Happy Thought for 29 August 2025

Have a Happy Thought: 

One of the early dreams for the internet was that all of human knowledge would be available for everyone. While we haven’t quite reached that, there are still some corners of the internet, and dedicated people, that are doing their part to make this happen.

You all know about Wikipedia, which has become one of the more reliable parts of the internet to start research on something (read the article, then follow the sources).

I’ve also recently learned about the Survivor Library, which, while it is a little bit “prepper” in origins, is an amazing “compendium of the Technological and Industrial Knowledge of the 1800 through early 1900s with a few books from even earlier periods.” Want to learn about beekeeping; or how to make (or repair) a good shoe by hand; or re-read the Encyclopedia Britannica Great Books Of The Western World; or even refresh yourself on the rules of Whist – this is a great place to go.

Some of you may remember me talking about the wayback machine, which in addition to archived versions of webpages also has manuals for almost any home appliance (as well as lots of other things to explore).

TIL (Today I Learned) that the Louvre is joining the world of open data, by putting online its entire collection. That’s right, you can now search more than 500,000 works of art, from images of statues and paintings (yes, the Mona Lisa is there), to items that aren’t even on display!

Here’s a few things that caught my eye.

There are 22 images of the famous Venus de Milo sculpture – from full photos at different angles, to close-ups of some of the fine detail work.

Or maybe you’ve always been fascinated by the enigmatic is-it-a-smile of the Mona Lisa? 13 images of this famous Da Vinci painting await you, from a full image to close-ups of various parts.

Or maybe you want to brush up on your Punic script (writing used by the ancient empire of Carthage). The cool thing is that this piece, along with many others now available on this online catalogue, are not currently on display at the Louvre – so you really can explore the back collections, too. (By the way, the rough translation of the script on this stele is: "To the lady - to Tinnit the face of Baal, and to the lord - to Baal Hammon".)

Or maybe you’re more into every-day items, like this beautifully crafted chain-belt from 16^th century Germany:

There is so much more to explore – and if you want a more professional summary, you can check out this article, that let me know about this initiative (and thereby let you all know, too!)