Urban Studies

You are currently browsing the archive for the Urban Studies category.

“If You Have Democracy, People Will Vote For Washing Machines”

March 22, 2011 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Billions of people on the planet still wash their clothes by hand. Swedish academic and doctor Hans Rosling uses this fact as a jumping-off point for a great TED talk about industrialization and environmentalism.

From “Fifteen Hundred Knuckles at the Tub,” an article in the December 28, 1854 Brooklyn Daily Eagle, as reprinted from the Charleston Courier: “The latest invention is a new washing machine at the Astor House. It is called the ‘great knuckle.’ In the card of the owner it is stated that the new machine is saving from ten to fifteen girls a day, in the wash-room at the Astor House. A vial washing machine man at the Crystal Palace offered a cup valued at $50, to any person who could produce anything that would beat his. The great knuckle washing-machine man will give a cup valued at $500 to any one who will bring his machine to the Astor House, and wash one dozen pieces while he is washing three dozen! He says that instead of using one pair of knuckles, as old Eve commenced with, his machine is a combination of from 200 to 1,500. Great are the merits of washing mahcines!”

Tags:

Listeria: Definition Of Five “K” Words (1912)

March 22, 2011 in Books, Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

Kidnapping: The stealing or abduction or carrying off forcibly of any human being whether man, or woman or child, but in common use the term applies to the stealing of a child, as abduction specifically refers to the carrying off of a maid. It was the practice formerly for gypsies and traveling mountebanks to steal young children and initiate them in their arts, and the tradition that they do so still persists.

Kissing Bug: An insect that stings people upon the lips causing swelling and great suffering. The kissing bugs are about an inch in length, dark brown, with wings of a light red color. They fly with great rapidity and are all seldom seen in places where there is a bright light. In stinging they give warning by making a sharp shrill sound. By dodging one may escape the bug.

Know Nothing: The colloquial name of the political party, the so called American Party, in the United States before the Civil War, organized for the purpose of withholding naturalization and the privilege of the franchise from foreigners. It lasted only a short time but was the cause of considerable disorder.

Knuckle-Duster: A formidable apparatus contrived for the purpose of protecting the knuckles and to add force to their use. It is frequently employed by garrotters and other lawless ruffians.

Kuatau: A Japanese method of restoring the apparently lifeless, by concussive or mechanical means. Kuatasu is homeopathic in principle–the concussion of one vital spot renders one unconscious, that of another spot quickly restores the sufferer. It is affected by a stimulation of the accelerator nerves that quickens the heart action and which is best attained by concussing over the region of the seventh cervical vertebra.

•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.

See also

 

Star Trek Theme Played With A Saw

March 22, 2011 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

I hate everything about Star Trek except for this.

“A Computer Looks Really Stupid Tucked Behind Your Ear”

March 22, 2011 in Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

Eccentric puzzle master Henry Hook likes to tease, torment and torture. Before people like Hook and Will Shortz came along, the crossword puzzle, which was created in 1913, was an academic thing, far from being the pun-happy, pop culture paradise it is today. In his 2002 New Yorker article, “The Riddler,” Burkhard Bilger describes Hook’s unorthodox puzzle-creating routine:

“He lives and works in Brooklyn now, not far from Prospect Park, in a small wooden house so barricaded to guests that he barely lets the cable man in. ‘I’m the guy that inspired the phrase ‘Doesn’t play well with others,’’ he says. On most days, he wakes up by seven, does a word search to get his eyes focussed, and then spends the day shuttling between his crossword grids, his reference books, and the television. More and more crossword constructors are relying on computer programs and data bases of common clues. Hook uses only a pencil (‘A computer looks really stupid tucked behind your ear’), yet he has been known to come up with twenty-four crosswords and write more than fifteen hundred clues in three days. In addition to constructing a crossword for the Sunday BostonGlobe every other week, he writes two puzzle books a year for Random House and hundreds of puzzles that are syndicated for smaller publications.

