Perihelion, the farthest distance between the Earth and the sun. That’s 91,402,560 miles from the sun.

Aphelion, the closest distance between the Earth and the sun. That’s 94,508,960 miles from the sun.

Sold Out at the Canadian Mint but I haven’t forgotten.

So a simple search for a sturdy coin holder that I like very much results in finding out the company has gone out of business because its founder died.

Alfred S. Colella patented his invention (picture of tube included. Another good link) in 1966. The Nevada company closed down after he died in 1998. But why? Further research required.

I want the quarter size to keep American state quarters in, but you have to go to eBay to get them now, and who knows if the price is going up and up.

What I want to know is, how I got one?

This is at the bottom of Google News. I don’t remember seeing it there before; anyone seen it there before.

The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program. The time or date displayed (including in the Timeline of Articles feature) reflects when an article was added to or updated in Google News.

And what should I know about Twitter?

I’m cringing inside at the idea of Google buying something else – growing beyond its means, thigh deep in a culture that … anyway, I’m thinking Groupon? Sure, they get some $$$ from companies to highlight them, but how the unholy hell are they worth, first $4 billion and then – the latest figure I heard today – $6 billion?

Their scope is global, to a point. Coupons are a big deal to many people. But money that big usually doesn’t just involve networks. There’s usually a heavy weight of physical assets.

So, obviously Google could integrate Groupon into its Maps and its advertising. They can upsell in a big way. Compared to most of their latest efforts and acquisitions, it makes sense. And – I guess – they have to stay in stride with Facebook’s Deals and Places, though unless they kick it in gear Facebook’s design and lack of ease, will be its downfall.

But $5.3 or $6 billion is truly, really, a crazy figure for what is still referred to as a start-up. And there’s some doubt as to why.

And then I hear today, that the latest “bidding war” has Twitter valued at “just” $4 billion. The direction of this company is skyrocketing. They’re developing into a portal – albeit one that’s vastly different from the dinosaurs of the recent past. It’s core demographic is laden with cash that it likes to spend on shiny things. It’s a solid deal. It’s the real deal.

So why “only” $4 billion compared to Groupon’s $6 billion. Are Google owners just flashing cash like Saturday Night Live’s Roxbury boys?

Today.

Remind me to watch the video? Tah.

[Post-haste? Um, no. This post is post-posted. That is, I posted it July 8 for June 28, because I forgot to wrap it up then.]

So The Shtuff is a collection of blogs and sites, and news pages, I visited. Some I finished reading. Not all necessarily caught my attention but some I’m thinking others might get something out of. Started at Twitter, then my still anemic Google Reader feed – but the capillary web of bloodshot goodness exploded from there. In no particular order:

•• The Happiness Project: Eight Excellent Tips for Living That My Parents Gave Me … SLATE.com

•• The Happiness Project: Why You Should Force Yourself To Wander … SLATE.com

•• Don’t Be Fooled By Apple … The Street

•• The President vs. the Pop Star on Facebook … The Big Money …. Also, enough with the metaphorical idea that we all like to see a star fall. Try the actual. She has no style because she’s all styles. Truly a mess.

•• Fashion Victim! Lady Gaga takes a bad fall … NYDailyNews.com

•• FleeHarmony.com … The Big Money

•• When Print Becomes Precious … The Big Money (with typo in URL :) )

•• Burger King Blows Its Marketing Wad … The Big Money / Daily Bread … Yeah, juicy, dripping burger’s have never looked so good. (NSFW)

•• Let’s hope it was accidental. And she’s still a damn stunner, honestly on and off court. But the last two paragraphs don’t bode well. –> Jennifer Capriati resting in hospital after ‘accidental overdose’ of prescripition drugs … NY Daily News.

•• HOLY SHIIIIT. God Forbid, ‘My Baby Is Black’ – The Root. — A little treatise on part of a trailer to a film released in 1961.

