 24 miles an hour.

Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/quotes
http://www.style.org/unladenswallow/

Amy asks: How do I search a blog for a specific entry? I am trying to find your entry where you talk about the wickpedia. Maybe I am spelling it wrong.

Yes, you have the spelling wrong. That could be part of the problem. It's spelled "wikipedia". Wiki is defined as: "A website or similar online resource which allows users to add and edit content collectively". Wikipedia = Wiki + Encyclopedia. The web address for wikipedia is:
http://www.wikipedia.org/

But that doesn't really answer your question about how to find things on blogs... Most blogs do not have a search function on them, so you have to do it yourself. You can click each month of the archives and do a "find on page" (ctrl+f is the shortcut for that) to see if what you're looking for is in that month of posts. That's what I did to find the post you are referring to on my other blog back in October: http://cindylu322.blogspot.com/2005/10/have-you-tried-out-wikipedia.html

If you want to find some topic on any blog (won't always work if you have particular blog in mind), you can use a blog search engine. I would recommend:

• Google blog search: http://blogsearch.google.com/ OR
• Technorati: http://www.technorati.com/

As a side note about wikipedia, I would use caution using it with children as not all topics discussed are appropriate.

WARNING: Adult Language In This Post

Amy asks: In the song My Humps by The Black Eyed Peas the line goes like this "I mix your milk wit my cocoa puff, Milky, milky cocoa, Mix your milk with my cocoa puff, milky, milky riiiiiiight." What the heck are they singing about?

Believe it or not, there are actually web sites that do nothing but translate slang. I found a good translation of this song here:
http://www.slangcity.com/songs/my_humps.htm

Here's the phrase you're asking about:
I met a girl down at the disco
She said hey-hey-hey, yeah let's go
I can be ya baby, you could be my honey
Let's spend time not money
And mix your milk with my cocoa puff
milky milky cocoa
mix your milk with my cocoa puff
Milky milky
Right

Here is their translation:
I met a girl down at the disco
She said hey-hey-hey, yes let's go
I can be your girlfriend, you could be my boyfriend
Let's spend time not money
And have sex
Right

There is also a note about the bottom about the term "cocoa puff":
Cocoa Puffs are a sweet chocolate breakfast cereal for children. However, as in Trick Daddy's Sugar, Gimme Some and other songs, such as Petey Pablo's Fool for Love (my baby got some good stuff/I'm coo-coo for cocoa puffs/time to break out the candles/and old Marvin Gaye) it has a sexual meaning. In the other songs, the cocoa puffs represent black women's breasts, but here, the woman has milk and will.i.am is the cocoa puffs. While milk could be her breasts, it is probably also a reference to skin color. Will.i.am is black and Fergie is white.

Angi asks: What can I use in place of sugar in standard baking recipes and what are the exchanges? I do not like fake sugar - I'm looking for things like bananas, applesauce, etc. but because there is a moisture difference, I don't know the exchange. Like 1c sugar = ?? applesauce.

Unfortunately, applesauce is generally a fat substitute (exchanging for oil, etc), not a sugar substitute. Here's an expert Q&A that discusses applesauce as a substitute:
http://experts.about.com/q/3205/2623715.htm

Here's an overview of things that can be substituted for sugar, but most of them are just some other variety of sugar:
http://www.foodsubs.com/Sweeten.html#fructose
Hopefully, some of the ideas in that list will work with some of your recipes.

Here's a good article about the different types of sugars:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09301.html

Generally, it doesn't look like there are easy ways to convert a recipe into a sugar-free one (without using artificial sweeteners). Your best bets seem to be reducing the sugar in recipes or looking for recipes that start out sugar-free. Most recipes, you can safely reduce the sugar up to 1/3 without otherwise altering it.