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Under normal circumstances, being in a confined space with a bunch of larvae wouldn’t be at all appealing. (I mean, seriously, who wants to do that?) But when the larvae glow in the dark and dangle threads from the ceiling of a dark New Zealand cave, they suddenly become something very delightful and strange.
Death, Social Networks and High-Definition Video, TechStuff Style
by Jonathan Strickland | November 20, 2009
We just keep on trucking over here at TechStuff. This week, Chris and I hauled our butts into the studio to tow the line and address some listener mail. We’re not the type to brush aside our loyal listeners. Because of your submissions, we have had some really interesting conversations in the studio. Some of them were even recorded! This week, we looked at two very different topics and got a little metaphysical in the process.
On Monday, we examine what happens to our online presence after we shuffle off the mortal coil. Unless Kurzweil’s singularity proves me wrong, I think it’s safe to say none of us will be around forever. But after I join the choir invisible and push up the daisies, what happens to my Facebook page? How can my loved ones turn what used to be my platform for sharing photos of myself up to no good into a fitting memorial where friends can share their memories of me? We get to the bottom of the issue and give you some tips on what you can do if you want to make it easier for your friends and family to handle your online information after you’ve passed away. Click to read more.
One of the stories that gets lots of press this time of the year is what word the dictionary publishers have chosen to be the Word of the Year. This year, the New Oxford American Dictionary featured “unfriend” as the word of the year. Jon Gordon of American Public Media’s Future Tense interviewed Ammon Shea, consulting editor with the Oxford University Press, on why his company made the decision to include “unfriend.”
The word is a verb, and means to remove a person from your list of contacts on social media networks. In a lot of cases, these folks have been referred to as “friends,” though depending on the network, you may or may not have a deep enough relationship with them to be actual friends with them.
Actually, just a couple of days later in Future Tense, some people said they use “defriend” instead. Shea said the publisher chose “unfriend” because the editors found it to be more common.
Invention – Get ready to install your brain implant
by Marshall Brain | November 20, 2009
Intel thinks that we will all have chips embedded in our brains by 2020. We will use them instead of keyboard/mouse to control our laptops, phones and TVs: Intel: Chips in brains will control computers by 2020 Intel research scientist Dean Pomerleau told Computerworld that users will soon tire of depending on a computer interface, [...]
High Speed Stuff Wrap-up: Gymkhana and Motorcycle Sidecar Racing
by Scott C. Benjamin | November 20, 2009
Let’s make this quick. Here’s what Ben and I have been up to on our High Speed Stuff podcast over the past few days…
Football Mascot Uga VII Bites the Dust: Breeding to blame?
by Robert Lamb | November 20, 2009
Before I retired to bed last night, I caught word (via the AJC) that the University of Georgia’s esteemed mascot Uga VII had passed on into that great Varsity parking lot in the sky. As I’m not a fan of American football, my reaction was muted. I hadn’t prayed for the team’s victory against Kentucky this weekend (though how’s that for a good omen, Kentucky?*), and I didn’t lose any sleep. But it did get me thinking about the plight of purebred dogs.
In Monday’s podcast, Sarah and I debated whether or not there was ever an Atlantis.
The Atlantis story comes from Plato, but was he telling the story of a historical event, or simply teaching a moral lesson? In Plato’s unfinished trilogy of dialogues, he recounts the destruction of Atlantis due to the greed of its people. Throughout the years, the idea of a sunken city has captured the imagination of the most unlikely bedfellows. Heinrich Himmler, for example, used his position within the SS to send expeditions to such far-flung locales as Tibet to look for Atlantis.
Pocahontas was the subject of Wednesday’s podcast. “Pocahontas” is no one’s favorite Disney movie, but the woman herself has an interesting story.
Pocahontas became acquainted with the settlers when she was 10 or 11, but the story of her rescuing John Smith may have been completely made up. Smith’s accounts were notoriously unreliable, and he didn’t publish this sensationalized account until after she’d become famous.
I still haven’t gotten my hands on an H1N1 vaccine yet. And it looks a bunch of jolly men in red suits just stepped in line before me, too. According to Santa-America, a U.S. nonprofit organization that sends Santa across the United States to visit families dealing with various physical and emotional issues, the bearded giver of gifts wants protection from swine flu. I can’t blame him.
This year, Harvard finally got its Quidditch team, joining dozens of other colleges in the sport: Quidditch takes flight at Harvard The sport has been in motion for several years. With schools like Harvard coming on board, the sport is going mainstream: The first real-life Quidditch team debuted at Middlebury College in 2005. Today, Harvard [...]
Public service announcement – If you don’t leave a tip, you can get arrested
by Marshall Brain | November 20, 2009
If you get bad service at a restaurant, you might consider skipping the tip. But that may be a bad idea if you are in a party of 6: College students arrested for not paying tip The students claim they got bad service (e.g. – “They had to find their own napkins and cutlery while [...]
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