2012-05-25
post/23755724786
Navstar by San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives on Flickr:
Providing continuous global coverage in all weather, the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System will give suitably equipped users three-dimensional positioning and velocity information and a precise timing reference in real time. Besides routine navigation, possible applications include search-and-rescue operations, land and aerial rendezvous, and geodetic surveys.
This Rockwell International promotional image presumably predates the launch of the first NAVSTAR satellite in 1978.
2011-05-16
post/5550582234
All Hail the PUBLIC Library at On the Commons.
On Saturday I went to a talk at Noe Valley’s library - one of twenty-eight branches in the city, not counting their mobile library service - about public libraries, by Robert Dawson, who’s been photographing them for nearly two decades.
Unfortunately, one of the anecdotes he used - that no American libraries closed during the Depression - turns out not the be true. However, this quote shows how valuable libraries were - and were perceived to be.
I also didn’t realise that public - as opposed to university or subscription - libraries were invented in the US. Definitely a worthwhile talk, and the photographic exhibition is still on at the main branch of the SFPL.
