This video is a collaboration of 200 students at Kansas State University. What do you think? Comments accompanying this videos are divided on whether teaching methods are indeed hopelessly outdated or whether students are just slackers. Push play or go to YouTube. See other videos and read more at Digital Ethnography. Link
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This video is a collaboration of 200 students at Kansas State University. What do you think? Comments accompanying this videos are divided on whether teaching methods are indeed hopelessly outdated or whether students are just slackers. Push play or go to YouTube. See other videos and read more at Digital Ethnography. Link
Since the beginning of trade, communities have experimented with exchange mediums. These may seem strange now, but they made sense to someone at the time and place they were in use.
(image credit: Eric Guinther)
Recycled money? It’s been done. Until the mid-19th century, several nations in the Caribbean had no currency or mint of their own. So when they exchanged foreign money, they counterstamped it and made it their own. The stamping would render the money unusable in the its country of origin, but legal tender on St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St. Lucia, Montserrat, Grenada, Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The island of Dominica used a heart-shaped cutout to recycle the pictured coin.
The guinea was once part of the British monetary system. You know of pounds, shillings, and pence, but the gold guinea coin was a variable amount tied to the price of gold. The original gold guinea coin was worth a pound (20 shillings), but as the price of gold rose, its worth creeped up. Over a couple of hundred years, the amount of gold in the coin was adjusted several times. During the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea coin was retired in favor of the pound note. But the amount of 21 shillings (£1+1s) was still referred to as a guinea. In Victorian times, this disparity was used for class distinction.
While we’re on the subject of British currency, the farthing was a coin worth a qurter of a penny. They stopped minting it in 1956.
Canadian Tire money is a promotional coupon program issued by Canadian Tire which started in 1958. Tire money is given out as bonuses when purchases are made and can be redeemed at face value at any Canadian Tire store or gas station, including the amount for taxes. Some merchants besides Canadian Tire accept tire money, because after all, they buy gasoline, too.
Katanga crosses were used as currency in the copper mining region of what used to be Zaire, in Africa. They are made of copper and range from about a half-pound to 2.5 popunds. They are also associated with ritual, as they were buried with the dead. The crosses predate Christianity in the area, but missionaries adapted the symbolism of the cross for their own purposes. Katanga was an independent nation for a brief period, from 1960-1963, during which time they issued new national coins, francs, with a picture of the Katanga cross on them!
Siamese porcelain tokens (pees) began as tokens used in a casinio game called Fantan around 1820. These were much easier to use than the bars of silver that was legal tender in Siam at the time. The coins became so popular that they were used in trade throughout the kingdom until they were banned in 1875. Pees could be exchanged for silver coins, so unscrupulous businessmen ordered porcelain tokens from China at a discount. To counter, the casinos changed designs on the tokens often, and there may now be as many as eight thousands different designs. Despite the ban, pees were used as underground money well into the twentieth century, and can be found in antique shops and from coin dealers worldwide.
Kissi Money was used in the west African region that is now the nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. These twisted iron bars had a “T” shape at one end and a hoe-like spatula shape at the other. The length varied from 9 to 15 inches, depending on the value.
Kissi money was gradually replaced by western currencies in the 20th century, and is now used only for ritual ceremonies, sacrifices, and to decorate graves.
Manchukuo was a puppet state in Manchuria created by the Japanese occupation in 1932 until the end of World War II. The Manchukuo yuan was a currency unit instituted by the Japanese for use in the occupied area. There were 100 fen in one yuan. In 1944 and 1945, the supply of metal was low due to the war, and 1 fen and 5 fen coins were made of “red or brown fiber”, resembling cardboard!
The newest currency is strange because of it intended purpose. Scientists from the National Space Centre and the University of Leicester have designed the QUID, short for Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination. This money is designed to be used in space, where traveling distances can be too far for electronic transfers. Quid coins have rounded edges, so they won’t damage anything if they float in zero gravity.
Rai stones.
(image credit: Eric Guinther)
Recycled coins.
Recycled money? It’s been done. Until the mid-19th century, several nations in the Caribbean had no currency or mint of their own. So when they exchanged foreign money, they counterstamped it and made it their own. The stamping would render the money unusable in the its country of origin, but legal tender on St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, St. Lucia, Montserrat, Grenada, Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The island of Dominica used a heart-shaped cutout to recycle the pictured coin.
The British guinea.
The guinea was once part of the British monetary system. You know of pounds, shillings, and pence, but the gold guinea coin was a variable amount tied to the price of gold. The original gold guinea coin was worth a pound (20 shillings), but as the price of gold rose, its worth creeped up. Over a couple of hundred years, the amount of gold in the coin was adjusted several times. During the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea coin was retired in favor of the pound note. But the amount of 21 shillings (£1+1s) was still referred to as a guinea. In Victorian times, this disparity was used for class distinction.
A guinea was £1-1s-0d (which is £1.05) and could be written as '1g' or '1gn' or, in the plural, '3gs' or '3gns'. It was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. You paid tradesmen, such as a carpenter, in pounds but gentlemen, such as an artist, in guineas. It was a tradition in the legal profession that a barrister was paid in guineas but kept only the pounds, giving his clerk the shillings (they were all men then).
