simming n.—Gloss: From “simulating.” «It took a room full of networked computers called a “render farm” to do in about 14 months what would have taken a single machine 16 years: churn out digital scenes precisely modeled after...
incept v.— «In prose that could only have been manufactured by the very finest drivel machine, the company boasts: “We have an outstanding track-record delivering successful government relations campaigns, incepting high-profile and high...
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...
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...