In Praise of the Crossword

Posted on by The Old Wolf

100 years ago this weekend, Arthur Wynne invented the crossword puzzle, as celebrated in today’s Google Doodle (you can still play with it), an interactive puzzle which took me 28 minutes and 36 seconds to solve.

Crossword1

I’ve been a crossword fan since about 1965. As I mentioned in a previous post about newspaper comics, when I was a sophomore at an eastern prep school, I would get up early in the morning and run across the town square to the coffee shop where I would start the day with a cup of coffee and the Waterbury Republican (25¢ total); the funnies would be read, along with any interesting news of the day. Another regular in the coffee shop was my U.S. History teacher, George Houghton.

Houghton

Bless his memory; his entertaining teaching methods made the study of what was then a painfully dull subject endurable, giving out “a diamond!” and “a zero!” with the same good nature, and encouraging all his students to give the best possible recitations. Not immune to the occasional slip of the tongue himself, he once told us that after the infamous Boxer Rebellion, the U.S. provided funds for the execution of Chinese students… everyone got a great laugh out of that one, including the good professor.

He was also a crossword fan, and morning after morning I would work through the puzzles in the local paper as I sat next to him at the counter, where he generously provided me with an out-of-class education that has stood the test of time. I say with no small sense of satisfaction that I later graduated to working the New York Times crossword puzzle… in pen. As I traveled extensively overseas from 1992 to 2001, the daily crossword in the International Herald Tribune helped me pass the time on many a long transatlantic flight. And I know of no better way to entertainingly broaden one’s vocabulary than to become a crossword fan; I will never forget that an ‘ara’ is a species of macaw.

Life moved on and became busy, and with the advent of the Internet as my source of news, and the gradual decline of newspapers, my crosswording days diminished – but not my enjoyment of the pastime. My thanks to Google for reminding me that this is a very pleasant diversion for an inveterate logophile.

And if you’re curious about the solution to the Google doodle, click through for a completed puzzle.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Celebrities as Classic Paintings, Annotated

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Recently over at reddit a list of photos appeared showing modern-day celebrities photoshopped onto classic paintings. The list appeared over at Imgur, but without any annotation. Various redditors chimed in and were able to provide a key, but I found these interesting enough that I thought I would present the list here, with some supplementary information which came to mind as I discussed the images with my wife. I have tried, wherever possible, to find the original painting, and provide links to the subjects depicted and the artists of the original works.

These photoshopped versions are found at worth1000.com, and a quick search over there will turn up the creators of these clever derivative images, as well as many other similar efforts.

v6ZJAxm

Sir Patrick Stewart

419px-Philip_the_good

The original painting, Philip the Good. This is a copy of an original which is thought to be lost, by Rogier van der Weden. This particular painting for Picard seems poignantly apt, in my opinion. Picard’s character was both written and interpreted as a flawed (as are we all) individual doing his utmost to make a positive difference in the universe.

For obvious reasons, this is an image heavy post; much more can be seen after the jump.

Continue reading →

Plexiglass Pontiac, 1939

Posted on by The Old Wolf

I’ve posted pictures from World’s Fairs before; you can see some taken by my uncle (go ndéanai Día trocaire air) of the 1939 exhibition.

The plexiglass Pontiac “Ghost Car” was proudly exhibited at the General Motors Highways and Horizons pavilion; it was built on the chassis of a 1939 Pontiac Deluxe Six. It was a collaborative effort with Rohm & Haas, the developers of plexiglass. It is the only one ever built in the United States.

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You can see a whole raft of additional superb photos at Twisted Sifter.

The see-through sedan was sold at RM Auctions’ St. John’s auction in Michigan on July 30, 2011, for $308,000.

What a lovely piece of memorabilia.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Not Always Right… Right?

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Over at Not Always Right, retail workers share their best horror stories of bad, abusive, or stupid customers. (Don’t worry, there’s a companion site for lazy, stupid and ill-mannered workers as well.)

But here’s a story that had a short life on Facebook, and even though it’s now gone from the company’s website it deserves to be shared. Widely.

Liberty Bottleworks is an American company that manufactures metal bottles and tries to do so in an ethical and responsible manner. Have a look at a rant from a disgruntled customer and the response she got from the company co-founder and COO:

liberty+post

 

I would have hit “Like” a hundred times for this post if it were possible; the response from the company officer was firm, steadfast, measured, and well-deserved. I run a business or two myself, and I’ve always tried to give top-notch customer service, but this kind of douchebaggery is beyond the pale. The customer deserved to be reamed out but good.

 

Now, if you’re in business for yourself you probably understand why this exchange was deleted from Facebook. Right or not, deserved or not, it’s probably not the kind of thing the firm cares to dwell on or have appearing on their website on a permanent basis. But I’m sharing it here because there are far too many customers in the world who seem to think that the retail universe revolves around them, and that they have the right to be as mean, snarky, snotty, and abusive as they please without fear of retribution.

Well guess what… it just ain’t so.

Retail workers appreciate beyond measure a management that will stand up for them when customers become rude, abusive, or unreasonable. It happens, sadly, in far too few concerns. But as for me and my house, I give Liberty Bottleworks a 10/10 on the awesomeness scale, and will patronize them any time I need something they can provide, just because of this (not to mention all the other good reasons that they deserve my business.)

The Old Wolf has spoken.

