December's snippets are here!

We're about to wind up one calendar year, and begin another one, so this edition is dedicated to the calendar!

• I've long been familiar with the use of knuckles as a mnemonic for the number of days in each month, but I've never seen this knuckle approach for determining the day of the week for any date in the current year! Unfortunately, it on works as written for non-leap years, so you'll have some major adjustments to make if you want to use this for 2012.

• Speaking of fingers and calendars, in my review of Speed Dating I hinted at, but never explicitly mentioned, the use of the finger abacus technique taught in the notes. It turns out that this technique was originated by Dr. Hans-Christian Solka, who teaches it in a free PDF download (English translation here). This really only makes sense if you're already familiar with the day for any date feat, but this technique does help eliminate the oft-dreaded "casting out 7s" calculation.

• I've seen plenty of perpetual calendars that you can print, but usually the printing is the final step. Over in Canon's Creative Park site, they offer 2 perpetual calendars that you print and assemble into a 3-dimensional desk accessory. It comes in classic black, or in a faux wood print. Since the calendar is always good, and is something you create yourself, this could be the last calendar you buy for a long time. It could also be yet another nice touch in your day of the week for any date presentation.

• Taking a quick look back at my own calendar-related 2011 posts, the single most-read post on the site would have to go to my revised day of the week for any date tutorial and its quiz. I first posted it back in March, but it quickly gained prominence in October, when Lifehacker featured the tutorial on their site! You can learn more via my Day For Any Date Toolbox post, and the added Odd + 11 post. If you'd prefer to cheat at this feat, there's always my dice calendar backgrounds (Just remember to use the set in “Leap_Year_Starts” > “0_Sunday” directory for 2012).