While we’re on the subject of British currency, the farthing was a coin worth a qurter of a penny. They stopped minting it in 1956.
Canadian Tire money.
Canadian Tire money is a promotional coupon program issued by Canadian Tire which started in 1958. Tire money is given out as bonuses when purchases are made and can be redeemed at face value at any Canadian Tire store or gas station, including the amount for taxes. Some merchants besides Canadian Tire accept tire money, because after all, they buy gasoline, too.
Katanga crosses.
Katanga crosses were used as currency in the copper mining region of what used to be Zaire, in Africa. They are made of copper and range from about a half-pound to 2.5 popunds. They are also associated with ritual, as they were buried with the dead. The crosses predate Christianity in the area, but missionaries adapted the symbolism of the cross for their own purposes. Katanga was an independent nation for a brief period, from 1960-1963, during which time they issued new national coins, francs, with a picture of the Katanga cross on them!
Siamese gambling tokens.
Siamese porcelain tokens (pees) began as tokens used in a casinio game called Fantan around 1820. These were much easier to use than the bars of silver that was legal tender in Siam at the time. The coins became so popular that they were used in trade throughout the kingdom until they were banned in 1875. Pees could be exchanged for silver coins, so unscrupulous businessmen ordered porcelain tokens from China at a discount. To counter, the casinos changed designs on the tokens often, and there may now be as many as eight thousands different designs. Despite the ban, pees were used as underground money well into the twentieth century, and can be found in antique shops and from coin dealers worldwide.
Kissi Money, the coin with a soul.
Kissi Money was used in the west African region that is now the nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. These twisted iron bars had a “T” shape at one end and a hoe-like spatula shape at the other. The length varied from 9 to 15 inches, depending on the value.
If an iron rod would accidentally break, it could no longer circulate and its value could only be restored in a special ceremony performed by the Zoe, the traditional witchdoctor – often the blacksmith – who, for a fee, would rejoin the broken pieces and reincarnate the escaped soul. Therefore, it was said that Kissi money was ‘money with a soul’.
Kissi money was gradually replaced by western currencies in the 20th century, and is now used only for ritual ceremonies, sacrifices, and to decorate graves.
Manchukuo fiber coins.
Manchukuo was a puppet state in Manchuria created by the Japanese occupation in 1932 until the end of World War II. The Manchukuo yuan was a currency unit instituted by the Japanese for use in the occupied area. There were 100 fen in one yuan. In 1944 and 1945, the supply of metal was low due to the war, and 1 fen and 5 fen coins were made of “red or brown fiber”, resembling cardboard!
Space Quid.
The newest currency is strange because of it intended purpose. Scientists from the National Space Centre and the University of Leicester have designed the QUID, short for Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination. This money is designed to be used in space, where traveling distances can be too far for electronic transfers. Quid coins have rounded edges, so they won’t damage anything if they float in zero gravity.
Lisa is a veterinarian with a three-year old Serval {wiki} named Kobi. Push play or go to YouTube. See more Kobi videos at Lisa’s YouTube page.
The Rockettes have nothing on this dancing cockatoo! Push play or go to YouTube. -via a comment at Metafilter
If you think you have a messy work desk (like mine), this collection of desks that fail the tidy test will make you feel super-organized! Link -via the Presurfer
The Sisters of Fraternity Notre Dame set up a soup kitchen in New York in 1991. They also work with AIDS patients. They do not proselytize, just work to serve others. But they picked up a hobby!
Shortly after their arrival, they began to study the martial arts. The thought of using it on the streets to protect themselves was not the reason they began training. It was purely for exercise and recreation. One of the sister's, Mary Chantel, had earned a black belt in judo before entering the convent. She was eager to resume the sport and found a place for all of them to work out.
Witness Magazine has a photo essay on the sisters, including several karate pictures near the end. http://visionproject.org/mag/nuns/index.php -via Metafilter
Tardigrades (water bears or moss piglets) are tiny creatures who can survive being frozen, boiled, dehydrated, and irradiated. They can even survive in the vaccuum of space! There are over 900 species of water bears; see some at Dark Roasted Blend. Link
Those bubbles are BIG! This video contains the recipe for super-tough bubble formula. Push play or go to 5min Life. -via the Presurfer
Less than three weeks til Halloween; what costume are you going to wear this year? mental_floss has a gallery of ten costumes that gained internet fame over the past few years that may give you some inspiration. Link
Disclaimer: I wrote this.
St. Wilgefortis became popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. She was known by names that translated as “Strong Virgin” and “The Liberator”. Legend says that the young noblewoman prayed to be delivered from an arranged marriage and miraculously grew a beard that broke the deal. The actual story is even stranger! Read about it at Curious Expeditions. http://www.curiousexpeditions.org/2007/10/miracle_beard.html
The Inaugural General Assembly of the World Toilet Association will have its first gathering next month. In honor of the occasion, founding member Sim Jae-duck of South Korea built this toilet-shaped house south of Seoul.
"Among its many amenities, the house features four deluxe toilets," said the group, started in South Korea and dedicated to providing clean sanitation to the more than 2 billion people who live without toilets.
The home has a showcase bathroom located in its centre. Other toilets have features that range from elegant fittings to the latest in water conservation devices.
Link -via Arbroath
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