Archive for June 2010
Pi in the sky…
As we watch sheep chase ice cream cones across the summer sky, we might recall that on this date in 1974, at 8:01 a.m., a “10-Pak” of Juicy Fruit chewing gum with a bar code printed on it was passed over a scanner at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio– and became the first product ever logged under the new Universal Product Code (UPC) computerized recognition system.
Sharon Buchanan (pictured above 30 yrs later) performed the first ever bar code scan when she rang up this 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum, which is now at the Smithsonian. (source)
“Don’t blink or you’ll miss it…”
Monowi, Nebraska
Elsie Eiler may be in her seventies, but she can’t slow down. In addition to being Monowi’s sole resident, she’s also the town’s mayor, bartender, and librarian. As you enter Monowi, the sign tells you that the population is two, but that number was cut in half when Eiler’s husband, Rudy, died of cancer in 2004. Rudy had been a voracious reader in addition to working as a farmer and a tavern keeper, and he amassed a collection of over 5,000 books. One of his last wishes was that Elsie turn the collection into a public library after his death, which she did; Rudy’s library is housed in a small white building near Elsie’s trailer.
Elsie’s days are busy; she maintains the bar, which draws thirsty drinkers and fans of her burgers from around the region, runs the library, and serves as the one-woman town’s mayor. She collects taxes from herself and makes an annual application for state road funds to keep the town’s four streetlights burning. Elsie’s can-do attitude has earned her some national recognition; Today has even come to shoot segments at her library.
Oddly, Census Bureau estimates from earlier this year estimated that Monowi’s population was two people. This second resident was news to Mayor Elsie Eiler. She quipped to the Associated Press, “Where’s this other person? Let me know. … I don’t want to come back to my house at 11 or 12 and see someone else there.”
Visit six other “Really Tiny Towns“…
As we get in touch with our inner Norman Rockwell, we might recall that it was on this date in 1926 that The College Board administered the first SAT exam. Prepared by a committee headed by Princeton psychologist Carl Campbell Brigham, the multiple-choice test had sections of definitions, arithmetic, classification, artificial language, antonyms, number series, analogies, logical inference, and paragraph reading. It was administered to over 8,000 students at over 300 test centers.
The College Board had been had been administering exams since 1901; but it’s earlier assessments were based on essay responses that were graded “excellent”, “good”, “doubtful”, “poor” or “very poor.”
illustration: Sam Ward
Totally random, man!…
Edward Lorenz, a pioneer of Chaos Theory, famously observed in a 1963 paper that the flap of a butterfly’s wings could ultimately determine the weather thousands of miles away and days later.
Now, thanks for the ever-extraordinary Exploratorium, readers can simulate their own butterflies, and watch them interact with “strange attractors.”
Try it here.
As we sidle up to the stochastic, we might recall that it was on this date in 1873 that Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain) received a U.S. patent (No. 140,245) for a self-pasting scrapbook– which was popular enough ultimately to sell 25,000 copies. Two years earlier the innovative author had received his first patent– for “An Improvement in Adjustable and Detachable Garment Straps” (No.121,992– used for shirts, underpants, and women’s corsets). Later (in 1885) he patented a history trivia game.
The Self-Pasting Scrapbook (source)
The Future of Newspapers…
Tucson-based artist Nick Georgiou finds an enduring use for the broadsheet and the tabloid… See more inspired folding on his blog, My Human Computer, and at The Design Inspiration.
As we rethink recycling, we might recall that it was on this date in 1626 that a large codfish, split open at a Cambridge market, revealed a religious text inside, written by John Frith. Frith, a English protestant and preacher of religious tolerance, had been imprisoned a century before by Cardinal Wolsey in the fish cellar at Cardinal College.
The text was ultimately published by Cambridge University Press as “Vox Piscis.”
Frith (and Andrew Hewet) being burned at the stake for heresy, 1533 (source)
99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, 99 Bottles of Beer…
Tis the season of driving vacations, long flights– and thus, of pastime games. Your correspondent suspects that license plate bingo is getting as stale for most readers as it is for him (besides which, it doesn’t work very well on an airplane). So, a couple of alternatives:
The Double Feature Game: Players take turns imagining the marquee of a theater playing a particularly funny (or ironic or poignant) double bill; e.g.:
The Most Dangerous Game
Love Actually
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Psycho
W
Apocalypse Now
The Song Title Conversation Game: Players take turns suggesting two song titles, the second of which is a response to the first; e.g.,
“Who Do You Love,” George Thorogood — “Nobody But Me,” The Human Beinz
“Why Can’t This Night Go On Forever,” Journey — “Nothing Lasts Forever,” Maroon 5
“Make That Move,” Shalamar — “I’m Just Too Shy,” Jermaine Jackson
(TotH to Am I Right— “making fun of music, one song at a time”)
Hours of fun, Dear Readers; hours of fun!…
As we consider simply staying home, we might recall that it was on this date last year that Kodak ceded the victory of digital photography and announced that it would discontinue the production and sale of Kodachrome print and slide film, a tourist staple since 1935.
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