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  1. Oct 2024
    1. I've picked up about 20 of the typewriters in my collection from ShopGoodwill.

      Only two were impeccably/properly packaged and shipped and one of these was a special machine that I emailed them after purchase with written details and links to videos about how to pack and ship it just to be on the safe side.

      Three were dreadful disasters: one was a 40 pound standard that was dropped and the frame bent drastically (it had almost no padding materials inside the box), two were shoved into cases (one upside down and the other right side up, but neither locked into their cases properly nor with their carriage locks engaged so they both bounced around for the entire trip) and put into boxes with almost no packing material. All three refunded portions of the price and/or all the shipping costs.

      Most of the remainder (all portables with cases) were packaged with a modicum of care (some packing material in the case and some outside the case with reasonable boxes) and showed up in reasonable condition.

      Two of the machines were local enough that I did a local pick up to ensure better care.

      Generally, it's a crapshoot, but this is also the reason why I don't spend more than $20 on any machine I get from them (except one reasonably rare German typewriter in the US and a Royal with a Vogue typeface that still came out at less than $100 because only one other person noticed its rarity in the photos).

      Only one of the machines was clean as a whistle and ready to type on day one. All the remainder required serious cleanings at a minimum. Two were missing internal pieces, two had repairable drawband issues, one had dramatically bad escapement issues, and one had a destroyed mainspring that I need to replace.

      Only one of the group had a platen with any life left in it. One had a completely unusable platen, but it was also relatively obvious in the photos. Most of the rest were hard, but usable.

      I live in the US and typically only bid on machines that are in the top 20% of their class cosmetically.

      I'll echo the thought of others that I wouldn't have a machine from them shipped directly to someone as a present unless I knew they were a tinkerer and had the mechanical ability, the facilities/tools, and desire to clean and service their own machine. Otherwise, I'd do that myself and ship it to them directly.


      reply to u/Tico_Typer at https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g28v6z/i_am_curious_about_the_shopping_goodwill_websites/

    1. Typing Technique and Typewriter Design by [[Will Davis]] and [[Dave Davis]]

      As early as 1932 Royal salesmen would use poor typing technique on purpose to cause skipping and piling and then use proper technique on their own machine to show how much better their typewriters were compared to the others.

      Some repair and service manuals had sections about tuning a typewriter to the level of technique of the user. These may have included 5-6 specific adjustments for allowance to a particular user's technique, as an example indicated in this video.

      "pounded out" - used by a heavy handed typist and now skipping (mentioned possibly in an Ames Repair Manual)

      In the mid-century, the service life of a standard machine was 1-3 years of continual (heavy) use. After this it would have been remanufactured or swapped out.

    1. I just got a 1950 version of this KMG this week in medium rough shape too. (My 7th Royal and my 2nd Standard)

      Looks like a Royal KMG with the Henry Dreyfuss glass tombstone keys in Gray Frieze paint. https://typewriterdatabase.com/Royal.KMG.72.bmys

      Mine has some minor carriage issues that I'm hoping clear up with some cleaning. Otherwise it may need some tools and internal repair work and/or parts. If yours is generally working, a good cleaning and oiling should get you going: https://boffosocko.com/2024/08/09/on-colloquial-advice-for-degreasing-cleaning-and-oiling-manual-typewriters/

      Diagram of parts: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RoyalKMGdiagram.jpg

      Manual of the prior model KMM which preceeded it, so the functionalilty should be almost exactly the same: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/RoyalKMM.pdf (Royal Standard internals were almost exactly the same from the Ten (1909) through the FP/Empress (1966).)

      Home Study Course in Typewriter Repair and Service: ca. 1959, published by the Typewriter Repair School in Little Falls, New Jersey. Focuses on the Royal KMM among others: https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/homestudycourse.pdf

      See also:<br /> - https://typewriterdatabase.com/manuals.php - https://typewriterdatabase.com/1968-Ames_Standard_SVC.royal-repair.manual - https://typewriterdatabase.com/1960-Ames_Gen_Cat_10-March.royal-parts-01.manual

      Searching on YouTube for cleaning and repair advice should help out a lot. Phoenix Typewriter has some solid videos on related models (search also the Royal X (ten), KH, KHM, KMM, KMG, HH, FP, and Empress which are all roughly the same internals with slightly different body styles.)

      If you need some basic typewriter 101, try: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJtHauPh529XYHI5QNj5w9PUdi89pOXsS

      reply to u/MajesticWear5478 https://old.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1g1i440/tips_for_cleaning_and_fixing_a_1949_royal/#lightbox

    1. The Office S4.E8 The Deposition, Nov 15, 2007<br /> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1031476/

      Michael is put in an awkward position when Jan sues Dunder Mifflin for wrongful termination and he is deposed as a witness.


      Jan: Remember, it's not just a pattern. It's a pattern of disrespect and inappropriate behaviors.

      Michael "Dis-ray." My friend Dis Ray got new specs. Dis Ray Spect. My friend In-A-Pro drives a Prius with his behind neighbor.

      Jan: Does this work for you?

      Michael: Yep.

