VIRTUAL CONTRACTOR
n. A person or company paid real cash to design elaborate online homes for affluent denizens of virtual worlds like Second Life. The vanity architecture often rivals Zaha Hadid’s whimsy or the Donald’s ostentation.
RETROSEXUAL
n. The opposite of a metrosexual. These alpha males harbor a disdain for hair gel and Botox that’s as powerful as their love of red meat, which they occasionally hunt themselves.
COSMIC KATRINA
n. A massive disaster caused by an asteroid impact on Earth. Scientists use the term to impress an apathetic public, capitalizing on the one natural cataclysm that everyone in the US is certain to remember.
WYATTING
v. Unsettling a crowded bar by selecting avant-garde music by the likes of Philip Glass and Robert Wyatt from the thousands of tracks on an Internet jukebox. It’s musical rebellion with a highbrow twist.
– Jonathon Keats (jargon@wiredmag.com)
START
Minimal Surfaces, Maximal Bricks
What's Inside: Squirt-On Cheese
For Every Problem, a Cut-Rate Solution
The Best: Movies in the Public Domain
Boost Your Life the Urawaza Way
Better Drinking Through Chemistry
Keep Your Eyes Locked in the Full, Upright Position
How To: Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Jargon Watch
