News from the Mudd

Who’s There?

It’s National Knock Knock Joke Day! As a rule, we don’t think knock knock jokes are very funny, but here’s the best one:

Walk up to someone and say, “Say ‘knock knock.'”

Person: “Knock knock.”

You: “Who’s there?”

Person: …..

Hilarious.

A Prairie Home Companion does a joke show every year and here are some knock knock jokes heard on the show.

What is RSS?

Have you heard about RSS but haven’t a clue as to what it’s all about? Come to the ITC (Library 214) on Thursday, November 1 at 11:00 am to hear Julie Fricke and David Berk talk about this technology and why it is important. For example, did you know that the Library and ITS newsletters are now being distributed via a blog and you can keep up with this news via RSS? It’s true! Newspapers and other sources distribute news and information via RSS as well.

David and Julie will demonstrate a couple of applications that you can use to keep up with your your favorite sources of information. Please plan to attend!

If you’re able to attend, please RSVP to Cassie Cobb at cobbc@lawrence.edu or x7029

What’s the Buzz?

mouse buzzOh, boy, we’ve been waiting for this. Today the New York Times reported that the Center for Biotechnology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook did experiments where they had mice stand on platforms that buzz at a low frequency for 15 minutes a day, five days a week. After this treatment, the mice not only had 27 percent less fat than the control mice, but they also had more bone mass. Also, scientists have discovered that a stem cell in bone marrow can morph into either fat or bone, depending which signal it receives. During the next round of office furniture purchasing at the Mudd, it’s buzzing chairs for everyone!

Lawrence NOT in Playboy

The most interesting Archives question of the week is, “Is it true that Lawrence University was featured in Playboy magazine as one of the nation’s ugliest college campuses (in terms of female looks)? The answer is no. A search through the magazine’s index and a call to Playboy Enterprises resulted in finding nothing on Lawrence in the magazine.

Good information to have if you’re ever asked about it, especially at a trivia contest!

Last Supper Larger than Life

last supper

A 16 billion pixel image of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper has been posted on the internet, giving art lovers a detailed view of the 15th Century work. If you haven’t seen Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper in person, this is your chance to truly explore the details of this amazing work of art. You can see it at: http://www.haltadefinizione.com/en/

To read more about this project go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7065903.stm

Sometimes You’ve Just Got To Cut To the Chase

drop deadIn 1975 New York City was in dire financial straights. Mayor Abraham Beame and Gov. Hugh Carey asked the federal government for a measly $1 billion line of credit. President Ford refused.

New York Daily News managing editor William J. Brink is credited with coming up with one of the most famous headlines in American journalism after rejecting FORD REFUSES AID TO CITY and FORD SAYS NO TO CITY AID. That same day, October 30, 1975, the erudite New York Times reported the story in its own way. To their credit, the Times editors did not go for the obvious when they printed Mr. Brink’s obituary on July 2, 2005.

Yo. “Lo.”

arpanet

It was 38 years ago today that the first internet message was sent. On October 29, 1969, the word “Lo” was sent from UCLA to Stanford via the network then called the ARPANET. They were trying to send the message “log in,” but the system crashed before they could send the “g.” UCLA did a big thing for the 35th anniversary in 2004. Naturally the Mudd has a book mentioning the ARPANET.

That same day across the continent, a work by Jon Hassell for four players with hand-held magnetic tape heads, Superball, was premiered in Ithaca, N.Y. They were so last century.

Cocktails, Anyone?

cotton ginEli Whitney applied for a patent on the cotton gin on this day in 1793, a patent he was granted March 14, 1794. The U.S. Patent Office web site states: “Eli Whitney watched a cat pull feathers through a cage — it was how he thought of the invention now known as the cotton gin.” One must wonder: as Eli watched this disturbing scene, did he do nothing to rescue the unfortunate player in this “light bulb” moment? For surely these feathers were attached to some hapless bird who was trapped in that cage.

Let’s hoist a glass to Eli Whitney and the cotton gin, a name and an invention inextricably linked in grade school and barely thought about since then. And read about all kinds of American inventors.