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 M. C. Escher's interlocking animals, from a year before he began his education in decorative arts. From How to Tell the Birds from the Flowers by Robert Williams Wood, 1917.
"The Asian concept of face refers to how others think of you. It is a concern that others think well of you. The western idea of a thick skin is a lack of concern with criticism and what others think of you. Merging both ideas approximates the idea of thick face: 'a shield to protect our self-esteem from the bad opinions of others' (Chu, 1992, p. 10). Those with thick face eliminate self-doubt and do not accept external or self-imposed limitations. Thick face is a shield from the debilitating opinions of others." —David J. Tipton, Professionalism, Work, and Clinical Responsibility in Pharmacy
Here's the answer first — a precursor to Jeopardy. From The Bab Ballads, written and illustrated by William Schwenck Gilbert, 1898. The text reads, "When it's a-jar!"
Here's a precursor to the "dancing pigs" of computer security: "Given a choice between dancing pigs and security, users will pick dancing pigs every time" (Gary McGraw and Edward Felten, Securing Java, 1999). From North Adams Normal School's Normalogue yearbook, 1914. (For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.)
Here's a precursor to billboard pollution, from The Chsite yearbook of Carey High School, 1920. The text reads, "Stop – Look – Listen. This road will take you thru the ads." (For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.)