December 2010
21 posts
Chindōgu →
bestofwikipedia:
Chindo-gu is the Japanese art of inventing ingenious everyday gadgets that, on the face of it, seem like an ideal solution to a particular problem. However, chindo-gu has a distinctive feature: anyone actually attempting to use one of these inventions would find that it causes so many new problems, or such significant social embarrassment, that effectively it has no utility...
Let's Hear It for the Unappreciated Heroes of 2010 →
Under-Appreciated Person One: Bradley Manning. While we were all fixated on Julian Assange, the story of the young American soldier who actually leaked the classified documents passed almost unnoticed. If Manning was mentioned at all, it was as to be described an impetuous, angry kid who downloaded the documents onto a CD and leaked them as a result of a “grudge” or “tantrum.”
Here’s what...
http://horseoutsi.de →
was isn das fürn scheiß
“From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary...”
– Glenn Greenwald (via champagnecandy, robot-heart-politics)
Dutch disease →
Where overheating in one sector of the economy causes the rest of the economy to become uncompetitive.
“There are two basic ways to reduce the threat of Dutch disease: by slowing the appreciation of the real exchange rate and by boosting the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.
“One approach is to sterilize the boom revenues, that is, not to bring all the revenues into...
Researchers Call For 'Physical Internet' To Ferry... →
Hungry? Better turn on your linear induction motor and send a metal capsule through an underground polyethylene tube to retrieve some groceries.
That’s the vision of Foodtubes, a UK program that seeks to reduce carbon emissions by building a pipeline-capsule system to deliver food and freight. A series of tubes could ferry 6-foot-long metal bins among neighborhoods, entire cities or even to...
