harrymcc writes: In the late 1990s, lots of people were concerned that the Y2K bug could lead to power outages, financial collapse, riots, and worse when the clock rolled over to January 1, 2000. Hundreds of books about the problem and suggestions on how to respond (quit your job, move to the country, stockpile food) not only capitalized on this fear…
Tag: stupid
‘Sci-fi Makes You Stupid’ Study Refuted by Scientists Behind Original Research
The authors of a 2017 study which found that reading science fiction “makes you stupid” have conducted a follow-up that found that it’s only bad sci-fi that has this effect: a well-written slice of sci-fi will be read just as thoroughly as a literary story. From a report: Two years ago, Washington and Lee University professors Chris Gavaler and Dan Johnson…
Do You Remember MIDI Music Files?
A new article at Motherboard remembers when the MIDI file format became the main way music was shared on the internet “for an incredibly short but memorable period of time…” [I]n the hunt for additional features, the two primary developers of web browsers during the era — Microsoft and Netscape — added functionality that made audio files accessible when loading websites,…