Global Village Idiocy. Tom Friedman continues his work for yet another well-deserved Pulitzer. The nut grafs: … [T]hanks to the Internet and satellite TV, the world is being wired together technologically, but not socially, politically or culturally. We are now seeing and hearing one another faster and better, but with no corresponding improvement in our […]
Continue reading... May 11, 2002
Mathematical Proof of the Resurrection
When I was in high school, I saw Tom Stoppard’s play “Jumpers” on Broadway. Twice. It was amazing, opening up all kinds of vistas of language and showmanship and Oxbridgian hoopdeedoo. That’s why I liked this story: So God’s Really in the Details?. Last month, Richard Swinburne, a professor of philosophy at Oxford University, invoked […]
Continue reading... May 11, 2002
Gotta Spare Computer?
From The New York Times: Old Personal Computers Never Die; They Just Fade Into Deep Storage. It is estimated that three-quarters of all retired consumer PC’s sit gathering dust in closets, garages and attics across the nation. By Andres Martinez. Let’s see. I’ve got a Mac SE and a Toshiba 1100 Plus sitting in the […]
Continue reading... May 10, 2002
Daddy Dan’s Really True Science Facts
Hey Kids: Did you know that some mail order companies inflate those packing material air cushions with helium? Turns out that the helium has so much buoyancy that the savings in shipping costs outweighs the price of the helium itself. You read it here first.
Continue reading... May 10, 2002
“Everything I Know of Science I Learned From Reading Comic Books.”
The AP reports on University of Minnesota professor Jim Kakalios, who uses comic books to illustrate points of physics. Very nice, innovative technique. The problems seem a little simple for college physics, but what do I know… I wonder how the good professor would explain Wonder Woman?
Continue reading... May 10, 2002
Remember: On Star Trek, Off-Camera Stagehands Operated the Doors
A nice piece about PC voice recognition at Mitch Wagner’s drive-thru.org: YOU’LL ALWAYS BE ABLE TO SWEAR AT YOUR PC WHEN IT CRASHES. My friend Nat Polish was involved a few years ago in the launch of a company called Soliloquy. The basic idea was to create a voice interface to a database; you should be […]
Continue reading... May 10, 2002
Dummy of the Week
Jamie Kellner, the CEO of Turner Broadcasting, apparently needs a better PR keeper. He gave an interview to Cableworld magazine in which he made some toweringly stupid comments. The original piece is behind Inside.com’s tollbooth, but this link to the Yale Law School’s excellent Lawmeme weblog copies much of the salient idiocy — then lampoons it. My […]
Continue reading... May 9, 2002
Warning Labels on Chocolate?
From CNN: An environmental group has sued to get warning labels slapped on chocolate products that caution sweet tooths about potentially hazardous levels of lead and cadmium. As my wife says, “Well, we’re screwed.”
Continue reading... May 9, 2002
Not Depressed, Just British
This explains so much…. Thanks to Amee Abel for alerting me to this, and Theresa Carey for finding the original.
Continue reading... May 8, 2002
The Sweet Smell of Something or Other
The guy who invented Smell-o-Vision just died. Michael Todd Jr. was the son of the noted movie producer. His legacy continues in dumb, futile attempts to bring aroma to the Web.
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