A Farewell to Copyright Protection
Another year, another tranche of copyrighted works that are now owned by us, the American people. This applies to books, plays, movies, art, and musical compositions from 1929, plus sound recordings from 1924. Via Ars Technica:
Significant novels include Ernest Hemingway's Farewell to Arms, the first English translation of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front, Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials Mystery, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, and William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.
The Duke University Center for the Study of the Public Domain has a list of the most significant works entering the public domain this year, and also identifies some modern works that have built on and benefitted from public domain releases.
Some of those works include Wicked, the 2024 film adapted from the 2003 musical adapted (extremely loosely!) from Gregory Maguire's Wizard of Oz-inspired 1995 novel; and Percival Everett's James, a retelling of Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, a runaway slave.
Graphene Is All Ears
Was it a good week for graphene news? It’s always a good week for graphene news! LG’s “xboom by will.i.am” graphene-enhanced earbuds. From (who else?) Graphene-Info:
LG Electronics (LG) has unveiled its new “xboom by will.i.am” audio product line of Bluetooth speakers and earbuds at CES 2025, created in partnership with musician and tech entrepreneur, will.i.am.
They also have a line of sam.i.am earbuds, but they are enhanced by green eggs and ham.
The xboom Buds employ lightweight graphene drivers, which are key to delivering pure, well-balanced sound with rich bass. Graphene is said to improve durability while supporting LG’s Active Noise Canceling technology, providing a more immersive listening experience.
Unveiled at CES last week, the earbuds and speakers will hit the market sometime in 2025.
Labeled with Love
Rao’s Homemade is a 129-year-old line of Italian pasta sauces. This past holiday season, they partnered with New York artist Timothy Goodman to create the company’s first-ever limited-edition marinara label. Says Print magazine:
Goodman, known for his bold, playful illustrations, has reimagined the iconic Rao’s label by infusing it with festive holiday charm while staying true to the essence of the brand. Vibrant doodles of basil leaves, garlic bulbs, and tomatoes dance alongside snowflakes and other seasonal touches for a label that’s as flavorful as the jar’s contents—crafted with simple, high-quality ingredients like whole peeled Italian tomatoes, fresh onions, and garlic.
This limited-edition jar represents more than a clever marketing move; it’s a testament to the creative possibilities of branding when it goes beyond the expected. Rao’s is bridging the gap between its rich heritage and contemporary culture by collaborating with a celebrated artist, proving that holiday campaigns can be both heartwarming and head-turning.
Acrobat Indeed
Are you a fan of the game Tetris? Do use PDFs? If yes to both, good news! Via Boing Boing, there is now a version of Tetris that can be played within a PDF itself: PDFTRIS. It was developed by Thomas Rinsma.
The idea came about when Rinsma "realized that the PDF engines of modern desktop browsers (PDFium and PDF.js) support JavaScript with enough I/O primitives to make a basic game like Tetris," he commented on Hacker News.
Wow—we are rubbish at Tetris.
Learn more about it here, and play it here. You will need Chrome as, like just about any other site these days, it doesn’t work with Safari.
At the Tone, the Time Will Be—Ahhh!!! Make It Stop!
Looking for a good way to test your patience or your irritation endurance threshold? (Aside from making it this far through Around the Web, of course.) Why not try the Morse Code Clock? True to its name, it is a clock that tells the time in Morse Code, updated every second.
If you know Morse Code, that’s easy enough to figure it out and it’s perfectly fine. However, click the “Enable Sound” function, and you will be driven into insanity, as the clock is updated veery second. And you can even use the clock to time how quickly you lose all control of your sanity. Try it!
Bet it would sound awesome on the will.i.am Bluetooth speakers.
Prints of New York
Via Laughing Squid, users having the Instagram accounts Subway Creatures and WhatIsNewYork have partnered with freelance artist David Regone to create two art prints called “Rat Race” and “What Is New York? III,” illustrations that depict the “weirdest and most wonderful things the city has seen throughout 2024 and beyond.” (One shudders to think…)
Included in these posters are…a Spot Robot dog on a leash, Michael Myers playing the keyboards, a big dog in a bag, the subway sofa, and of course, the infamous subway pizza rat.
They’re actually pretty cool and can be ordered through here.
Getting a Handle on Spatulas
Consider the spatula. One tool, many uses. But to accomplish those many uses, we often need spatulas of different sizes and blade orientations. But, via Core77, inventor Charles Harris has developed a spatula where the angle between blade and handle could be adjusted. Naturally, it is called “Adaptchula.”
