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Aerial Bicycle 1885: The aerial bicycle was devised by American inventor S T Hachenberger, to utilize the newly erected telephone poles and wires for transportation. The vehicle was equipped with a small electric motor and was suspended from from a cable running parallel to the telephone wires. Used on a trial track, the idea was soon abandoned. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

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It’s been a long time

I stopped using Tumblr when Yahoo bought it. Except for Yahoo Finance, I’ve been pretty consistent in following that practice. Yesterday, the parent company of Wordpress, Automattic, bought Tumblr from Yahoo. 

I start using anything Wordpress buys.

Automattic reportedly bought Tumblr for less than $3 million, according to Axios, “a stunning drop in value from the $1.1 billion Yahoo paid for it in 2013.” Back in the day, Tumblr was classified (by about ten people) as a “tumbelog” or “microblog” or a name I can’t recall -- something like a timeline or lifeline.

It’s a challenge resurrect a concept -- especially one that fell so low as to become a porn site -- but I think that Automattic’s CEO Matt Mullenweg is one of the few who can.  (Note: I took this photo of Matt on June 23, 2006, in San Francisco.)

Also, I always have liked the Tumblr account name I have.

#rex.tumblr.com

[david]

Just wanted to add my congratulations and thank you to everyone at WordPress and Tumblr.

Matt is a visionary, and the team at WordPress has built something absolutely foundational to the Internet. What an amazing home and opportunity for Tumblr.

[parislemon]

I shall reblog, for my first Tumble in a while...

[rex]

I will also reblog. The gangs all here.

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Men standing by a silo by State Library and Archives of Florida on Flickr.

This photo via the Florida Library and Archives is titled, "Men standing by a silo."

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What Ever Happened to Google Books? - The New Yorker

There are plenty of ways to attribute blame for the failure of the Google Books project.

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In #Nashville, ribbon cutting of Davidson Street protected bike lane (cycle track) ribbon cutting. Connects Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge to Shelby Bottoms Park / Greenway.

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Approaching Oakland by Rex Hammock Via Flickr: Photos taken from window of a Southwest flight approaching Oakland, southeast of Stockton

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Penguins Mirror by Israeli-American artist Daniel Rozin is an installation of 450 motorized toy penguins that mimic the observer by moving to show patterns of white and black. The piece, along with more of his interactive works, are currently on exhibit at bitforms in New York City until July 1, 2015.

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An incomplete list of words that are now startups

(via: Medium.com) Hello. Sunrise. Sunshine. Clear. Clever. Color. Care. Calm. Karma. Ark. Angle. Dabble. Meddle. Mirror. Breather. Burner. Buffer. Porter. Cover. Construct. Control. Connect. Disconnect. Divide. Dash. Double. Able. Variable. Bubble. Bump. Thumb. Mouth. Outline. Her. Sum. Swipe. Slide. Stripe. Stride. Strut. Shots. Tab. Hall. Crew. Chill. Chomp. Chute. Chef. Sense. Seen. Scan. Rinse. Glimpse. Greats. Gallop. Pair. Pie. Proven. Floored. Fixed. Furious. Curious. Embrace. Even. Everest. Magic. Magnetic. One. Five. Artillery. Density. Brevity. Brisk. Blend. Bench. Balance. Tune. Tilt. Tile. Try. Flyer. Hipster. Rant. Roost. Bison. Fuel. Handy. Handshake. Shake. Stir. Sprig. Fig. Figs. Seeds. Honey. Peach. Plaid. Prime. Purse. Square. Lettuce. Relay. Remind. Remark. Ribbon. Lob. Leap. Lever. Speak. Hype. Hatch. Hum. Honk. Beep. Bop. Boop. Hug. Punch. Pounce. Path. Pave. Jam. Pocket. Surreal. Revenue. Universe. Monogram. Monolith. Molecule. Medium.

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While it is a patriotic song of the United Kingdom, I always think of I Vow to Thee My Country on the U.S. Memorial Day as it captures so beautifully the essence of what the day is intended to honor and remember. And unlike the symphonic and powerful anthem versions one typically hears at state and royal weddings and funerals, this hauntingly beautiful version by Beck Goldsmith provides a prayer-like reverence for the words and moving melody. (via https://soundcloud.com/jon-dix/i-vow-to-thee-my-country-with?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=tumblr)

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Google Maps rolls out traffic alerts and alternate routes

“When you input your destination, it will immediately inform you if there are blockages and suggest a different route if possible. And while you're already on the road, it will also alert you to congestion up ahead and will even offer an estimate of how long you will be stuck, along with a suggestion of an alternate route.”

(via Google Maps rolls out traffic alerts and alternate routes - SlashGear)

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It was a common practice for 19th-century newspapers to republish  poems, fiction excerpts, and even lists of facts that were originally published elsewhere. Editors would subscribe to many newspapers and would cut out things they thought were interesting, relevant, or fit a space on the page that they needed to fill and then republish them in their own papers.

Ryan Cordell Northeastern University (via NiemanLab.org: Listicles, aggregation, and content gone viral: How 1800s newspapers prefigured today’s Internet, by Joweph Lictermann)

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In a previous correction on this post, we corrected something that was actually correct. So we have corrected that correction. It had to do with Celsius temperatures.

Clarification: May 21, 2015 NPR.org

(via: Poynter.com)

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Amazon.com’s homepage (5/22/2015)

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TV movie concept: It’s like Sharknado, but with shrubbery.

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Detour sign

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At Nashville Public Library