The Lindy effect (also known as Lindy's law[1]) is a theorized phenomenon by which the future life expectancy of some non-perishable thing, like a technology or an idea, is proportional to its current age. Thus, the Lindy effect proposes the longer a period something has survived to exist or be used in the present, the longer its remaining life expectancy. Longevity implies a resistance to change, obsolescence, or competition, and greater odds of continued existence into the future.[2] Where the Lindy effect applies, mortality rate decreases with time. Mathematically, the Lindy effect corresponds to lifetimes following a Pareto probability distribution.
TIL there's actually a difference between coffin and casket. Coffins are tapered to the body (6 or 8 sides), usually with a separate lid, typically far cheaper. A casket is a rectangle with a hinged lid, typically with rails attached for carrying and usually far more ornate & expensive.
TIL World’s biggest beer, wine and spirits producers have collectively lost $830 billion in market value over just four years. Changing drinking habits and rising health concerns have hit earnings across the sector. Millennials and Gen Z are also not much interested in alcohol.
TIL In 1980 the Supreme Court awarded the Sioux nations $122 million for the Black Hills, a settlement the tribes have refused on the grounds that acceptance would extinguish their claim to the land, leaving the award to accrue interest in a federal account now worth over $1 billion.
TIL that the USA only has one plant that produces gun barrels for the M1 Abrams tank, M777 howitzers, and Paladin self propelled howitzers. The Watervliet Arsenal in Troy, NY is the nation's oldest arsenal dating back to 1813. The manufacturing plant has tripled its production over the last 3 years.
TIL the 500-year-old tradition of Turkish coffee reading (kahve falı) started in the Ottoman harem not just as magic, but as a clever social loophole. Women used the "fortunes" in the cups as a safe excuse to gossip, vent, and talk about taboo subjects without getting in trouble.
Turns out if you hold shift and press backspace it will forward delete (text to the right of the cursor)
Maybe not news to some but i can't believe it has taken me this long to find that personally extremely useful feature out.
Almost as shocked as when i found that holding space and dragging around will move the cursor around making it easier to put the cursor where you need it.
I mentioned this story in a different thread and thought I'd share it.
John Harrison was an English joiner and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea. Harrison's solution revolutionized navigation and greatly increased the safety of long-distance sea travel
Along the way he also invented the bi-metal strip used in temperature sensing equipment. We all have them in our houses and cars today.
Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a process by which spiders, and some other small invertebrates, move through the air by releasing one or more gossamer threads to catch the wind, causing them to become airborne at the mercy of air currents and electric fields.
Spiderlings ballooning in the Santa Cruz Mountains of the San Francisco Peninsula
there was a dragonfly trying to run into the windows at my work that got caught in a spider web in the process and it bit me when I was trying to save it >:(
googled to see if it was a bite or a sting and yep! the bloody bastard bit me, how rude.
Dragonflies do bite, and they will bite humans, but only if you catch one and it's trying to escape or defend itself. And only the largest dragonflies will be able to break your skin anyway.
