desklet n.— «While the web browser is a key delivery mechanism for Moonlight and Silverlight, De Icaza is also excited about the possibilities for the desktop as well. Similar to the way that Adobe AIR bring Flash applications to the desktop, De...
Mottness n.— «Understanding the detailed mechanism for how quantum traffic jams (technically referred to as “Mottness” after the late Sir Neville Mott of Cambridge, UK) impact superconductivity in cuprates may point scientists toward new materials...
magic Negro n.— «The enabling mechanism of this conversion is our old friend from “50s liberal movies, the Magic Negro, as descended from Sidney Poitier in “The Defiant Ones.” His job is to prevent the white man from drowning in the bile of his own...
self-licking ice cream cone n.— «CHAIR THERRIAULT said the account has been characterized as a self-licking ice cream cone in that no one gets to derive pleasure from it. The proposed mechanism is the only way for the state to derive benefit. The...
stove-pipe n.— «Soldiers call it a “stove-pipe.” It happens rarely, and usually in the very worst of combat circumstances: the soldier is fatally hit just as he is firing his handgun. In the split second when his weapon fires, the wounded soldier...
involuntary lateral arabesque n.— «The BBC has a tried-and-tested mechanism for removing editors who are deemed to have failed. It promotes them into utterly meaningless positions, a practice sometimes referred to as an “involuntary lateral...