AJ Slater

COBOL ON COGS

5 February 2010

The Roman Army Knife: Or how the ingenuity of the Swiss was beaten by 1,800 years (via Ada)

The Roman Army Knife: Or how the ingenuity of the Swiss was beaten by 1,800 years (via Ada)

31 January 2010

This echidna wants to be a photographer but he has no thumbs. :(

This echidna wants to be a photographer but he has no thumbs. :(

30 January 2010

Body Scans of two Women: 250lb vs 120lb

Body Scans of two Women: 250lb vs 120lb

26 January 2010

SR-71 Disintegrates Around Pilot During Flight Test

…Everything seemed to unfold in slow motion. I learned later the time from event onset to catastrophic departure from controlled flight was only 2-3 sec. Still trying to communicate with Jim, I blacked out, succumbing to extremely high g-forces. The SR-71 then literally
disintegrated around us…

23 January 2010

Parametric estimations of the world distribution of income

Since 1970, income worldwide has increased 10x while income inequality has declined.

World poverty is falling. This column presents new estimates of the world’s income distribution and suggests that world poverty is disappearing faster than previously thought. From 1970 to 2006, poverty fell by 86% in South Asia, 73% in Latin America, 39% in the Middle East, and 20% in Africa. Barring a catastrophe, there will never be more than a billion people in poverty in the future history of the world.

via @ggreer

22 January 2010

Panzerbike via harzer-bike-schmiede.de

Panzerbike via harzer-bike-schmiede.de

20 January 2010

Italic ampersands were a later ligature of E and T, and are also present in modern fonts. These were developed as part of cursive scripts that were developed during the Renaissance. They’re often more formal-looking and fancier than the standard Carolignian ampersand. The word “ampersand” was first added to dictionaries in 1837. The word was created as a slurred form of “and, per se and”, which was what the alphabet ended with when recited in English-speaking schools. (Historically, “and per se” preceded any letter which was also a word in the alphabet, such as “I” or “A”. And the ampersand symbol was originally the last character in the alphabet.) (via The History of the Ampersand and Showcase | Webdesigner Depot)

Italic ampersands were a later ligature of E and T, and are also present in modern fonts. These were developed as part of cursive scripts that were developed during the Renaissance. They’re often more formal-looking and fancier than the standard Carolignian ampersand.

The word “ampersand” was first added to dictionaries in 1837. The word was created as a slurred form of “and, per se and”, which was what the alphabet ended with when recited in English-speaking schools. (Historically, “and per se” preceded any letter which was also a word in the alphabet, such as “I” or “A”. And the ampersand symbol was originally the last character in the alphabet.) (via The History of the Ampersand and Showcase | Webdesigner Depot)

14 January 2010

Vespa 150 TAP

Vespa 150 TAP

8 January 2010

7 January 2010

Solar Eruptions Captured By DiY Astronomer - Larry Alvarez - io9

Solar Eruptions Captured By DiY Astronomer - Larry Alvarez - io9

17 December 2009

via funk.co.uk

via funk.co.uk

15 December 2009

Why Are Europeans White? Tells why northern Europeans are so oddly de-pigmented compared to everyone else on the globe.

Why Are Europeans White?

Tells why northern Europeans are so oddly de-pigmented compared to everyone else on the globe.

14 December 2009

Houseboat Eats: How to preheat your pan

there is actually a small ideal window of heat that you should be aiming for in order to prevent sticking, optimize browning of your meat, and develop a nice fond on the pan. With a stainless steel skillet, there is a cool trick that will help you identify this window.

14 December 2009