PASSING A TURING TEST
CAN YOU outthink a 13-year-old Ukrainian kid? Or, more accurately, can you outthink an artificial intelligence, a chatbot, programmed to imitate him? This has become a cause célèbre, not without … Continue reading
FLATLAND—THE ANNOTATED VERSION
I WAS a mere lad when I first encountered the science-fiction fantasy Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Its multi-dimensional worlds amused me; but its 19th-century verbosity challenged my typical … Continue reading
RALPH MULFORD’S INDY 500 VICTORY
RALPH MULFORD’S performance at the 1911 Indy 500 was no less dramatic than his 1912 achievement (see http://wp.me/p2ETap-2PY for the latter). The 1911 event is also rather more controversial. In fact, this … Continue reading
THE AMAZING TALE OF THE SLOWEST INDY FINISHER
THE SLOWEST driver credited with finishing the Indianapolis 500 might also have been credited with being the Indy 500’s first winner. Added to this is the paradox that he is … Continue reading
VIVA EL MICROPLANO!
MEXICO ENJOYS “the distinction of being the first country to have employed aeroplanes in actual warfare.” So says the authoritative Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft, 1919. See also “Masson’s Mexican … Continue reading
BAD NEWS FOR BIOFUELS
RECENT ANALYSES by the World Resources Institute question the contribution of biofuels to the sustainability of food and climate. The paper “Avoiding Bioenergy Competition for Food Crops and Land,” http://goo.gl/A8mt2m, … Continue reading
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS SUMS THEM UP
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS (www.autonews.com) has been around since 1925. Originally Automotive Daily News based in New York City, it moved to Detroit in 1933 and by 1938 took the name we … Continue reading
HOLD ON TIGHT!
IT WAS four years before the earliest pilots of heavier-than-air craft invited anyone else aboard—more properly, atop—their flying contraptions. Once passengers tried it, a good number took up flying on their … Continue reading
ADVERTISING IN AN EARLIER AGE
BEING A child of the 1940s, I am attracted to its arts, its music, its radio, its culture and ambience, even its hype. With this in mind, I’m happy to … Continue reading
THE VOIELLO MARILLE—BY GIUGIARO
ENTHUSIASTIC FOLLOWERS of Italian design may recall the 1983 Voiello Marille by Giugaro. Indeed, Giorgetto Giugiaro is one of the most highly regarded designers in the world, named Car Designer … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 