01.02.09
Northern Lights from Space
Very pretty pictures of aurora borealis…
12.29.08
Oh What a Century
Wrapping up 2008, I enjoyed reading what things were like in 1908… what will people in 2108 think of the things we consider typical for this day and age?
Here are some statistics for the Year 1908:
– The average life expectancy was 47 years.
– Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.
– Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.
– There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
– The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
– The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
– The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour.
– The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
– A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
– Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
The three leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
– The American flag had 45 stars.
– The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!
– Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.
– Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores.
12.07.08
Swisstastic
“The Only Complete Swiss Army Knife” retailing for $1400 and weighs almost 3 pounds.
“It has seven blades, three types of pliers, three golf tools (club face cleaner, shoe spike wrench, and divot repair tool), 25 flat- and Phillips-head screwdrivers and bits, saws, wrenches, and more. It also has a bicycle chain rivet setter, signal whistle, 12/20-gauge shotgun choke tube tool, combination fish scaler, hook disgorger, and line guide tool, cigar-cutting scissors, laser pointer, tire-tread gauge, toothpick, tweezers, and key ring.”
11.30.08
Digital Luggage Scale
Interesting product idea…
The Digital Luggage Scale allows you to pack smarter and avoid paying overweight luggage fees. With an easy-to-read digital display, you can lift up to 100lbs (or 44 Kg), wait for the beep, set the luggage down and read the weight.
11.18.08
One Laptop Per Child
I like that Amazon is getting in on the act…
It’s also worth hearing what Nicholas Negroponte has to say about the program after two years:
Note that the video is from December 2007, so the program has progressed even more since then.
11.09.08
RSS 2 PDF
Want your RSS feeds by paper? Use Tabbloid. They’ll compile a “newspaper” for you, email you the pdf, and you can print it out…
11.06.08
Posters
Weekend project… take block posters or rasterbastor and mix it with the imagery from The Big Picture.