      Michael Scott makes up some truly incredible (bad) mnemonics to try to memorize specific phrases for a deposition.

    1. Connecting Linkbetween twoSentences orParagraphs,

      Miles, 1905 uses an arrow symbol with a hash on it to indicate a "connecting link between two Sentences or Paragraphs, etc."

      It's certainly an early example of what we would now consider a hyperlink. It actively uses a "pointer" in it's incarnation.

      Are there earlier examples of these sorts of idea links in the historical record? Surely there were circles and arrows on a contiguous page, but what about links from one place to separate places (possibly using page numbers?) Indexing methods from 11/12C certainly acted as explicit sorts of pointers.

    2. Special Marks on Cards

      Eustace Miles suggests the use of "special marks on cards" (annotations) in the top left corners, though he doesn't provide specific examples of how they might be used in practice. He does mention "The Abbreviations and Marks need be clear only to the Writer [sic] himself. They save ever so much time."

      • "X": As contrasted with—
      • "Q": Quotation
      • Black triangle in corner: important
      • Arrow pointing to corner of card: As compared with
      • Angled parallel lines in the bottom right corner of card: End of Paragraph (or Chapter).
      • Arrow pointing to the corner of card with hash mark: Connecting Link between two Sentences or Paragraphs, etc.
      • Upside down V (or caret): An omission, e.g. to be filled in afterwards
      • ?: A doubtful point
    3. Special Marks on Cards

      In Miles' visual examples of cards, he presents them in portrait (rather than landscape) orientation.

      This goes against the broad grain of most standard card index filing systems of the time, but may be more in line with the earlier French use of playing cards orientation.

      His portrait orientation also matches with the size ratios seen in his Card-Tray suggestion on p187. https://hypothes.is/a/llEgpIf4Ee-dVfcaIGUryQ

    4. There should also be a Card-Tray, or abox with compartments in it, such as shown in thefollowing illustration. Of course the Tray might havean open top.

      Miles suggests using a Card-Tray (in 1899) with various compartments and potentially an open top rather than some of the individual trays or card index boxes which may have been more ubiquitous

      This shows a slight difference at the time in how an individual would use one of these in writing versus how a business might use them in drawers of 1, 2, 3 or cabinets with many more.

      The image he shows seems more reminiscent of a 5x3" library charging tray than of some of the business filing appliances of the day and the decade following.


      very similar to the self-made version at https://hypothes.is/a/DHU_-If6Ee-mGieKOjg8ZQ

    5. The Cards can be turned afterwards.

      Miles admits that one can use both sides of index cards in a card system, but primarily because he's writing at a time (1899) when, although paper is cheap (which he mentions earlier), some people may have an objection to the system's use due to the expense, which he places at the top of his list of objections. (And he does this in a book in which he emphasizes multiple times the ideas of selection and ordering!)

    6. Objections to the Card-System,

      Miles lists the following objections: - expense - inconvenience - unusual (new, novel)

      Notice that he starts not with benefits or affordances, but with the objections.

      What would a 2024 list of objections look like? - anachronism - harder than digital methods - lack of easier search - complexity - ... others?

    7. At first, also, it might be thought that the Cardswould be inconvenient to use, but the personal ex-perience of thousands shows that, at any rate forbusiness-purposes, exactly the reverse is true

      Miles' uses the ubiquity of card systems (even at the writing in 1899, prior to publication) within business as evidence for bolstering their use in writing and composition.

      (Recall that he's also writing in the UK.)

    8. Good Practice for this will be to studyLoisette's System of Memory, e.g. in "How to Remember"(see p. 264) ; in fact Loisette's System might be calledthe Link-System ; and Comparisons and Contrasts willvery often be a great help as Links.

      Interesting to see a mention of Alphonse Loisette here!

      But also nice to see the concept of linking ideas and association (associative memory) pop up here in the context of note making, writing, and creating card systems.

    9. include anything which links one Ideato another. See further " How to Remember " (to bepublished in February, 1900, by Warne & Co.).

      This book was finally published in 1905. The introduction was written in 1899 and the mentioned Feb 1900 publication of How to Remember didn't happen until 1901.

      Miles, Eustace Hamilton. How to Remember: Without Memory Systems or with Them. Frederick Warne & Co., 1901.

    10. If the Letter is important, especially if it be aBusiness-Letter, there should be as long an interval as isfeasible between the writing and the sending off.

      writing and waiting is useful in many instances, and particularly for clarity of expression.

      see also: <br /> - angry letter https://hypothes.is/a/6OoqHofyEe-1mtOohGA63w - diffuse thinking<br /> - typewriter (waiting) <br /> - editing (waiting) https://hypothes.is/a/VxRNeofvEe-5n1dpCEM48Q

    11. fter the Letter has been done it should beread through, and should (if possible) be read out loud,and you should ask yourself, as you read it, whetherit is clear, whether it is fair and true, and (last but notleast) whether it is kind. Putting it in another way,you might ask yourself, ' What will the person feel andthink on reading this ? ' or, * Should I eventually besorry to have received such a Letter myself? ' or, again,'Should I be sorry to have written it, say a yearhe

      Recall: Abraham Lincoln's angry letter - put it in a drawer

    12. You can prepare your Letters any-where, even in the train, and so save a great deal oftime ; and it may be noticed here that the idlenessof people, during that great portion of their lives whichthey spend in travelling and waiting, can easily beavoided in this way.

