NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has a gallery of digitized video clips of some experimental and/or historically significant aircraft. Possibly more unique than the SR-71 (that would be the Blackbird) or Mars Rover is the video of a Controlled Impact Demonstration (pictured right) wherein a Boeing 720 was intentionally crashed in order to record the […]
Somewhat Controlled Impact Demo
Posted by Ben on November 22, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/somewhat-controlled-impact-demo/
A success story!
A success story, but not the right kind of success story. This one’s a story of successful lobbying by Syngenta, which apparently learned the lessons of bad publicity. Faced with a potential ban on an herbicide it produces (what herbicide is used on 2/3 of corn in the U.S. and 90% of sugarcane), Syngenta spent […]
Posted by Ben on November 20, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/a-success-story/
Instant, eh?
(via BoingBoing)
Posted by Ben on November 18, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/instant-eh/
What fake news?
Snippets from the Annenberg Survey, the results of which you may or may not have heard re: Daily Show viewers: Young people who watched The Daily Show scored 48% correct on the campaign knowledge test while young people who did not watch any late-night comedy scored 39% correct. Meanwhile, young people who watched four of […]
Posted by Ben on November 16, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/what-fake-news/
Who’s looking out for you?
Google saves a man’s life; The Weather Channel could have prevented a woman from falling off a second-floor balcony (although possibly not, too). The second “could have” is a little gimmicky, since it refers to the fact that the woman fell while step outside to check the weather. Whoever wrote the article’s headline presumably thought […]
Posted by Ben on November 16, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/whos-looking-out-for-you/
Promiscuous Failure
In the American Prospect, Harold Koh writes: In no small part because of its promiscuous failure to ratify a convention with which it actually complies in most respects, the United States rarely gets enough credit for the large-scale moral and financial support that it actually gives to children’s rights around the world. [emphasis added] I […]
Posted by Ben on November 16, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/promiscuous-failure/
Platypus Trivia
In most mammals, including humans, sex is decided by the X and Y chromosomes: two Xs create a female, while XY creates a male. In birds, the system is similar: ZW makes for a female, while ZZ makes for a male. But in platypuses, XXXXXXXXXX creates a female, while XYXYXYXYXY creates a male. In other […]
Posted by Ben on November 14, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/platypus-trivia/
TiddlyWiki
TiddlyWiki is non-linear. I like it. The name is abhorrent. The uses are endless, yet nonexistent. What’re you gonna do? (via MeFi)
Posted by Ben on November 14, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/tiddlywiki/
Aw, that’s just gorilla dust
Double-Tongued Word Wrester records words as they enter and leave the English language. It focuses upon slang, jargon, and other niche categories which include new, foreign, hybrid, archaic, obsolete, and rare words. Special attention is paid to the lending and borrowing of words between the various Englishes and other languages, even where a word is […]
Posted by Ben on November 12, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/aw-thats-just-gorilla-dust/
Jon Stewart on American Perspectives
Posted by Ben on November 12, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/jon-stewart-on-american-perspectives/