Dr. Robert Hutson, inventor of the first Oral-B toothbrush, died last month (no free linkage anymore). He was San Jose’s first periodontal dentist, and, if I remember the obituary correctly, was appalled by the bruising on his patients gums caused by toothbrushes. He used the now common tufted layout and end-rounded bristles to help create a brush that was still tough on teeth but gentler to gums. This was in 1950, and Oral-B went on to become the leading toothbrush manufacturer. Oral-B toothbrushes traveled with the first moon landing.

In ancient times, some cultures used frayed tree branches to clean their teeth. Some web sources say that the Chinese invented the modern toothbrush (1498 A.D.) which was then brought to Europe. Boar bristles were used until the invention of nylon. Dr. West’s Miracle Tuft Toothbrush (an original ad, large gif) brought the truly contemporary toothbrush to the masses.

An interesting sidenote: here’s a WWII era ad for Scot Toilet Tissue which asks “With most doctors having to ration their time today and almost every hospital full to capacity–are you prepared for a possible home delivery?” It describes how to make your own protective masks from toilet tissue. Clever, huh?

Although I have been using my Palm Vx for a while now, I am not a master of Graffiti. The concept is excellent and I don’t mind being trained instead of training the software to understand how I write (though one day that will be the best model). But I always run into problems and end up bringing up the keyboard. I could practice more, I suppose. But I’ll definitely check out these tiny keyboards when they are released. Typing with my thumbs… I can do that! Unfortunately, it looks like it’ll be difficult to use with my Palm in its metal cover. (via Evhead)

8.5 million people in the U.S. have an autoimmune disease where their immune system is attacking some part or parts of their own body. 6.7 million, almost 80 percent, are female. Researchers have discovered that pregnancy may be a triggering factor. “During pregnancy a mother and fetus exchange body cells that can persist in one or the other’s circulation for years or even decades after birth.” When the molecules that identify cells as being the mother’s or the child’s are too similar, the immune system can get confused and attack the wrong cells postpartum. Type 1 diabetes, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis are some examples of autoimmune disorders. Scientists have realized they need to study these as a group.

We saw a very cool looking computer at an open house. It was much more interesting than the house, especially since we discovered that the house was priced at over a million dollars (and not a mansion by any means). Turns out it was a 20th Anniversary Macintosh. It’s a sleek model that escaped my notice in 1997. The audio and video features sound impressive for the time. But CPUs never age well.

Parents of Original Milk Carton Child Give Up Hope. The boy whose disappearance sparked national awareness of missing children has never been found. His father is declaring him legally dead in order to proceed with a civil suit against the man they believe is reponsible for his death. His mother won’t sign the documents that ask he be declared dead, but she’s not opposing the action. The father is, most certainly, propelled by the chance to seek some form of justice, or he very likely wouldn’t want to sign either. A NY Times article on the subject.

The Diablo II Expansion Pack will be released in a couple weeks or less. Just as the wedding planning ramps up. pooh. Runes are new and look to be very interesting and useful. The rarest of them makes weapons and defense items indestructible.

There should be a “wedding planning confessions” site. Here’s my contribution about invitations: even though all the books say you should write out the complete address with no abbreviations, I simply refused to write out the state names. Except for a couple of the short ones. I didn’t even use the old style medium length abbreviations (which you can see on this chart). I used the common two letter postal codes. It’s a good thing I’m not inviting Miss Manners or the President.

This is probably rather common now in other countries, but it’s the first time I’d seen it. The Stereo MC’s “register for more info” form has a field for “mobile no.” so they can send you text/SMS messages. (You may remember the Stereo MC’s for their single “Connected” way back in the early 1990s. They have a new album out finally after 9 years, and it supposedly takes up the groove where the last one left off. They’re touring a bit too — I noticed their return from a flyer advertising their appearance in Boston.)

In college there were always rumors about students tunneling, an activity that supposedly was grounds for immediate expulsion. The rumors were more about MIT fraternities using Wellesley’s steam tunnels for secret rituals, rather than our own students running around underground, but I often wondered what was behind those padlocked basement doors. When there was snow on the ground, the track of the steam tunnels was obvious as the heat would melt the snow above. But I never braved the chance for expulsion. There are numerous websites devoted to college tunnels, such as UC Berkeley. Wired wrote about it in 1993. Away from campus, explorers conquer inaccessible areas of cities, such as hidden sections of Grand Central Station in NYC. You can’t get expelled but you can get fined and jailed for trespassing. These urban explorers often seek out abandoned buildings in their modern archeological excursions. Last year, a documentary was released chronicling the homeless who took shelter in abandoned Amtrak tunnels underneath Manhattan.

If you’ve known me for a while, you know I have a penchant for see-through electronics. Here, via Memepool, is a page devoted to a clear MacSE. Of course many of the latest Apple products have some amount of clearness to them. Once I was in an audio store and asked the salesguy how much the neato clear speaker was. He said “uh, that’s a demonstration model so you can see what’s inside.” Hmph. Harman Kardon’s funky clear speaker set is still Mac only; their PC speakers are the usual yawn beige and black.