As a long time subscriber to Archaeology Magazine, it will probably come as no surprise that something like this might interest me: Google has put together a virtual simulation of ancient Rome which includes 7000 buildings available to you via the Google Earth program (for those few of you who haven’t played with this, it’s a free software from Google that renders the globe in three dimensions). Zoom in on Rome circa 320 AD when it was a bustling city of 1 million souls under the Emperor Constantine. Warning: fast graphics card required, fast internet connection recommended. Don’t have Google Earth? Download it here. Watch the video to learn how to access ancient Rome.

I was tipped off to a disturbing piece of slander which I felt compelled to address. I can’t find the original (if you know the origin let me know), but there are posts around the internet stating that in Irish Gaelic McCain means “Son of Cain” attempting to tie McCain to that brother-murderer in the bible (1 John 3:12) through some kind of naming-destiny argument too ridiculous to believe. Although I personally dislike McCain for his dirty deals, infidelity, and constant flip-flopping on the issues, I can’t let this one stand.
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On occasion I’ll stumble into a conversation about life expectancy. Almost invariably, someone is suggesting that humans are living so much longer today than they once did at such and such a time. Since I’m particularly interested in Roman/Celtic times, as well as the period of the American Revolution I’ve often been puzzled by these statements because so many of the characters I’ve read about seem to have lived to a great age. At issue seems to be a mis-application of the facts of statistics.
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There was a time in my life when hanging out was synonymous with games. Video games, let alone personal computers were still in their infancy at the time and we had all grown up role-playing, so tabletop games were a natural extension of that interest. It didn’t matter where we ended up hanging out, there was usually some kind of game involved, though the games with all the little chits and cards were only busted out when we weren’t role-playing. There were lots of different classes of games, but a favorite was that of the “beer and pretzel” variety - games that evoked the spirit of role-playing in some way with none of the messy thinking.

Games like Wiz-war, Space Hulk, and Talisman were turn-based games were you rolled the die, moved your piece (which was usually a painted model of some kind since you had a ton of them anyway), and worked out your encounters so the next guy could go. Then you were free to grab another beer or go and twiddle with the stereo for a few minutes. Though I can’t say that Talisman ever was a personal favorite, it was good to haul it out of the closet again to recapture that spirit.
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I first came across the following 8th grade test posted on the soc.culture.irish newsgroup. So much has changed in only a little over a 100 years, and that is quite evident in the subject matter of the test. Good grammar and knowledge of geography were obviously considered more important than they are today, and the math questions were of a very practical nature. Doing well on this test meant you were well prepared to succeed in the business of the day which at least in the midwest was probably going to have something to do with farming, but it also meant that you would be able to correspond with others using the written word and that you had a basic knowledge of American as well as Earth history.

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The 20 sided die evokes memories of all night Dungeons and Dragons gaming sessions. I never imagined them being rolled in ancient Rome! Gaming blogs were all over this story when it first broke in 2003 when Christies announced it was auctioning off a Roman 20 sided die. I guess I just don’t run in the crowd of folks that can afford to plunk down $18,000 for such a bauble, but I have to admit that it’s intriguing. Measuring 2 and 1/16 inch wide and covered in arcane symbols, Christies claimed the deep blue-green glass piece was made sometime around the 2nd century AD. The die was supposed to have been found in Egypt in the 1920s by the father of the seller. Most of the blogs I have found have the same information, all gleaned from the Christie’s website lot info (no longer on the web), and all mentioned that ’several polyhedra with similar symbols are known from the Roman period’, but I can’t find anything (quickly) to support this statement (yet?). The fact that a University professor in Maryland paid the aforementioned exorbitant sum for the die at auction does not provide enough evidence for me that it’s not just an early 20th century oddity passed off as an ancient die. If anyone has any information about other polyhedra of this type, or can point to a scholarly study of the piece in question, please let us know!

I’ve made it a point since last year to visit the Web Gallery of Art at least once a week and discover something new by digging into it’s vast archive of paintings. Images are hosted on servers at the Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. I’ve been concentrating on images of musicians, downloading my favorites and adding the associated text. It’s been a great source of new desktop wallpapers at work, too!