•• Why Can’t Twitter Handle It’s Record Traffic … The Big Money

•• Airline Food Is More Disgusting Than You Know

•• Michael Jackson: The Writings On The Wall … The Root

•• The most idiotic thing I read today? — Please, Dear Lord, Do Not Let Soccer Become An American Obsession drezner: Foreign Policy …. And WTF, commentators here are verbose

•• Postcards From Hell … Foreign Policy — Um, prepare to tear up. Stunning images

•• Gun-Rights Decision May Have Limited Impact Newsweek.com

•• Why Is It So Hard To Make a White iPhone? The Big Money

•• It’s Been Such a Pleasure Working With You The Big Money

•• It Gets Worse: Apple Censors a Gay Kiss in Oscar Wilde Comic The Big Money

•• Civil Rights Organizations Call Out Kagan The Root

•• Mexico vs. Argentina 2010: At World Cup, Carlos Tevez scores twice as Argentina wins, 3-1 Washington Post

•• West Virginia’s coal country pays tribute to Byrd, who never forgot it Washington Post

•• Kagan’s Hat Trick SLATE.com / Supreme Court Breakfast Table

•• The Narcissism of the Small Difference SLATE.com — It’s hard to find in all the garbage, but occasionally Christopher Hitchens makes a point worth reading and even pursuing

•• One Day We’ll All Be Terrorists TruthDig.com

•• Presidential Memorandum: Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution WhiteHouse.gov — Seems an important milepost to the future. Potentially, anyway.

•• Broadband Availability to Expand New York Times

•• Why We Check In: The Reasons People Use Location-Based Social Networks Read Write Web

•• 21 Unique Location Examples from Foursquare, Gowalla, Whrrl, and MyTown Social Fresh

AND … AND … AND

•• Greg Sargent at a WaPO blog forgetting about his own weak-on-the-facts past. His bio is also horribly twee “(in those days people mostly did journalism on paper”) crouched permanently in the defensive position that is the charge against “old media.” As if Politico isn’t old media, as if old media hasn’t moved to the Internet. AS if they’re separate. Exactly the charge he levels against others. Yawning inconsistency or just, yawn?

Which was in response to this quick update from Atlantic columnist Jeffrey Goldberg on the Washington Post’s firing of yet another blogger (though for different reasons than others of the past, Dan Froomkin and Ben Domenech.) His previous post on the subject

•• Dan Froomkin Fired From Wa Po.com Welcome Back To Pottersville — In the way back machine related to the latest Washington Post fracas Along with the following posts: Was Dan Froomkin Fired For Declining Traffic? Froomkin Says No. (Andrew Sullivan/The Daily Dish) …… The Washington Post, Dan Froomkin and the establishment media (Glenn Greenwald/Salon.com) …… The Washington Post fires its best columnist. Why? (Glenn Greenwald/Salon.com, 6/18) ……

•• Who Runs Gov. beta. Seriously Washington Post bloggers are “partnershipped” with them and it’s a fairly innocuous, pretty close to anonymous, in-house entity?

•• A series of Slate articles that I followed solely based on headline worthiness – but then read neough to want to inclue here. Happiness Myth No. 3: Venting Anger Relieves It.” (Or is that Relieves IT. Nice take, didn’t like that the studies cited were mostly not referenced or even linked to. So, “studies” get to an unsupported (to the reader) conclusion. …. Dear Prudence. The Daily Bump and Grind – about a company that makes employees dance when they get rewards / recognition? Seriously, WTF? Wish I knew which company it was. … “On game shows, female host usually lose big.” wherein “lose” wasn’t really supported but “unsupported” was. Surprised, too, that the link was from 2001. Missed shows on The Game Show Network, but the date most likely a factor there.

That one also includes a link to this “poem“:

A quiz-master I’d like to be,
But as I am a girl, you see
Perhaps I will apply to go
As his assistant on his show.
I’ll have to usher in each guest,
Persuading them to do their best:
But if they lose, I’ll have to say
“Bad luck, dear,” or “It’s not your day!”
Each night a different dress I’ll wear,
And not forget to style my hair.
Apart from this I must display
A personality bright and gay.
Won’t mother have a grand surprise—
She hardly will believe her eyes:
“Quick, Dad,” she’ll cry, “Look on the screen—
Just see who’s on with Hughie Green!”

•• No Orgasms, Please. We’re Women (Or ladies if you follow this link??

•• Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia died today, aged 92. He was, famously, still working. The Associated Press had a comprehensive and good article going. Found at the Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune.

•• Wired.com, “Yo Senators: Here’s What You Should Ask Petraeus” Questions inquiring Senators could ask the shoo-in Gen. David Petraeus upon his confirmation hearings. Including, “Let’s be real. That July 2011 drawdown date is bullshit, right?”

•• A nifty Slate piece called, The Agnostic Manifesto, which won’t change my beliefs at all, but has started to make me think I should define them for myself so I can articulate them if anyone asks.

—Yes, Related Pages links works