History, Reviews and Other Odd Bits

Annual Updates

Here’s a list of some of the annual library updates I’ve sent out for the New Year:

• 2024 Review
• 2023 Review (Private Version)
• 2022 Review (Private Version)
• 2021 Review (Private Version)
• 2020 Review (Private Version)
• 2019 Review (Private Version)
• 2018 Review (Private Version)
• 2017 Review (Private Version)
• 2016 Review (Private Version)
• 2015 Review. This was my entire website and library in 2015. It’s grown quite a bit since then. (Private Version)
• 2014 Review. In 2014, the most fascinating thing I learned was about Gary Kasparov and human-computer interaction. (Private Version)
• Happy 2013 Private Version

Full list of articles

Jewish Writing

I’m starting a new tradition by sending out a New Year’s Thought. At the beginning of each New Year, I examine my relationship with Judaism and want to share my learning with my friends.

• New Years Thought 5781: God is My Coach (2020)
• Here are some other thoughts I had on Judaism in 5781
• Why We Love Camp Ramah (2021)
• Have a Healthy and Happy 5782, I Mean It (2021)
• 2022
  • Blake’s Bar Mitzvah Project: Language Learning Disabilities (2022)
  • Blake’s Bar Mitzvah Speech (2022)
  • Blake’s Bar Mitzvah — Our Blessing for Blake (2022)
  • Blake’s Bar Mitzvah Thank You’s (Protected) (2022)
  • DRAFT: Raising the Rebellious Son (2022)
• 2023
  • Habonim Gala Speech (2023)
  • Summary of Israel Items and References
    • One Jew’s Reaction to 2023
      • Responses to My Email About Israel
    • Our Trip to Israel
    • October 7th
    • Why We All Can’t Just Get Along
• Better Jewish News in 2024: What We Learned on Our Academic Visit to Israel, To Jewish College Students Who Are Scared
• Ari Bar Mitzvah
  • Speech for Ari

Reviews

• Some of my favorite reviews from my friends/fans.

Other Bits

• My Old Welcome Page. I liked this idea of sitting around and spinning a yarn. I changed it in 2020 to a different idea. Now I’m trying to take an idea and crisply capture and share it.
• A letter to the editor of the Yale Alumni Magazine about the importance of digital archiving. Here’s the published version. (6/2020)
• Some pictures I’ve taken and used as virtual backgrounds starting in 2021.
• Some thoughts on ADHD.
  • An ADHD Interview
  • Alternative therapies: DBT and ACT
• This is an essay I wrote about breaking social norms in college.

Fun Facts

2024

• In his book Human Universals, Donald Brown writes that there are a list of commonalities across humans irrespective of culture.

2023

• American cheese isn’t awful. You’re judging it against cheese, which it is not, so it’ll always come up short in your eyes. No, American cheese is not cheese, it’s a sauce. You let American cheese slowly melt onto hot hamburger patties, or in-between two slices of buttered and griddled bread. American cheese is a sauce. It adds richness, moisture and flavor to the foods it adorns. From Quora: Why is American cheese so ridiculously awful?

2022

• Are psychology and social science really science? Most of it isn’t if you understand the Reproducibility Crisis. Basically, a lot of the things we know about social science can’t be duplicated, so many argue shouldn’t be considered science. It’s been going on for a while but hasn’t gotten much notice.
• Airlines use call signs when referring to their flights with air traffic control rather than the name of the airline. The coolest name, Speedbird, is used by British Airways as in “Speedbird Concord 1 coming in for a landing.”
• After starting a JP Morgan Chase I had to visit the JP Morgan Library. It’s a wonderful museum filled with JP Morgan’s old books, a museum, his old house, and his old office. The office is of particular note because he used to lock in all the bankers to avoid the panic of 1907. You can also buy a copy of the tea that JP Morgan drank.
• I’m not sure I agree with the points in all of these books, but banning most of these books is exactly the wrong way to go. The list of 50 most banned books is a great list to investigate, read, and discuss. 

2020-2021

• The restaurant Stadshuskällaren, in Stockholm Sweden, serves every menu from the Nobel Banquet from 1922 to today.
• Oneida Silversmith, the famous silverware company started as part of the Oneida Community, a religious community with some odd sexual practices.
• At its height, London got mail delivered 12 times a day.
• Take a look at some weird sports stadium names like Welcome Stadium and Tony Macaroni Arena.
• The derivative of acceleration is jerk (e.g., the change in the acceleration in your car over time). Apparently, the derivative of jerk is snap, with higher-order derivatives being crackle and pop.
• The satirical Strangers with Candy was patterned after the drug-abusing prostitute Florrie Fisher.
• In the book Humble Pi, I learned that there are different definitions of a year. It can also be defined by the seasons (a tropical year). As the Earth moves a bit on its axis, a tropical year and a sidereal year differ slightly.
• Ruth Belville was known as the Greenwich Time Lady. Each day, she would go to the Greenwich Observatory and set her pocket watch to the Shepard Master Clock and then go around London selling the time by setting people’s watches.
• Here’s a bit on how men try to own women’s sexuality. I especially enjoy the bits about Rachel Maines and the history of hysteria and massage.
• Here are two lists of Alexa Easter Eggs. My favorite is “Alexa, open the pod bay doors” to which Alexa answers, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m not Hal and we’re not in space.”
• The are many words that we use everyday used to be trademarked. Here’s how brand names can become generic.