› added 10 years ago

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TIL that Sony BMG used music cds to illegally install rootkits on users computers to prevent them from ripping copyrighted music; the rootkits themselves, in a copyright violation, included open-source software.

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J1NB8 TIL that in 2000, a British Airway flight plunged 30,000 feet in one minute after a mentally ill man stormed the cockpit and took control. The pilots subdued the man at 5,000 feet and were able to land at a nearby airport with minor injuries.
ZVdD TIL some species of carpenter ants can explode at will. As a last resort, they contract their abs to rupture their internal glands, resulting in a suicidal burst of corrosive, immobilizing glue.
8mya TIL every year thousands of Great White Sharks congregate in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean. No one knows why.
YMXx TIL that one’s 180 degree angle of view above water is compressed to a 97° angle of view below water, similar to the effect of a fisheye lens. The phenomenon has a name, “Snell’s Window” we have all likely seen it.
e0QmE TIL the 1978 space-cadet keyboard had built-in emoji keys