Better and faster (though not exactly). An interesting take on the resurgence of typos as publishers struggle to stay relevant and create product.
I was disgruntled at seeing a typo on the first page (I’m not kidding) of William Vollman’s Impe…
What Typos Mean to Book Publishing – NYTimes.com
Posted by recommended on July 25, 2011
https://www.swordbilled.com/what-typos-mean-to-book-publishing-nytimes-com/
Ways of consuming music
Of course you know that artists don’t get money when you find their music through less-than-aboveboard avenues; but do you know the difference between buying in-store and, say, through iTunes? Or what the cut is when you stream something over Rhapsody, or download from cdBaby? Dig into this delicious infographic and find out (and read […]
Posted by Ben on April 20, 2010
https://www.swordbilled.com/ways-of-consuming-music/
Return of the Rundown
Timewaster: Typewar. Think you know fonts? Try this game, which you’ll either find completely boring or riveting. Best aggregated reference word site: Wordnik. My favorite reference site right now. All about words. Maps of Disaster: Informative, curious, unnerving. View map (or maps) of the world, with icons of disaster superimposed. For added effect, project image […]
Posted by Ben on April 17, 2010
https://www.swordbilled.com/return-of-the-rundown/
An understandable mistake
A reply to a question in Notes & Queries yesterday recommended purchasing lion and tiger urine from Chester Zoo to stop neighbourhood cats from urinating in a vegetable patch (G2, page 17). Chester Zoo would like to forestall requests for its big cats’ urine: it asks us to make clear that it does not in […]
Posted by Ben on November 6, 2009
https://www.swordbilled.com/an-understandable-mistake/
Hippos
Of course there’s always debate about invasive species, but usually… Well, usually you don’t think hippopotamus, not in the same mental grouping as zebra mussel and starling. But apparently we live on a place where that can happen; where Colombian drug lords decide to create a haven (of sorts) for hippos; and where, even today, […]
Posted by Ben on October 8, 2009
https://www.swordbilled.com/hippos/
Cleaning House (Rundown)
It turns out computers can figure out what language you’re speaking without actually hearing you. In at least some controlled circumstances, anyway. (NewScientist, via Monochrom) “Astonishingly”, (1) people forget their passwords all the time, but (2) the ever-helpful “secret” “questions” are not really either — at least, not as far as security is concerned. If […]
Posted by Ben on September 17, 2009
https://www.swordbilled.com/cleaning-house-rundown/
Aliens, astronomers, or super-intelligent aardvarks?
You decide. Whatever the case, it’s kind of amazing. (via Ectoplasmosis)
Posted by Ben on August 26, 2009
https://www.swordbilled.com/aliens-astronomers-or-super-intelligent-aardvarks/
The narratives of refrigerator innards
This falls into the category of things that are uninteresting in real life, but which become interesting through the act of photography. Or something. (It may simply be that the photographs aren’t accompanied by the rank refrigerator smell that’s always lurking, waiting for the right moment to assault your nostrils.) The photos are accompanied by […]
Posted by Ben on June 20, 2009
https://www.swordbilled.com/the-narratives-of-refrigerator-innards/
Wait, what?
(via Ectoplasmosis)
Posted by Ben on May 13, 2009
https://www.swordbilled.com/wait-what/
For the record
We accidentally referred to a “stellar sea lion” (29 November, p 6). The featured mammal is a Steller’s sea lion. All in good time, all in good time. (via Regret The Error)
Posted by Ben on March 30, 2009
https://www.swordbilled.com/for-the-record/