Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Freebase Parallax
Perhaps Freebase is something that can beat Wikipedia. Check out this video about their tool "Parallax." Parallax enables a model of browsing that automates what I have found myself doing manually. I have not yet tried it, so I can't say how it works, but they've certainly grasped a novel form of information retrieval. I'm not aware of anyone else doing something similar.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Kiwitaly
Italy is the world's top producer of Kiwi fruit, growing some 42% of the world's crop. The Kiwi is native to China, and is the national fruit of that country, even though it isn't even in the top 10 producers.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Cow magnets
Domesticated cattle often ingest small bits of metal in their feed, called tramp iron, like staples, baling wire, or nails. These can cause damage to the digestive tract in a phenomenon known as Hardware Disease. The incidence and severity of this condition can be reduced by feeding the cow a device called a cow magnet. This gathers together all of the loose, dangerous bits of metal together and prevents them from moving around and causing damage. This magnet cannot be passed, and remains in the animal until death.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Swedish/Finnish border
Sweden and Finland have a land border to the north of the Gulf of Bothnia. Less well-known is the uninhabited island of Märket in the southern part of said gulf. Part of the island belongs to Sweden, and the other part to Finland. And the border isn't even a straight line.