January 15, 1946 | 5:55 A.M.

Wikipedia Game

Go to the Wikipedia's Recent Changes page. Look under today's date at the most recent-est change. Refresh the page and notice how far down the (now former) most recent change has moved. If you wait too long, it'll be gone altogether.

Example:

"Pyramis and Thisbe" is the number one most recent change.

An immediate refresh shows three more changes were made by someone, somewhere, and "Pyramis and Thisbe" is now number four.

What does this prove? That the Wikipedia is a very busy place -- even at 5:55 AM. What's the object of the game? To try to refresh the page so quickly that the most recent change doesn't move.

Comments

January 15, 2007 | 5:55 A.M.

Clear History?

Comments

January 10, 2007 | 5:55 A.M.

Semiotics 101: Peeling an Apple

What's more powerful than the sun? Not much. But as in David's slingshot slaying of Goliath, Apple's cleverness is being presented as the tool of the underdog. With no realistic hope of out-shining the dominant star (insert Microsoft, Nokia, etc.), Apple's strategy is to simply stand between you and it -- in effect eclipsing the sun, a shrewd and easier-to-achieve feat. Of course Biblical references do not stop -- or rather begin -- there. Obviously, the apple itself -- with its visible bite-mark representing the inability to avoid temptation -- comes to us all the way from the Garden of Eden.

Comments

January 5, 2007 | 5:55 A.M.

Gilligan's Island Episode Predicts Blogosphere and its Effects

The 1960s situation comedy -- and mirror of American culture -- correctly predicted the effects of blogospheric technology in a November 22, 1965 episode in which Gilligan discovered seeds growing on the island that, when ingested, imbued the castaways with the ability to read each other's every inner thought and opinion. Of course, what at first seemed like a promising breakthrough in communication quickly caused a complete breakdown of island society.

Link to script

Comments