Achilles' grid

Article Abstract:

A personal account of the power outage that struck New York and the Northeast of America in 2003 and the level to which modern society relies on a steady, reliable supply of electricity. It is argued that it unacceptable that the power supply companies appeared to have learned nothing from the blackouts of 1965 and 1977 and were so unprepared to deal with this new power failure.

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Whose language is it, anyway?

Article Abstract:

The pressure applied by some ethnic groups on dictionary compilers regarding the inclusion of some derogatory words or terms has interesting implications in the evolution of language. Language belongs to the people who use it and that the inevitable changes to the language are necessary to allow the language to fulfill its communication function.

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Tilting with straw men

Article Abstract:

Many letters to the editor of Analog magazine argue about the use of stereotypes and vulgarities in the periodicals science-fiction stories. Oversimplifications and exaggerations can be used in fiction, but are inappropriate in serious arguments.

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