More Incredibly Cool Stuff

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Some incredibly clever people at the University of Utah's Genetic Science Learning Center created a web page that shows the scale of everything from a coffee bean to a carbon atom. It's laid out so that when a slide bar is moved, the screen zooms in on progressively smaller and smaller objects. Once you get bored with zooming in on cells, nucleotides, and molecules, there's a nice explanation of how tiny microns, nanometers, angstroms, and picometers are, and some additional information on the size of cells and their components. I've included a link to the site in my Extremely Cool Links list, on the right side of the screen.

...You named it what?!?

This is too good to not share.

In one of the greatest missteps in geekdom, the nearly infallible Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, Inc. and demi-god to the Cult of the Apple, unveiled Apple's latest foray into the world of tablet computers: a dandy little tablet computer named...(wait for it)...the iPad.

We will now pause while everyone recovers from assorted snorts, giggles, chuckles, and guffaws.

Apple usually doesn't make this kind of mistake. The Macintosh computer and the iPod are in the Museum of Modern Art for their elegant design. Sometimes the technology doesn't live up to the hype (anyone remember the Newton?), but the design and packaging are always spot-on. Until now.

A highly anticipated launch means there will be nearly instantaneous feedback, and this was no exception. Within minutes, iTampon appeared on Twitter, and within two hours was trending higher than "iPad." The MadTV skit that revolved around Apple introducing a high-tech feminine hygiene product called the "iPad" was recycled for the masses. Jokes are now being made about the 32GB model as being the "MaxiPad."

Is Apple's new tablet computer fated to become this decade's Newton? Or will it be able to overcome an unfortunate christening to become as ubiquitous as the iPod? Only time can tell, but for right now, it's fodder for a lot of laughs.