2023s
Republican Counties Had Higher COVID Death Rates After Vaccines Became Available daringfireball.net/linked/20… Republicans will blame this on drag queens and Hunter Biden.
Decoder Ring: What’s really going on inside a mosh pit? The mosh pit is “a violent place where (mostly) white guys vent their aggression.… but it’s also a place bound by camaraderie and—believe it or not—etiquette.… explore the unwritten rules of this 50-year-old live-music phenomenon with punks, concertgoers, and a heavy-metal physicist.” Hosted by Willa Paskin and produced by Paskin and Katie Shepherd.
Virginia Postrel: Gadgets and Gizmos that inspired Adam Smith
Pocket gadgets were all the rage in Adam Smith’s day….
The best known are watches. A pocket timepiece was an 18th century man’s must-have fashion accessory, its presence indicated by a ribbon or bright steel chain hanging from the owner’s waist, bedecked with seals and a watch key. …
… At a coffeehouse, a gentleman might pull out a silver nutmeg grater to add spice to his drink or a pocket globe to make a geographical point. The scientifically inclined might carry a simple microscope, known as a flea glass, to examine flowers and insects while strolling through gardens or fields. He could gaze through a pocket telescope and then, with a few twists, convert it into a mini-microscope. He could improve his observations with a pocket tripod or camera obscura and could pencil notes in a pocket diary or on an erasable sheet of ivory. (Not content with a single sheet, Thomas Jefferson carried ivory pocket notebooks.)
The coolest of all pocket gadgets were what antiquarians call etuis and Smith referred to as “tweezer cases.” A typical 18th century etui looks like a slightly oversized cigarette lighter covered in shagreen, a textured rawhide made from shark or ray skin. The lid opens up to reveal an assortment of miniature tools, each fitting into an appropriately shaped slot…. An etui might contain drawing instruments–a compass, ruler, pencil, and set of pen nibs. It could hold surgeon’s tools or tiny perfume bottles. Many offered a tool set handy for travelers: a tiny knife, two-pronged fork, and snuff spoon; scissors, tweezers, a razor, and an earwax scraper; a pencil holder and pen nib; perhaps a ruler or bodkin. The cap of a cylindrical etui might separate into a spyglass.
Parallels to today’s smartphones and other pocket gadges are obvious. Mike Elgan discusses them in this prescient 2010 column predicting the return of the wristwatch:
www.computerworld.com/article/2…
Five years after Mike published his column, Apple introduced the Apple Watch. I did not wear a wristwatch when Mike published his column, but I do now.
Mike also wrote a column titled “Why Smartwatches Failed” in 2017. Nobody bats 1,000.
David Eagleman: Could you upload your brain to live forever? eagleman.com/podcast/c…
“Wilder” is a limited-series podcast about Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the “Little House” books. Wilder lived an amazing life: She traveled cross-country in a covered wagon and lived long enough to see Elvis on TV and fly in a jet plane. Her books have been beloved fixtures of classrooms for generations. But the books are also criticized for their outright racism, and at least one Native American scholar says they should only be taught in context.
Host Glynnis MacNicol loves the “Little House” books, and she travels the country talking with superfans and critics.
Today’s ephemera: Marty Feldman and Ann-Margret, 1977
New York subway, 1980
Marty Feldman and Ann-Margret, 1977. Via https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/vw4kjo/marty_feldman_and_annmargret_1977/
He looks as surprised to be with her as we are to see them as a couple.
Every time I bring in the car to be washed, I end up choosing add-ons at random.
I finally decided to look up which ones to get, and which ones to pass on.
Consumer Reports says get the undercarriage wash at least once a season, “especially if you drive through mud or live in a part of the country where roads are salted in winter.”
Wheel cleaning is good, but spray-on wax is purely cosmetic.
www.consumerreports.org/car-maint…
And here is the theme for the 1976 cinematic classic, “Car Wash.”
Five years ago: At last night’s press reception I mistook another editor for a waiter and tried to take food off his plate. I mean, I literally reached out and was touching his food. This is why they don’t allow me out usually.
New Project Uses AI To Turn Project Gutenberg Texts Into Free Audiobooks With Lifelike Voices — In 30 Seconds www.techdirt.com/2023/07/2…
Red Hat saved IBM’s bacon this quarter techcrunch.com/2023/07/2…
Surgeon warns against the most dangerous sex position, which causes 50% of penile fractures boingboing.net/2023/07/2…
How did we fill our in-between time before smartphones?
I’m constitutionally incapable of ignoring text within my sight, so I remember reading cereal boxes at breakfast, magazine covers in checkout lines, display ads on public transit, out-of-date magazines in doctors’ offices, in-flight Skymall catalogs, and posted signs (however irrelevant) of all types.
When the Town Square Shatters. Cory Doctorow remembers GEnie, where I made a lot of friends (including Cory). He says the end of GEnie nearly 25 years ago foretold the breakup of Twitter’s community. doctorow.medium.com/when-the-…
My career goal is to become a cowboy at a “wild west” roadside attraction. I want to be the guy who stands with a shotgun at the top of the stagecoach and gets shot and falls off.
Today’s ephemera: Looking in the bathroom mirror first thing in the morning
1960 The voices of the Flintstones
Video. Watch here: twitter.com/slendersh…
Five years ago: The hotel I’m in has an enclosed atrium with a mirrored far wall. Some guy dressed like me was taking a picture same time as me.
Today’s ephemera: Wasabi Bobby's coping mechanism
A hotel in Germany uses 3D carpets to prevent guests from running. Via https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/vupc81/a_hotel_in_germany_uses_3d_carpets_to_prevent/
Today’s ephemera: And how do we cope with stress?
In 1909, Alice Ramsey became the first woman to drive an automobile across the United States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Huyler_Ramsey
Google shows off AI “news article” writer to newspapers, leaving newspapers to wonder who did the fact-finding, investigating and reporting boingboing.net/2023/07/2…
Rob Beschizza: Google is “pitching a tool to _rewrite _news that’s _already _been published” and the target market is the publishers who originally paid for creating that news.
Florida is requiring schools to teach how slavery benefitted the slaves, and require teaching “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans” when studying race massacres. www.cnn.com/2023/07/2…
These include the Ocoee, Fla. massacre where 40-50 Black people were killed by a mob of more than 250 whites, to prevent the victims from voting in an election. And the Tulsa, Okla., massacre, when white mobs killed up to 300 Black people. And in the Rosewood, Fla., race masscacre, in 1923, a white mob killed six Black people and two whites, and burned down homes, businesses and churches.