April 2010
16 posts
“You only have to kill one person every few days to be a real nuisance.”
– Marvin Minsky, on the clumsiness of current robots for taking care of the elderly
“We actually have them in petri dishes and are exploring ways to kill them.”
– Ray Kurzweil,…on cancer stem cells
Mark Twain on Benjamin Franklin →
You can’t go wrong with that combination…
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Mom: What's that building?
Puerto Rican on bus: It's the art museum.
Mom: Are you familiar with it? Do you go there often?
Puerto Rican on bus: I was being born there.
Mom: Um...it used to be a hospital?
Puerto Rican on bus: Yes.
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Express
On rails, an express train is associated with the long haul, and would have the fastest, largest, most powerful locomotive. It would be contrasted with the slower “local” train. But in the air, “express” means “small” and “local” - for instance, US Airways Express is the regional-only division of US Airways. Occasionally the word crops up in other...
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Possibly the Best Pizza Ever
Notice: This is one of those sorts of blog posts that make people think blogs are boring and pointless. You have been warned.The good folks at Pizza Pie-er have changed my entire notion of what pizza should be. Here is an account of the pizza I ordered last night:
The crust: made from whole wheat, oats, rye, millet, flax, and sesame
The sauce: a paste of ground walnuts, olive oil, garlic and...
Translation party! Also, Batman!
http://translationparty.com is a web service for translating English phrases into Japanese and back again, over and over again until it reaches “equilibrium.” Feeding it sentences about Batman seems to produce the most hilarious results:
http://translationparty.com/#7113686
http://translationparty.com/#7113751
http://translationparty.com/#7113810
http://translationparty.com/#7113838
...
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How to Get Outside
This weekend promises beautiful weather, so I thought I’d post this little guide about how to get into a location where that weather can be enjoyed.
How to get Outside
Follow your local fire evacuation plan, assuming maximum fire severity.
As you migrate to the safe area, keep a sharp eye about for two things: Alarmed doors. It is usually possible to find an alternate route that bypasses...