Author: Chris Higgins

In this incredibly geeky Numberphile video, Dr. Hannah Fry discusses various issues inherent in typical Secret Santa implementations. If you’re not familiar with Secret Santa, it’s a custom in which people within a group (say, an office) anonymously buy gifts for other members of the group. Fry says:

“I think there are two fundamental things that you need for a perfect Secret Santa. One, total anonymity. And two, everyone should have an equal probability of being selected by anybody else. … The normal way you do this—everybody writing their name down and picking it from a hat—fails on both counts.”

Where it gets interesting is her suggestion for how to make it work better. Tune in and geek out:

(Incidentally, the comments on this YouTube video are amusing. Lots of people discuss their own computer-based approaches for the same problem, while others take issue with Dr. Fry’s characterization of a Klein bottle as a poor choice for a gift.)

In this Canadian Space Agency video, astronaut Chris Hadfield explains the Sokol (“Falcon”) suit. It’s a Russian design first introduced in 1974, and differs from NASA suits. It’s a “rescue suit,” meaning that it’s intended to keep astronauts (okay, cosmonauts) alive in the event of accidental depressurization within a spacecraft—it’s not intended for spacewalks.

Have a look at this brief video:

Now, you might want to compare that with a NASA EVA suit (see the video at How Astronauts Put on Space Suits). While this is a bit of an apples-and-oranges comparison, it’s worth seeing how much easier it is to get into the Sokol suit. This makes sense, given that you’re supposed to wear the thing inside a spacecraft, and it’s not bulked up with all that EVA stuff.

Finally, let’s dig into this delightful little documentary on Chris Hadfield’s training in Russia. We see various aspects of the Russian space program, including Hadfield learning to speak Russian and operate consoles labeled only in Russian. Commander Hadfield is truly a steely-eyed missile man.

When you think about it, dry-erase markers are kind of magical. They leave marks on a surface easily, but then can be wiped away, leaving virtually no trace behind. The process is of course dry, not involving any liquid to clean up. So how the heck does that work? What’s in those markers, and can you make your own?

In this Ingredients video, chemist George Zaidan goes deep on dry-erase markers. His job in this case is a little more complex than usual, because the package doesn’t list any ingredients. So with some sleuthing and chemical know-how, he sorts out what’s going on, explains it, and attempts to make his own dry-erase compound in his kitchen. Enjoy:

Those of us who were really hip in the ’90s got online, usually via a dialup modem (or your college’s awesome network…if you could afford a network card). There were distinct sounds associated with computers of that time that we don’t think about today, but they’re lodged deep in our memories. Let’s go back to some computer sounds you probably haven’t heard in decades.

1. 56K MODEM CONNECTING

Modem connection sounds varied based on speed, modem brand, the quality of the connection, and so on. But today, the 56k modem (the pinnacle of modem technology in the ’90s) is the best-remembered “modem screech.” My friend’s mom called this sound “wirescream,” which sounds accurate to me. So here’s a 56k modem dialing and connecting (illustrated with a little guy acting as the modem):

2. 3.5″ FLOPPY DRIVE SOUND

If you ever installed software or copied a lot of files, you heard this.

3. “YOU’VE GOT MAIL” (AOL)

Sound courtesy of: AOL SoundBoard.

Aside from being a romantic comedy (ancient, Flash-using, 1998 website here), the “You’ve got mail” sound was familiar to all AOL users. It was voiced by Elwood Edwards, recorded on a cassette deck in his living room. (These days, Edwards drives for Uber in Ohio.)

4. WINDOWS 3.1 STARTUP SOUND

Sound courtesy of WinHistory.

Tada! Just one second long. Because back in my day, we couldn’t afford the disk space for fancier sounds.

5. WINDOWS 95 STARTUP SOUND

Microsoft commissioned musician/producer Brian Eno to create the Windows 95 startup sound. The result is a masterpiece.

6. MAC STARTUP/CRASH SOUNDS

If you had a Mac in the ’90s, you’d hear a startup chime, and hopefully you didn’t hear the crash sound too often (we used to call it “MacDeath” at my high school). It’s surprising how different the startup sounds were, especially the AV model Macs (which had special audio/video hardware, hence the fancy sound):

7. ICQ MESSAGE SOUND

Sound courtesy of WavThis.

