There is not now, nor I suspect will there ever be, a le Carré novel with ninjas in it. Most serious novelists are wary of including ninjas in their writing. That’s a shame, because many much-admired works of modern fiction could benefit from a few. (via Telegraph: “Nick Harkaway: Le Carré with ninjas” [28-June-08])
Ride Accidents
With headlines like “Octopus ride accident injures two” and “Ferris wheel catastrophe kills five”, it will be hard to look at amusement park rides in quite the same light. Not that they ever seemed on par with the safety of something like, say, bonsai gardening. (via BoingBoing)
Posted by Ben on June 25, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/ride-accidents/
Just in time
Researchers in Spain have proven that metamaterials, materials defined by their unusual man-made cellular structure, can be designed to produce an acoustic cloak – a cloak that can make objects impervious to sound waves, literally diverting sound waves around an object. The research, ‘Acoustic cloaking in two dimensions: a feasible approach’, published today, Friday, 13 […]
Posted by Ben on June 25, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/just-in-time/
Problem
Exhibit A: Over a six-hour period this morning, high-powered radars in the Arctic Circle broadcast an advertisement into space for the first time. The advertisement, for Doritos tortilla chips, was being directed towards a solar system in the Ursa Major constellation, just 42 light years from Earth. The solar system contains a habitable zone, and […]
Posted by Ben on June 14, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/problem/
Curiously elegant
Yet awkward in its own way. (via MAKE Blog)
Posted by Ben on June 12, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/curiously-elegant/
Whatbooks?
You can always build forts. (via Bookslut)
Posted by Ben on June 12, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/whatbooks/
The things we need, they are not like things
The cover story1 of the July/August edition of The Atlantic hits an interesting note, if one that’s hit with a fair amount of frequency (if not depth). One of the points is that the way our tools2 process information affects the way we process information. Which should be obvious enough, but isn’t always. The article’s […]
Posted by Ben on June 5, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/the-things-we-need-they-are-not-like-things/
Things That Are Ridiculous
Two words: Velociraptor Safari The stillness Fears of the end of the universe Prosthetic legs with secret iguana-smuggling compartments Bikinis cultivate impatience, in more ways than you might expect
Posted by Ben on June 4, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/things-that-are-ridiculous/
If I say “Zone of Eternal Evil,” what do you think of?
I bet it wasn’t this: (via WFMU)
Posted by Ben on June 4, 2008
https://www.swordbilled.com/if-i-say-zone-of-eternal-evil-what-do-you-think-of/