Acclaimed Colombian Institution Has 4,800 Books and 10 Legs [NYTimes article]
Great story of Alfa and Beto, the biblio burros, Luis Soriano, their keeper, and the mission they’ve devoted ten years’ of weekends to.
December 18, 2008
Airbrushing History — American Style and the Internet Archives (Thanks! Brewster Kahle!)
Airbrushing History — American Style by Scott Althaus and Kalev Leetaru. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
AIRBRUSHING HISTORY, AMERICAN STYLE
Legacies are in the air as President Bush prepares to leave the White House. How future historians will judge the president remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: future historians won’t have all the facts needed to make that judgment. One legacy at risk of being forgotten is the way the Bush White House has quietly deleted or modified key documents in the public record that are maintained under its direct control.
Remember the “Coalition of the Willing” that sided with the United States during the 2003 invasion of Iraq? If you search the White House web site today you’ll find a press release dated March 27, 2003 listing 49 countries forming the coalition. A key piece of evidence in the historical record, but also a troubling one. It is an impostor.
And although there were only 45 coalition members on the eve of the Iraq invasion, later deletions and revisions to key documents make it seem that there were always 49.
The Bush White House seems to have systematically airbrushed parts of the official record regarding its own history. How extensively White House documents have been rewritten is anyone’s guess, but in the case of the coalition list, the evidence is clear that extensive revision of the historical record has occurred.
[...]
I remember reading about this a few weeks ago (end of November) and I thought, hm. interesting, but, this isn’t the first time this has happened.
There was a fairly well-documented instance back when Enron was crashing, where the bio for the Honorable Thomas E. White, Secretary of
the Army, was revised to elide a couple paragraphs about all the wonderful things he had done at Enron to “From 1990 to 2001, Mr. White was employed by Enron Corporation and held various senior executive positions.”
Seems folks would learn that you can’t change history in these days of archives without someone poking around and finding out, but … no.
As always, these little glimmers of change are brought to you thanks to Brewster Kahle, whose Internet Archive not only stashes away the original of versions later changed, but also offers up such gems as
The Grateful Dead Live at Winterland 17 Jun 1975
Warren Zevon Live at The Main Point 20 Jun 1976
Betty Boop Betty Boop for President — 1932
India Travel film, India (c1930)
San Francisco San Francisco (1939) from the Prelinger Archives
Peeve of the Day (AKA POTD)
(1) Folks, it is AGAINST THE LAW IN CALIFORNIA to talk on your hand-held (as opposed to hands-free) cell phone while you’re driving. STOP IT!
We were headed over to Kaiser Hospital yesterday, trying to make a left turn off Union onto Gough. Light changed. Waited for person using crosswalk. After that person cleared our runway, we would’ve turned but a guy in large vehicle was heading straight through the intersection. SLOOOOWLY.
Turned out he was talking on his cell phone. Holding it with one hand as he drove SLOOOOWLY (did I mention SLOOOOWLY?) through the intersection. Woman in her Beemer behind him was catching up with him at a fast clip so when he had finally cleared the intersection, we didn’t have any time to turn before she blew through.
So we waited some more.
Folks, as of midnight July 1, 2008, it is illegal in both Washington state and California to hold a cellphone to your ear while you drive.
Granted, just talking on your hands-free cellphone is also distracting and dangerous, but it is AGAINST THE LAW to hold your cellphone to your ear while driving (whether you’re talking or just listening).
STOP IT. You either drive too fast, too maniacal, or too slow. You aren’t paying attention to the other cars around you or the pedestrians or bicyclists.
STOP IT.
Wordle
Learned about Wordle via cygnoir. Played with it with my Delicious bookmarks as the resource.
Saved the Java applet results with CutePDF Writer, then pulled the PDF into Photoshop, messed with it and saved it as a .jpg.
Voilà!
So, a bit early, but heartfelt, nonetheless:
December 17, 2008
Every three years …
Mostly I passed with flying colors, although they’re checking on a couple things. Doc says, though, that from now on I should get checked every THREE years.
Oh, grand.
OEDILF – The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form
OEDILF – The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form
An aphorist states what is known
In a pithier, folksier tone.
He is given to joke
That the mightiest oak
From a balanoid object is grown.
(BAL-uh-noid) Acorn-shaped.
Sorts by topic, author, word, &c.
We are presently accepting submissions based ONLY on words beginning with Aa- through Dd- inclusive.
RobertSabuda.com: Simple Pop-Ups You Can Make!
RobertSabuda.com: Simple Pop-Ups You Can Make!
You know who you are. Enjoy!
Colonoscopies Miss Many Cancers, Study Finds – NYTimes.com
Colonoscopies Miss Many Cancers, Study Finds – NYTimes.com
Did I really want to read this when I’ve just finished my evening prep for tomorrow’s colonoscopy?
As his nibs reminded me, even if colonoscopies only catch 60-70% of cancers in the colon, that’s better than nothing at all, or finding the cancer after it’s already spread to the liver and beyond.
Kaiser’s prep procedure is the one suggested in the article. Evening prep with half the strong laxative, and then morning prep (up at 5A! for laxatives! lucky me!) just a few hours before the procedure.
Twelve hours from now plus another hour or two in recovery and I’ll be set for another five years. … if all goes well. Proper preparation is key, they say, so off to bed and up early to down another liter of laxative.
December 16, 2008
Where’s the Gap in Your Knowledge?
Sponsored by Oxford University Press’ Very Short Introductions: Where’s the Gap in Your Knowledge?
Quiz asks three questions in each of seven subject areas. You must answer at least two out of the three questions correctly or you have a gap in that area of knowledge.
My only gap was in Religion & Theology.
[via Sour Grapes' Google Reader]
Obama logo ideas that weren’t chosen | Logo Design Love
Obama logo ideas that weren’t chosen | Logo Design Love
Interesting information and links re the design of the Obama ’08 logo: how it was chosen, how it evolved.