ICQ was a chat application that I used a lot in college in the late 90s. You’d hear this “Uh-oh!” for new messages.

8. WINDOWS 98 (SE) STARTUP SOUND

Sound courtesy of WinHistory.

This is smooth, but I still prefer the Windows 95 startup sound. It’s just a classic.

9. QSOUND DEMO

QSound was a 3D-like effect that was used in games and sound production in tons of ’90s stuff (for instance, Madonna’s Immaculate Collection was “mixed in QSound”). Here’s a demo video showing various places QSound showed up—it sounds best with headphones.

10. THE HAMPSTER DANCE [SIC]

This is best experienced on an archive of the original Hampster Dance website. But if your browser doesn’t like that site, the video below is a loose approximation of the late-’90s phenomenon known as Hampster Dance. Let the gates of memory open.

(And yes, the spelling “Hampster” is intentionally incorrect.)

11. DOT MATRIX PRINTER

If you had a hand-me-down printer in the 90s (or you needed a receipt printed on carbon paper), this is what it sounded like…if you were lucky! My family’s original dot matrix printer sounded like a malfunctioning robot on a murder spree.

12. A 1993 PC AND INKJET PRINTER STARTING UP

I’ve reported on this before. Listen for the POST (Power On Self Test) beep, the chittering of the hard drive, then the horrific clunking noises of the Epson Stylus 440. If you’re wondering how a 1993 computer is running Windows 95, it’s because this computer is still running today!

13. AOL INSTANT MESSENGER (AIM) BUDDY SOUNDS

When your AIM buddies signed on, a door opened:

When they signed off, the door closed (so sad):

Sounds courtesy of: AOL SoundBoard.

14. FLYING TOASTERS SCREENSAVER

After Dark offered some of the best screensavers around. “Flying Toasters” was my favorite, and it had an optional score, complete with lyrics at the bottom.

For more, see 10 Screensavers of Yore.

15. GOODBYE (AOL)

Sound courtesy of: AOL SoundBoard.

As it was and ever shall be. Goodbye, AOL.

On November 26, 1948, Edwin Land debuted his first “Land Camera,” dubbed the Model 95A. This was the first “Polaroid camera,” as we’d popularly know it—though camera nerds like me still talk about Land Cameras. Anyway, the 95A went on sale at the Jordan Marsh department store in Boston for $89.75. (That would be just over $900 in today’s money.)

Land had been inspired to create an instant-results photography system by his daughter, who asked him why she couldn’t see the picture he had just taken of her. In those days, you had to develop the film using many steps (and plenty of chemicals), print it, and then your kid got to see the picture. It took Land and his team years to develop the instant self-developing film and cameras to go with it, but the system became a huge hit.

My favorite video about Polaroid cameras is this 10-minute documentary-slash-ad by Charles and Ray Eames. It focuses on the SX-70 model, introduced in 1972. Enjoy:

For more on the history of Polaroid and Edwin Land, check out this Boston.com slideshow. Polaroid did a lot of cool stuff before making cameras! Also interesting is this timeline (PDF link) of Polaroid inventions.

(Image courtesy of Jarek Tuszyński, used under CC-BY-SA-4.0 license.)

New York City’s public libraries have an open secret: There are (mostly were) apartments above 30 of them.

When the library system was built early in the twentieth century, apartments were included on the top floors of the branches funded by Andrew Carnegie. These quarters were built so that custodians could live alongside the library. While living in a secret apartment above a library seems like a dream to most of us, it was a practical reality for almost a century for the NYPL. It wasn’t particularly glamorous, though: The main reason for these round-the-clock custodians was that the branches funded by Carnegie were heated by coal furnaces, so the job entailed shoveling coal to keep the furnaces running. 

Today, only 13 NYPL apartments remain. The rest have been re-purposed, as the need for coal-shoveling has been eliminated, and other demands on the space have arisen. Some of the remaining apartments have been deserted for decades, and Atlas Obscura got to take a peek inside.

For more images, check out this Atlas Obscura article.

