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The Curator
The Curator launched on August 29, 2008 as a web publication of International Arts Movement (IAM), which announces the signs of a “world that ought to be” as we find it in our midst, and seeks to inspire people to engage deeply with culture that en… Continue reading
Throwing dice and murder – a question about intentionality
“If Brown hopes to throw a six in a game of dice and succeeds, we wouldn’t say he threw the six intentionally. If Brown puts his last cartridge into a six-chambered revolver, spins the chamber as he aims it at Smith, his archenemy, pulls the trigge… Continue reading
Journal of a 6 year old’s 3-year whaling ship voyage in 1868
In October, 1868, 6-year-old Laura Jernegan and her family set sail on a three-year whaling voyage. Laura kept a journal of the voyage, which has now been scanned and posted. It’s sweet and sad and lovely.
Laura Jernegan: Girl on a Whaleship
(via I… Continue reading
SUPERDAD: moving and infuriating memoir of fatherhood and crack
Christopher Shulgan’s Superdad: A Memoir of Rebellion, Drugs and Fatherhood is an infuriating, moving, and terrifying memoir of self-destructive hypermasculinty and a journey to a kind of uneasy truce between the idea of “father” and “real man.”
Evolution’s Third Replicator?
This article argues that we are seeing a new form of evolution emerging, after genes and memes. WE HUMANS have let loose something extraordinary on our planet – a third replicator – the consequences of which are unpredictable and possibly … Continue reading
Sixth photo meme
It works like this: if you use Flickr, go to the sixth page of your photostream and pick the sixth picture there, then post it to your blog. Here’s mine: This was taken while having dim sum for breakfast, the … Continue reading
Posted in culture, photography
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The History of the Tab
How many college students today ever flip through trays of library catalogue cards? Some of them may never have used an actual tabbed file. But the tab as an information technology metaphor is everywhere in use. And whether our tabs … Continue reading
Posted in culture, design, history
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The Wizard in the Space Station: A Look Back at the Works of the Late Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Great retrospective looking back at Clarke’s most influential works. But relatively little space has been devoted to Clarke’s writing—the notable exception being the essays of his collaborator and friend, Gregory Benford, an astrophysicist and author of many science fiction novels … Continue reading
Monument created for Laika the space dog
A nice memorial for the first dog in space. Stories about how she was selected varied: Some said Laika was chosen for her good looks — a Soviet space pioneer had to be photogenic. Others indicated the top choice for … Continue reading
New York Times article on the life of Arthur C. Clarke
The New York Times has an article commemorating the life of science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, who just passed away. The author of almost 100 books, Mr. Clarke was an ardent promoter of the idea that humanity’s destiny lay beyond … Continue reading
Posted in culture, scifi, technology
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The Origin of Everyday Punctuation Marks
Read this article on Neatorama to find out how some of our punctuation symbols came to be. Question Mark Origin: When early scholars wrote in Latin, they would place the word questio – meaning “question” – at the end of … Continue reading
Posted in culture, history
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Book: Where Wizards Stay Up Late
Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon Touchstone, 1998 In Where Wizards Stay Up Late, Hafner and Lyon take us all the way back to the earliest days of computer networking. … Continue reading
Posted in books, computers, culture, history, networking, technology
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Book: Adventures From the Technology Underground
Adventures From the Technology Underground: Catapults, Pulsejets, Rail Guns, Flamethrowers, Tesla Coils, Air Cannons, and the Garage Warriors Who Love Them William Gurstelle Three Rivers Press, 2006 This is a wildly entertaining book filled with colorful characters and powerful, dangerous … Continue reading
Posted in books, culture, diy, technology
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Book: The Computer: An Illustrated History
The Computer: An Illustrated History Mark Frauenfelder Carlton Books, 2005 This is computer pr0n at its finest. This large, beautiful coffee-table book chronicles the evolution of the computer through hundreds of photographs. Following the earliest counting devices, hulking mainframes, personal … Continue reading
The Social Norm of Leaving the Toilet Seat Down: A Game Theoretic Analysis
Will this settle the debate once and for all? Probably not, but an amusing read nonetheless. All hope is not lost though. An important issue regarding social norms is whether they are created to increase welfare. Are they society’s response … Continue reading
Posted in culture, economics, funny
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Book: Founders at Work
Founders at Work Jessica Livingston Apress, 2007 This book contains 32 interviews with founding members of different tech startups. Most of the interviews follow the same general format: how they got their idea, their first steps in forming a company, … Continue reading
Posted in books, culture, economics, technology
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Technological (Geek) Cakes
Check out these fantastic cakes posted on mental_floss. The Super Mario cake is simply beautiful: Link
Posted in culture, food/cooking
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Documentary: On Piracy and the Future of Media
This looks like an interesting documentary that examines the reality of piracy. You can watch and even download the documentary for free. Each day, millions of youths from Canada and around the world download music and movies off of the … Continue reading
Posted in culture, rights
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John Frum and the Cargo Cults
A Damn Interesting article that explains where the term “cargo cult” came from. One day in the early 1940s, the relatively isolated group of islands was descended upon by hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who arrived by sea and … Continue reading
Posted in culture, history, language
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Gadget Fetishes
Gizmodo has posted a great rant on people with more money than sense. And you guys just ate it up. Kept buying shitty phones and broken media devices green and dripping with DRM. You broke the site, clogging up the … Continue reading
Posted in culture, funny, technology
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