Tuesday 7 April 2015

Trivia (should have been 4 January)

Rotorua Express: 1909
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Rotorua Express: 1909
New Zealand in 1909
“The Rotorua Express leaving Auckland, alongside Customs Street East”
Glass negative by A.P. Godber
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Don’t Believe the Hype. Microwave Ovens are Safe.
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Microwave_oven
Ellie Krieger at the Washington Post has a terrific piece up right covering almost everything you’d ever want to know about microwave ovens. I understand that may not seem like the most exhilarating topic, but the sheer ubiquity of these appliances (you can find one in over 90% of American homes) lends itself to the fulfillment of curiosity.
Continue reading

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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Seneca philosopher-fixer
Seneca, ancient hypocrite without peer, never let philosophical commitments interfere with his devotion to conspicuous consumption… more

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The Science of Fireworks
via 3 Quarks Daily by S. Abbas Raza

Over an hour of relaxation with some wonderful science and beautiful pictures. You can almost smell the explosions!

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Forgiveness makes late-life sweeter
via OUP Blog By Jessie Dezutter, Loren Toussaint, and Mia Leijssen
“Forgiveness”, does the word still exist in the vocabulary of modern-day individuals?
Does this moral virtue guide people’s intentions, beliefs, and behaviours?
Or has forgiveness died a silent death between the brick walls of centuries-old convents and monasteries?
The word is steeped in religious traditions and is indeed central in several world religions and spiritual traditions. But is forgiveness relevant today, how so, and for whom?
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Take me to the death café
How a Swiss sociologist gave rise to the café mortel, where the talk is of good deaths and bad deaths, near deaths and grief… more

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Nine 90s Computer Games You Can Play For Free
via MakeUseOf by Christian Cawley
One thing that can be said for PC gaming is that you’re almost always guaranteed a memorable and in-depth gaming experience. This has been true for over 25 years, and during that time an impressive collection of games have been released.
If you’re a fan of PC gaming from way back, you might have been there in the 1990s, when gaming on mostly business machines started going mainstream. You might well have some fond memories of sitting up late pointing, clicking, strafing and shooting.
You’re not alone.
You might think that revisiting those times would require scouring eBay and second hand game stores for your old favourites, but what if we told you that you needn’t spend anything more than your usual monthly Internet bill?
Yep, we’re talking free games, a collection of nine retro PC classics from the 1990s that you can play in your browser or download and run in DOSBox or Windows today!
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Rarities and Readables from William Shakespeare
via AbeBooks.co.uk by Lily King
Julius Caesar. A Tragedy. As it is now Acted at the Theatre Royal. 1691
Considered the greatest writer in the English language, William Shakespeare's works are among the world's most widely read, most intensely studied, and most passionately collected. Early editions are also some of the most valuable.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Young T S Eliot
Eliot in love. The poet’s first wife called him “Wonkypenky”: not a term of endearment. Sexual difficulties weren’t the worst of it… more

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A history of functional toy cameras
via Boing Boing by Carla Sinclair
Written by pop-culture authors Buzz Poole and Christopher D. Salyers (who is also a toy camera collector), Camera Crazy is an attractively photographed collection of functioning toy cameras, which were popularized in the 1960s when the plastic 120 film “Diana” hit the market for only $1 a pop. Although always a hit with children, toy cameras have also been revered by collectors and photographers who welcome the artistic challenge of shooting with a plastic box that offers only a fixed focus and single shutter speed. From 1970s Mick-A-Matics and Gobots Cameras (1985) to Tamagotchi Cameras (1997) and Lego Digital Cameras (2011) – and everything in between – this book pays homage to over one-hundred of these cameras as well as many photographs produced by these “toys.” With a camera now included in every smart phone, I hope toy cameras don’t become a thing of the past.
Continue reading or, given the range of pictures, is it “looking”?


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