Then again, there is very little to distract him. Once a week, Hook used to get dressed up, walk to a karaoke bar several blocks away, and belt out a few Sinatra or Elvis tunes. But, he says, he got bored with the same old crowd, and he gave up his membership in the National Puzzlers’ League long ago—’logophilia in the extreme.’ He says he dreams of being a former crossword constructor, but it’s not clear what else he would do.”

Tags: ,

“Few Westerners Have Ever Seen The Forging Of A Japanese Samurai Sword”

March 22, 2011 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

A new Daily Mail article by Rob Waugh guesses that Apple design guru Johnathan Ive won’t be leaving the company, as has been rumored, to move back to his native England. It also provides an account of the lengths Ive will go to make his designs sleeker. An excerpt:

“Few Westerners have ever seen the forging of a Japanese samurai sword. It’s considered a sacred practice in Japan; one of the few traditional arts that has yet to be bettered by modern science. Japanese smiths work through the night (better to judge the heat of metal by eye) hammering, melting and forging by hand to produce the finest blades in the world.

The steel is folded and refolded thousands of times to create a hard outer layer and a softer inner core resulting in a singular blade: terrifyingly sharp but far less prone to breaking than any sword forged in the West.

Once the blade is complete it is polished to a mirror finish, an elaborate procedure that itself can take weeks. The long and laborious process pushes metal to its absolute limit – which is precisely why Jonathan Ive wanted to see it first hand.

Ive endlessly seeks crucial knowledge that can help him to make the thinnest computing devices in the world, so it surprised no one at Apple that their obsessive design genius would take a 14-hour flight for a meeting with one of Japan’s leading makers of katana.

Afterwards Ive, shaven-headed, heavily muscled, in his trademark T-shirt and jeans, watched intently as the man went about his nocturnal labour.

This month Apple, the fabulously successful technology company – indeed, now the world’s biggest, having surpassed Microsoft – launched its latest piece of technology, the iPad 2. The machine was the result of this sort of research, and Ive’s preferred process of making the same product over and over again; in this case, carving metal and silicon until the product was one-third thinner and 0.2lb lighter than its predecessor.”

Ive in the documentary, Objectified:

Tags: ,

Video Footage Of Calcutta, India (1899)

March 21, 2011 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Gorgeous, deteriorating film.  (Thanks Reddit.)

Fun In The Sun At Midland Beach (1890s)

March 21, 2011 in Old Print Articles, Photography, Urban Studies | Permalink

Bathing costumes on display at Midland Beach in the 1890s.

The classic photo above shows folks splashing in the waters of Staten Island during the 1890s, when Midland Beach and South Beach were summer destinations for people from all over New York. Despite the popularity of the area, some businesses were were struggling, as evidenced in a August 31, 1898 Brooklyn Daily Eagle article entitled, “Partner Says He Flirted”:

“On motion for a referee to hear and determine in the matter of the suit of Henry H. Kahn for dissolution of the partnership of Kahn & Reeves, hotel keepers at Midland Beach, Richmond County, before Justice Lambert in Supreme Court this morning, Charles H. Hyde was appointed referee. Kahn alleged that the partnership was formed on April 1 last, that it was prosperous until the other partner, Clifford C. Reeves, who had been connected with the Park Theater and other theaters in Manhattan, proceeded to discharge servants without cause and to employ others, to drink and neglect his part of the business, which was to keep the books, and finally to flirt with women patrons, or at least one of them, to the detriment of the business. Counsel in opposition denied absolutely all allegations of flirting and intoxication.”

Robots Providing Meal Assistance

March 21, 2011 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

The robotic arms can detect and recognize the food. (Thanks IEEE Spectrum.)

Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

March 21, 2011 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

"Empty Pepsi can from Vietnam has Britney Spears as warrior queen on can: $10."

odd items – $10 (fairfiled)

sealed spice girls yoyo from the 90s $10 empty pepsi can from vietnam has britney spears as warrior queen on can $10 laural n hardy items pair of head mugs $10 1930s old gold cigarette ad from news paper $10 little micro figurines from france 10 figures in all $10 olivrer hardy pic obituary from a 1957 newspaper$10 two 6” tall figurines of l&h $10 8 mm film in pics box a lural n hardy film 1960s $10 4 tin cars from 60s $10 from a 1930s news paper movie house add newstone newsreel ad for bonnie an clydes death by lawmen $10 1934 paper front page bonnie an clyde killed in ambush $10 a 6” long bonnie an clyde die cast 1934 ford with little bonnie an clyde figures $10 14” tall gene simons figure with bass guitar $10 the only item here thats $20 is this 13×21 red valor custom matte bela lugosi two 8×10 photo lobby cards from the 1950s re release of dracula has die cut cutouts of bats an coffin real nice no frame john lennon pocket watch real nice front shows john from thee let it be time non working $10

Baby Food For Adults And Other Misfires

March 21, 2011 in Urban Studies | Permalink

Business Insider serves up a slide show of colossal blunders in the annals of food marketing: bottled water for pets, green ketchup, and, yes, baby food for adults. An excerpt:

“In 1974, baby-food manufacturer Gerber attempted to make this possible sans the shame (sort of) when it released Gerber Singles, small servings of food sold in little glass jars similar to those used for baby food but marketed toward college students and single adults.

As it turned out, pre-portioned packages of meat mush didn’t exactly scream ‘cool’ to young singles. The epic flop is one of the most frequently referenced brand failures of all time.” (Thanks Newmark.)

 

Japanese Acrobats Perform (1904)

March 21, 2011 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

No sound. None needed. Just amazing.

Listeria: Definition Of Five “J” Words (1912)

March 21, 2011 in Books, Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

I represent the letter "J," Mavis.

Japanese Question: An important issue in the Pacific States and Western Canada, caused by the anti-Oriental feeling of the population of these regions, especially expressed (1906), when the Board of Education of San Francisco barred Japanese pupils from the public schools for whites; and having received its culmination in the disturbances  of 1907, during which a number of Japanese eating-houses and shops were wrecked and pillaged. The question became so acute that President Roosevelt sent Secretary of the Navy Metcalf to investigate the situation, the result being a presidential message to Congress, and long negotiations with Japan concerning the exclusion of Japanese laborers. This culminated in the treaty of 1911 with Japan, according to which no Japanese subjects may be excluded from the United States for other than reasons applying to every nation, while the Government of the Mikado promises not to give passports to Japanese of the laboring class.

Joe-Miller: An old jest, a stale joke; derived from Joe or Joseph Miller, a comic actor of the early part of the eighteenth century. His name was attached to a jest-book which was published in 1739, the year after his death, and which became very popular.

John Bull: A humorous impersonation of the English people, conceived of as well fed, good natured, honest hearted, justice loving, and plain spoken.

Jugglers: A term now almost synonymous with conjurer was formerly applied to the professional musicians who accompanied the wandering poets, the Troubadours and the Trouveres of France. These musicians soon came to be employed by kings and princes as minstrels. The professions gradually lost respectability. The Romans had their wonder-workers but the greatest of all jugglers are the Hindu, the famous “basket” trick and the trick of causing almost instant vegetation, the seed being planted, and the tree growing to maturity, budding, blossoming and coming to fruit under the eye of the spectator, are peculiar to the Hindus. Reginald Scot, a juggler and conjurer of 1854 enumerates the trick of his day. They are much the same as now, except for the additions and improvements modern mechanism and science have made. Conus and Boseo were clever conjurers of the eighteenth century. To Robert Houdin (1805-1871) belongs the credit for devising and introducing some very ingenious apparatus including the drum that beat itself, and the chest that was light or heavy at command. He understood, it would seem, the application of electro-magnetism. The modern conjurers, like Hartz and Hermann, aim generally at producing their effects with the minimum of accessories and apparatus.

Jumpers: Religious sects or bodies who make jumping or dancing a part of their ceremony of worship. Certain Methodists of Wales, some Irvingites, the Shakers of America, and a Russian sect have adopted the practice of some extent.

