15 Apr 2009
Armed America: Behind a broadening run on guns

Somehow, this seemed like a fitting day to post this ...

Firearms sales have their cycles, but types of buyers - and their motivations - have shifted.

(link) [Christian Science Monitor]

19:45 /Politics | 4 comments | permanent link

April 15th, 1452

Vitruvian Manwas the birthday of Leonardo da Vinci, the model Renaissance Man, whose curiosity, intelligence and raw talent still shine half a millennium later.

It is difficult to overestimate his impact - his paintings hang in the finest museums, the richest man on the planet paid millions for one of his notebooks a little more than a decade ago, and even as mundane a machine as my wife's spinning wheel uses the bobbin and flyer mechanism that he designed to speed up the process of spinning wool into cloth. A bridge designed by Leonardo is only now being constructed across the Bosporus, as only recently have our construction techniques caught up with his vision.

Art, science, medicine, engineering - the boundless imagination of this inspiring legend will surely live forever.

19:29 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link