A brief Greek lesson for Tammy

You asked what βeta meant, but work intruded before I could answer. Basically, it's the second letter of the Greek alphabet, which has been in use around three millenia now. Hell, it's where we get the word "alphabet" from; Alpha & Beta are the first two of 24 letters.

The letters have many uses, such as describing different brain states, to indicate parameters in math, or just as an alternate way to count. If you want to know more, read the Wikipedia article.

My personal use of βeta references the nickname(Pentathalos being another)given to Eratosthenes by his contemporaries. The man seemed to excel at whatever he tried but, would rarely take the gold.

Coming in second all the time in a wide number of disciplines is no mean feat, and an example I wish to emulate(winning is over rated). So, that's it. Hope I solved the mystery for you.

βeta, out.

My name is...

Pentathalos, nice, Greek sounding, and most importantly, apparently un-used as a screen name. According to Google, there are like 8 hits when you search for Pentathalos, I'm sure it's 9 now(it had better be). One such hit is the Wired.com article about Eratosthenes,the self-same article which gave me the idea to use Pentathalos for my new blog. You see, this Eratosthenes guy, he was something of a JoaT (Jack of all Trades). I consider myself to be something of a JoaT also, and he's been dead for like 2200 years, so it's not like he can sue me for copyright infringement.

According to the wired.com article this guy, lets call him Era from now on. Yes, I'm doing this just so you don't have to figure out how to pronounce his name anymore. Anyways, Era was also called beta by his detractors. People jealous that he always came in second, no matter what he did. I'd be more than happy to come in second in five different sports than first in just one. Besides, silver is so much cooler than gold.

So, that's it, I am now Pentathalos, but you can call me beta if you want. I'll be posting about the construction of my Halloween costume in the coming days. I know it's early, but it's too hot to do anything outside, and I have way too much free time on my hands.

βeta, out.