Technobabble

Do not visit web sites if your computer is running Windows. Recent reports indicate that your computer could be taken over by malicious forces.

Egypt vs. the Netizins.

Model predicts 'religiosity gene' will dominate society. OMG. Ooops, did I say that?

And finally, the Antikythera Mechanism was a computer built in Greece at around 100 BCE. It is an astronomical device for ascertaining the positions of celestial bodies and it is quite accurate. Some crazy scientists bult a fully-functional Lego replica of the device:

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Greg - I could be wrong - often am - :) but that looks to be a problem only for IE and well, anyone silly enough to still be using Internet Explorer as their default browser deserves whatever happens.

Greg - I could be wrong - often am - :) but that looks to be a problem only for IE and well, anyone silly enough to still be using Internet Explorer as their default browser deserves whatever happens.

Or at all. There are vanishingly few sites where it's required - even the ones that are deliberately broken for users of "mud browsers" can usually be accessed with whatever clunky, "THAT's all they give you for settable preferences?!" derivative of Mozilla happens to be floating around lately.

I would expand that to: "do not turn your computer on if it is running Windows..."

One might be able to realize a lot of teachable moments simply by having a class build a LEGO antikythera computer: astronomy, mechanical engineering, mathematics, physics. Sort of a Wikipedia-type meander through all of science as you touch on one topic after another all the while playing with LEGOs. I wonder if L.A. Unified bureaucrats would go ballistic at the suggestion, but hey, who doesn't love LEGOs?

By Jim Cliborn (not verified) on 29 Jan 2011 #permalink

Note that the version of the Antikythera Mechanism is not quite a replica. Since the pieces only come in certain sizes they couldn't get the exact same gear ratios and so had to modify some of the mechanisms to get it to work.

"Do not visit web sites if your computer is running Windows"
Typical moronic linux fanboy comment.