The World of Stuff .com

We’re not afraid of bad stuff

Last weekend, when I was at my grandmother’s house, she gave me a coin that she’d found. It’s from Hanover, and it’s dated 1841, before the German unification. It says “ERNST AUGUST V.G. G. KOENIG VON HANNOVER” on the front (along with a portrait of someone who is probably Ernst), and on the back is the coat of arms of the House of Hanover, which will be familiar to anyone who is familiar with the British royal family’s coat of arms (they’re closely related, you know). The back says “EIN THALER” and “XIV EINE F.M.,” and it’s dated 1841. Around the edge of the coin is inscribed “NEC ASPERA TERRENT,” which is apparently Latin for “We’re not afraid of bad stuff” (roughly speaking).

I’d post pictures, but I can’t get very good ones. I have basically described it for you anyway, so a picture would be overkill. So, other than that, the only question that remains is how much the coin might be worth. The condition has a lot to do with it. My experience with collecting coins tells me that this one would be graded as “Good,” which, of course, is the worst possible grade. As such, it’s probably not collectible except for the precious metal content. (I think it’s silver.) I happened to find on the Intertubes that the coin auction house Bowers and Merena is auctioning an identical coin in uncirculated (MS-64) condition. They’re valuing it between US$400 and $600. The only difference besides the condition is that that coin has an “A” mint mark, whereas mine doesn’t (unless it has worn away).

On Tuesday, I went back to Pompano to say hi to teachers and friends. I was there with my sister and my friend Justin. It was my third trip back since graduating last year. Since the Class of ’08 had already graduated, they weren’t there, but I had some ’09 friends to catch up with. My friend Andrew happened to be visiting at the same time; he had just gotten back from his first year at Cornell. Plus, I got to greet some teachers I didn’t get to check up on the first two times I went back.

While we were talking to Mr. Chandler, the freshman English teacher, my sister brought up The World of Stuff, and Mr. Chandler tried to go to it. The school’s filtering software had blocked it. Reason: porn? Well, whatever. My guess is that after many of the teachers and administrators found out about it last year, they realized that maybe people were spending a little too much time reading it? Or something? Oh well. It’s flattering that they’d care enough to block it. I’m just glad they didn’t do it while I was still a student there; otherwise, I’d never be able to blog from school like I did several times.

On Wednesday, I went to the Rapids Water Park in West Palm Beach with Mark, TJ (not that TJ), Joe, Matt, and Mark’s girlfriend whose name I am going to spell Wai. I think Mark wanted to go because (a) it’s the summer and (b) he was going to have his tonsils taken out the next day. So off to the Rapids we went. Basically, it was a day filled with water slides. I don’t see how that can’t be awesome. Actually, it’s not awesome if you fail to put sunscreen on your arms because you barely have time to put it on your face. I also kept a shirt on so I wouldn’t have to slop down my whole torso. It worked, but I’d rather not contribute to my farmer’s tan next time.

But yeah, it was a blast. We went on all of the rides. I can close my eyes and imagine going down Big Thunder (or Black Thunder, which is the same but in the dark). They’re new since the last time I went. And this time, I still failed at the feats of balance, though it was fun to try. And at least I didn’t plunk down any extra money on food.

Rolling Stone reports on China’s increasingly prevalent citizen-spying technologies that are coming from American business: “China’s All-Seeing Eye.” (Related: PC Magazine‘s “Behind China’s Great Firewall.”)

Here’s a pretty big table of Copyright Term and Public Domain in the United States. It shows exactly how complicated today’s copyright laws are.

Some have tried to prove the English royal family’s descent from Muhammad, but it’s not generally accepted. However, Queen Elizabeth can more likely trace her lineage back to the Romans, or at least to St. Arnulf of Metz (582-640). Arnulf is said to be a descendant of Flavius Afranius Syagrius (born c. 345), which makes Syagrius “the earliest known ancestor of any of the royal houses of Europe. His descendants almost certainly number in the millions and include most of the past and future kings and nobles of Europe.” Imagine being that guy.

From CollegeHumor, it’s humor about college: Honest College Ad (NSFW dialogue).