Often times I post an entry on my blog for the sole purpose of giving myself a permanent bookmark on a particular theme and this is one: The Internet meme that everybody [who is a time traveler] kills Hitler on their first trip. This one is not necessarily new to me, but I keep forgetting it when … Continue reading Everybody kills Hitler on their first trip
Re-Minting the San Francisco Mint
A great article on undoing some of the architectural "progress" inflicted on the old San Francisco Mint building:Steampunking An Old Building To Make It More Efficient: Steampunk, a genre of literature that takes place in a steam-engine powered world often containing futuristic VIctorian innovations, has inspired movies, music, and an entire lifestyle (need some clothes? Check out … Continue reading Re-Minting the San Francisco Mint
More ancient titles for sale
Note (March 13, 2026): This is an old post from before I migrated to WordPress years ago, and the "previous post" listed below no longer exists. I didn't even see a backup copy of it on the Internet Archive. I guess I didn't think it was important enough to carry forward. Along the lines of … Continue reading More ancient titles for sale
William Blevins, Long Hunter
One of the legendary ancestors of the Blevins family in early colonial America was William Blevins, the Long Hunter. Since I started researching my family's genealogy, I have read scattered bits and pieces about him. My ultimate goal is to determine whether or not my line descended from this man. There are lots of stories … Continue reading William Blevins, Long Hunter
Artisan Resurgence
From Der Spiegel: Backlash against Consumerism: Handicraft Sites Turn Hobbies into Big Business: Internet companies like Etsy and Germany's DaWanda are helping to promote a renaissance in handicrafts in Europe and around the world. The firms provide platforms that enable individual artisans to sell their wares on the web in a growing market niche. And business … Continue reading Artisan Resurgence
Advanced Trade from "Primitive" Ancestors
I'm always amused by how little credit we give our ancestors when it comes to ingenuity and mobility. The article below from Der Spiegel points this out well: Roughly 3,500 years ago, folding chairs remarkably similar to ones found in Egypt suddenly became must-have items in parts of northern Europe. Scholars are now looking into this potential … Continue reading Advanced Trade from "Primitive" Ancestors
A look back on the 400th anniversary year of the King James Bible
From the Oxford University Press blog:A look back on the 400th anniversary year of the King James Bible:By Gordon CampbellThe celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible were in one respect a surprise. As the Archbishop of Canterbury commented at the end of the year, the KJB had not been treated “simply … Continue reading A look back on the 400th anniversary year of the King James Bible