•Taken from the 1912 Standard Illustrated Book of Facts.

See also

 

“Blanchard Pulled Off His First Heist When He Was A 6-Year-Old”

March 20, 2011 in Excerpts, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

"'The way I met Daniel was that he stole my classroom VCR,' recalls Randy Flanagan, one of Blanchard’s teachers."

ATMs and art museums are just two of the well-guarded depositories of wealth that were no match for Gerald Daniel Blanchard, a dyslexic international master thief based in Canada who could rig and rewire almost anything with his nimble hands and quick mind. Before his 2007 arrest, Blanchard eluded law enforcement for almost a decade despite his bold robberies. He was profiled by Joshuah Bearman in Wired in 2010. An excerpt about the criminal’s formative years:

“Blanchard pulled off his first heist when he was a 6-year-old living with his single mother in Winnipeg. The family couldn’t afford milk, and one day, after a long stretch of dry cereal, the boy spotted some recently delivered bottles on a neighbor’s porch. ‘I snuck over there between cars like I was on some kind of mission,’ he says. ‘And no one saw me take it.’ His heart was pounding, and the milk was somehow sweeter than usual. ‘After that,’ he says, ‘I was hooked.’

Blanchard moved to Nebraska, started going by his middle name, Daniel, and became an accomplished thief. He didn’t look the part — slim, short, and bespectacled, he resembled a young Bill Gates — but he certainly played it, getting into enough trouble to land in reform school. ‘The way I met Daniel was that he stole my classroom VCR,’ recalls Randy Flanagan, one of Blanchard’s teachers. Flanagan thought he might be able to straighten out the soft-spoken and polite kid, so he took Blanchard under his wing in his home-mechanics class.

‘He was a real natural in there,’ Flanagan says. Blanchard’s mother remembers that even as a toddler he could take anything apart. Despite severe dyslexia and a speech impediment, Blanchard ‘was an absolute genius with his hands,’ the teacher recalls. In Flanagan’s class, Blanchard learned construction, woodworking, model building, and automotive mechanics. The two bonded, and Flanagan became a father figure to Blanchard, driving him to and from school and looking out for him. ‘He could see that I had talent,’ Blanchard says. ‘And he wanted me to put it to good use.’

Flanagan had seen many hopeless kids straighten out — ‘You never know when something’s going to change forever for someone,’ he says — and he still hoped that would happen to Blanchard. ‘But Daniel was the type of kid who would spend more time trying to cheat on a test than it would have taken to study for it,’ Flanagan says with a laugh.”

Tags: , ,

“Just Everybody Can’t Janitor” (1966)

March 20, 2011 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

A surprisingly philosophical instructional film about cleaning public bathrooms. (Thanks Live Leak.)

Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

March 20, 2011 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

"This is a true conversation piece of History. If you are not scared of it!!!" (Image by Hawobo.)

Historic Wood Occult Store Sign-THE MAGICKAL CHILDE – $1450 (TROY, NY near Albany)

Historic Wood Occult Store Sign-THE MAGICKAL CHILDE-THE WARLOCK SHOP-Creepy looking too

For the first time ever, this historical and controversial sign is finally for sale. Many offers have been made in the past.

The sign was made around 1972 or soon after for the Warlock Shop in Brooklyn. The shop moved to Chelsea in 1976 and was renamed The Magickal Childe. The sign moved with the shop, and was there until the shop closed in 1999. The sign is about 65 Lbs. dimensions are 4′ 7″ tall x 3′ 8″ wide x 4″ thick. Made from oak wood. It is hand painted. Many celebrities, musicians, artists and occultists have seen this sign. This sign has a very famous history to it. I think the sign was in the movie Tron with the Neon Phrenology head neon sign, Disney made the Neon Sign. I have no clue as to who made the wood sign. I have the shops original flag and Neon Tarot Reading sign as well. If you want more info on this search for Herman Slater, The Warlock Shoppe, The Magickal Childe etc.. This is a true conversation piece of History. If you are not scared of it!!!