To realize the design, he bent the handle so that it comes into the blade's heel from the side. It friction-fits via a finned extrusion, which corresponds with fins within the blade heel, allowing for adjustability of angle.
Rather than silicone,
the blades are made of more expensive PPSU, a heat-resistant plastic used in medical sterilization trays (it can withstand repeated autoclaving). It's nontoxic, FDA-compliant and also used in baby bottles.
In case the recipe you are following calls for an autoclaving step, of course.
The $25 Adaptchula and a sister product, the $35 Nottadrip Utensil Rest (see vid below) have been successfully crowdfunded with $193K in pledges and four days left to pledge.
Driven to Distraction
We’ve never been especially bullish on the notion of self-driving cars—weren’t we sold for decades on the idea that driving one’s car was the ultimate expression of freedom and liberation? And no suddenly no one wants to drive? What gives? Somehow the romance of the open road fades a bit when you’re just sitting there looking at your phone while software drives you around in circles. Is that how you would get your kicks on Route 66?
Anyway, the philosophical confusion behind the symbolism of the automobile notwithstanding, the tech still has quite a bit of a ways to go. Via Futurism:
when it comes to construction sites, a common fixture in any metropolis, Waymos are having a hard time.
Even on the highway, cars have to navigate roadwork.
Look no further than a video circulating on social that shows a Waymo cab struggling to decipher the hand signals of a construction worker, juddering to a halt and refusing to turn left.
The incident highlights persistent shortcomings with driverless ride-hailing tech, often related to chaotic edge cases: despite years of research and tens of millions of miles driven, simple hand signals can still seemingly pose an insurmountable obstacle.
Anyone who has ever driven on Route 20 in Waltham, Mass., knows intimately that self-driving car technology is decidedly limited at best and complete carnage at worst.
Fishy Origins
What was the origin of the goldfish? Well, ichthyological evolution presumably, or—Nope, wait, hang on…Ah, let’s try that again.
What was the origin of the Goldfish—the snack cracker? You would have thought it was some folks in a lab somewhere coming up with snacks, but there’s actually a more involved and more romantic background the advent of the Goldfish cracker. It involves astrology. Says Laughing Squid:
in 1958, the head of a Swiss baking company wanted to do something nice for his beloved wife. Because she was a Pisces, he asked his bakers to make crackers in the shape of fish. These “Goldfischli” became so popular that it garnered the interest of Pepperidge Farm, who acquired the rights to make the crackers under an American name.
Almost Totally Nuts
Want to head out on the highway and look for adventure? Well, why not do it in the Planters Nutmobile? Says KARE 11:
Hormel Foods, the makers of Planters, is hiring three full-time crew members to travel across the U.S. in a 26-foot-long peanut-shaped vehicle: the NUTmobile. Chosen candidates, referred to as "Peanutters," will represent the peanut brand in media interviews and community events across the country.
Are there any qualifications?
Applicants must be college graduates with a bachelor's degree — preferably in public relations, communications or similar media-related fields.
Hmm…What about those who have been working in media and communications for 30+ years?
Additionally, Planters is looking for those with "an appetite for adventure and proficiency in nut-related puns."
Hmm… We are looking to come out of our shell. How does one apply?
Check out the official job posting. Peanutters make $45,000 plus benefits and, one assumes, free peanuts.
This year will be the fourth official class of Peanutters, according to Horbas. However, the NUTmobile, Mr. Planters' official ride, has been around since 1935.
They must have some weird class reunions.
To learn more about the job and how to apply, visit BeAPeanutter.com.
Squid Game
Do you like Cup Noodles ramen? Well, Nissin Foods, the makers of Cup Noodle, has released a version in Japan that comes with a “realistic” squid fork. Says Laughing Squid Fork:
(Translated) The Cup Noodle Squid Fork, which reproduces the shape and color of a real squid, is easy to hold and highly practical, so it can be used not only for eating Cup Noodles, but also for eating pasta and meat dishes.
We want one!
In a Pickle
You learn something new every day:
The internet is having a love affair with pickles.
Is it? Apparent it is, if (who else?) Food & Wine is to be believed.
Major brands are making dill pickle-flavored snacks, and social media is rife with pickle trends — ranging from various iterations of fried pickle dips to chamoy pickles. We even covered one of the most recent and unusual fads, glitter pickles.
