Day: July 25, 2014

⦿ Friday Links

Time for our (now) usual roundup of things I read over the past week.


First up, a rather interesting history of Autocorrect. It focuses more on the early development of the tool rather than our current, constant need for it in the age of touch screens.

The Fasinatng … Frustrating … Fascinating History of Autocorrect


Next, an interview with Hall and Oates, who are still performing and making new music. It bums me out that they never seem thrilled about their success or about their lives at their commercial peak. I remember reading another interview with them a few years back where Hall insisted that their careers weren’t fun, but rather a lot of extremely hard work.

Hall & Oates: ‘I hated being a Daryl doll’


You may have seen this story already, but a cargo container containing nearly 5 million Lego bricks sunk off the coast of England in 1997. Pieces are still washing up on the shore. Naturally there are collectors who specialize in finding them.

The Cornish beaches where Lego keeps washing up


Crazy things can happen when you hit the wrong key on a computer. Like, briefly, changing history, for example. One man’s story of how his inadvertent keystroke affected how the world responded to a horrific disaster.

Count to ten when a plane goes down…


Whatever happened to Tom Emanski, star of ESPN commercials?

Pitchman: How Tom Emanski Changed the Sport of Baseball – And Then Disappeared


Finally, the New York Times dives into one of the biggest mysteries in baseball: why doesn’t anyone throw the screwball anymore?

The Mystery of the Vanishing Screwball

Friday Vid(s) – Songs Of The Summer

Following up on the article I linked to last week, debating whether the concept of a “song of the summer” was out-dated, here are my two picks for the song of the summer of 2014.

“Girls Chase Boys” – Ingrid Michaelson
Unlike Iggy Azalea, this song is being played everywhere from Radio Disney to pop stations to our local, “cool music for middle-aged hipsters” station. So I’ve been hearing it a lot. And it’s thoroughly delightful. While “Fancy” may speak more to modern sensibilities, this sounds like it could be dropped in any era and still be a hit. Bonus points for parodying one of the most recognizable videos of all time, too. She pulls off the smart girl in glasses thing nicely as well.

“Goshen 97” – Strand Of Oaks
A somewhat dull video for an absolutely scorching song (with an assist from J. Mascis and his always epic guitar work). This out-of-nowhere song by Indiana native Timothy Showalter would be a sure-fire summer hit if the rock radio of our youth still existed.

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