The sign has not been cleaned, it is full of the incense, oils and who knows what else it absorbed-Spirits perhaps? Maybe Herman Slater himself?

Tags:

Tips For Giving Your Opossum A Pedicure

March 20, 2011 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

You don’t want your opossum looking like crap, do you?

Old Print Articles: Tales From The Flatbush Insane Asylum (1888-96)

March 20, 2011 in Old Print Articles, Urban Studies | Permalink

"When the woman expostulated, the maniac threw fragments of crockery at her and finally she fled from the house."

As you might expect, life was never boring at the Flatbush Insane Asylum during the 1880s-90s, as the following quintet of stories attests.

••••••••••

“Shocking Desecration Charged” (New York Times, September 11, 1893): “I heard something the other day,” said a Brooklyn woman to a reporter for The New York Times, “which I think should be made public. It was the story of what a certain doctor did who is employed in the Asylum for the Insane in Flatbush. My informant’s name I withhold for the reason that if I should give it to you a person related to him who is now employed in the asylum would certainly lose his place.

“My informant tells me that about a week ago an aged woman died at the hospital who had been there for a long time. According to the regulations of the institution, the doctor referred to, in company with others of the medical staff, viewed the corpse.

“The doctors were in a merry mood and made quite a lark of the inspection by cracking jokes about the body, and altogether behaving in an unseemly manner. Finally, as I am informed, one of the doctors took a cigarette out of his case and, approaching the bedside, said:

“‘Let’s give the old lady a smoke.’

“Immediately thereafter he pried open the lips of the corpse and placed the cigarette between them.

“‘How’s that, old gal?’ he exclaimed, and then all hands gathered about and made sport of what they saw.”

Dr. Tracey, physician in charge at the Kings County Insane Asylum at Flatbush, was seen by a reporter for The New-York Times and the foregoing statement was laid before him. At first his face flushed and then he gasped out:

“It’s false–a malicious falsehood!”

••••••••••

“A Lunatic Not Cured” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 10, 1895): William Gatehouse of Livonia avenue, near Freeport street, was sent to the Flatbush Insane Asylum some time ago and on Saturday was discharged as cured. In the Gates avenue police court this morning Justice Harriman committed Gatehouse to jail and he will probably be sent back to the asylum again.

The man returned to his home Saturday night and behaved himself until yesterday afternoon. Then, as his wife completed setting the table for dinner, Gatehouse grabbed the cloth, pulled all the dishes on the floor, announcing that he wanted to play checkers. When the woman expostulated, the maniac threw fragments of crockery at her and finally she fled from the house.”

•••••••••••

“Captain Rhinehart’s Double Life” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 12, 1888): Captain Gilson Rhinehart, 59 years of age, a pilot on Roosevelt street ferryboats, was committed to the Flatbush Insane Asylum yesterday afternoon, by Judge Osborne, of the City Court, on the application of the Commissioners of Charities and Correction. Catherine E. Rhinehart, the wife of the demented man, made the petition for his incarceration. Drs. A.M. Burns and R.H. Stone examined him and pronounced him undoubtedly insane. He imagines that people are anxious to cut his throat, and thinks his feet are poisoned.

••••••••••

“The Insane Entertained” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 9, 1896): At the Flatbush Insane Asylum, Labor Day was celebrated with a musical and dramatic entertainment and a base ball match, between a picked nine of the patients and the medical staff of the institution. The score of the patients was 23 and that of the medical staff 14. The game had been looked forward to by the patients with a great deal of joyful anticipation and it was witnessed by about four hundred male and female lunatics of the institution, who were on the grounds, and by many more from the windows of the wards who cheered and applauded the good play of both teams. The game was well played, particularly by the patients, who had been practicing for the event for some time.

••••••••••

“Vagaries of the Insane” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 13, 1888): Chief Judge Clement, of the City Court, this morning committed the following demented persons to the Flatbush Insane Asylum:

William Brown, a sailor, 25 years of age. He imagines that he is an angel and has wings, but complains that devils pursue him and make him fly so much that he is tired.

