CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
Here's a precursor to the 1960s psychedelic "liquid light shows" (note that the Wikipedia article was tagged as a "personal reflection" of "feelings," which seems somehow appropriate). The effect of this 1910 postcard appears due to a printing misalignment of the cyan and magenta. Viewers with color blindness may not see anything out of the ordinary.
Here's a precursor to this line from a review of the film Tusk: "You could argue that Tusk has a good idea buried somewhere in its hollow walrus suit." From the Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, 1893.
Which came first?: The game of strip poker or the deck of cards? You guessed correctly — it was the cards. "Kunstnerkarneval: Hjerterkonges Maskerade" by Brynjulf Larsson, 1912. A scan by Nasjonalbiblioteket.
Here's a precursor to the photographic phenomenon of dogs with iPods. The vintage illustration is captioned "Pavlov's artificial neurosis." From Biology and Man by Benjamin Gruenberg, 1944. The photograph is courtesy of Nao-cha.
A strange orb in front of a flying machine? It's a precursor to the cult TV series The Prisoner. (Airplane photo courtesy of the San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive.)
Here's a precursor to the art installation by Stefan Sagmeister in which a viewer’s movement can disrupt a projected spider web (video here). From The Microscope by Simon Henry Gage, 1917.