body babbling n.— «To begin the learning process, the UC San Diego researchers directed the Einstein robot head (Hanson Robotics’ Einstein Head) to twist and turn its face in all directions, a process called “body babbling.” During...
voice writing n.— «In the US, court reporters have abandoned stenotype machines, whose keyboards use chord-like combinations to represent sounds, for a technique called voice writing. The “writer”—really a speaker—repeats...
What’s a Luddite? Martha explains that this term for “someone resistant to technological change” has its roots in a form of populist rage in the early 19th century. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
coin-pusher n.— «The machines, versions of which are common in arcades, are called coin-pushers. The user drops in a coin, hoping that it will force more coins off the front of a shelf. But in the case of the illegal machines, the shelf...
Washing Machine Charlie n.— «By the time he was 19, McNerney was the platoon sergeant of a mortar unit assigned to HQ Company in the jungles of Saipan, fighting Japanese soldiers and dodging Japanese bombs. One day, in early July 1944...
bird’s nest on the ground n.— «He deeply resented the suggestion that the White House was his for the taking—a bird’s nest on the ground, as they say in Texas. But with his family’s name and fundraising machine, and a shrewd strategist...