Various and Sundry

Leif Erikson Day 2024

It’s October 9th, which means it’s Leif Erikson Day here in the United States, which you’ll be forgiven for not knowing exists, unless you, say, grew up in a household full of history buffs with Scandinavian heritage. Then, you bite your thumb, sir, at Columbus Day. It’s a Viking thing. But is it, really? Enter Cat Jarman to give us all some much needed Viking Support:

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Various and Sundry

Let’s Talk About Pirates

On this, International Talk Like a Pirate Day, it is only just and right that we talk about pirates not simply like them. Now, I’ve posted about pirates before, and you should definitely check out Isli Lawrence’s video which I linked to before. She also has this piece specifically about famous pirates: But why confine yourself to just one pirate historian? Enter Rebecca Simon, who has a whole host of insights to give you that’ll…

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Various and Sundry

Are You Ready for National Waffle Day?

I could ask the question, “Who doesn’t like waffles?” — but we all know the answer. Communists. Communists hate waffles. Communists hate the liberties freedom-loving folk take in placing any variety of fruits, whipped cream, or simply syrup –but not simple syrup— on their waffles. Wait, scratch that. If you want to put simple syrup on your waffles, do so. We can’t let those Commies win. I know you have questions. Have I always been…

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Various and Sundry

An August Time to Think About Rome

As it happens, I haven’t been thinking a lot about the Roman Empire recently, but I have finally gotten around to reading the Honor Harrington series… which draws inspiration from the Horatio Hornblower series. And Hornblower was a big fan of Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, so it’s clear he thought about the Roman Empire a lot. And that’s as good a reason as any to put down what…

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Various and Sundry

Getting Medieval with Your Answers

I’ve previously shared videos from Wired’s long-running series of “[Topic] Support.” This is where they have an expert on a topic usually far removed from tech support giving short, definitive answers to various questions on said topic. I gotta do it again, because Dr. Armstrong covers a far-ranging series of questions in just under 20 minutes from the general (“why is it called the middle ages”) to ultra-specific knowledge about names of swords. And, of…

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Various and Sundry

Interactive Ethnographic Maps of the Americas (and elsewhere)

I’m one of the many folks who dig maps of all sorts, so this interactive map of native peoples in the Americas and Australia is very cool. I wish there could be additional historical and other layers, but don’t be surprised if you don’t spend some time checking out your neck of the woods, places you’ve lived, and places you’ve always wanted to visit.

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Various and Sundry

Dulles Airport… in Burke?!?

Here’s a bit of alternate history I learned just last week: before the current site for what is now Dulles Airport, planners were looking to put a new Washington-area airport in Burke, Virginia. Granted, if the Burke residents hadn’t mounted a resistance, we likely would have gotten a new airport in the area before John Foster Dulles was deemed an appropriate man to lend his name to an international aerodrome… and certainly before Carol Burnett…

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Various and Sundry

Is a Pirate’s Life for You? Ask the Expert!

I’m going through my final round of Netflix DVDs and this weekend’s entry was the 2012 mini-series of Treasure Island with Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver. The short version? Izzard delivers a great Silver, but the mini-series takes some odd diversions from the source material that are far from satisfying. My wife actually suggested, knowing my penchant for ranking, that I rank all the different version of Treasure Island, which is very tempting –perhaps…

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Various and Sundry

Maybe You’re More of a Luddite than You Thought…

On Monday, I had another discussion with folks online about machine learning being employed for creative tasks and the inevitable “it’s inevitable” angle people who stand to benefit from that automation like to promote. One of the things I brought up is that people can not want technology to be implemented in a certain way and not be anti-technology, which reminded me of the term “Luddite,” commonly used these days to describe someone who is…

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