      Using a card system, particularly while travelling, can help to more efficiently use one's time in preventing idleness while travelling and waiting.

    13. But in my opinion nothing can excuse the laziness ofa great number of Editors. When the Writers arepoor and have staked a great deal on their Writings,then the laziness is simply disgusting : in fact, it amountsto cruelty. It is concerned with some of the verysaddest tragedies that the world has ever seen, andI only mention it because it is very common and be-cause itis as well that the novice should know what toexpect.
    14. Very few have the strength of mind tokeep back for a whole week a piece of Writing whichthey have finished. Type-writing sometimes necessitatesthis interval, or at any rate a certain interval.

      The process of having a work typewritten forced the affordance of creating time away from the writing of a piece. This allows for both active and diffuse thinking on the piece as well as the ability to re-approach it with fresh eyes days or weeks later.

    15. When an Article or Book has been written, it must betype-written before it is sent to the Editor or Publisher,that is to say, unless it has been ordered beforehand orunless you are well known. The reason is not simplythat Type-writing looks better than ordinary writing,and that it is easier to read, but it actually is a fact thatfew Editors or Publishers will read anything that is notType- written.

      Even as early as 1905 (or 1899 if we go by the dating of the introduction), typewritten manuscripts were de rigueur for submission to editors and publishers.

    16. Carlyle

      It bears noting in this book on writing and composition, Miles (nor the indexer if it was done by someone else) never uses Carlyle's first name (Thomas) in any of the eleven instances in which it appears, as he's famous enough in the context (space, time) to need only a single name.

    17. General Hints on Preparing Essays etc., in Rhyme.

      One ought to ask what purpose this Rhyme serves?

      • Providing emphasis of the material in the chapter;
      • scaffolding for hanging the rest of the material of the book upon, and
      • potentially meant to be memorized as a sort of outline of the book and the material.
    18. IN this Chapter I shall try to summarise the main partof this work, so that those who have not the time orthe inclination to go right through it may at any rategrasp the general plan of it, and may be able to referto any particular Chapter or page for further informa-tion on any particular topic.

      This chapter is essentially what one ought to glean from skimming the TOC, the Index, and doing a brief inspectional read (Adler, 1972).

    19. In these two latter sections it is aswell to emphasise the general advice, " Try a thing foryourself before you go to anything or anyone for infor-mation." You should try (if there is time) to work outthe subject beforehand ; and then, after you have reador listened to the information, you should note it downin a special Note-book, and if possible make certain ofunderstanding it, of remembering it, and of using it.

      Echoes of my own advice to "practice, practice, practice".

    20. But, the more heexamines the subject, and the more he goes by hispersonal experience, the more he will find it worthwhile to spend time on, and to practise carefully,fthisfirst department of Composition, as opposed to the mereExpression^] Indeed one might almost say that, if thisfirst department has been thoroughly well done, that isto say, if the Scheme of Headings and Sub-Headingshas been well prepared, the Expression will be a com-paratively easy matter.

      Definition of the "first department of composition": <br /> The preparation (mise en place) for writing as opposed to the actual expression of the writing. By this he likely means the actions of Part II (collecting, selecting, arranging) of this book versus Part III.

    21. One might think at first that it was a Universal Lawthat all Writing or Speaking should be so clear as tobe transparent. And yet, as we have seen, no readerof Carlyle can doubt that a great deal of his Forcewould be gone if one made his Writings transparent.If one took some of Carlyle's most typical works andparaphrased them in simple English, the effect wouldnot be a quarter as good as it is.

      How is this accomplished exactly? How could one imitate this effect?

      How do we break down his material and style to re-create it?

    22. In order to give the reader some chance of havinga good Collection of Headings, and less chance ofomitting the important Headings, I have offered (e.g.on pp. 83, 92) a few General Lists, which are not quitecomplete but yet approach to completeness ; two ofthese Lists will be found sufficient for most purposes.One of these is called the List of Period- Headings,such as Geography, Religion, Education, Commerce,War, etc. (see p. 83); the other is called the List ofGeneral Headings, and includes Instances, Causes andHindrances, Effects, Aims, etc. : this latter List will befound on p. 92.
    23. I shall try to give the ChiefFaults in Composition. The reader will see that thelist is long : and that, if he merely tries to write wholeEssays all at one 'sitting', he is little likely to escapethem all.S

      Attempting to escape the huge list of potential "Chief faults in composition" is a solid reason not to try to cram a paper or essay in a single night/day.

    24. Teaching is one of the best means of Learning, notonly because it forces one to prepare one's work care-fully, and to be criticised whether one wishes it or not,but also because it gives one a sense of responsibility :it reminds one that one is no longer working for selfalone.
    25. For instance, if a learner says to him ' Howshall I emphasise this idea?', the genius-writer willprobably be entirely at a loss : he will be unable tounderstand the state of mind of anyone who feels adifficulty here. He himself does the thing unconsciouslyand automatically : he ' knoweth not how '.

