09.22.09

here’s a toast to Alan Turing

Posted in history, politics at 10:59 pm by rachel

Regarding the British government’s apology to Alan Turing, a poem by Matt Harvey.

here’s a toast to Alan Turing
born in harsher, darker times
who thought outside the container
and loved outside the lines
and so the code-breaker was broken
and we’re sorry
yes now the s-word has been spoken
the official conscience woken
– very carefully scripted but at least it’s not encrypted –
and the story does suggest
a part 2 to the Turing Test:
1. can machines behave like humans?
2. can we?

Thank you to my blockmate Jeremy for sending it to me.

12.04.07

The Spirited Horse and the Sex Impulse

Posted in history at 1:11 am by rachel

I love social hygiene posters. For years, the US government produced hilarious PSAs and posters in an attempt to clean up social relations. Naturally, they were preoccupied with sex. Here’s one of my favorite pieces of social hygiene memorabilia, an abstinence poster for 1922. Remember, this is a government publication:

Image of a man on a bucking horse. Text reads: The Spirited Horse and the Sex Impulse. A spirit horse is a great prize. It is a joy to ride him, to fell his strength and boundless energy under one's control. The sex instinct, when directed, is the source of power and of a richer, fuller life.

On of my favorite hidden gems of the internet is the large number of archived social hygiene materials that are available for my entertainment. For example, the University of Minnesota has scanned and cataloged a large collection of these posters. I highly recommend the “Mental Health” category, for example this 1918 image. But dig around - you’ll find instructions on how to bath, how to dance properly, and lots of advice about syphilis. Think of all the uses for these pieces of history… facebook profile picture? Sign for your dorm room door? Sign for someone else’s dorm room door? …the possibilities are endless.