Rose Boyle, 74 years of age, thinks she  is only 26, and is of the belief that her husband goes to Ireland every night.

Louis Grobel, 60 years of age, imagines that he invented a clock that never stops and is in possession of an income of $1,000,000 a day.

Henry Hall, a bartender, 35 years of age, imagines himself to be a banker and a partner of Edward Stokes. He labors under the delusion that he owns yachts and merchant vessels.

Larry King Interviews Futurist-Theorist Jacque Fresco (1974)

March 20, 2011 in Science/Tech, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Back when King was based in Miami and still wearing a belt. (Thanks Reddit.)

Fresco being pissy during a 2007 Forbes interview:

“Forbes: What’s one thing you were sure would happen, but didn’t?

Jacque Fresco: I was sure that Forbes.com would ask more significant questions to a futurist about the future. Perhaps something like, What is a positive direction for the future to work toward in order to eliminate many of the problems we face today?

What is needed is the intelligent management of Earth’s resources. If we really wish to put an end to our ongoing international and social problems we must eventually declare Earth and all of its resources as the common heritage of all the world’s people. Earth is abundant with plentiful resources. Our practice of rationing resources through monetary control is no longer relevant and is counter-productive to our survival.

Today we have access to highly advanced technologies. But our social and economic system has not kept up with our technological capabilities that could easily create a world of abundance, free of servitude and debt. This could be accomplished with the infusion of a global, resource-based civilization where all goods and services are available without the use of money, credit, barter or any other form of debt or servitude.”

Tags: ,

“My Aspiration For [Larry Page] Is That He Becomes One Of The Greatest Inventors-Entrepreneurs In History, In The Realm Of The Thomas Edisons Of The World.’

March 20, 2011 in Excerpts, Science/Tech, Urban Studies | Permalink

Google’s ambition knows few bounds. A note about Google’s goals from a new Fast Company article at the moment when Larry Page assumes leadership of the company:

“Google is not always easily categorized. You can’t shorthand it the way you can with, say, Apple (a consumer electronics company) or Microsoft (a software company). While minimizing the world-changing visions of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates seems unwise, making computers a utility and transforming their power into desirable objects cannot compare with the ambitions of Google’s founders. Page and Brin’s stated mission has been to catalog and analyze all of the world’s information, and their larger, unstated aim is to reform all of the globe’s inefficiencies. In addition to translation and speech recognition, the founders are obsessed with image recognition (Google Goggles), advanced energy solutions (Google Energy), and robotics (check out its self-driving car).

Page and Brin’s big bets don’t always work. Google has had to back off reinventing TV-, radio-, and print-advertising sales; its book-digitization project has become a protracted mess; and its initiatives to make wireless networks more open and to change the way cell-phone carriers sell their plans have failed.

Focus on the misses, though, and you risk overlooking its remarkable successes. Google persists in reforming modern communications networks. Google Voice has taken off. Indeed, in 10 years, we might look back on this moment in Google’s history with surprise. While tech wags slagged Google for losing to Facebook, almost none of us saw it turning into the world’s largest phone company.

That’s what’s thrilling about Page taking the helm at Google right now. You get the sense that under his leadership, Google could try its hand at anything. More than anything else during my interviews with people who know Page, one comment stands out: ‘I don’t care what you put in the article,’ says David Lawee, Google’s head of acquisitions. ‘To me, this is the real story: Larry is a truly awesome inventor-entrepreneur. My aspiration for him is that he becomes one of the greatest inventors-entrepreneurs in history, in the realm of the Thomas Edisons of the world.'”

Tags: , ,

Sing-A-Long With Henrietta, Featuring Merna

March 20, 2011 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Yeah, Merna’s there, too.

Tags: ,

Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

March 19, 2011 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

"For the sake of an art project." (Image by Hannes Grobe.)

Sex Recording (Audio) Wanted for Art

For the sake of an art project, send an audio recording of you and your other having sex. Submissions are anonymous and benefit the improvement of art and culture.

