Rebecca Blood worries that it might be “slightly the wrong approach”, its creator calls it “a sort of evolutionary arms race,” and I can’t help but think of Pat Murphy’s short story “Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates”, in which a dying woman creates the robot dinosaurs that will outlive mankind after a nuclear war. But, if you want, you can just think of it as Battlebots with a brain.
Reading Mighty Girl, I realize, sweet merciful heaven, the Germans have a word for everything! Weltschmerz, Maggie, writes, is “the unhappiness of eternal disappointment in life as it is.” Then, of course, there’s schadenfreude, which Merriam-Webster defines as “enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others.” I’ve always been partial to schattenjäger, or shadow hunter, although strictly speaking it isn’t a real word, since I’m pretty sure it originates with Jane Jensen’s “Gabriel Knight” games for Sierra. Still, it’s pretty keen. But am I the only one who finds Merriam-Webster’s offer to “Get the Top 10 Most Popular Sites for ‘schadenfreude'” a little disconcerting?
Heinz is releasing chocolate-flavored french fries. This is wrong in so many ways.
“We asked the kids what would make them want to eat more French fries,” said John Carroll, managing director of North American potatoes and snacks for Heinz’ frozen food division.
One of the rejected ideas was Fruit Loops-flavored fries, Carroll said.
Found via Metafilter.
Designated President Bush’s energy policy in a nutshell?
“The biggest challenge is going to be how to best utilize taxpayer dollars to the benefit of industry, in my opinion.” – Mike Smith, assistant secretary for fossil fuels at the U.S. Department of Energy, speaking to the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia, as quoted in the Charleston Gazette.
My thanks to Erik Wilson for passing this along.