alligator shear n.— «Mr. Graap and Agents Stern and Green moved into a brick building where a squat steel machine that was painted green and run by hydraulic power—known in the business as an alligator sheer for its resemblance to that...
God shot n.— «The machine is for people who like to fiddle—and not everyone wants to grind beans, pre-heat demitasses, tamp at just the right pressure, “temperature surf” and do all the other hoo-ha necessary to produce a...
extinction n.— «But the thing is, as Natasha points out, the language of the slot machine industry belies its ultimate aims. There’s a term bandied about at the trade shows: “extinction.” We need to design for extinction, we...
In this week’s episode: Just how far back could you go and still understand the English people were speaking? We crank up our trusty time machine to find out. Hint: You’d probably have a tough time getting around in the eighth century...
spin-out n.— «A “spin-out” from OLPC, the company, Pixel Qi is looking to create a $75 laptop and trying to advance low-cost computers and power-efficient laptops, mobile phones and other consumer electronics that are sunlight...
witness mark n.— «Development of a material cutting machine employing an ultrasonic cutting blade that is three times faster than earlier methods. The same equipment automatically marks the material with either witness mark lines or part...