One-way mirror

A one-way mirror, also called two-way mirror (or one-way glass, half-silvered mirror, and semi-transparent mirror), is a mirror that appears reflective from one side and transparent from the other. The perception of one-way transmission is easily achievable when one side of the mirror is brightly lit and the other side is dark. This allows viewing from the darkened side but not vice versa. History The first U.S. Patent for a one-way mirror was submitted in 1903, then named a "transparent mirror". Principle of operation The glass is coated with, or has been encased within, a thin and almost transparent layer of metal (window film usually containing aluminium). The result is a mirrored surface that reflects some light and is penetrated by the rest. Light always passes equally in both directions. However, when one side...

Anglojęzyczna Wikipedia blokuje archive.today jako źródło archiwów

Społeczność anglojęzycznej Wikipedii zdecydowała się zablokować serwis archive.today, który jest wykorzystywany do archiwizowania źródeł, po tym jak uznano, że jego infrastruktura była używana do przeprowadzenia ataku DDoS. Decyzja ta może wpłynąć na setki tysięcy artykułów i otwiera dyskusję o tym, jak Wikipedia powinna zabezpieczać trwałość swoich źródeł.

Laws against witchcraft

Through history multiple countries prohibited witchcraft and practices that are perceived to be related including fortune-telling, faith-healing etc., including with the penalty of death. Historical laws Ancient times Code of Hammurabi Second article of the Code of Hammurabi stated: If anyone accuses someone else of sorcery, the accused shall jump into a river, and if they drown the accuser shall take possession of the accused's house and their belongings. Code of Ur-Nammu Article 13 stated: If a man is accused of sorcery [translation disputed], he must undergo ordeal by water; if he is proven innocent, his accuser must pay 3 shekels. Hittite laws Code of the Nesilim had one paragraph...

Shadow profile

Shadow profile (dosł. tłum. na polski: profil-duch) – zbiór danych osobowych na temat użytkowników lub osób nieposiadających konta w danym serwisie internetowym, które są zbierane bez ich wiedzy i zgody. Pojęcie to jest stosowane głównie do opisywania praktyk Facebooka, choć nie jest ono zarezerwowane na jego wyłączność. W przypadku Facebooka pierwsze poszlaki na regularne stosowanie tego typu profili datuje się na rok 2013, gdy odkryty został bug w narzędziu do pobierania informacji powiązanych z kontami w tym serwisie; polegał on na ujawnieniu adresów e–mail oraz numerów telefonów należących do ponad sześciu milionów osób, które widniały jako „znajomi”, a które Facebook próbował potajemnie pozyskiwać, żeby móc je potem powiązać z poszczególnymi osobami. Choć tzw. profile-duchy mogą mieć znaczny wpływ na prywatność, w rzeczywistości jest to praktyka, względem której bardzo rzadko zapadają jakiekolwiek wyroki sądowe. …

Reasonable Blackman

Reasonable Blackman (fl. 1579–1592) (also possibly known as John Reason and Reasonable Blackmore) was a silk weaver resident in Southwark, London, in the late 16th century. He was among the earliest people of African heritage to be living and working as an independent business owner in London in that era. He may have come to London via the Netherlands, which had a relatively significant African population at the time and also a significant trade in silk. The first record of Blackman is in the records of St Saviour's church (later Southwark Cathedral) in 1579. By 1587 Blackman was married and therefore clearly had sufficient means to support a family. It has been suggested that he made costumes for the theatres in the area. He had at least three children, of whom at least one (Edward) was baptised at St Olave's Church, Southwark in 1587...

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Kontrabanda Weekend #7

Siódme wydanie prasówki Kontrabandy. A w nim między innymi o społecznym portalu gminnym w Brwinowie, cyfrowym archiwum Polskim Związku Esperantystów, czy pozwie Lawrence'a Kleina przeciwko Microsoftowi.

Wikimedia Foundation przegrywa pozew przed brytyjskim sądem z tytułu Online Safety Act

Wikimedia Foundation przegrała sprawę przed brytyjskim sądem w związku z kontrowersyjną ustawą Online Safety Act, która może zmusić Wikipedię do weryfikowania tożsamości użytkowników. Mimo sprzeciwu społecznego i obaw o prywatność, serwis może zostać objęty najbardziej rygorystycznymi przepisami jako platforma „pierwszej kategorii”.

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Idiot plot

In literary criticism, an idiot plot is one which is "kept in motion solely by virtue of the fact that everybody involved is an idiot",: 26 and where the story would quickly end, or possibly not even happen, if this were not the case. It is a narrative where its conflict comes from characters not recognizing, or not being told, key information that would resolve the conflict, often because of plot contrivance. The only thing that prevents the conflict's resolution is the character's constant avoidance or obliviousness of it throughout the plot, even if it was already obvious to the viewer, so the characters are all "idiots" in that they are too obtuse to simply resolve the conflict immediately. History Science fiction writer and critic Damon Knight, in his 1956 collection In Search of Wonder, says that the term may have originated with author James Blish...

All horses are the same color

All horses are the same color is a falsidical paradox that arises from a flawed use of mathematical induction to prove the statement All horses are the same color. There is no actual contradiction, as these arguments have a crucial flaw that makes them incorrect. This example was originally raised by George Pólya in a 1954 book in different terms: "Are any n numbers equal?" or "Any n girls have eyes of the same color", as an exercise in mathematical induction. It has also been restated as "All cows have the same color". The "horses" version of the paradox was presented in 1961 in a satirical article by Joel E. Cohen. It was stated as a lemma, which in particular allowed the author to "prove" that Alexander the Great did not exist, and he had an infinite number of limbs. The argument The argument is proof by induction. First, we establish a base case for one horse (...