      It's difficult to teach when you've forgotten how you learned a thing yourself. It's hard to un-know a topic to empathize with the beginner.

    26. I often noticed that most Candidates inExaminations used to begin to write their Essays atonce. They never realised that their minds were there-by being distracted and divided among many differentprocesses, each of which is particularly hard even whentaken alone. For all at once their minds are being-called upon to Collect Ideas, to Select and decide whichare important, etc., to Arrange the Selected Ideas, andto Express them. To try all this as a single action is" most extraordinarily unscientific, even if a few brilliantgeniuses here and there have succeeded in the attempt.

      One of the major affordances of using a zettelkasten or card index for writing is that it forces the writer to break things down into their constituent parts, thereby making the entire process of writing far easier and less complex. One can separately focus their attention on the smaller steps of collecting, selecting, and arranging the material before beginning to actually write.

    27. For I do not think that the reason why so many peoplefail to write good Essays or to make good Speechesis so much that they are barren of Ideas, or that theirGrammar is bad, or even that their Expression is verybad ;

      he capitalizes five words here to emphasize their importance... I wonder what he says in his section on capitalization???

    28. The lesson surely is that to emphasise, in this way, anIdea which is felt to be important, is not an automaticprocess to most people ; it is not done instinctively, andby the light of nature. They may feel that the Ideaought to be Emphasised, but they do not know themeans.
    29. He must analysethe whole stroke, and must not attempt to do it asif it were a single unit. It is true that the bornplayer, by the light of genius, does the whole stroke asa whole stroke, and perhaps is not aware that it can feedivided into parts : he may even deny it. None theless it has often been proved that it can be divided intoparts, and that to master each part separately is a mucheasier .process than to -master the whole -at once. It is -notgoing too far to say that for average people to masterthe whole stroke at once is an absolute impossibility.

      Interesting to see this tennis analogy in writing in 1905 from a top-notch player who will win a silver metal in the 1908 Olympics...

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    1. Responsibility to the tree makes everyone pause before beginning.Sometimes I have that same sense when I face a blank sheet of paper.For me, writing is an act of reciprocity with the world; it is what Ican give back in return for everything that has been given to me. Andnow there’s another layer of responsibility, writing on a thin sheet oftree and hoping the words are worth it. Such a thought could make aperson set down her pen.
    1. Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain

      Ventura Highway, track 14 on the album Here & Now by America (1972-11-04)

      It’s unsure whether a connection between this lyric and the famous Prince song (which was released 12 years after “Ventura Highway”) exists, but at least two journalists from The San Diego Union and the Post-Tribune wrote that Prince got the phrase “Purple Rain” from here.

      Asked to explain the phrase “purple rain” in “Ventura Highway,” Gerry Beckley responded: “You got me.”

    1. In David Gerrold's The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode, he describes how he used a 12-pitch Selectric to type the 1967 episode. When the studio retyped it in pica (10-pitch) it came out to 90 pages and had to be cut down significantly to fit the show's running time.

      The difference amounts to approximately 3 words per page and about 50 words per page.

    1. The 2024 Phoenix Type-In by [[Joe Van Cleave]]

      Platen shrinkage

      • most typewriters are 6 lines per inch
      • 6.5 lines per inch based on actual measurement per JVC on one of his machines
      • 2mm shrinkage??
      • Per Bob/Typewriter Muse 1.1

      Bob had a machine that was supposed to be 1.27 but was measured at 1.259 when pulled off. So shrinkage of platens can be roughly fifteen hundredths of an inch (0.015" or about 0.4mm)

      Bob at Typewriter Muse custom tunes platens to the typewriter. Only place doing platens outside of JJ Short.

      JVC's partner took him to the Phoenix Type-in for her birthday.

      Bill Wahl of Mesa Typewriter Exchange

      grandfather started in the 40s<br /> bill started in 73<br /> part time help to 92 and now by himself<br /> does his benchwork after hours and chats during the day

      Ted Munk

      adding machine database consideration

      looking for service manuals for: - royal portables 50-59<br /> - skyriter 40s / 50s<br /> - sm9 service manual

      Royal Mercury manual is a clear, well-written manual. The Smith-Corona series 5 typewriter manuals are great too, though a bit more dense.

      Brian Goode and Christy organized this year's Phoenix Type-In.

    1. I’ve currently only fixed the platen and reconnected the space bar. Issue I’m having is the letters are really faint and cut off almost half way through.

      Often after you resurface a platen, it slightly changes the configuration of the platen with respect to the typeface. As a result one usually may need to do three adjustments in a specific order to get things to align properly again. These can definitely be done at home with some patience.

