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π Netpbm format
Netpbm is an open-source package of graphics programs and a programming library. It is used mainly in the Unix world, where one can find it included in all major open-source operating system distributions, but also works on Microsoft Windows, macOS, and other operating systems.
Discussed on
- "Netpbm format" | 2015-11-07 | 29 Upvotes 23 Comments
π Foetry.com
Foetry.com, sometimes referred to as just Foetry, was a website that attempted to identify fraudulent and unethical practices in poetry contests. It was active from April 1, 2004 until May 18, 2007.
Discussed on
- "Foetry.com" | 2015-11-03 | 31 Upvotes 4 Comments
π BitTorrent's DHT
Mainline DHT is the name given to the Kademlia-based Distributed Hash Table (DHT) used by BitTorrent clients to find peers via the BitTorrent protocol. The idea of utilizing a DHT for distributed tracking was first implemented in Azureus 2.3.0.0 (now known as Vuze) in May 2005, from which it gained significant popularity. Unrelated but similarly timed BitTorrent, Inc. released their own similar DHT into their client, called Mainline DHT and thus popularized the use of distributed tracking in the BitTorrent Protocol. Measurement shows by 2013 users of Mainline DHT is from 10 million to 25 million, with a daily churn of at least 10 million.
Discussed on
- "BitTorrent's DHT" | 2015-10-29 | 97 Upvotes 33 Comments
π Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel
Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel (colloquial: Infinite Hotel Paradox or Hilbert's Hotel) is a thought experiment which illustrates a counterintuitive property of infinite sets. It is demonstrated that a fully occupied hotel with infinitely many rooms may still accommodate additional guests, even infinitely many of them, and this process may be repeated infinitely often. The idea was introduced by David Hilbert in a 1924 lecture "Γber das Unendliche", reprinted in (Hilbert 2013, p.730), and was popularized through George Gamow's 1947 book One Two Three... Infinity.
Discussed on
- "Hilbert's Paradox of the Grand Hotel" | 2021-06-12 | 60 Upvotes 105 Comments
- "Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel" | 2015-10-21 | 26 Upvotes 27 Comments
- "Hilbert's paradox of the Grand Hotel" | 2009-06-13 | 14 Upvotes 37 Comments
π Arachne: a self-contained graphical web browser for DOS and Linux
Arachne is a discontinued Internet suite containing a graphical web browser, email client, and dialer. Originally, Arachne was developed by Michal PolΓ‘k under his xChaos label, a name he later changed into Arachne Labs. It was written in C and compiled using Borland C++ 3.1. Arachne has since been released under the GPL as Arachne GPL.
Arachne primarily runs on DOS-based operating systems, but includes builds for Linux as well. The Linux version relies on SVGALib and therefore does not require a display server.
Discussed on
- "Arachne: a self-contained graphical web browser for DOS and Linux" | 2015-10-20 | 41 Upvotes 13 Comments
π Canal Defence Light
The Canal Defence Light (CDL) was a British "secret weapon" of the Second World War.
It was based upon the use of a powerful carbon-arc searchlight mounted on a tank. It was intended to be used during night-time attacks, when the light would allow enemy positions to be targeted. A secondary use of the light would be to dazzle and disorient enemy troops, making it harder for them to return fire accurately. The name Canal Defence Light was used to conceal the device's true purpose. For the same reason, in US service they were designated T10 Shop Tractor.
Discussed on
- "Canal Defence Light" | 2015-10-14 | 33 Upvotes 16 Comments
π N. W. Ayer and Son
N. W. Ayer & Son was a Philadelphia advertising agency founded in 1869. It called itself the oldest advertising agency in the United States. Named after Francis Ayer's father N. W. Ayer, it ventured into advertising in 1884. It created a number of memorable slogans for firms such as De Beers, AT&T and the U.S. Army. The company started to decline in the 1960s and, after a series of mergers, was closed in 2002 with its assets sold to the Publicis Groupe.
Discussed on
- "N. W. Ayer and Son" | 2015-10-11 | 14 Upvotes 1 Comments
π Agloe, New York
Agloe is a fictional hamlet in Colchester, Delaware County, New York, that became an actual landmark after mapmakers made up the community as a phantom settlement, an example of a "copyright trap" and similar to a trap street. Agloe was put onto the map in order to catch plagiarism as it appears only on their map and not on any others. Soon, using fictional "copyright traps" became a typical strategy in mapmaker design to thwart plagiarism. Agloe was known as a "paper town" because of this.
Discussed on
- "Agloe, New York" | 2015-10-03 | 101 Upvotes 17 Comments
π Peer-to-Peer Insurance
Peer-to-peer insurance is a reciprocity insurance contract through the Collaborative consumption concept.
Discussed on
- "Peer-to-Peer Insurance" | 2015-10-01 | 57 Upvotes 43 Comments
π Kee Bird
The Kee Bird was a United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortress, serial 45-21768, of the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron, that became marooned after making an emergency landing in northwest Greenland during a secret Cold War spying mission on 21 February 1947. While the entire crew was safely evacuated after spending three days in the isolated Arctic tundra, the aircraft itself was left at the landing site. It lay there undisturbed until 1994, when a privately funded mission was launched to repair and return it. During the attempted recovery, a fire broke out, resulting in the destruction and loss of the airframe on the ground.
Discussed on
- "Kee Bird" | 2015-09-28 | 28 Upvotes 2 Comments