Researchers to build Babbage Analytical Engine

Xeni Jardin 9:58 am Tue Nov 8, 2011

Over the next decade, a group of researchers in the UK will attempt to construct a working version of Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine, which he dreamed up a hundred years ago, but did not complete. John Markoff has the story in the New York Times today, and here's a related interactive feature. Cory blogged about the project recently on Boing Boing, and the legacy of Babbage, a great mathematician, philisopher, and engineer, is a favorite topic in our archives (see links below).

Elderly woman hit with recurring subscription after asking voice assistant to say the Hail Mary

An old lady in England got a voice assistant as a gift. A devout Catholic, she asked it to say the Hail Mary. Delighted when it did so, she made it a daily habit. And Amazon was charging her for it, writes Patrick Collinson, her son. She had "unwittingly ordered" a subscription for an app… READ THE REST
California's net neutrality law survives courtroom challenge

As Ars Technica puts it, "ISPs can't find any judges who will block California's Net Neutrality law", and it's not like they haven't been shopping hard. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, who voted for federal net neutrality rules in 2015 and opposed their repeal in 2017, applauded yesterday's court decision."This is big. Because when the FCC… READ THE REST
The mystery of ⍼, a Unicode character of unknown purpose

⍼, "RIGHT ANGLE WITH DOWNWARDS ZIGZAG ARROW", is a Unicode character of uncertain origin. It may be summoned as the HTML entity &angzarr;. Jonathan Chan set out to uncover its mysterious purpose, a journey that led way back to Unicode's own antecedents. The meaning of ⍼ will be whatever meaning is assigned by whoever uses… READ THE REST
Get in on this environment-friendly alternative to toilet paper

These days, it could seem like you've been spending all your hard-earned cash on essentials like gas, food, and even toilet paper. And while you need to buy this stuff, current high prices mean having to cut back on other fun stuff, which is hardly something you want to do over the summer. While you… READ THE REST
Save an extra 20% off this discounted Travel Hacker app and VPN this July 4th

If you've looked into planning a trip lately, you've likely realized many things are more expensive than they were before, with rising airfare, gas prices, and more. And while you work hard and definitely deserve some time away, draining your bank account dry doesn't seem worth it, does it? Don't stress out just yet — finding… READ THE REST
Get this near-mint condition Dell laptop for under $350 this July 4th

There's nothing worse than working away on your trusty laptop only to realize its end may be near. Between its last few glitching episodes, slow loading time, and used-up storage space, the time for a new laptop has come, but with all your recent expenses and rising prices across the board, your budget may not exactly be able… READ THE REST