Siskel & Ibex At The Movies

March 18, 2011 in Film, Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

About what The Last Airbender deserves. (Thanks Reddit.)

Recently Posted On NYC’s Craigslist

March 18, 2011 in Misc., Urban Studies | Permalink

"Creamy Potato Soup (4 serving package)." (Image by Paulnasca.)

US food suppy stops due to Japan radiation….. Solution here! – $10

Radioactive contamination?
Earthquake?
Hurricane?
Tsunami?
Drought?

Regardless of your why………

Build a Disaster Food Reserve

Let me help you start….
Describing how good our
gourmet quality food products
are may not get you to
try them, but this might….
For the cost of shipping and
handling (under $10) we will send
you a 3 pack of out top products
for you to sample and find out
for yourself.
No further obligation.

The trial pack includes:

Tortilla Soup (4 serving package)
Cheesy Chicken Rice (4 serving package)
Creamy Potato Soup (4 serving package)

F.Y.I. Theses are not military
style food ration products.

Famous 1910 Chess Match As A Claymation

March 18, 2011 in Urban Studies, Videos | Permalink

Someone made a Claymation of the famed Roesch vs. Schlage chess match that took place in 1910 in Hamburg. Stanley Kubruck, a big chess fan, used the moves from this match for his chess scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey. From Chess.com: “In 1968, Stanley Kubrick (a strong chess player himself) directed 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is probably the most famous man vs. computer chess games in film. The movie features an astronaut, Dr. Frank Poole (played by Gary Lockwood), playing a chess game with the white pieces against the HAL-9000 computer (voice by Douglas Rain). The game in the movie is from an actual game, Roesch vs.Schlage, Hamburg 1910. The initial position in the movie is after Black’s 13th move. The astronaut says, ‘Umm…anyway, Queen takes pawn. OK?’ HAL responds, ‘Bishop takes Knight’s pawn.’ The astronaut says ‘Hmm, that’s a good move. Er…Rook to King One.’ HAL responds, ‘I’m sorry Frank. I think you missed it. Queen to Bishop Three (this should have been Queen to Bishop Six – the computer was cheating). Bishop takes Queen (this is not forced). Knight takes Bishop. Mate.’ It is not a mate in two, but a mate in three. The astronaut responds, ‘Ah…Yeah, looks like you’re right. I resign.’” (Thanks Open Culture.)

“The Average Chinese Citizen Is Not Nearly As Rich As An Average American Was Even Two Or Three Generations Ago”

March 18, 2011 in Excerpts, Urban Studies | Permalink

"The correlation between growth rates in one decade and growth rates in the next decade is remarkably low." (Image by World Economic Forum.)

Larry Summers isn’t the most popular guy, but I think his comments on China make a lot of sense. An excerpt from an exit interview he did with International Economy:

International Economy: Let’s start with China. The Chinese governmentv is hinting that it plans to spend another $1.5 billion on new technologies. Housing and retail spending, the preoccupations in the United States, are not part of that spending. In the meantime, China’s military has been engaged in a lot of bravado. How do you size up this brave new world?

Larry Summers: President John Kennedy died believing that Russia would be richer than the United States by 1985. Every issue of the Harvard Business Review in the early 1990s contained some joke or allusion to the effect that the Cold War has ended and Japan and Germany have won. Ezra Vogel’s 1979 book Japan as Number One was a bestseller. But none of these prophecies proved to be correct. In fact, looking at the history of growth rates in all countries, the correlation between growth rates in one decade and growth rates in the next decade is remarkably low. Extrapolative forecasting is perilous.

If concern about China leads the United States to strengthen our education system, invest more heavily in research and development, and contain our borrowing, then it could be very constructive. At the same time, it is easy to exaggerate what is happening in China. The average Chinese citizen is not nearly as rich as an average American was even two or three generations ago. The Chinese government is riding a tiger given all of the changes that are underway in that society.” (Thanks Marginal Revolution.)

Tags:

« Older entries § Newer entries »