      Usually the order for tweaking is: * Ring and Cylinder adjustment (distance of platen from typeface; the type shouldn't touch the platen or you'll find you're imprinting on your paper, making holes in the paper and/or ribbon, which isn't good). Sometimes using a simple backing sheet can remedy a bit of this distance problem, especially on platens which have hardened or shrunk slightly over time. * On Feet adjustment (vertical adjustment so that letters are bright and clear and neither top or bottom of characters are too light/faint) Repair shops will often type /// or a variety of characters with longer ascenders/descenders to make sure that the type is clear from top to bottom. * Motion adjustment (the lower and upper case letters are at the same level with respect to each other) The best way to test this is to type a center character like HHHhhhHHH to see if they line up on the bottom (the last three Hs are usually done with the Shift Lock on to make sure that's properly set).

      You can search YouTube videos for your model (or related models) and these words which may uncover someone doing a similar repair, so you have a better idea of what you're doing and where to make the adjustments.

      Here's Joe Van Cleave describing some of it in one of his early videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0AozF2Jfo0

      The general principles for most typewriters are roughly the same with slight variations depending on whether your machine is a segment shift or a carriage shift. You should roughly be able to puzzle out which screws to adjust on your particular model to get the general outcome you want.

      Related blogposts: * https://munk.org/typecast/2022/01/23/adjusting-ring-cylinder-on-a-brother-jp-1/<br /> * https://munk.org/typecast/2013/07/30/typewriter-repair-101-adjusting-vertical-typeface-alignment-segmentbasket-shift-typewriters/

      You might find a related repair manual for your machine with more detail and diagrams for these adjustments via the Typewriter Database or on Richard Polt's typewriter site.

      For those not mechanically inclined you may be better off taking it onto a repair shop for a quick adjustment. https://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/tw-repair.html 

      Reply to u/Acethease at https://www.reddit.com/r/typewriters/comments/1d76ygx/got_a_as_a_gift_corona_3_recentlyish_and_i_need/

    1. I'm trying to find sources discussing Zettelkasten being used for research in natural sciences (for me most directly relevant is medical research). Does anyone know of any good sources or starting points? My preliminary searches haven't really resulted in anything meaningful unfortunatly (The best I've found sofar is this ZK Forum thread https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/2415/zettelkaesten-in-the-fields-of-science-and-history)

      reply to Signynt at https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/979886299785863178/1293207926013427733

      Does Carl Linnaeus' incarnation work? Isabelle Charmantier and Staffan Müller-Wille have a number of journal articles on his "invention" and use of index cards in his research and writing work. If you dig around you'll find references to Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz' use of index cards and the Arca Studiorum (Krajewski, MIT, 2011); Computer scientist Gerald Weinberg wrote Gerald M. Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method. New York, N.Y: Dorset House, 2005, which might appeal; you'll also find examples in physicist Mario Bunge, and, although he had a mixed practice of notebooks and index cards, W. Ross Ashby's collection of notes on complexity can be found at https://ashby.info/. Hundreds of other scientists and mathematicians had practices, though theirs typically fall under the heading of commonplace books (Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin, et al.) or as in the case of Isaac Newton and others the heading of "waste books". While looking at others' examples or reading about it may feel like it's going to get you somewhere (better?), having some blind faith and proceeding with your own practice is really the better way to go. Others have certainly done it. Generally it's far rarer for mathematicians, engineers, or scientists to write about their note making/methods so you're unlikely to find direct treatises the way you would for historians, sociologists, anthropologists, humanists, etc.

      syndication link: https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/979886299785863178/1293663556197417082

    1. H.S.WYNKOOP.-I have beeninterestedever sinceIhave beenMr.Wynkoop.inbusiness inthe lack ofstandardization in nearly everythingwehavehadtodealwith-notmerelyinthematterofthiscardsystemusedin theshop,but eveninourletterpaperandthevarioussizesofprints ordocumentsthatrunthroughtheoffice.SomeyearsagoItook thelettersheetusedbytheEdison GeneralElectricCompanyandusedthatasastandard,andImadeeveryformintheofficewhereIwasatthetimeeitherfull letter,halfletterordoubleletter,andsoon;anditwasastonishingtoseehow,whenthe employees got usedtotheidea ofstandard-sizedforms,every-thingfittedin,andfrommyownexperience Iwouldliketosecondthat ideaheartily.Wecould standardize in nearly everythingweconstruct inthewayof forms,shopstationery,and,verylargely,inour machines.Thestandardizationofelectricmotorsisre-ceiving greatattentionatpresent.
    1. Thus if P isthe set of all sets, we can apparently form the set Q = {Ae P| A ¢ A}, leading tothe contradictory Oe Q iff O¢€ Q. This is Russell’s paradox (see Exercise 1A)and can be avoided (in our naive discussion) by agreeing that no aggregate shallbe a set which would be an element of itself.

      Russell's paradox (1901) in set theory can be stated as:

      If $$P$$ is the set of all sets, one can form the set $$Q = {A \in P | A \notin A}$$ which can lead to the contradiction $$Q \in Q$$ iff $$Q \notin Q$$.

      This can be done by dividing P into two non-empty subsets, $$P_1 = {A \in p | A \notin A}$$ and $$P_2={A \in P | A \in A}$$. We then have the contradiction $$P_1 \in P_1$$ iff $$P_1 \notin P_1$$.

