anthropometaphors

Been super busy with work; in the office and after-hours into the wee hours. While blogging is visually delicious, a compilation of links and their associated (t)witticisms can be quickly created in Twitter.

Gots to be careful with internet content of all sorts, tweets, posts and comments. I imagine the drunken tweets of today turning into the drunken tattoos of tomorrow; what seemed like a fun idea at the time was done without pausing to consider who might see it years later.  Olivier Blanchard has a good post on this topic called How to lose your job in 140 characters or less.

After reading how a hasty tweet can cost a new job, I feel much better about all the typos I’ve been making.

London’s Science Museum has a new multimedia site called Brought to Life.  I took a fancy to a gallery of retired medical devices that I can only describe as bizarre.

For example, spirit bubbles!

Although sometimes used in scientific research, historically they were used mainly to test the alcohol content of spirits such as gin, whisky, rum or brandy.

Numbers 22 and 23, for instance, would be used to test the proof of a double whisky; if it was the correct proof, the glass ball would sink to the bottom.

Set of 13 spirit bubbles, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1801-1900

Or consider the Jugum penis:

“…intended as a treatment for “nocturnal incontinence” and to prevent masturbation. It was designed to deter nighttime emissions by causing enough pain to waken the sleeper if an erection threatened.”

Jugum penis, United Kingdom, 1880-1920

Ouch.