lifeasdaddy

Periodic table of the elements - now out on video!

One of my minor interests is practiacal or applied chemistry.  One of the fundamentals of chemistry is the periodic table. 

The crew at theUniversity of Nottingham have put together videos about the table and are working their way through making a video about every single element.  It includes stuff like physical samples and simple experiments.  And some of the scientists are real characters.

Education comes alive.  Check out the sample video here.

[ tip from Alfred Thompson ]

If you're interested in a bit more about the elements, I suggest you read John Emsley's great book.  If you live near me, I can loan it to you.

The 25 most modern libraries in the world.

and why.  I don't know if the list is definitive, but there's certainly a glimpse here of what some of the best libraries look like now, and how others can improve for the next few years or so.

The other day I was chatting with Paula Bray and Seb Chan of the Powerhouse Musuem, and was fascinated to hear about some of the ideas which will become reality soon to take more of the museum's collection online in ways which give it a much deeper contextualisation and meaning, along with some hot ideas for making it all very relevant to us.

The patriot in me was pleased to see the National Library of Australia made the list.

[ tip from Kottke ]

Sydney then and now: The Esplanade, Balmoral Beach

Here's a shot of the first tram in operation to Balmoral, taken on 29/05/1922 :

State Records NSW Digital ID:  17420_a014_a0140001164.jpg  "First tram in operation to Balmoral (NSW)"  [ Photograph used with permission of State Records Authority of New South Wales ]

The photograph also appears on Flickr here.

I'm not certain yet if the street was called The Esplanade, as it is today.  We see the tram tracks running adjacent to the beach side reserve, with the tracks approximately where the angle car parking is currently located.  There is no Esplanade beachfront footpath on the waterside of the reserve, and there appears to be no ocean wall. The footpath (and possibly the ocean wall) were opened in 1927. Due to the absence of vehicular traffic, the children could safely stand in the middle of the street for this notable event.

and Now:

My thanks to the management of Beaches Restaurant, 51 The Esplanade, Balmoral for permitting me to take this photograph this morning from the building's first floor balcony.

The Powerhouse Museum's electronic Swatchbook.

For one reason and another this week I've been spending a good deal of time checking out the Powerhouse Museum's website.

The website has got lots of features and cool things on it.  So many in fact that they are all fighting for space or real estate on the site.  It is very easy to navigate, but sometimes difficult to remember exactly where you saw that thing the day before that you wanted to come back to but didn't bother bookmarking.

I may mention a few of the cool things and a few oddball items in the collection over the next few days, but today, just check out the Electronic Swatchbook. 

"Through this site we are providing access to this rich resource for future generations of designers"

.

"Swatches or small samples of fabric have been collected and compiled in the form of swatchbooks for at least 300 years. The Powerhouse Museum has several volumes containing thousands of bright, unfaded samples of fashionable fabric designs, braids and laces ranging from the 1830s to the 1920s.

The patterns on this site are in the public domain in Australia."

This screen shot hardly does justice to it:

  Included in this screenshot are swatches from the 1840s to the 1920s.

As well as being able to download and email swatches, you are also encouraged to use a submission window to help describe the swatches:

" We are adding the ability to search by colour, pattern, mood and other facts. Your submissions will be added to our search database."

The Powerhouse Museum is big into soliciting information from the public which adds to the knowledge they have about items in their massive collection.  I'll also give some examples of this in the next few days.

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Sydney then and now: Martin Place

Martin Place, Sydney.

Then:

State Records NSW Digital ID: 17420_a014_a0140001110   "Construction of tram tracks at Martin Place, Sydney" (Photograph used with permission of the State Records Authority of New South Wales)

The photograph is undated, but the Holden motor car in the centre foreground of the photograph suggest that it was in the late 1940's to early 1950's.  General Post Office (GPO) Sydney is the substantial building in the right foreground. The air compressor in the right foreground looks like the same model used to construct the wharf at Bennelong Point in 1950.  However there were tram tracks along George Street in this position well before the 1940s, so this is probably a major track repair.

The Cenotaph can be seen in the centre of Martin Place, in the middle distance behend the tree.

and Now:

And so it goes. Edward learns the craft.

This is a photograph of the tool board in my father's workshop.

Most of the tools here are more than 50 years old, and few are less than 30 years old.  I was taught that if you look after things they'll last.  Dad's workshop proves it.

The skills I have in making, repairing and constructing were learnt at my father's elbow.

And now Edward gets his first lesson on sawing wood from his Grandpa.

Git me some o' that Botox

I was in a medical office today and saw this display of Botox.

After I asked permission to photograph the display, the receptionist and cosmetic procedures nurse were both encourageing me to get some botox treatments.  I might consider it had it not been for seeing Sarah, Duchess of York on the Fox & Friends TV show last night where her face was looking very smooth, but very very stiff.

The woman as the medical office wanted to know why I wanted to photograph the Botox, so I told them it was an important cultural artifact of our times.

United States Postal Service - Uniformed Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag

Uniformed Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag, originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

From the description on flickr:

"This city letter carrier posed for a humorous photograph with a young boy in his mailbag. After parcel post service was introduced in 1913, at least two children were sent by the service. With stamps attached to their clothing, the children rode with railway and city carriers to their destination. The Postmaster General quickly issued a regulation forbidding the sending of children in the mail after hearing of those examples."

Ago restaurant - 377 Greenwich Street

The text of this post has been deleted. by me

Uexpectedly by me, this blog post has been featured highly within Google searches for "Ago Restaurant" on several nations' google search pages.

Since this blog post merely featured a link to a review that was unfavourable to the restaurant, and as I have not eaten at the restaurant myself, I consider it unfair to the resturant's owners and staff to leave that information here with such a high Google rank.

As much as I like a high Google rank, I can't let it be at the detriment of people who are probably hard working.

If I ever eat there myself, I'll put my own review here.

Pamplona, the running of the bulls, best ever photoset.

On the Big Picture blog here.

And my favourite from the comments:

That photo of the bull leaping over a pile of people is wild! It's hilarious to see them holding up their digital cameras and phone cameras as THEY ARE ABOUT TO BE CRUSHED. The whole event is fascinatingly ridiculous and yes, grotesque.

Posted by Jabo