I could not agree more with Paul Krugman’s latest NY Times column:
There’s a famous Norman Rockwell painting titled “Freedom of Speech,” depicting an idealized American town meeting. The painting, part of a series illustrating F.D.R.’s “Four Freedoms,” shows an ordinary citizen expressing an unpopular opinion. His neighbors obviously don’t like what he’s saying, but they’re [...]
Did you know that U.S. patent applicants were once required to submit small, physical models of their inventions (“not more than twelve inches square … neatly made”)? I had no idea. This Wired article provides some fascinating background and a nice gallery of models.
After the patent office stopped requiring models, it spent more than 50 [...]
This is a fascinating and beautiful demonstration of the universality of music (via @timoreilly on Twitter)…
It’s captivating to hear the audience sing the fifth in the pentatonic scale with no coaching at 1:58. You can hear the crowd’s excitement grow as they keep pace with McFerrin up and down the scale across two octaves.
Bobby McFerrin [...]