They also highlight the Atkins friendly “pickle sandwich.” That is, a sandwich in which one replaces the slices of bread with pickles. (Being the pedants that we are, we question that “pickle sandwich” would be the proper terminology. A sandwich is defined by the materials inserted between the bread, not what is surrounding the intrabread material. A roast beef sandwich is roast beef between bread, not some other substance between slices of roast beef. Likewise the—irritatingly redundant—“tuna fish sandwich” is not some third-party material between layers of tuna. Anything different, and virtually every sandwich would be a bread sandwich and deli ordering would be complete chaos. Can we have a civilization?) (There is of course the “knuckle sandwich” but that’s less about accurate restaurant ordering and more about threats of violence.)
Anyway, back to the pickles.
The pickle is sliced lengthwise, with your deli meats and other toppings of choice sandwiched in between. Although pickle sandwiches went viral on Instagram and TikTok in 2024
Oh, that explains it. The sandwich-using-pickles-instead-of-bread (we’ll let the marketing folks work out a sexier term) is good for those who can’t (or don’t want to) eat bread.
Because pickles pack way more of a punch than bread, the balance of flavors in a pickle-wich
There you go!
will be different. A full-sour pickle, which is fermented in a salt and water brine for an extended period of time, will, naturally, be very salty, which might not pair well with cured meats that also have a high salt content. If you’re using full-sour pickles, you should use a more neutral deli meat, like turkey or chicken breast.
So choose wisely. Or, better yet, order the soup.
This Week in Printing, Publishing, and Media History
January 13
1888: The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C.
1898: Émile Zola’s J’accuse…! exposes the Dreyfus affair.
1910: The first public radio broadcast takes place; a live performance of the operas Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci are sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
1941: Irish novelist, short story writer, and poet James Joyce dies (b. 1882).
2009: Irish-American actor, director, and producer Patrick McGoohan dies (b. 1928). Be seeing you.
January 14
1896: American novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright John Dos Passos born.
1898: English novelist, poet, and mathematician Lewis Carroll (né Charles Dodgson) dies (b. 1832).
1952: NBC's long-running morning news program Today debuts, with host Dave Garroway.
1967: The Human Be-In takes place in San Francisco, California’s Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love.
1973: Elvis Presley’s concert Aloha from Hawaii is broadcast live via satellite, and sets the record as the most watched broadcast by an individual entertainer in television history.
January 15
1759: The British Museum opens.
1876: The first newspaper in Afrikaans, Die Afrikaanse Patriot, is published in Paarl.
1892: James Naismith publishes the rules of basketball.
1936: The first building to be completely covered in glass, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, is completed in Toledo, Ohio.
1941: American singer-songwriter, musician, and artist Captain Beefheart (né Don Van Vliet) born.
1962: The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest surviving manuscript dating to 340 BC, is found in northern Greece.
1967: The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.
2001: Wikipedia, a free wiki content encyclopedia, debuts online.
January 16
27 BC: Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.
1492: The first grammar of the Spanish language (Gramática de la lengua castellana) is presented to Queen Isabella I.
1605: The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (Book One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid, Spain.
January 17
1706: Benjamin Franklin born.
1867: German-born American film producer and co-founder of Universal Studios Carl Laemmle born.
1904: Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard receives its premiere performance at the Moscow Art Theatre.
1929: Popeye the Sailor Man, a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, first appears in the Thimble Theatre comic strip.
January 18
1873: English author, poet, playwright, and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies Edward Bulwer-Lytton dies (b. 1803).
1882: English author, poet, and playwright A. A. Milne born.
1936: English author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate Rudyard Kipling dies (b. 1865).
1993: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is officially observed for the first time in all 50 states.
January 19
1729: English playwright and poet William Congreve dies (b. 1670).
1736: Scottish-English chemist and engineer James Watt born.
1764: The world’s first mail bomb severely injures the Danish Colonel Poulsen, residing at Børglum Abbey.
1809: American short story writer, poet, and critic Edgar Allan Poe born.
1829: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust: The First Part of the Tragedy receives its premiere performance.
1853: Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il trovatore receives its premiere performance in Rome.
1883: The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, N.J.
1915: Georges Claude patents the neon discharge tube for use in advertising.
1940: You Nazty Spy!, the very first Hollywood film of any kind to satirize Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, premieres, starring The Three Stooges, with Moe Howard as the character “Moe Hailstone” satirizing Hitler.
1953: Almost 72% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth.
1983: The Apple Lisa, the first commercial personal computer from Apple Inc. to have a graphical user interface and a computer mouse, is announced.
1986: The first IBM PC computer virus is released into the wild. A boot sector virus dubbed (c)Brain, it was created by the Farooq Alvi Brothers in Lahore, Pakistan, reportedly to deter unauthorized copying of the software they had written.
2038: The 32-bit Unix time will overflow at 03:14:07 UTC.
