"I asked Rees if he thought the Papermate—a Classic TM/MC HB2—could be rehabilitated. I confess that I had secretly been hoping he would take an interest in my case and perhaps provide his services pro bono. But he saw through me. His face took on a remote look, and he said coolly, “We can talk about it,” from which I inferred that I would have to make an appointment and bring in the Papermate during office hours. But then I won him back by thanking him for what he has done. By bringing pencil sharpening out in the open, David Rees has lifted a taboo: he has given us all permission to express our love of pencils, to abandon ourselves to pencilophilia—a love that till now has always been slightly embarrassed to speak its name."
“Hard to think that this awesome mural on the side of the West Hollywood Public Library didn’t have something to do with that great PR. Just one more reason to pay attention to good visual design in your library.” (via West Hollywood’s murals make Sunset « Karen Munro, Learning Librarian)
"Think of a bike as a tool, a toy, a connector and a mode of expression with a low barrier to entry. It’s probably the most hackable (and hacked) simple machine on the planet. Bikes not only get us from place to place, they are the focus of a number of conversations about how we organize communities and define and share social boundaries, and how we can harness human power to recycle energy back to the grid. Most importantly though, bicycles are an intrinsic part of how we imagine and design the city of the future. They will play a significant role in shaping identity and communities and influencing social dynamics in urban areas, because they are the next great technology platform."
— The Next Great Technology Platform: The Bicycle - Jason Severs - Technology - The Atlantic
“‘etcher’ is an ‘etch a sketch® for the iPad’ developed by california-based peripheral and app design company ari krupnik & associates. the system comprises a special case for the iPad, as well as an ‘etch a sketch®’ application. featuring a closing door for complete enclosure, the case is modeled after the original childhood toy, featuring two knobs that control the appearance of lines onscreen. also like the original, the screen erases itself when shaken. because of the digital nature of the images, however, ‘etcher’ also includes saving and sharing functionality for drawings, including posting the files instantly to facebook or flickr. it also automatically records timelapses of drawings created, offering users the option of saving or uploading this video.” (via etcher: etch-a-sketch for iPad)
“The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum, located in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, is the only museum dedicated to the preservation, study, production, and printing of wood type. With 1.5 million pieces of wood type and more than 1,000 styles and sizes of patterns, Hamilton’s collection is one of the premier wood type collections in the world. In addition to wood type, the Museum is home to an array of advertising woodcuts from the 1930s through the 1970s. A “living” museum, Hamilton hosts numerous cutting demonstrations and printing workshops for visitors.” (via Home to 1.5 million pieces of wood type: Observatory: Design Observer)
“The story of this nanny who has now wowed the world with her photography, and who incidentally recorded some of the most interesting marvels and peculiarities of Urban America in the second half of the twentieth century is seemingly beyond belief.” (via Picture 168 « Unknown | Vivian Maier Photographer)
"NEWTOWN, Conn. — J. David Goldin, an eccentric 69-year-old with a handlebar mustache and an obsession with radio, was trolling eBay one evening in September 2010, looking for old radios and recordings, when he spotted an item that piqued his interest: the master copy of a broadcast radio interview with baseball legend Babe Ruth as he hunted for quail and pheasants on a crisp morning in 1937. For a moment, Goldin contemplated bidding. It was the kind of historic recording that would fit perfectly in his collection of more than 100,000 radio broadcasts, all meticulously enhanced and preserved on tapes stored in thin white boxes on a maze of shelves in his humidity- and temperature-controlled basement “vault.” Then he leaned closer to his computer, adjusted his thick glasses and studied the record’s photograph and description. What happened next would set in motion a federal investigation with a twist worthy of a classic radio drama. Goldin exposed what authorities have called “one of the most egregious instances of theft” from the National Archives, where the government preserves billions of historic documents, photographs and recordings."
— In National Archives thefts, a radio detective gets his man - The Washington Post
