Skip to content

Recently updated blogs

Or see recently added blogs

  1. Restaurant-ing through history, , more info

    Notable restaurant mottos
    In 1925 a restaurant industry publication presented advice on crafting a slogan that would draw customers. The article advised against simply saying “Where to Dine” because that really didn’t signify anything special to the public. The author then gave better examples of slogans that were “clever and appropriate.” As a negative example, the article might have pointed to Teck’s Quick Lunch in Kansas City [shown above]. This card showing “A …
    By Jan Whitaker, 619 words
  2. earfluff and eyecandy, , more info

    Acoustic measurements: Part 3
    In Part 2, I showed the raw magnitude response results of three pairs of headphones measured on three different systems, each done 5 times. However, when you plot magnitude responses on a scale with 80 dB like I did there, it’s difficult to see what’s going on. Differences in measurements relative to average One way to get around this issue is to ignore the raw measurement and look at the …
    By geoff, 1,696 words
  3. String-Or-Nothing, , more info

    CATCHING AN ASSIST
    According to the posting date, it’s been about 10 days since I last reported in on progress on Assist. I’ve had a couple of mis-alignments due to low lighting and inattention. Some I’ve picked out, others I saved as cautionary lessons. And I’ve taken a slight departure from my usual working cadence. Here’s the latest in-hoop view. Obviously I’m working voiding on the row of snaky, vaguely draconic S-shaped flowers. …
    By kbsalazar, 1,046 words
  4. Abakcus, , more info

    The Art of Understanding Physics with Richard Feynman’s Books
    All of Richard Feynman’s books, is Feynman himself. This introduction sets the stage for a deep exploration of how his works have reshaped the way we approach and appreciate the art of understanding physics.
    By Ali Kaya, 43 words
  5. Letterform Archive — News, , more info

    This Just In: Chopstick Sleeves as Emissaries of Japanese Typography and Culture
    Designer and educator Angie Wang deciphers a collection of over 500 sleeves recently donated to the Archive. From Rarified to Commonplace: A Brief History of Hashibukuro The chopstick sleeve originated in the Imperial Court of Japan sometime during the Heian period (8th–12th century). Ladies-in-waiting are thought to have wrapped chopsticks in scraps of silk or other fine fabrics as it was considered impolite to pass unwrapped objects from one hand …
    By Angie Wang, 2,672 words
  6. Stratechery by Ben Thompson, , more info

    AI’s Uneven Arrival
    Box’s route to its IPO, ten years ago this month, was a difficult one: the company first released an S-1 in March 2014, and potential investors were aghast at the company’s mounting losses; the company took a down round and, eight months later, released an updated S-1 that created the template for money-losing SaaS businesses to explain themselves going forward: Our business model focuses on maximizing the lifetime value of …
    By Ben Thompson, 3,673 words
  7. If I Had My Own Blue Box, , more info

    Draped Wool Winter Hood
    I’ve lost track of how many people have asked for a soft wool hood. I finally have one for you! This pattern is drafted by hand with the original child’s size and 2 adult sizes drafted up with some reshaping for fit. It can be trimmed with self-fabric ruche or other period appropriate trims. This […]
    By Anna Worden Bauersmith, 60 words
  8. blog7t, , more info

    Thurrock parkrun, Orsett Heath
    Thurrock is a unitary authority area with borough status within the ceremonial county of Essex, with a population of around 176,000 people. The word 'Thurrock' is either from the Saxon or Middle English word Thurrok (þurruc) and means 'the hold of a ship'. It can also mean a 'dung heap' which is of course a large pile of dung (or the solid waste from animals such as horses or cows). …
    By copy7t, 1,980 words
  9. John Quiggin, , more info

    Australia’s social media ban for under-16s: The evidence (crosspost from my Substack)
    This is the second in a series discussing the Australian legislation banning people under 16 from using social media. The previous post is here . I’m writing from the perspective of a longstanding user of new media and also as someone with personal experience of dealing (not very successfully) with problems of under-16 screen addiction. On the other hand, I’m not a technical expert so I may get some details …
    By John Quiggin, 921 words
  10. Lines and Colors, , more info

    A Fresh Look: Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring
    Hopefully — even if only for a moment — you got to see in the top two images Vermeer’s iconic painting with fresh eyes. The images are reversed left to right. It is not an uncommon practice for artists to pause in the process of working on a painting or other artwork and view the work in a mirror. This briefly provides a fresh view of the work, a contrast …
    By cparker, 203 words
  11. The Artist’s Notebook, , more info

    Planning for 2025
    My studio We’re two weeks into the new year, but I feel like I’m still in first gear: there has been no “hitting the ground running” — or any other similar corporate-speak — here. In addition to the necessity of restarting after Christmas and New Year, it's also the month of my birthday which seems to interrupt the flow of the month. I am slowly starting to plan out the …
    By Paul Watson, 747 words
  12. Sharon Lohr — Blog, , more info

    How Many People Attend Religious Services? Part 1
    I knew there were serious problems with at least one of the statistics as soon as I skimmed the newspaper article. Paragraph 2 of Magruder (2024) states:But since 2000, church attendance has dropped in the U.S., from 42% of Americans worshipping every week or so back then, to 30% today, according to a 2024 Gallup poll. Only 11% of Americans report being in the pews monthly, and 56% seldom or …
    By Sharon Lohr, 2,752 words
  13. Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy, , more info

    STAN & OLLIE & CHARLEY & THE LITTLE RASCALS IN SILENT COMEDY CLASSICS
    If you are a Laurel and Hardy devotee it’s probably old news that the second volume of beautifully restored shorts has been released on Blu-ray and DVD by Flicker Alley. Covering the year 1928, the second year of their official partnership, this two-disc set features such silent-comedy classics as THE FINISHING TOUCH, SHOULD MARRIED MEN GO HOME? and TWO TARS. The bonus features are worth the price of admission, especially …
    By Leonard Maltin, 140 words
  14. Mike Industries, , more info

    47 Years Later, The Palisades Disappeared Overnight
    I grew up on Iliff Street, right in the middle of the ashes that up until a few nights ago, was a sunkissed neighborhood known as Pacific Palisades. It was 1978, and I remember my dad climbing up on our roof with a garden hose. Every couple of hours, he would wet the house down, top-to-bottom, and everything surrounding it. I don’t remember everybody doing this, but my Dad is …
    By Mike D., 3,080 words
  15. joshua stein, , more info

    BlueSCSI Wi-Fi Desk Accessory 1.3 Released
    BlueSCSI Wi-Fi Desk Accessory 1.3 has been released: wifi_da-1.3.sit (StuffIt 3 archive) SHA256: 40b49ef83b6512bde571171aa42e90419a8577efa895cfaeb19bf18a0c82d4deSHA1: b8fa941eb104c0f925436cc8fbc3018a3ded5b96 This update brings internationalization support for Macs running non-English installations, and a number of bug fixes. Changes in this version: Fix a handful of bugs Add a log window that can be toggled by clicking on the signal icon Add localization for strings shown in the UI for Macs running non-English installations, which was initiated …
    96 words