Nerd Word of the Week: Bacn

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Bacn (n.) - A type of automated e-mail that is less onerous than spam but less wanted than actual, human-generated communications. The classic contemporary examples are Facebook e-mail alerts, which are spam in the sense that they are automated, but desired in that they alert you to Facebook-native content you want to see. It's better than spam, it's bacn.

I bring it up because: Google hates bacn, and it's suggested that's why Google can't build a successful social network. Google is all about the practical, useful, and minimal, while Facebook is a bacn-coated timesink. Google can't beat Facebook because Google is so spam-averse it won't even touch bacn.

UPDATE: Clearly I was wrong, as Google+ is a total bacn-factory.

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What Silicon Valley legend creates "custom" versions of US currency that are totally legal to spend?

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On July 14, 1969, The United States Federal reserve removed from circulation any denomination of US currency larger than the $100 bill. While the $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 and $100,000 bills are still valid currency, they are rarely spent, as any such bill that makes it into the Federal Reserve system will be retired -- and these rare bills have collectible value well above their denomination.

Still, some idiots just can't resist counterfeiting large and/or fictional denominations of US money, even though they're almost invariably caught trying to pass these bills off. What's even more shocking are the imbeciles that try to pass these fake notes off at Las Vegas casinos -- perhaps the single most counterfeit-aware group of businesses on the planet.

Thus it's apropos that Vegas gave the most trouble to a legendary Silicon Valley businessman who creates unusual -- but perfectly legal -- "custom" versions of US currency.

What Silicon Valley legend creates "custom" versions of US currency that are totally legal to spend?

Nerd Word of the Week: Pseudonymity

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Pseudonymity (n.) - The practice of using a consistent pseudonym to develop an online persona that is not openly connected to your real name or offline identity. A portmanteau of pseudonym and anonymity. Pseudonymity is different from anonymity in that postings made anonymously online can never be tracked to any single person. Pseudonymous postings made with a consistent, recurring pseudonym held by a single poster can over time accrue their own following, reputation, and online social capital.

I bring it up because: Blizzard just launched RealID over at Battlenet, which ends pseudonymity for anyone participating in the ragingly popular World of Warcraft forums there. This has sparked a privacy debate, as RealID exposes your real name on all your Battlenet postings, and some folks don't want the world knowing how much time they spend in WoW forums, much less what gets said there. Everyone from CTRL+ALT+DEL and Penny Arcade to the Geek Feminism Blog and The Washington Post have weighed in. Many are claiming this is a loss of anonymity, but in truth Blizzard is eliminating pseudonymity, as your posts we're always tied to a consistent username. The move was made to ostensibly cut down on trolling -- in line with Gabriel's Greater Internet Dickwad Theory -- but Seriously Not Okay refutes that logic thusly:

It is a common misconception that trolling is caused by anonymity. It is not. It is caused by people being assholes.

Some people simply enjoy being griefers, and don't care if they do it under a real name or a fake one. Eliminating pseudonymity or anonymity doesn't eliminate the asshole factor. That's worth remembering as more sites make sweeping changes like as Blizzard just did.

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When sliced bread was first sold, it was marketed as "the greatest thing since..." what?

We've all heard the phrase "the greatest thing since sliced bread." Machine-sliced bread was first produced on a wide commercial scale on June 7, 1928 by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri. The CBC marketed their new Kleen Maid Sliced Bread using a variation on the now-familiar axiom, touting sliced bread as the best thing since another bread-related innovation.

When sliced bread was first sold, it was marketed as "the greatest thing since..." what?

Nerd Word of the Week: Unicorn Pegasus Kitten

Unicorn Pegasus Kitten (n.) - A mythical beast modeled after the chimera that combines the rear legs and wings of a pegasus, the forelegs and head of a giant kitten and the horn of a unicorn. Seriously.

The unicorn pegasus kitten, sometimes referred to as the UPK, was created as a parody of conflated internet memes by artist Jeff Zugale at the request of author-blogger John Scalzi (depicted as an orc in the original UPK painting) and actor-author-blogger Wil Wheaton (depicted as a clown-sweatered orc-hunter in the original UPK painting) as part of a fundraising project to benefit the Lupus Alliance of America. The unicorn pegasus kitten instantly became a meme unto itself, with sci-fi songwriter John Anealio already providing its immortal ballad.

I bring it up because: As of today, the co-inspirator of the unicorn pegasus kitten is President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Already his campaign platform has given way to a reign of terror. And unlike in the painting, there is no clown-sweatered spear-toting meme-rider to save us. Hooray!

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