Afflictor: Wondering why so many Secret Service agents have been volunteering to guard the antiquities room.
- Old Print Articles: Albany residents drink fresh animal blood (1881) + Early electrolysis used by hirsute women (1885).
- Featured Videos: Marshall McLuhan knew that the world was becoming virtual and remote (1965) + George Carlin was skeptical about Earth Day + Atlantic City’s future as a casino town (1977) + Two short films by Charles and Ray Eames (1964/69) + Sun Ra takes his place in space (1974) + Lawns will be plastic in the future (1968) + Laurie Anderson discusses technology (1986) + K-Tel let you pretend you were an American idol (1973) + Two brief Brian Eno videos + Mike Wallace interviewing Thurgood Marshall + David Cronenberg cast a porn star in Rabid (1979) + Research on bionic eyes in Australia + Greyhounds in exoskeleton suits race in front of drunken douchebags.
- Recently Posted on NYC’s Craigslist: It is horrible that it will begin, but even worse that it will never, ever end + Jimmy Fallon is angling for another free haircut + It might rain in New York on Saturday + Another book Nic Cage will never read + I don’t have a lot to barter.
- A note about the current Supreme Court.
- Douglas Coupland just took his first trip to Dubai.
- Italian designer Bruno Munari predicted the house of the future in 1966.
- Sherry Turkle is concerned that technology is making us “alone together.”
- Richard A. Friedman wonders about pharmacology and the U.S. military.
- A succinct explanation of the thought experiment, the Trolley Problem.
- Microsoft Principal Researcher Bill Buxton talks Natural User Interfaces.
- Alan Feuer investigates the secret past of his doppelganger Alan Z. Feuer.
- We are so narcissistic we want to shop where other shoppers look like us.
- A classic Ron Rosenbaum article about lurid violence on Long Island.
- A gaggle of rich techies are attempting to mine minerals from asteroids.
- Ken Aueletta questions Stanford University’s Silicon Valley ties.
- Edward Tenner tries to explain why machines are beautiful to look at.
- Does the demise of DVDs mean the demise of Netflix?
- Apple is building its own private Cupertino restaurant.
- Chris Anderson interviews computing legend Marc Andreessen.
- David Grann’s brilliant article about a serial impostor is online for free.
- Jimmy Wales thinks Wiki-like collaboration will doom Hollywood.
- The tools that we create end up creating us.
- The early education of roboticist Rodney Brooks.
- Japan is trying to overcome its graying, thinning population.
- Vint Cerf shepherded the Internet from proprietary to public.
- A 19th-century illustration of wealthy men at a race-baiting contest.
- A note from 1902 about a monkey dinner guest.
- A note from 1896 about an obstinate dancing bear.
- This week’s Afflictor keyphrase searches.