Vintage Travel Posters

Brain Pickings has a post with some really nice vintage travel posters.

Explaining Commercial TV to a 4 Year Old

Minimal Mac has a post that relates trying to explain commercial TV to a four year old who had only encountered streaming TV and DVDs before a family vacation to a friend's house.

via Google+

The Only Recording of Someone Born in the 18th Century

The Atlantic has an article about a recording recently found in the Edison archives.  The recording was made in 1889 and includes the voice of German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke who was born in the year 1800.  There is a link in the article that will let you listen to the recording.

998,001

According to kottke.org if you divide 1 by 998,001 you get:

0.000001002003004005006007008009010011012013014015016017018019020021022023024025...

The three digit numbers in the decimal continue until 999 though they skip 998.

Domesday Book is Online for Free

The Open Domesday Book puts all the data from the 1086 AD book on the Internet with maps of all of the mentioned locations.  It also includes images of the original text. 

The Domesday Book was commissioned by William the Conqueror and was a survey of all of the landholdings in his new British domain.

via Google Maps Mania

Camera-less iPhone Available in Singapore

According to Engadget, Apple in Singapore have released a special iPhone that does not have camera.  This is because the Singaporean military does not allow its members to use phones with cameras.  The wrinkle here is that Singapore still has conscription and the young men doing their two years service are a prime market for expensive cell phones (and cellphone service).

Map: Ontario 2011 Election Poll by Poll Results

Global TV have an article with a Google Map showing the results for each poll in the 2011 Ontario Election.  My riding is a see of Liberal red except for a few little tiny Conservative blue boxes.  These seem to be the polls located in retirement homes.

via Google Maps Mania

Japanese Multiplication

Kottke.org has a post with a video demonstrating the way that Japanese people do multiplication.  I'm not quite sure how it works but it seems easier than the method taught in western schools.

Comic: History Repeats

A web comic.

Same Ship, Fewer People

According to the New York Times, the US Coast Guard is raising the average human weight used to calculate the passenger capacity of ships.  This means that many ships can now carry fewer passengers.  The old average was 160 lbs the new one is 185.

Video: Last US Troops Leave Iraq

Wired Dangerroom has a post with a video, taken by a Predator drone showing the last convoy of US troops leaving Iraq.  Not gripping footage but certainly of historical interest.

Infographic: Mass Killings

The New York Times has an info-graphic ranking various mass killings/killers in history.  I was a bit surprised that Genghis Khan tied with Mao for second place (after the Second World War).

via Dark Roasted Blend

The History of the Bendy Straw

The Atlantic has an article detailing the history of that most modern of products, the bendy straw.

via Make

Video: Cannonball into Tub of Mercury

Make has a blog post with a very short video showing what happens if you drop a cannonball into a tub of mercury.  I must say I did not see that coming.

Spiders in the Trees

National Geographic Photo of the Day has a weird picture of a bunch of trees in Pakistan that are covered in spider webs.  This isn't a normal thing, apparently during recent floods the spiders ran up into the trees.

Days Alive

According to the Amazing Days Alive Calculator, the 20,000th day of my life will be 1 January 2020.

A Map of British Road Deaths

Flowing Data has a post about with a graphic that maps every traffic death in the UK.  I guess it is obvious but it is amazing how much the picture looks like a satellite photo of the UK at night.

Comic: The Medium is the Message

I have a vague feeling I've seen this somewhere before but I do like this comic.

Dubai in the Clouds

National Geographic Photo of the Day has a nice photo of skyscrapers in Dubai poking through the clouds.

Blackberry Outage Saved Lives

According to The National (which seems to be a newspaper in the UAE) during the recent three day Blackberry outage the traffic accident rate in Dubai fell by 20%.