“The magazine Lingua Franca and its parent company University Business LLC filed for bankruptcy earlier this year…. We understand that the assets of University Business, including this Website, are to be auctioned in New York City on October 24, 2002. For further information, we suggest contacting the Trustee.” —RIP Arts & Letters DailyA & L…
“America’s Army and Delta Force: Black Hawk Down are the ‘Why We Fight‘ for the digital generation. Though not explicitly doctrinaire in an ideological sense, by showing the very young how we fight, applying the moral application of lethal force on behalf of liberal values, these games create the wartime culture that is so desperately…
My freshman, or perhaps junior high, English teacher made us read [The Outsiders] for class. She evidently thought this was a ‘hip’ book to read because she could then show us the movie afterwards. Guess what book she chose not to require us to read. Catcher in the Rye, which of course we would have…
“With so many ‘real’ languages in the world, why would anybody make up another one? …Many authors create a language, or part of one at least, to flesh out their books and make them more realistic… The Star Trek series alone has spawned at least six languages: An’Dorian, Borg, Darmok, Ferengi, Vulcan (more Vulcan here),…
Among the excesses of the French Revolution: “Churches were re-consecrated as ‘Temples of Reason’, and so-called ‘revolutionary marriages’ were presided over, where priests and nuns were tied together naked, and drowned. Few of these allegedly egalitarian initiatives lasted far into the nineteenth century. By a long chalk the most durable among them was the creation…
“Just what do you do with [a] huge mass of reject Flubber??? The obvious answer was to send it to the local dump to be incinerated. This sounded like a good idea until Hasbro President Merrill Hassenfeld received a call the very next day after they hauled it away. The call was from the mayor…
Asphalt… lipstick… licorice… new car smell… Silly Putty. Where do they come from? —What’s That Stuff?Chem & Eng News) Similar:What's a namber? (archived)Update, December 2024: Sadly, the “what’…CybercultureTo all these tools I've loved before…While cleaning out my desk at home I add…AestheticsAnother day, another 10 square centimeters of #steampunk control panel. #blender3d #blende…AestheticsSkin of Evil…
“Some forms of money are completely unfamiliar. They may look weird and wonderful to our eyes. Or, like the axe, they might look quite familiar, but it simply would not occur to us that they could have been used as money. ” —What Is Money?British Museum) Similar:Sports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated WritersThe AI…
“[T]he current epidemic of obesity and Type 2 diabetes is very likely the result of low fat/high carbohydrate diets vigorously promoted by governmental health authorities over the past few decades. Under any circumstances it is abundantly clear that existing dietary recommendations have failed miserably and should be carefully reexamined in the light of these developments,…
“‘Monty Python’ was full of smart and funny bits, and ‘Life of Brian’ is no exception. But the film’s core assumption is that Christianity is a vast joke conceived and fostered by muddling dupes–a notion entirely at one with the group’s bemusedly contemptuous view of human life. The Pythons were cynics, not satirists, a band…
“In a move that has millions across the Internet community frowning, Despair, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) had awarded them a registered trademark for the ‘frowny’ emoticon which serves as their logo. ” —Despair, Inc. Secures Official Trademark Registration for “:-(“Despair, Inc.) A good joke from 2001. They’re apparently…
“But despite the universality of URLs, we often forget that they’re not just a handy way to address network resources. They’re also valuable communication tools. They help orient users in your architecture, and can suggest whether other options are available.” Jesse James Garrett —User-Centered URL DesignAdaptivePath.com) Ironic… the URL of this article is needlessly long:…
“An Australian study on bellybutton lint, a dog-to-person translation device and an inquiry into what arouses ostriches have been recognised with Ig Nobel prizes for dubious contributions to science. The Ig Nobels, awarded annually at Harvard University as a spoof of the Nobels, recognise achievements that ‘cannot or should not be reproduced’.” Jay Lindsay —Navel…
“Better-written technical documents enable people to work with greater speed, recall, accuracy, and comfort. These qualities, when taken together, make up the usability factor. Caution: simply gathering opinions is not usability testing — you must arrange an experiment that measures a subject’s ability to use your document.” Dennis G. Jerz —Usability Testing: What is It?UWEC)…
“On the past June 15th, 2002, the US Congress officially recognized that the italian inventor Antonio Meucci is to be credited for the invention of the telephone, and not Alexander G. Bell, as so far claimed…. a poor italian immigrant in New York sold the prototypes of his invention to a Telegraph company, that later…
“WAAABOOOOM!!! A flash of light followed by a concussion of air shook the RPG fence in front of me and the safe house windows behind me. ‘Holy Schmidt (or words to that effect), that was close’ I thought to myself and ran to roust my buddies inside – Yeah right, as if they didn’t hear…
“A lot of people in the weblog world are asking ‘How can we make money doing this?’ The answer is that most of us can’t. Weblogs are not a new kind of publishing that requires a new system of financial reward. Instead, weblogs mark a radical break. They are such an efficient tool for distributing…
See sportscar. See owner take sportscar to garage. See mechanic take sportscar for joyride. See mechanic brag about joyride on bulletin board. See owner read bulletin board. See mechanic’s ass get fired. —…MAKE SURE THAT NO ‘PUNK’ DRIVES HER CARMustang Message Board) Similar:My semester with the snowflakesInsightful essay from a US Military vet …AcademiaUniversity disavows…
“Every morning, between 8 and 8:30, an elderly couple take their morning walk, he in the same lightweight gray suit, she in layers of bright colorful wrappings; he in the lead, she always walking at least four feet back. Always crossing the road in the exact same spot, never speaking.” Shelley “Bb” —Morning RitualBurningbird) An…
“Say these two words to the next person you see: ‘Krispy Kreme.’ They’ll respond one of two ways. You might get a blank and puzzled stare…Or they’ll smile and start telling you a story about when they last had one of nature’s most divine foods: the hot glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut.” Stewart Deck —Krispy Kreme:…