According to “The Ultimate Brownie Book,” blondies came before brownies. Brownies were a variation. I always thought it was the other way around. The first known brownie recipe from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 “Boston Cooking School Cookbook,” doesn’t include chocolate but has molasses and was “browned” giving it its name. The 1918 edition which is online has a listing for brownies which includes chocolate in the cookies section, but also has a molasses version in Cakes. I’ll have to check the 1896 reprint next time I see it in a bookstore to see if both versions existed then. A search on blondies in the 1918 cookbook doesn’t turn up anything, but there is likely something similar under a different name.

Assembling your own furniture from flat-pack can be rewarding, but is often frustrating. IKEA’s directions, which are graphical so as to be understood in any language, are clear, but not helpful with ambiguities and potential errors. I was toying with the idea of creating an online database of IKEA furniture assembly tips that customers could search before picking up their screwdrivers. It would have tips specific to each item, contributed by past assembers. Comments like: “There are two types of pointy screws, one has a rounded head and the other is flat but they both look flat in the directions. Don’t get them mixed up.” and “The wooden pegs won’t look like they fit in the right holes, but, don’t worry, they will.” Stavros Antifakos from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology is working with a team to make the furniture pieces themselves recognize their state of assembly with sensors, microchips and LEDs. If you try to force a piece into the wrong position, an LED may flash to warn you. Would this cut down on frustration or would we just find ourselves arguing with annoying blinking lights? I’d like to be a usability subject for this one if IKEA considers it for production — provided I get to use an electric screwdriver.

In a Guardian article about the disposition of a violin collector’s unexpectedly large trove of instruments, Graham Wells, founder of Sotheby’s musical instruments department is quoted as saying: “The violin trade has always been corrupt. Compared with the rest of the art and collectors’ market, and even with other instruments, only violins, because of their rarity, history and immense value, attract this level of corruption, with auction houses and the trade – and, of course, musicians who cannot afford these instruments – all suffering as a result.” This fact becomes clear in the convoluted tale of Gerald Segelman’s estate, as the lawyers for his charitable trust tussle with the dealer entrusted with selling, at fair market value, the many violins Segelman had collected. Along the way the female companion of the deceased claimed ownership of the collection and it was eventually discovered that there were even more instruments whose existence the dealer never disclosed to the trustees. Multiple lawsuits were filed. The remainder of Segelman’s collection now sits deteriorating in storage at Sotheby’s, awaiting its fate.

Speaking of violins, San Francisco Symphony concertmaster Alexander Barantschik has an arrangement to play Jascha Heifetz’s Guarnerius violin, which he willed (for unknown reasons) to the De Young Museum in San Francisco. The violin is known as “The David” after Ferdinand David, who premiered Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto on it in 1845. Heifetz’s will stated that it be used “on special occasions by worthy performers.” The agreement between the museum and the SF Symphony is for three seasons.

You know you’ve married a geek when you send your husband the URL to the Nerd Watch Museum and he sends you back the URL of the one he had. (via Yahoo Picks)

Useful: capsule information on the U.S. Supreme Court Judges (thanks kitty!).

Jerry Kindall was able to find more web info on the nonexistent map destinations by virtue of knowing the story of the towns “Goblu” and “Beatosu.” These fake towns were listed in Michigan’s official state highway maps for 1978-1979 and refer to the rivalry between University of Michigan (blue) and Ohio State University. Of course those probably weren’t placed for copyright infringement as much as school spirit. These two town names also led Jerry to a Straight Dope article on this very topic. The term for this is “copyright traps” and readers of the column sent in a few. Thomas Guides, a popular California car accessory, are also perpetrators of this tactic. And a poster to an alt.folklore.urban thread claims that Etak, the digital map people, also use copyright traps, with one employee promoting their driveway to a street and naming it after him/herself. Perhaps if you want to make finding online directions to your home easier, you could get an insider to use you as a copyright trap. “Just go to maps.yahoo.com and search for my cat’s name. That’s my house.”

Diet Vanilla Coke is reportedly coming in October. I finally tried regular Vanilla Coke and my reaction was “they’ve managed to change the aftertaste of Coke to be vanilla.” It’s not something I’d go out of my way to drink, but then I don’t usually drink colas. While I was looking for the Vanilla Coke I noticed something new which turned out to be Clearly Canadian in new bottles. I loved their old bottles which had a distinctive shape. The new sleeker shape was rolled out a couple years ago and now they’ve pumped up the label graphics. It’s snazzy but not my style.

While skimming through an article about ordering paper maps online I discovered a fact that was new to me. Mapmakers at Hagstrom and AAA add a nonexistent destination to every map in order to protect their copyright. The director of cartography at Hagstrom says “Every map has a few signature streets, usually something off a cul de sac where you’re not going to lead someone astray, and our researchers name them after their cats or something.” I idly wondered if there are people who make a hobby out of finding the fake streets on maps. If so, it’s not easy to find them on the web, so if you know of a site that lists fake map locations, send it along. I did find an old article that called these copyright features “key traps” and “paper streets”. It also quotes someone who says that mapmakers have always done this to protect their work. But a Rand McNally spokesman says that their maps are as accurate as possible, with nothing fictitious. That’s bad news for the cats of Rand McNally mapmakers.

Feeling nostalgic for 1960s Disneyland or want to do some advance planning for a trip to Six Flags Over [take your pick]? Theme Park Brochures has brochures and maps from parks all over the world. From the 1964 Disneyland brochure: “KEN-L-LAND Located to the right outside the Main Entrance. You may leave your pet in an airy, individual enclosure at a cost of 25 cents for the day. The charge includes a choice of Ken-L-Ration pet food ‘dinner.'” Disneyland still has a Kennel Club where they will take care of your pet for the day at a cost of $10. Yesterland lists Disney’s discontinued attractions and they have a photo of Ken-L Land. Sponsors since then have included Kal Kan, Gaines, and Friskies. (thanks kafka!)

Reader Mail
Marc Takeno sent me three great links. First, in response to yesterday’s Starbucks post, he pointed me at an interesting Seattle Times article that describes the competition between Tully’s and Starbucks in Japan. Tully’s is holding its own with a smoking section (Starbucks is smoke-free) and an older clientele who stay loyal to their brand. Starbucks is trying to transition from being a trendy brand enjoyed by young consumers to having some staying power in a fickle market. The next link from Marc is the NASA Java applet that lets you see the path of the satellites orbiting our home planet. Examine the cluster of satellites in geosynchronous orbit over North America sending info to those little dishes attached to houses. Figure out which Iridium satellite you’d be using if you had one of their phones. And marvel at how far away the GPS satellites are when you can use a handheld device to access their transmissions. Last link from Marc: A Pringles can turned wireless Internet antenna.