Friday, March 4
marquee meme
I got the idea for the marquee at Okir, who saw it at Gura's Blog with a link to the code. I've often thought of doing something with that tag, just as I might do a Flashcard entry one day...The first effort is a rather literal stab, that may be slowing down the page.
Thursday, March 3
mathematical gifs
Never mind the numbers, the words of these Mathematical Animated Gifs are rather beguiling. (via daily jive)
These include Bootstrap Percolation, Poncelet's Porism, (Amazingly, this problem is isomorphic to Gelfand's question), Munching Squares and Witch of Agnesi
The Bump Function intrigues as does the Simpson Line ... (This line was attributed to Simson by Poncelet, but is now frequently known as the Wallace-Simson line)
variously
e-x-c-h-a-n-g-e-v-a-l-u-e-s Interview with Nick Piombino
Dick Jones' Patteran Pages The Royals: Who Hates Who
Odd Books I Like "A Miscellany of Diverse Interest and Pleasure" (via grow a brain)
Russian Fairy Tales (via *.*)
Wednesday, March 2
cards
Freshly purloined from Dirty Beloved...
Did your training as an architect help you in any way?Yes and no. Most of what I know about Cardstacking came from years of experimentation. I would argue that young people who spend time building with cards and really make an effort to get better at it will develop a natural sense of how structures work and behave. I would even say that the majority of what I know about the structural behavior of real buildings and building materials came from my experiences building with cards. It is possible to learn a lot through casual observation! ...faq....
florida photos
Ramage linked to the Florida Photographic Collection.
Naturally I searched for melbourne
Directory to Melbourne Village : Melbourne, Florida Image Number : c021579 Date : 1955
Along the way (Commerce/Signs/Bulletin Boards) I found this image:
Miss Iceland 1962, listens to Director Jim Sumpter's introduction at a tourist center.
And Miss Iceland, Miss Universe runner-up, at the Capital City Golf Course
Tuesday, March 1
hleahtor-smiþ
It was the mirth bit of the spleen I liked, rather than the melancholy.
And googled and landed at this Online Anglo-Saxon dictionary
hleahtor-smiþ, es; m. One who causes laughter, mirth, joy:-Wóp wæs wíde worulddreáma lyt wǽron hleahtorsmiþum handa belocne widespread was the wailing and little of this world's joys, the hands of those who wrought laughter were closed
A laughter-smith is a nice compound.
Also half etymology, half genealogy:History of the Laughter name
Laughter was a word used when speaking of a 'full clutch of eggs laid by a fowl', as in – 'The hen is sitting on her laughter (full clutch) of eggs'.
spleen
BBC Science Interactive Body a 3d jigsaw (via Life In The Present)
I assembled all the organs, but the spleen was difficult to place, even with a hint.
Over the centuries the spleen has been assumed to be the seat of various emotions – but exactly which emotions has changed over the years. If we start in the 15th century, I can tell you that some physicians believed back then that the spleen was the seat of melancholy or morose feelings. Others believed it was the seat of laughter or mirth. A century later and the spleen was blamed for producing whims, caprices, and changeableness. At the same time there were other physicians who believed that a hot or proud temper; high spirits, courage, and a resolute mind all came from the spleen (source)
From websters I see:
To dream of spleen, denotes that you will have a misunderstanding with some party who will injure you
And also that spleen has an Internet Search Engine Keyword Frequency rating of 1,041 per day.
Monday, February 28
amusement
via The Presurfer:
The Young Man's Book of Amusement
This wonderful book was published in 1854 and it contains gems of Victorian experimental science
A small selection of electrical-leaning articles has been scanned.
I like the idea of The Inconceivable Shock
The whole company may be made to partake of the shock, by joining hands, and forming a circle. The experiment may also be varied if they tread upon each other’s toes, or lay their hands upon each other’s heads
and love the sound of these amusements selected from the index:
Air, a fountain, by the pressure of.
Aeolian harp, to make.
Balloon, small, to construct and inflate.
Brilliant explosion, to cause underwater.
Barometer, an infallible.
Blue, to change to white.
Bird, to make seem as dead.
Chemical change in a fair lady's complexion
Cards, a certain number of, being shown to a person to guess that which he thought of.
Cards, to make jump out of the pack, and run on the table.
Cards, to produce a mouse from a pack of.
Cards, how to tell a person any he thinks of and convey it into a nut.
Easy method of Purloining without discovery.
Extinguish ladies' clothes, catching fire, to.
Electrical orrery.
Echo, interesting account of an.
Fire, for wheels, a slow.
Fire, for wheels, a dead.
Feather, the animated.
Ghastly appearance, to give to persons in a room.
Galvanism, sensations which it excites in some organs of sense.
Handkerchief, a, to cut and tear into pieces, and to make it whole again.
Horn, to soften.
Iron, to melt in a moment, and make it run into drops.
Jealous husbands, three.
Ideal spectrum. Impenetrable winter cloaks, made of feathers.
Learned swan.
Money augmented by an optical illusion.
Money, to melt a piece in a walnut-shell, without injuring the shell.
Magical tea-spoon.
Number nine.
Problem, ingenious, another.
Ring to put through your cheek, and then bring it on a stick.
River spectacles
Report like that of a gun, to cause with a tobacco-pipe.
Recreation with a hundred numbers, a curious.
Supernatural appearance, to give a person a.
Sympathetic ink.
Snow-ball, to keep all summer in a perfect state.
Spectre on a pedestal in the middle of the table, to produce.
Water spout, imitative.
Write in the dark, to.
White gloves of a beautiful purple, to dye.
(I think Handkerchief, a, is my favourite)
