Sunday, November 20, 2011

Yahoo article on Slinky snubs Philadelphia, can't get much else correct either

A recent Yahoo! article by "Mike Smith" (Real person?  Who knows!) couldn't get much correct about the Slinky.

First the article claimed it was invented in a Pittsburgh shipyard, when in fact it was invented at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Next the claim was that the Slinky is between 70-80 feet of wire, when in fact the standard Slinky is 62-63 feet in length, which happens to have been a recent quiz question of mine.

Not content with getting these things incorrect, the article claims that "they're not made from long wires that are rolled into coils, but shaved in a circular pattern from lengths of metal pipe."  As another commenter on that article points out, "made from long wires that are rolled into coils" is exactly what happens, and there's YouTube video to prove it for fuck's sake.  Does this internet "journalist" not have an internet connection..?

Given what we can't seem to get correct about the damn Slinky, claims on Yahoo about rather more complex topics such as the economy and foreign policy should be taken with the appropriate amount of skepticism.

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