      The paradox happens when we allow as sets A for which $$A \in A$$. It can be remedied by agreeing that no collection can be a set which would be an element of itself.


      Relation to Groucho Marx's quote (earliest 1949) about resigning membership of a club which would have him as a member: https://hypothes.is/a/3_zAfITjEe-H5-PlfOlK8A

    2. Cohen (Independence of the Axiomof Choice; The Independence of the Continuum Hypothesis I, I1) completed theproof of independence for each by showing neither could be deduced from theexisting axioms (by showing the negation of each could consistently be added tothe Zermelo—Fraenkel axiom scheme). See P. J. Cohen (Set Theory and theContinuum Hypothesis) for a discussion of these results and his intuition about thecontinuum hypothesis. Another expository reference is Cohen (IndependenceResults in Set Theory).

      In 1963 Paul Cohen completed the work of Gödel by proving the independence of the axiom of choice and the continuum hypothesis from the Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory axioms. He did this by showing that neither could be deduced from the existing axioms and specifically by showing that the negation of each could be added to ZF consistently.

    3. Godel (The Consistency of the Axiom of Choice and of the Generalized Con-tinuum Hypothesis with the Axioms of Set Theory) proved in 1940 that additionof either the axiom of choice or the continuum hypothesis to existing set theoreticaxioms would not produce a contradiction.

      Gödel's breakthrough in 1940 was to prove that one could extend the axioms of set theory to include the axiom of choice or the continuum hypothesis without introducing contradictions.

    4. The basis for our intuitive set theory is the Zermelo—Fraenkel set theory developedby Zermelo (Untersuchungen tiber die Grundlagen der Mengenlehre J) andstrengthened by Fraenkel (Zu den Grundlagen der Cantor—Zermeloschen Mengen-lehre). Their work rests on the researches of Cantor in the 1870’s which first putmathematics firmly on a set-theoretic base. Zermelo’s work, in particular, was adirect response to the Russell paradox.
    1. On October 20, 1949 the Hollywood columnist Erskine Johnson published the tale. This is the earliest instance located by QI:[1] 1949 October 20, Dunkirk Evening Observer, In Hollywood by Erskine Johnson, Page 22, Column 5, Dunkirk, New York. (NewspaperArchive) Groucho Marx’s letter of resignation to the Friars’ Club: “I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.”

      https://quoteinvestigator.com/2011/04/18/groucho-resigns/

      ref: 1949 October 20, Dunkirk Evening Observer, In Hollywood by Erskine Johnson, Page 22, Column 5, Dunkirk, New York. (NewspaperArchive)

    1. https://www.amsterdamtypewriter.com/en-us/products/typewriter-care-kit-diy

      Amsterdam Typewriter's kit contains all the following essentials:<br /> * Brass wire brush (for cleaning the typeface) * Natural bristled brush (general cleaning purposes) * Microfiber cotton cloth (for polishing, gentle to paint) * New ribbon (black, red or black or purple color) * 3 compact cotton tissues (disposable, soak in cleaner or mild soap solution to clean typewriter) * Alcohol spray for cleaning (removes ink, oxidation, stains, surface rust) * Deodorizing spray (for disinfection and removing odor from cases and felt lining) * 10 Special cotton buds with long reach (do not leave cotton strings behind) * Our miracle polishing paste (wonderfully revives paint, also polishes on metal, paint, glass, fiberglass, plastic) * Leather rolling pouch for carrying * Comfy cotton bag for storage * Checklist for cleaning * Copy of manual with tips on cleaning of your typewriter and detailed steps

    1. Oliver Sacks Archive Heads to the New York Public Library by [[Jennifer Schuessler]]

      The voluminous papers of the celebrated neurologist include letters, notebooks, drafts and other traces of a man who couldn’t stop writing.

      You have to love the boos, notebooks, papers, fountain pen, typewriter, computer, printer, and even writing software all pictured in this... Add the glasses and it just reeks of someone who reads and writes.

    2. For Sacks, wrestling with the meaning of experience — his own, his patients’ — continued until the very end. One folder, with the jaunty title “Some Deaths I’ve Liked,” contains the wry and humorous last words of scientists and others, starting with his brother Michael, whose lifelong struggle with schizophrenia greatly affected Sacks. In his telling, Michael sat up abruptly in his hospital gurney and announced, “I’m going outside to smoke a cigarette,” before immediately falling dead.
    1. If Zettelkasten is the solution, what was the underlying problem?

