Day: January 4, 2012

Categories
Family

An Admission

The boy was putting his clothes away when I walked into his room before bedtime. I watched him quietly for a few moments as he finished putting his pants onto “clip” hangers. When he finished, I chuckled and said “I remember when you first started doing that how you’d cry and carry on and complain ‘I can’t do it!!'” The last part I mimicked a pained, whiny voice for effect.

“Now look at you. Just getting the job done without any complaints,” I finished.

He smiled and replied “I just did that to get you and Mom to do it for me.”

Brazen!

I chuckled some more and said simply “Yeah- we knew.”

Categories
Misc

Edison Not a Good Guy

This article at Wired serves to remind me just how big and asshole Thomas Edison really was. While typically lionized and romanticized as a brilliant creator, the fact that he was ruthless and selfish to a fault often get passed over. Keep in mind, the only reason he killed Topsy was to for a propaganda coup against a rival technology. As the article notes, that’s in addition to the dogs and cats he killed for the same reason.

Also, his treatment (or, more correctly, mistreatment) of Nikola Tesla stands as another example of Edison’s dubious character. Tesla was every bit as brilliant as Edison, more so in fact, and was given the opportunity to improve Edison’s designs for DC generators. If successful, Edison promised him $50,000. Tesla was successful, but Edison never paid up. Instead, Tesla became a punchline for Edison: “Tesla, you don’t understand our American humor.” is what Edison reportedly replied to Tesla.

Like I said, not a good guy.