Blood Stains from the slaine Monks of Lindisfarne in the Viking attack of 793AD. Folios 191v and 192r of the Lindisfarne Gospels - written and illuminated by the Anglo-Saxon Bishop Eadfrith in 698AD.
Liber generationis Jesu Christi
“Lo, it is nearly 350 years that we and our fathers have inhabited this most lovely land, and never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made. Behold, the church of St. Cuthbert spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as a prey to pagan peoples.”
Alcuin, Letter to Ethelred, King of Northumbria
Images: British Library
“I had a Brooks Brothers 15 1/2 - 35 shirt and we used its front pocket to determine when the Pilot design was “pocket sized” - Joel Jewitt, discussing the invention of the Palm Pilot”
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130408043926-7298-early-employees-joel-jewitt-palm
1959 Mobile Record Players with Radio from”Good Furniture - Beautiful Rooms” by Kurt Hoffmann
Kids? We used to have to play music WITH FURNITURE!
“If you have leather soles and don’t want to slip in an airport hall, cut open a potato and rub it into the sole of the shoe. This will give you enough grip to stay upright. [don’t know about sneaking potatoes on the plane, tho]”
http://www.grenson.co.uk/en_us/shoecare“
” … the plastic bezel on a server with a brand logo, because that extra bit of material forces the fans to work harder.
[Facebook VP] Frankovsky said a study showed a standard 1U-sized OEM server “used 28 watts of fan power to pull air through the impedance caused by that plastic bezel,” whereas the equivalent Open Compute server used just three watts for that purpose.”
” http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/who-needs-hp-and-dell-facebook-now-designs-all-its-own-servers/
1969 Olivetti Underwood Factory | Architect: Louis Kahn | Harrisburg, PA | Photo: Ezra Stoller
Guy on factory floor: “Me? Well, I’m responsible for A S D and F. I’m hoping to move up to the number keys.”
“Fifty names were randomly selected from the building telephone directory and every day they checked for complaints about handset cords. This provided a good spread of responses: some noticed the change soon, some later, but most complaints came after the cord lost about a foot.”
Bell Labs studied optimal phone cord length by screwing with its employees http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/business/john-e-karlin-who-led-the-way-to-all-digit-dialing-dies-at-94.html?comments#permid=100“… people connect virtually through Facebook and Twitter. But one of the only places you can see large numbers of people interacting with their environment is while they’re shopping. You can see many people at a sporting event, but they are mostly spectators. Or you can see them at an airport, but they are in transit. I would argue that Walmart is the most visited interior architecture on the planet, and it is quite possibly the most democratic …”
- Brendan O’Connell, speaking with Alec Baldwin about his paintings of scenes in Walmart
“It is only at long intervals that the researcher enjoys the feeling of solid accomplishment which the administrator can enjoy merely by emptying his in-box.”
Spencer Klaw, 1920- [from Science 163, no. 60] (via donschaffner)Economics in love
“This may feel cold, but there’s nothing cold about well-reasoned analysis.”
About twenty years ago, my roommates and I understated our plans to a car rental agent, piled into a Ford Taurus, and did this voyage in a week.
“[…] the Tibetans were all familiar with Groundhog Day, but they didn’t understand the Dalai Lama speech in Caddyshack. They’re like, “The Dalai Lama does not play golf.” I said, “I know, I know. But if he did…”
Harold Ramis (via merlin)(via merlin)
