Wednesday, May 19, 2010

366. Watered down by prior art?

When Charles Hall approached the US Patent Office in 1968 for patenting one of his recent inventions - the water-bed - , his application was refused because descriptions of a waterbed constituting “prior art” had already appeared in at least three novels by this writer.

Which writer?

Monday, May 17, 2010

365. Twins in infinite universes?

Wincanton, a small town in south Somerset, England is unique in the fact that it was twinned in 2002 with a town Y which can only be found in the fictional universe X.

On 5 April 2009, a number of roads were retitled with names taken from Y , such as Peach Pie Street and Treacle Mine Road. There is also a shop in High Street called The Cunning Artificer, which sells collectors items relating to the fictional universe of X.

X and Y please.