 

Gmail, Images, and Privacy

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Reblogged from Zzyzxian Muses On Speed (a Livejournal that is only open to LJ members)

Google has made changes to their service that allows them to download images sent you automatically without the sender’s web server that is hosting the images getting sensitive data about your computer’s IP address, browser details and so on by using what’s called a “proxy server”.

While this is useful, it in fact gives marketing (advertising) houses like Google and black hats (spammers and other people up to no good) a huge leg up as they will now know when exactly when you opened the email and how many times you opened it.

At the very least this will verify your email address is “live” and ensure it’s kept on the list of known good addresses to spam.

Note that Google has has automatically enabled image downloads with out asking your permission to do so. I did however get this most helpful pop-up notice when I logged into Gmail via the web this morning:

gmail-imageproxy-notice

Google is soft balling this and candy coating the risk in the last paragraph here: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/145919?p=display_images&rd=1

I strongly recommend that all Gmail users blow off Google’s reassurances and restore the “Ask to load images” function to regain better control of their privacy:

gmail-imageproxy-setting

More details on this can be found here:
http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/12/dear-gmailer-i-know-what-you-read-last-summer-and-last-night-and-today/

Thanks to Mako for pointing this out.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Beware of the “Robertson Foundation Grant” scam

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Reported in detail by Lin Edwards. Unfortunately his live pages are now gone, but thanks to the Wayback Machine, the information is still out there:

The scammers are still active – this morning’s email included this:

From: Steve Ballard <sballard@redlake.k12.mn.us>
To: Steve Ballard <sballard@redlake.k12.mn.us>

Subject: RE: Robertson Foundation development grant

You have been short-listed for the Robertson Foundation development grant. Please contact EMAIL: rbtf@ca.rr.com for more information 

I have reported the return address (rbtf@ca.rr.com) – roadrunner redirects to Time Warner – as a fraudulent address, but I’m surprised it hasn’t been shut down before this. Perhaps TW doesn’t care. The only thing you can do to protect yourself is delete suspicious emails like this at once, or if you do investigate, remember:

  • NEVER pay money to collect a prize
  • NEVER give out financial details over the telephone or internet unless you are dealing with a verified organization
  • NEVER pay money go obtain a grant.

There are so many bott0m-feeders out there, and vigilance is your only protection.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Facebook Scams

Posted on by The Old Wolf

I’ve mentioned Facebook “like-farming” before, but I just noticed a new scam pop up today, trying to take advantage of both Christmas and Disneyland.

Disneyland Scam

 

This picture is spreading like wildfire on Facebook, because people don’t notice that “Dιѕneyland” is spelled with a Turkish “dotless i”, and leads to a newly-created page, not the page run by the Disney company.

Be careful out there. Almost all things of this nature on Facebook are scams – there are a few real promotions by authentic companies, but they are few and far between. Don’t just “like” everything and anything that promises free goodies – do your research first, and don’t give the scammers a chance to make money from your gullibility.

Karma will repay these scum-sucking bottom-feeders.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Dreiländereck, Austria

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Dreilaendereck Marker

 

A Tripoint is a geographical location where three countries come together. There are 176 international tripoints, but over half of these are in water. Of the remaining ones, Austria has nine, which makes it the country with the most tripoints in Europe.

Most tripoints have a marker of some sort erected at the point of intersection. The one above, found in the south of Carinthia, brings together Austria, Italy, and Slovenia (in 1975, when this photo was taken, it was still part of Yugoslavia).

Border

 

The sign reads “Attention! National border!”

Usually a tripoint is accessible, and though the “official” country border comes up to the monument, there is often a more ominous border set back from the attraction itself. Back in those days, Yugoslavia was still a communist country and you didn’t want to get caught on the other side.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

What’s new in electronics (1979)

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Reblogged from Modern Mechanix.

xlg_whats_new_electronics

 

What’s New IN ELECTRONICS

Digital voice
When this phone-answering machine talks to you, the voice you hear—up to 24 seconds of it—has been stored in a digital memory, not on a prerecorded tape. The technique makes the unit simpler, more compact. Maker: DFG, 3550 Marburg, Frauenbergstr. 35, Germany.
Day/night light
The Sensor Lite never needs to be switched on or off. A built-in light sensor does that by detecting the amount of ambient light in the room. The night light is designed for hallways, stairwells, or nurseries. It’s in local Sears stores for $5.49.

8-track VHF
Plug this cartridge into your 8-track and you’ve converted it from a tape player to a public-service receiver that scans up to four VHF high I low bands for police, fire, and other PS transmissions. Bearcat, made by Electra Co., 300 E. County Line Rd., Cumberland, Ind., is $99.95.

PET add-in
Install the circuit board (inset) into your PET computer and it becomes a spectrum analyzer. Check the frequency response of your stereo, for example, from 20 Hz up to 20 kHz in 31 third-octave bands. $595. Eventide Clockworks, 265 W. 54th St., New York, N.Y. 10019.

Pocket computer
It’s not a scientific calculator with attachments—it’s a portable computer, complete with alphanumeric readout. HP- 41C from Hewlett Packard accepts 400 lines of programming (2000, with plug-in memory), works with thermal printer and magnetic-card reader. Basic price: $295.

Super security
Add Comp-U-Lock to your door and you’d better remember the right combination to get in—there are 10,000 possibilities. The electronic system accepts four levels of security, to let in only those you wish, when you wish. ESP Systems, 28189 Kehrig Dr., Mt. Clemens, Mich. 48045; $129.95.