      Asking my own zettelkasten this question: (responses in no particular order as individual affordances are sure to vary in usefulness by user; some framed as problems while others are framed as affordances, the difference should hopefully be clear to most):

      • information overload
      • mitigating time loss and context collapse in regularly interrupted work
        • Acts as a ratchet and pawl for thinking work
      • tool for thought, and a particularly inexpensive one
      • a catalytic surface for thought - see creativity
      • removal of cognitive bias by allowing direct juxtaposition of ideas
      • "a plan for life and not just a book"
      • creativity acceleration
      • artificial memory storage/improved memory
        • spaced repetition tool
      • improved search by indexing ideas over time
      • Clarity/specificity: it's a reminder to be specific about what you're thinking
      • a system for marshalling resources (collecting)
      • new context creation through context shifting and/or erasure
      • "slow burn" productivity
      • focusing attention
      • fun
      • serendipity generation
      • attempting to look cool by doing what the cool kids are doing (this usually results in failure modes however)
        • related: fear of missing out (FOMO)
    1. Beyond the cards mentioned above, you should also capture any hard-to-classify thoughts, questions, and areas for further inquiry on separate cards. Regularly go through these to make sure that you are covering everything and that you don’t forget something.I consider these insurance cards because they won’t get lost in some notebook or scrap of paper, or email to oneself.

      Julius Reizen in reviewing over Umberto Eco's index card system in How to Write a Thesis, defines his own "insurance card" as one which contains "hard-to-classify thoughts, questions, and areas for further inquiry". These he would keep together so that they don't otherwise get lost in the variety of other locations one might keep them

      These might be akin to Ahrens' "fleeting notes" but are ones which may not easily or even immediately be converted in to "permanent notes" for one's zettelkasten. However, given their mission critical importance, they may be some of the most important cards in one's repository.

      link this to - idea of centralizing one's note taking practice to a single location

      Is this idea in Eco's book and Reizen is the one that gives it a name since some of the other categories have names? (examples: bibliographic index cards, reading index cards (aka literature notes), cards for themes, author index cards, quote index cards, idea index cards, connection cards). Were these "officially" named and categorized by Eco?

      May be worthwhile to create a grid of these naming systems and uses amongst some of the broader note taking methods. Where are they similar, where do they differ?


      Multi-search tools that have full access to multiple trusted data stores (ostensibly personal ones across notebooks, hard drives, social media services, etc.) could potentially solve the problem of needing to remember where you noted something.

      Currently, in the social media space especially, this is not a realized service.

    1. Nevertheless, the very fact that I am going through my notes reflects a new habit I am trying to build, of setting time aside every week, and sometimes more often, deliberately to tend the oldest notes I have and the notes I created or edited in the past week. Old notes take longer, because I have to check old links and decide what to do if they have rotted away. Those notes also need to be reshaped in line with zettelkasten principles. That means deciding on primary tags, considering internal links, splitting the atoms of long notes and so on. At times it frustrates me, but when it goes well I do see structure emerging and with it new thoughts and new directions to follow.

      This is reminiscent of the idea that indigenous peoples regularly met at annual feasts to not only celebrate, but to review over their memory palaces and perform their rituals as a means of reviewing and strengthening their memories and ideas.


      Appropriate context for this: https://www.jeremycherfas.net/blog/a-garden-with-a-water-feature

    1. According to Settles & Meeder (2016) [19], spaced repetition is a method that learners can use to revise theconcepts after a specific interval that they had learned earlier

      So they've mentioned research in the 1960s, but rely on a 2016 paper for a basic definition of spaced repetition?

      I'm beginning to think that the entirety of this work is AI generated...

    2. Another study by Korolev & Lyalina (2021) [18] states that the use of the Zettelkasten method to makenotes has a significant impact on the learners as this creative approach to making notes relies upon making referencesand relationships between different ideas

      If this study actually says this, it's unlikely supported by direct research in that paper.

      Check it after reading: https://www.shs-conferences.org/articles/shsconf/abs/2021/17/shsconf_mtde2021_04008/shsconf_mtde2021_04008.html

    3. People are not aware of the phenomenally effective memorizing method known as the Spaced Interval Repetition(SIR) technique, which was mostly created in the 1960s.

      How can we take these researchers seriously if they're saying 1960s and not referencing Ebbinghaus?

      They're dropping random references at the drop of a hat without any seriousness, where's their references from the 1960s?

    4. dditionally, Zettelkasten is also referred to as a knowledge management system, which acts as aframework for organizing thoughts, ideas, and information [11].

      Why are they referencing this third party source that doesn't use the phrase "knowledge management"? It also only mentions zettelkasten once and references Ahrens which may have been a better reference here. Otherwise, why cite this line at all?

    5. However, studies suggest that theimpact of these methods of making notes is not very effective in learning as they do not help people connect with ideas.

      Which studies? Where?

    6. The Zettelkasten technique has been found to be more efficient and effective than note-making [6–8].

      I'll have to look closer at these, but they don't generally appear to be supported by research to back up this claim.

    7. The Zettelkasten technique is a unique, strategic way for individuals to think and write. It may be best characterizedas an organization system that assists people in organizing their information while working, making it one of the mostefficient knowledge management strategies (studying or researching) [2].

      A more solid definition of the form and structure of such a system is required here. I'm not sure what of these first two sentences they're referencing Helbig for here?

      I'm already highly suspicious of this paper now.

    1. Not that it couldn't be done, but I'll suggest that following the structure/order of a Luhmann-artig zettelkasten may be a bit more limiting or difficult for creating fiction.

