(Via.)

From the NASA on The Commons’ photostream. Via Pop Loser.

Of the original Blue Marble photo, Leonard Shlain had this to say:

“Like a Chinese ideograph, NASA’s photograph of our blue marble conveyed multiple values simultaneously, values more intuitive than rational. The masculine perception of nature and the Earth itself as ‘things’ to be conquered made the space program possible. The photo it generated began to instill in everyone who saw it an understanding that the Earth must be honored, protected, and loved. That many environmentalists are men confirms this change in orientation. NASA’s photograph of the Earth floating in space provided people with ‘the big picture.’ One sees the big picture with the entire retina and the combined hemispheres. The inviting, mute image of the home planet floating in dark space did more to change the consciousness of its residents than the miles of type concerning the subject generated by the world’s writers.”

(Via Jeffrey Wells.)

(Via Awesome People Reading.)

(Via.)

(Via Boing Boing.)

(Via).

“Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love.” —Bill Hicks

(Via.)

—Alfred Hitchcock

(Via.)

(Via.)

STEVE JOBS AT HOME IN 1982 — “This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that’s what I had.” —Steve Jobs

(Via.)

Related reading: http://www.allaboutstevejobs.com/

One thing is for sure: college students used to dress better.

The Kaplan Daguerreotype of Abraham Lincoln, early 1840s

Meserve #1, 1848

This past January, National Geographic ran a fascinating story about the decaying rural North Dakota landscape.

Money Quote:

That’s the rub in rural North Dakota, a sense of things ebbing, of churches being abandoned, schools shutting down, towns becoming ruins. And all this decline exists amid a seeming statistical prosperity: Oil is booming, wheat prices are at record highs, and, as the average farm size grows, the land is studded with paper millionaires living in the lonely sweep of the plains, with surrounding community gone to the wind.

Be sure to check out the accompanying slide show.