Critical Exponent

You know the movies where they take the DNA of long-deceased person or dinosaur and bring them back to life?

Scientists have done this with some of the earliest audio recordings.

Listen to the NPR story Moving Parts Make Holiday Music.

It’s hot in Boston. I wish we could set up a beach on the Charles, just like Paris did on the Seine.

The Baltimore Sun is carrying an article on people who spend quit a chunk of their time immersed in virtual worlds, whose posessions and money can be traded in the real world for cold hard cash:

Companies in China pay thousands of people, known as “farmers,” to play MMORPGs [massively multiplayer online role-playing games] all day, then profit from selling the in-game goods they generate to other players for real money.

Trade in virtual items is now worth more than $100 million each year. In some Asian countries, where MMORPGs are particularly popular, in-game thefts and cheats have led to real-world arrests and legal action.

In one case in South Korea, the police intervened when a hoard of in-game money was stolen and sold, netting the thieves $1.3 million.

Apparently, it used to be a common, if not much discussed, practice to bind some books in human skin.

Here’s how to convert metered parking into a luscious green space.

Somehow, English textbooks in Pakistan came to include a poem praising the qualities of a leader. The government is now telling students to ignore the poem until the textbooks can be reprinted next year, not because it is cheesy, but because the first letters of each verse spell out “PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH”:

Patient and steady with all he must bear, Ready to meet every challenge with care, Easy in manner, yet solid as steel, Strong in his faith, refreshingly real. Isn’t afraid to propose what is bold, Doesn’t conform to the usual mould, Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight won’t do, Never backs down when he sees what is true, Tells it all straight, and means it all too. Going forward and knowing he’s right, Even when doubted for why he would fight, Over and over he makes his case clear, Reaching to touch the ones who won’t hear. Growing in strength he won’t be unnerved, Ever assuring he’ll stand by his word. Wanting the world to join his firm stand, Bracing for war, but praying for peace, Using his power so evil will cease, So much a leader and worthy of trust, Here stands a man who will do what he must.

It is thought that maybe the textbook writers found the poem on the Internet.

I’ve heard heated discussions of Xmas being offensive because it takes the Christ out of Christmas. Think again! This usage has a long history, and the X is actually the Greek Chi, the first letter of the Greek word Χριστοσ, Christ.

Whatever happened to the milk spout?

You know what I’m talking about. You get a milk carton, you tear the flaps open on one side, pull the crease out, and voila! an instant pour spout. I remember how mysterious the milk spout seemed when I first saw it, and how neat I thought it was when I finally mastered the knack of creating it effortlessly upon grabbing my school lunch.

Where did the milk spout disappear to? It seems like most cartons these days have a plastic twist top to keep their contents fresh and tight. Good for consumers, I suppose, but perhaps a trifle wasteful, and not a little new-fangled.