Long gone, but now back… sort of. :)
Seriously! Some scientists say that the advent of agriculture and the switch from tough, raw foods to easier-to-chew cooked and fermented foods actually changed the evolution of some human teeth, making it “easier for people to make ‘labiodental fricative’ sounds like ‘f’ and ‘v,’ which require the top teeth to press against the bottom lip.”…
ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com is an AI-powered website that displays a random, computer-generated face each time you refresh your browser. Here are some examples — all fake. (These are 1/4-resolution screen-grabs; the site produces higher-res images.) It’s interesting… and spooky. More on the site and its tech: ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com uses AI to generate endless fake faces Permalink: https://langa.com/?p=2092
Recordings released by NASA/JPL let you listen to “plasma waves moving from Saturn to its rings and its moon Enceladus… like an electrical circuit between the two bodies, with energy flowing back and forth.” NASA/JPL article: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7186 Recording, if above embed doesn’t work: https://youtu.be/hWHLCHv4PiI Permalink: https://langa.com/?p=2082
Some things never change: Linguists have translated a clay cuneiform tablet from the city of Ur, circa 1750BCE. The tablet is from a copper buyer named Nanni to the seller, Ea-nasir, complaining that the ingots were inferior, and that Ea-nasir was rude. “What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with…
A few days ago, in “Taking my own advice,” I told you how I used Task Manager to objectively determine that I’ve maxed out my current hardware. It’s time for a new PC. Several readers had interesting reactions, suggestions, and questions. For example, App103 wrote: Before you run out and buy a new computer, perhaps…
I hadn’t, but I’m glad you asked (thanks!). This was fun to research, not only because it involves an interesting artifact from the early days of computers, but also because it shares a concept with Bandersnatch, the Netflix choose-your-own-ending movie! TUTAC stands for “TUTorial Automatic Computer,” a device that existed only on paper, in the…
Here’s a great idea from Reddit; posted by u/Scaramuccia: Looking for some Christmas Magic? The International Space Station orbits the earth 15 times a day and can easily be confused with Santa’s Sleigh by excited children in December. This does require preparation. That tiny station is rarely streaking directly overhead at an ideal time, so…
FreeLiveTranscript.com is an open-sourced, browser-based, speech-to-text application that creates “live transcripts of speech on the web, that can be displayed (and edited) in real-time on a big screen, or watched on anybody’s personal device.” It’s not really meant for personal speech-to-text/dictation — you can use it for that, but there are already plenty of apps…