February 2012
14 posts
Private copying levy →
A private copying levy (also known as blank media tax or levy) is a government-mandated scheme in which a special tax or levy (additional to any general sales tax) is charged on purchases of recordable media. Such taxes are in place in various countries and the income is typically allocated to the developers of “content”.
Compulsory license →
A compulsory license, also known as statutory license or mandatory collective management, provides that the owner of a patent or copyright licenses the use of their rights against payment either set by law or determined through some form of arbitration.
Net Book Agreement →
The Net Book Agreement (NBA) was a British fixed book price agreement between publishers and booksellers which set the prices at which books were to be sold to the public.
AR/VR Contact Lenses →
Currently being developed by DARPA researchers at Washington-based Innovega iOptiks are contact lenses that enhance normal vision by allowing a wearer to view virtual and augmented reality images without the need for bulky apparatus.
Polari →
Polari is a form of cant slang used in Britain by actors, circus and fairground showmen, criminals, prostitutes, and the gay subculture.
Lunfardo →
Lunfardo is a dialect originated and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the lower classes in Buenos Aires and the surrounding Gran Buenos Aires.
Morphogenesis →
Morphogenesis is the biological process that causes an organism to develop its shape.
Allometry →
Allometry is the study of the relationship of body size to shape, anatomy, physiology and behaviour.
Nomogram →
A nomogram, nomograph, abaque, or abac is a graphical calculating device, a two-dimensional diagram designed to allow the approximate graphical computation of a function.
Tachymeter →
A tachymeter or tacheometer is a type of theodolite used for rapid measurements and determines, electronically or electro-optically, the distance to target, and is highly automated in its operations.
September 2011
2 posts
10 chindogu tenets →
Dieter Rams: ten principles for good design →
March 2011
3 posts
The Burrow →
The Burrow is an unfinished short story by Franz Kafka in which a mole-like being burrows through an elaborate system of tunnels it has built over its life.
February 2011
2 posts
Imaginary Colours →
Imaginary colors are points in a colour space that correspond to combinations of cone cell responses that cannot be produced by any physical light spectrum.
Impossible Colours →
Impossible colours are hues that can only be perceived under specific conditions.
January 2011
2 posts
Panettone →
Panettone is a type of sweet bread loaf originally from Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year.
Pantone →
Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System, a proprietary color space.
December 2010
7 posts
London Beer Flood →
On October 17, 1814 a huge vat containing over 610,000 litres of beer ruptured, causing other vats in the same building to succumb in a domino effect. As a result, more than 1,470,000 litres of beer burst out and gushed into the streets.
Boston Molasses Disaster →
On January 15, 1919 in Boston, Massachusetts a large storage tank burst, and a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph, killing 21 and injuring 150.
Therblig →
A therblig is the name for one of a set of fundamental motions required for a worker to perform a manual operation or task. The set consists of 18 elements, each describing a standardized activity.
Green Ink →
In British journalism, green ink is used to describe written correspondence from self-aggrandising pedants, cranks, charlatans and eccentrics, or from the clearly mentally ill.
Blazon →
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image.
Cathemeral →
A cathemeral organism is one that has sporadic and random intervals of activity during the day or night in which food is acquired, socializing with other organisms occurs, and any other activities necessary for livelihood are performed.
July 2010
2 posts
Blast Fishing →
Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is the practice of using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection.
Cormorant Fishing →
Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing method in which fishermen use trained cormorants to fish in rivers.
June 2010
13 posts
Tic-tac →
Tic-tac is a traditional method of signs used by bookmakers to communicate the odds of certain horses. It is still used in on-course betting in the UK. A tic-tac man will usually wear bright white gloves to allow their hand movements to be easily seen.
23 Years Too Late – Wire →
Banana Equivalent Dose →
A banana equivalent dose is a concept occasionally used by nuclear proponents to place in scale the dangers of radiation by comparing exposures to the radiation generated by a common banana.
Median Lethal Dose →
In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 (abbreviation for “Lethal Dose, 50%”) of a toxic substance or radiation is the dose required to kill half the members of a tested population after a specified test duration.
“A quine is a computer program which prints its own listing. This may sound either impossible, or trivial, or completely uninteresting, depending on your temper and your knowledge of computer science.”
“…an informal, unedited style which goes with private communication is spreading...”
– Notes on Multiplied Language, Robin Kinross
“The way he lit a cigar was a piece of history”
– 44:40, Richard Brautigan
“I was a child, then, though now I look like somebody else”
– Ghost Children of Tacoma, Richard Brautigan
January 2010
3 posts
“The evolution of culture marches with the elimination of ornament from useful...”
– Ornament and Crime, Adolf Loos, 1908.
Westward Ho! →
Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England.
November 2009
3 posts
Petrichor →
“the scent of rain on dry earth”
Oct-1-en-3-one →
“the typical metallic smell of metals and blood”