      There's a rich history of researching, outlining, and writing with card indexes as part of the creative process. Perhaps looking briefly at some examples particularly focusing on fiction may be helpful? Once you've done this, you can pick and choose the portions and affordances that work best for your preferred way of thinking and working.

      Some quick examples:

      Perhaps querying my digital zettelkasten may be helpful for you? Start with: https://hypothes.is/users/chrisaldrich?q=tag%3A%27card+index+for+writing%27

      Ultimately, you can only spend so much time going down the rabbit hole of how you ought to do this work and taking suggestions or reading about how others have done it. The more difficult but more fruitful portion is to pick a method which seems like it will work for you and experiment with it by actually using or evolving it for yourself. How you start may not necessarily be how you end, but you won't know what's best for you if you don't start. Practice, practice, practice will get you much farther faster.

      reply to u/Atreides_Lion at https://reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/1ft4r3z/a_very_important_matter_for_me/

    1. Sam Harris speaks with Barton Gellman about election integrity and the safeguarding of American democracy. They discuss the war games he's run to test our response to an authoritarian president, using federal troops against American citizens, the difference between laws and norms, state powers to resist the federal government, voter identification and election integrity, political control over election certifications, the Bush-Gore election, the Electoral Count Reform Act, the prospect of public unrest after the November election, January 6th, George Soros, the "good people on both sides" calumny against Trump, what happens to Trump and Trumpism if Harris wins in November, the presidential debate with Harris, the authoritarian potential of a second Trump term, Project 2025, and other topics.

      Stress Testing Our Democracy: A Conversation with Barton Gellman<br /> Episode 384 of Sam Harris podcast<br /> https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/384-stress-testing-our-democracy

      Suggested by Flancian at FoTL

  2. Sep 2024
    1. He gives due honor to Frank & George7 I should like to keep it a few days to read your life. When this monument has been erected to Dr. D you should set about erecting your own in the shape of a really handsome Edition of the Origin that a gentleman could read8 EAD

      Footnote 8:

      The last edition of Origin published during CD’s lifetime was the 1876 reprint of Origin 6th ed., and had some corrections and additions to the text (Freeman 1977). This edition was produced in a cheaper form than previous ones, with small type and a relatively small page; a ‘gentleman’s’ edition usually had larger type and page size, with wider margins.

      Ref: Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11918,” accessed on 30 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11918.xml


      ᔥ[[Richard Carter]] in Mastodon at Sep 23, 2024, 08:20 AM (accessed:: 2024-09-30 01:34:36)

    1. The axiom o f choice. Suppose {Si}, i E I, is a family of nonemptysets. Then there is a function / from I into U / Si such that f(i) E Sifor each i e I.

      For any collection of non-empty sets, one can create a set by choosing one element from each set in the given collection.

      There are a variety of other equivalent ways to state this as well as names. One variation is Zorn's lemma.

    2. Geometrically, topologywas the study of properties preserved by a certain group of transformations, the homeomorphisms. Geometry itself can be considered as thestudy of properties preserved by certain types of functions; e.g., Euclideanmetric geometry is the study of properties preserved by rigid (that is,distance-preserving) transformations (known sometimes as congruences).(Of course, as with topology, it is somewhat unfair to try to define geometry as the study of one particular thing.)
    1. For the next hour and a half, he signed 141 copies with blue Sharpie pens, fortified by a mug of coffee that a museum staff member placed in front of him. The mug, which the museum sells for $19.95, boasts in all caps: “I Finished The Power Broker.”Caro usually dislikes cracks about the book’s length. But he seemed delighted by the mug.“Did you see this?” he asked, holding up his coffee.“I’m not supposed to say this,” he said, “but I kind of like it.”

      https://shop.nyhistory.org/products/mug-power-broker

    1. I twist together two lengths of kevlar fishing line that's 0.4mm diameter and rated for 29kg, so combined roughly 0.8mm diameter and ~58kg pull. This is about the sweet spot imo in terms of thickness, slim enough to fit in small routing holes on mainspring housings and thick enough to get a good sized knot when you tie it. It's also pretty close to the thickness of old sinew drawbands I've replaced. The rated strength is definitely overkill but better over than under. In practise a drawband shouldn't experience more than 750g-1,5kg of pull under normal use.

      u/Koponewt aka Pelicram's advice for using fishing line to replace drawbands.

    1. A business in agreement with Dul is Kibbitznest Books, Brews & Blarney on Clybourn in Sheffield Neighbors, which strives to be unplugged and WiFi free. The cafe, bar, bookstore, and venue has five typewriters provided by Kibbitznest, Inc., the nonprofit associated with the business, although only one typewriter is currently in working order and available to use by customers. Annie Kostiner founded both the nonprofit and business aspects of Kibbitznest (the for-profit cafe is now run by Paige Hoffman).
    2. That desire for a “digital detox” is frequently brought up amongst typewriter aficionados—it’s an escape from pop-up ads, spyware, AI-generated content, doomscrolling, deepfakes, obnoxious comments sections, and all the other headaches that hit you at Internet speed. A piece of paper in a typewriter, on the other hand, is a simpler connection of your thoughts tapped out letter by letter, mistakes and all.