Turning 50

I like to be on top of the birthday wishes especially of those I am a fan of, and I am sorry to say I missed the big 5-0 of one of my favorites.

On Monday, January 28th, everyone’s favorite building blocks, Legos turned 50.

Though Ole Kirk Christiansen started his business in 1932 and the company name was changed from Leg Godt to Lego in 1934 (Leg Godt is Danish for ‘play well,’ Lego is Latin for ‘I put together’), the original patent for the Lego blocks we all know and love was filed at 1:58pm on January 28th, 1958.

To celebrate, the folks at Gizmodo put together a Lego timeline (that little picture on the left) and created a list of the best Lego sets as well as a bunch of facts about the inter-connecting blocks. And of course there is always more fun to be had on the Lego website.

Can’t hardly wait

I know a guy at WSJ.com (the online part of the Wall Street Journal). He is keenly aware of many absurd stats, like by how many milliseconds the WSJ had posted an article ahead of its competitors.

I just laugh at this mentality, because most readers (and even focused readers like myself) have no interest in these games, nor would we notice who broke a story.

What I want is good coverage, not the first coverage. And, actually, it’s hard for breaking coverage to be very good since it’s focused on its firstness instead of its completeness. No editor will admit that quality is sacrificed in a rush, but it’s an obvious outcome.
Read more »

Universe

I know I have been slacking recently on my posting duties. Hopefully I will be able to make up for it a bit this week.

Jonathan Harris’s work has made an appearance on AM before. He is the guy who created WeFeelFine.org. Well, little known fact, he also created the Universe.

The Universe takes full advantage of the concepts behind Web 2.0. It is kind of like a cross between a search engine and an unorganized index, but with an incredible graphic interface. The concept of theUniverse is that it is a night sky filled with constellations. Just as our tradition constellations were formed by what was important to the people who saw them in the sky, the constellations of Harris’s Universe are created by our own mythology today. Read more »

Depressing way to start off your morning

A video from BlackBoxVoting posted on YouTube. It doesn’t make any claims that voter fraud has occurred in New Hampshire, but it does show the conditions that ballot boxes arrive at the counting center in. Although it is almost 10 minutes long and a bit depressing for anyone with faith in our system it is pretty interesting.

Less to love

My “no alcohol/no coffee/no carbs after 2pm/no dinner after 7pm” diet has zapped 12 lbs since Jan 2.

Do you have a book agent? I think I could get my inspirational tale made into a movie.

Well-fed journalist eschews privileged expense-account-driven nightlife to suffer in private so that he can avoid having to buy new pants.

It’s American Beauty meets Thinner crossed with In Good Company.