MetaFilter posts tagged with Edison

Oldest recorded voice

stbalbach — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:34:55 -0800

Last year we discussed a recently discovered 10-second audio recording from 1860 that was thought to be the oldest known recorded human voice, a girl or woman singing the 18th century French folk song “Au Clair de la Lune”. Turns out, it was being played too fast - slow it down and it's the voice of the inventor himself. As well, a number of other recordings have been found, pushing back the oldest recording to 1857. Hear it all on NPR (5-min). “Au Clair de la Lune” various renditions. *France Gall - Au clair de la lune (1964) *Café Crème 2 *au claire de la lune *Au Clair de la Lune

Keep it radical, good chap!

loquacious — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:58:13 -0800

We've had quite a few lovely posts over the years about people on bikes and skateboards and all these fine new sports that those crazy kids are in to these days, whether it's charging it, huckin' or riding in all its myriad of forms. New, yeah? Here's your great-great-granddad showing you what for with some barspins and suchlike novelties on a heavy old fixie. Stick around for the full-pipe attempt at the end. Directed and filmed by Thomas Edison.

She's not a brick house

klangklangston — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:06:24 -0800

Thomas Edison's Concrete Houses From 1902 to roughly 1917, Edison was in the concrete business, and concrete houses would be one of his biggest failures. Shown here and here as models, Edison promised that they would be the salvation of the slum-dweller, priced at $1000 each (a third the cost of a new home at the time). He even made concrete furniture. Many of the houses still stand on Ingersoll Terrace," Union, NJ.

Researchers Play Tune Recorded Before Edison See also Phonoautograph

y2karl — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:49:18 -0800

Researchers Play Tune Recorded Before Edison
The Phonoautograph
The history of the Phonoautograph. A technology in which you can still buy stock.

I (Y)am The Genius

humannaire — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:09:37 -0800

Yoshiro Nakamatsu aka Dr. NakaMats has invented everything, other than all the other stuff that the rest of us have invented. He has 3218 patents to his name. (Edison had 1093.) Among his many inventions? The compact disc, the compact disc player ('natch), the digital watch, a unique golf putter, the floppy disk (!), and a water-powered engine. Besides being the founder of the World Genius Convention (where the world first learned of ingenuity of ADR ceramic disks, for instance), Dr. NakaMats was voted by the US Science Academic Society as one of five greatest scientists in history - in the company of Archimedes, Michael Faraday, Marie Curie, and Nikola Tesla - and he plans to live until 144!

Clean that Wax Out Your Ears

elr — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 01:46:57 -0800

Personally, I don't think hope is lost for modern music. Puerto Rican reggaeton is finding solid ground in the world of mainstream hip hop, indie kids are dancing to Brazilian favela jams at loft parties, and old time experimental music snobs don't even have to go to the "World Music" ghetto to find the newest Congotronic sounds. Still, sometimes I can't get off on the new school and I gotta dig back. Way back. The Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project has created a database of over 6,000 wax cylinder recordings from the turn of the last century, all free to download or stream. For you sound recording buffs and noise connoisseurs, Tinfoil.com offers early sound experiments AND a cylinder of the month. And for extra nerd cred, check out Thomas Edison's contribution and peep his disturbing talking doll.

Edison: 1, Mars: 0

brundlefly — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:45:44 -0800

Edison's Conquest of Mars! Garrett P. Serviss' unofficial, 1898 sequel to War of the Worlds, featuring Thomas Edison and Lord Kelvin as the heroes. It seems this book originated the space battle and the ray-gun, not to mention the aliens-built-the-pyramids plot. Sounds like a blast.

No nickel required!

Dr. Wu — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 21:50:53 -0800

Turtle's 78 RPM Jukebox
Popular Victor, Edison, and Columbia recordings, 1900-1930.

Technological histories

carter — Mon, 23 May 2005 11:50:17 -0800

Some technological histories - including Edison's Electric Pen, a History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy, and Cox's 1907 Gold Changer.

Edison: Your loving Father

tenseone — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:33:01 -0800

Edison spoke: "Of all my inventions, I liked the phonograph best..."

Auditory Antiquity as Anachronism.

Does One fancy the Sonic Cylinders and Spindled Spirals of Edison? are the Victorians' crackling gramophones what Ought to be? could it be the Transitory Teens for a treat in Tonality? perhaps One is enamored by the Resonance as Reasoned by the Roaring Decadence of Decade, the fret of Jitterbug Fears, and some Hopped-up Lindys instead?

Why not Then and Then to be found at Once?

( Fully formed Fondness recommends the abilities of a Reality Playfulness, the oddish Ogg, and an M.P.-third to boot. )

Don't Bite the Hand That's Feeding You

mwhybark — Mon, 06 Sep 2004 17:10:58 -0800

Edison's New Media. American Memory (natch) offers this sprawling archive of audio files and filmic material. Uncovered while seeking an archive of piano roll recordings, unsuccessfully. Also noted: Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier and recordings from the American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920.

The IEEE Virtual Museum

plep — Wed, 30 Jun 2004 00:03:06 -0800

The IEEE Virtual Museum. Virtual exhibits about microelectronics, sound recording, Edison, war and technology etc.

Jumbo In The New World

quonsar — Mon, 15 Sep 2003 17:55:08 -0800

Freak Show: Jumbo In The New World "In 1903, American inventor Thomas Edison arranged to have an elephant publicly electrocuted in Luna Park. Up to that point Edison, in his bitter campaign to discredit the electrical theories of George Westinghouse, had been content to publicly electrocute cats and dogs. When Topsy, an enraged circus elephant, trampled to death its third trainer in three years, Edison offered to "execute" the animal in a way that would demonstrate once and for all his belief in the dangers of alternating current. The electrocution of this elephant was filmed and apparently the footage can still be viewed at the Coney Island Museum."

skallas — Thu, 27 Jun 2002 02:18:05 -0800

Edison schools 'privatization with public money' scheme a failure? School districts such as San Francisco's, which saw Edison as a panacea, may end up worse off for having played the privatization game. If Edison goes under, the district (could) be faced with huge logistical challenges: re-enrolling kids, renegotiating contracts with teachers who were working at Edison schools, maybe even dealing with the company's creditors.

grumblebee — Mon, 23 Jul 2001 09:48:36 -0800

Edison electrocutes an elephant at Coney Island. I never knew this horrifying bit of history until I read about it via rscharm's MeFi post.