Monday 7 July 2014

Sunday Spectacular

Five Ways of Going: 1908
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Five Ways of Going: 1908
Washington, D.C., circa 1908
“South facade, new Union Station” At least five modes of transportation represented in this detailed view
8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company
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Trust your memory? Maybe you shouldn’t
via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker
Your very fallible memory
Your memories can be manipulated and changed. In fact, this happens often. And you’re the one doing it to yourself.

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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Evgeny Morozov has emerged as the Mencken of the Internet age. His target: the woolly, wide-eyed thinking of the Silicon Valley “booboisie”… more

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The original Piglet and Pooh
via Pages & Proofs by Richard Davies
Piglet
In the New York Public Library, you will find an exhibit of the real Winnie the Pooh animals: Eeyore, Piglet, Kanga, Tigger and Pooh. The animals belonged to Christopher Milne, son of the author, A.A. Milne and the books were donated to the New York Public Library in 1987 by the publisher of the Pooh books . Piglet looks worn but fantastic. Pooh looks decidedly sad – as if being locked up in a library is driving him crazy.
Pooh

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Genghis Khan and climate
via Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker
New research is suggesting that the rise of the Mongolian Empire might have been linked to natural variation in the climate cycle.

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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Theophilus Carter, Oxford cabinet maker, had a prominent nose, receding chin, and a fondness for top hats. Was he the real Mad Hatter?… … more

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1983’s wonderful Introduction to Machine Code for Beginners
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Usborne’s 1983 classic is an astounding book, written, designed and illustrated by Naomi Reed, Graham Round and Lynne Norman. It uses beautiful infographics and clear writing to provide an introduction to 6502 and Z80 assembler, and it’s no wonder that used copies go for as much as $600. I was reminded of it this morning when @amanicdroid tweeted me with a link to a PDF of the book’s interior. I’d love to see this book updated for modern computers and reprinted.

See this in a size you can actually manage to read

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Spacegoing Earth: a painting by Angus McKie
via BoingBoing by Cory Doctorow

When I first saw this Angus McKie illustration, I had a moment when I thought it depicted the Earth being encased in a huge, space-going shell and I flashed back to Damon Knight's spectacular novel Why Do Birds, a straight-faced yet comic novel about a man who puts the whole human race in a box.
Then I realised that the picture depicted a hollow, space-going sphere being fitted with an armoured cover and my mind spun into a deep future from which it hasn’t entirely returned.
Beautiful work.
Here’s the official McKie site.

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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Syphilis and creativity. Nietzsche’s grandiosity, Van Gogh’s death obsession, Schubert, Flaubert, Wilde, Joyce: Did the disease shape their work?… more

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Why you shouldn’t (and should) be monogamous
via Big Think by Tauri1 Moosa
Why should you only have sex with the person you are in a relationship with?
After all, there exist many successful relationships involving people having passionate interactions, of whatever kind, with people other than their primary partner. This is done with their primary partner’s knowledge and consent and, presumably, consenting to their primary partner doing the same.
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