"We are the ones we've been waiting for."

That striking line in Barack Obama's speech tonight comes from a Hopi prayer.

And "repair this world" comes from Judaism: tikkun olam.

A timeline of ancient history

[Illustration by Benjamin Leddy.]

The recent discovery of evidence of sacrifice to a pre-Greek, pre-Zeus deity enhances our understanding of the ancient world. So too this timeline, which my son Ben created some years ago, at the age of ten perhaps.

(Thanks, Ben, for the okay to show this work!)

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Blue crayon

Free fonts from Jos Buivenga

You can find seven free fonts, all well designed, at Jos Buivenga's exljbris Font Foundry. I'm partial to Fontin Sans, my favorite sans serif for the past month.

The "Yes, We Can" song

It's meant for people younger than I am. I recognize only a handful of those involved: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Herbie Hancock, Scarlett Johansson. But it brings tears to my eyes anyway.

If anyone can identify other participants (in a comment), I'd be grateful here in Squaresville.

Related reading
More Barack Obama posts

[Update: Here's a story, with at least some names: New Celeb-Filled Music Video for Obama (ABC News). I think I recognize Moby and Usher, not named in the ABC piece. Am I right?]

[Update, 2.5.07: I'm grateful to everyone who named names in the comments. Wikipedia now has an article that lists the participants, though not in sequence: Yes We Can.]

Tag
Yes, We Can

"Across the Universe," across the universe

NASA is to beam the Beatles song "Across the Universe" into space. But which "Universe"? NASA hasn't said. There are four official releases:

1. From a 1969 World Wildlife Fund charity record, with bird sounds at beginning and end, and two Apple scruffs (female fans) on the refrain. Now available on The Beatles' Past Masters, Volume Two. This version speeds up the tape, sounding in D# rather than D.

2. The Phil-Spectored version from Let It Be (1970). I grew up loving the song in this form (side 1, track 3), angelic chorus and all. This version slows down the tape, sounding in Db rather than D.

3. The Anthology 2 version (1996), a 1968 alternative take, with spare instrumentation. Here we hear the song at speed, in the key of D.

4. A de-Spectored remix of the 1968 master, released on Let It Be... Naked (2003). Also at speed.

My choice would be the Anthology version, which sounds warmest and, well, trippiest to me. No. 4 seems aggressive by comparison. Please, NASA, don't send up Spector.

Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono have both made statements about this project. Says cheeky Paul: "Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens. All the best, Paul." And Yoko: "I see that this is the beginning of the new age in which we will communicate with billions of planets across the universe."

Related reading
Voyager music (NASA)

The Last Calligraphers

The Last Calligraphers, a forthcoming film by Premjit Ramachandran, tells the story of the Urdu publication The Musalman, Asia's only handwritten newspaper (est. 1927).

The Last Calligraphers is scheduled for summer 2008 release.

The Last Calligraphers (trailer, via moleskinerie)
A Handwritten Daily Paper (Wired)
Photo tour of The Musulman (Wired)

Reserved for faculty

[Photograph by Rachel Leddy.]

Alas, it's a parking area that's reserved.

(Thanks, Rachel!)

Snow, snow, snow

Expected: 8 to 11 inches.

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Frank Sinatra's popcorn
"Ice and Snow Blues"
"It is snowing."

Is this honor society legitimate?

Several people who have found my posts about the National Dean's List have e-mailed me wondering about the legitimacy of other collegiate honor societies. The Association of College Honor Societies offers guidelines for thinking about organizational credibility. The ACHS also has a list of its member organizations. Absence from that list doesn't mean that an organization lacks legitimacy — Phi Beta Kappa, for one, is missing — but the list, along with the guidelines, some online investigation, and the advice of a trusted professor or two or three, can help a student come to a sound decision about whether to pay up. The National Society of Collegiate Scholars? Legit. The National Scholars Honor Society? You might choose to walk on by.

Speaking as a prof, I'd say that a college- or department-level award, a few semesters on your neighborhood Dean's List, and some strong letters of recommendation will mean much more to someone looking at your academic record than generic honors will. You can use the money you're saving on membership to buy clothes for your interviews or, if you're a dachshund, to buy chew toys!

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The National Dean's List
The National Dean's List again
The National Dean's List is dead

MacBook Paper

The MacBook Paper is smaller and lighter than the MacBook Air. Cheaper too. Cuter too, if that's a plus.