Ten tons of foresight (assuming you can measure foresight in such units) is no match for 160 pounds of klutz. Well-engineered products must withstand the unintentioned slings and arrows, the unforeseen slips and stumbles, the accidental kicks and elbows, and the regretfully overturned coffee cups that only a first-class professional klutz can deliver. So begins […]
Month: March 2004
Windows Bug in the Drains
Investigator Wendy Grossman recently sent us this report about a systemic bug: I was at a press conference on Thursday with PalmSource at One Aldwych, which is one of those hyper-modern London hotels. One of its features is a airplane-style vacuum-operated toilet system. One of the Palm execs told me that while they were staying […]
Blast-less Off in Bunnlevel
What’s new in Bunnlevel? Something not easily described. As the local newspaper put it: “Sounds ludicrous, but Mr. McLean is dead serious.” A report in the January 8, 2004 issue of the (Dunn, North Carolina) Daily Record includes the following: If Bunnlevel ever becomes a hub for space travel, Tommy McLean will be responsible. Based […]
Gang-Writing
“What is the record for the maximum number of authors/co-authors on a published paper?” asks investigator Brian G. Williams, Ph.D., P.E., of Idaho State University, in Pocatello, Idaho. He continues: A graduate student of mine found a paper: “STAR Detector Overview,” K.H. Ackermann, et. al., Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, vol. 499, […]