Monthly Archives: March 2002

the craft of letters

Posted on Friday, 2002 March 22 by Anton

Typecaster seeks apprentice. (From GirlHacker, who picked Rebecca’s pocket.) I have a friend who used to cast his own bullets; dunno whether he still does. Sometimes he used wheel-balancing weights discarded (why??) by car mechanics, and sometimes he used an … Continue reading →

Posted in humanities, technology | 1 Comment

it’s magnetism, darling

Posted on Thursday, 2002 March 21 by Anton

Couples go to the Magnetic Pole to conceive. (Bottom of the story.) It’s a funny old world.

Posted in medicine | Leave a comment

legibility is in the eye of the reader!

Posted on Thursday, 2002 March 21 by Anton

Here is a paragraph from HTML: The Definitive Guide, by Musciano & Kennedy, second edition published by O’Reilly in 1997: Yield to the browser. Let it format your document in whatever way it deems best. Recognize that the browser’s job … Continue reading →

Posted in neep-neep | Leave a comment

catch ’em early

Posted on Thursday, 2002 March 21 by Anton

The Spirit of Kyoto? I’ve heard it suggested that manmade pollution helped end the Little Ice Age. Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle wrote a novel on a similar premise, Fallen Angels.

Posted in luddites, politics, technology | 1 Comment

come again?

Posted on Thursday, 2002 March 21 by Anton

Puzzling detail in a comic novel published in 1977. (Won’t say which, as I didn’t get where I am today by unnecessarily spoiling plot points.) Jimmy’s head has just been pulled out of an oven in Cornwall: ‘Too soon,’ said … Continue reading →

Posted in general | 1 Comment

complete the sentence: Smoking marijuana is _______ than drinking beer.

Posted on Thursday, 2002 March 21 by Anton

Also from New Scientist, formal experiment confirms anecdotal reports: Alcohol impairs driving more than marijuana. One has heard it rumoured that, among the bicycle messengers in the Financial District of San Francisco, the only ones who have accidents are those … Continue reading →

Posted in medicine | Leave a comment

Thinkers and Feelers

Posted on Wednesday, 2002 March 20 by Anton

Jay Zilber argues: The human race is perpetually at war — not simply between the good guys and the bad guys, nor even between liberals and conservatives. If only it were so convenient to draw the lines in this struggle … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, psychology | 1 Comment