The Old New Thing

Little facts you didn’t know about volcanoes

October 14, 2004 Oct 14, 2004 10/14/04

Raymond Chen

Molten rock makes volcano glow red, reports CNN. Amazing the things you can learn from the news. Last year we learned that concrete is stronger once it has hardened...

News flash: People are fooled by the Onion

April 23, 2004 Apr 23, 2004 04/23/04

Raymond Chen

Fact-checking? What's fact-checking? I found it on the Internet! Wired News has a story on various people and news agencies being fooled by Onion articles. This used to be news, but now it's so common it may end up relegated to just a counter. "Number of people fooled by Onion articles: n+1...

Famous people doing mundane things = news!

December 26, 2003 Dec 26, 2003 12/26/03

Raymond Chen

So an actor learns a foreign language and it's news: Actor Kingsley Masters Farsi Language. Meanwhile, tens of millions of people around the world learn a foreign language without any media coverage whatsoever. (And if you read the article: He didn't master Farsi. He mastered basic Farsi. Whatever that means...

Little facts you didn't know about concrete

November 6, 2003 Nov 6, 2003 11/6/03

Raymond Chen

Concrete is stronger once it has hardened. Thanks, Associated Press! I learn something new every day...