You might also enjoy this Gothamist article, which includes this tidbit:

There were also two non-Carnegie branches (George Bruce Library and Ottendorfer Library) which had similar apartments. In 1949, an advertisement for a custodial job at one of the branches listed a monthly salary of $60.83, and with that salary came a five-room apartment (ft. a dumbwaiter!) in the building.

Images courtesy of New York Public Library Digital Collections: find originals here and here.

When he was 18 years old, Adolfo Kaminsky worked in Paris as part of a Jewish resistance cell. His specialty was forging passports for people who would otherwise be taken to concentration camps. He did this work in part because he himself was a Jewish refugee, born in Argentina to Russian Jewish parents—and his (real) passport saved him from deportation to Auschwitz.

After WWII, Kaminsky proceeded to take his forging skills abroad, doing the same work in conflicts around the world. In a profile for the New York Times, Pamela Druckerman writes:

Though he was a skilled forger—creating passports from scratch and improvising a device to make them look older—there was little joy in it. “The smallest error and you send someone to prison or death,” he told me. “It’s a great responsibility. It’s heavy. It’s not at all a pleasure.” Years later he’s still haunted by the work, explaining: “I think mostly of the people that I couldn’t save.”

The Times also produced this short documentary about Kaminsky, who is now 91. Watch for the story of a hero who, like so many, did his work in secret.

Also worth a look: Sarah Kaminsky’s TED Talk, “My Father the Forger.” She has also written a book about her father.

In 1996, author/documentarian Jon Ronson received a phone call from someone representing Stanley Kubrick, requesting a copy of Ronson’s Holocaust documentary. Ronson figured that was a bit weird, but it was Kubrick, so he’d go along with it.

After Kubrick’s death in 1999, Ronson gained access to Kubrick’s legendary boxes, the more than 1,000 vessels of ephemera hoarded by the master. So, uh, what’s in the boxes? Lots of photographs, memos, letters, you name it.

Ronson made a 45-minute documentary about the boxes, including a tour of Kubrick’s estate and the various box storage locations. He even interviews the writer of one of the “crank letters” sent to (and kept by) Kubrick. Kubrick had simply written “crank” on it and filed it away.

This is a terrific watch for anyone interested in filmmaking, Kubrick, or—let’s face it—storing stuff in boxes. There’s even a segment about half an hour in about how Kubrick worked out the optimal size for a box and its lid, then had them custom-made. Enjoy:

If you’re not into the whole video thing, check out Ronson’s feature for The Guardian on the same subject.

[h/t: Kottke.]

Science Friday made an immersive 360 Video to explore the Golden Records on the Voyager probes. While I’ve been hearing and reading about these records for decades, I found this immersive viewing experience a truly useful way to understand the data encoded on the disc. How exactly does that hydrogen-atom-speed thing work? How are images encoded as sounds? This video shows us.

If you have a VR headset, put it on. If you don’t, fire up Chrome, play this video, and click or tap around in the video to navigate. There are various points of interest throughout (and the whole presentation is only 3:35 long), so you might end up taking two trips through it in case you miss something.

Let’s hear it for using spatial video technology (“360 Video”) to explain spatial concepts! Enjoy:

Golden Record image courtesy of NASA/JPL, public domain.

Libraries have traditionally faced a serious organizational challenge: How can patrons find the stuff in all the books?

Prior to the advent of computer-based search engines, humans did the searching using the magic of indexing. In most libraries, this meant a card catalog full of little index cards containing information about books and periodicals. If you knew to look for a subject, an author, a title, or (sometimes) a date of publication, you’d have a starting point to start exploring the interlinked cards. From there, you’d hit the “stacks” (the bookshelves) and locate relevant books.

In the United States, the Dewey Decimal System has been the primary method of organizing knowledge within collections like libraries (though the Library of Congress has a good one too). Knowing just a dash of Dewey’s system helped librarians (and library patrons) locate information even without the card catalog, since topics group together physically within the collection.

The ten-minute filmstrip below was made 65 years ago, attempting to explain to students how libraries worked. (And, I should note, to lightly shame kids who weren’t card catalog whizzes. Yikes.) It’s instructive to look at this today and understand how profoundly different the task of finding information is for today’s students versus pretty much everyone before them. And hey, while we’re at it, let’s hear it for libraries! Enjoy: