A typewriter for people who don’t know how to read

In its Apr 20, 1972 issue, New Scientist magazine drew attention to Mildred Olsen's unusual invention (Patent No. 3,501,849):


I think New Scientist was being overly harsh. In the patent itself, Olsen explained that she believed her invention could help students learn to read, as they simultaneously grew familiar with using a typewriter. I can't find any more info about her invention, but I'd be curious to know how students responded to it.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 15, 2025 - Comments (1)
Category: Technology | Patents | 1970s

Otyken:  Khan Blues

Siberian pop music. These gals are awesome and a little scary.

Many more videos on YouTube under their band name.

Their Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 15, 2025 - Comments (1)
Category: Music | Indigenous Cultures | Russia

The Perfect Rose Case

Technical Sergeant Valentine Browne Lawless was shot down over Linz, Austria in October 1944. He left behind a will revealing that, as his first name suggested, he had a romantic streak.

He left the bulk of his small estate (worth $3600, or around $50,000 in today's money) to one of his brothers for a "special purpose." He detailed that special purpose in a separate latter. He wanted his brother to arrange to have "one perfect rose" anonymously sent every Saturday to Mildred Fitzpatrick, until the money ran out.

Valentine had worked with Mildred before the war, but the two had never dated. In fact, she barely knew who he was. He had fallen in love with her from afar, and because he was extremely shy he had never told her about his feelings. Valentine explained to his brother:


Unfortunately, Valentine's romantic gesture turned out to be in vain. A few roses were sent, but the deliveries soon stopped, for two reasons.

First, Valentine's other siblings successfully challenged the will, on the grounds that the rose deliveries were detailed in a separate letter, not in the will itself. Therefore, the will had failed to specify the "special purpose". The case became known as the "perfect rose case," and the court ended up splitting Valentine's estate between his sister, two brothers, five nephews, and a niece.

Second, Mildred didn't want the roses. She really didn't want them. She was married, with a daughter, and found the publicity deeply embarrassing. She ended up suing the Hearst Corporation for publicizing the case and for describing Valentine as her "suitor" even though she barely knew him. She lost the case, but her feelings were clear. So, no more roses.

San Francisco Examiner - June 20, 1948
click to enlarge

Winston Salem Journal - Aug 8, 1947

Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 14, 2025 - Comments (1)
Category: Lawsuits | Inheritance and Wills | 1940s | Love & Romance

Happy Valentine’s Day 2025!

Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 14, 2025 - Comments (0)
Category: Anthropomorphism | Holidays | Surrealism | Love & Romance

The Cow Illusion

The image below shows a cow, but most people struggle to see it without help from an explanatory image (which is below in extended). Once you see it, it's clear as day.

Source: The Ape That Spoke: Language and the Evolution of the Human Mind by John McCrone. (via Futility Closet)



More in extended >>

Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 13, 2025 - Comments (3)
Category: Puzzles | Eyes and Vision

AWOL Through Sleepwalking

Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 13, 2025 - Comments (0)
Category: Military | Royalty | Sleep and Dreams | 1920s | United Kingdom | Anomie, Exhaustion, and General Malaise

Rodent Tape

Rodent tape is tape that's been coated with capsaicin (the active component in chili peppers) so that rodents won't want to chew through it.

If you have to park your car in a place where there are rodents (the countryside, or a rat-infested garage), you can use it to wrap the cables in your car. I can definitely see the utility of that, but it still strikes me as an odd product.

A blogger who decided to taste it reports:


Available from Honda for $45.90 a roll.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 12, 2025 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals | Pests, Plagues and Infestations | Cars

Kazuya Kosaka & The Wagon Masters

Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 12, 2025 - Comments (1)
Category: Music | Cultural Borrowings, Appropriations, Overlays and Transformations | 1950s | Asia | Mistranslations

Human Authored

The Authors Guild is now offering a certificate that an author can display on their book "to certify that their book is created by a human."

More specifically:


I wonder if an author will first have to pass a Voight-Kampff test to prove they're human and not a replicant.

More info: Authors Guild

Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 11, 2025 - Comments (4)
Category: AI, Robots and Other Automatons | Books

Azoth: The Occult Magazine of America

Please treat yourself to 53 issues of Azoth: The Occult Magazine of America.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 11, 2025 - Comments (0)
Category: Magazines | Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal | Twentieth Century