What’s In A Barcode
Boarding pass barcode, specifically. You might be surprised. It doesn’t affect me, since I never fly, but wow.
Monthly Archive: October 2015
We Won
Many years ago, a friend declared “we won” after seeing a dragon featured in a Superbowl commercial. “The geeks won,” she elaborated, and explained what had made her say that. Yes, SF won the culture wars. No, organized fandom has not acted the part.
Well, Duh
Polynesians made it to the Americas long before Europeans. How could they have covered that much ocean without also hitting the Americas? Unpossible!
Not That Surprised
Whedon made more from Dr. Horrible than from the first Avengers movie. Given Hollywood accounting, depending on his contract, you might be surprised how lowball the pay could be. Whereas the one he made himself, he owns.
Over The Rainbow
Fascinating analysis of how the song was crafted and why, as a result, it is so enduring.
William Leitch
Scottish-Canadian scientist William Leitch was the first to describe rocket space flight, easily predating Goddard and Tsiolkovsky. We’re talking 1861! Then in book form a year later. As the article notes, this even predated the science fiction of Verne that inspired the later pioneers.
Maps!
This is a cool piece on the making of fictional maps you see in books. I found myself repeatedly going back to the map in the latest book I read, and was pleased that it was properly designed to be zoomable on Kindle.
Reardon Metal
Or something like it, has been created by the State Science Institute Pohang University of Science and Technology in South Korea.
Books, Humor, Science, Technology, World