Stories

“Be good and you will be happy and make others happy.” ~ E. W. Cole

Edward William Cole was born in England in 1832 and died in Victoria in 1918. Entirely self made, he combined philosophy, philanthropy and humour with business acumen in the development of a truly unique retailing empire.

Battle of the Keyboards: Dvorak v. QWERTY

The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard was designed to address the problems of inefficiency and fatigue which characterised the QWERTY keyboard layout. The QWERTY layout, introduced in the 1860s, was designed so that successive keystrokes would alternate between sides of the keyboard so as to avoid jamming of the mechanical arms. We know who won the battle ... but how and why?

“The beauty of New York is that it is a mishmash. Everybody is running around with a different costume and a different story.” ~ Maira Kalman

“New Yorkistan” is the title of the cover art for the 10 December 2001 edition of The New Yorker. It was created by Maira Kalman in collaboration with illustrator Rick Meyerowitz and is, according to the American Society of Magazine Editors, #14 on the list of the top 40 magazine covers of the past 40 years.

Divine Prank Mystified the People of Sydney for 37 Years

For the 37 years spanning 1930 to 1967, a man named Arthur Stace walked the streets of Sydney ... and wrote on them; one word, always the same word, in yellow chalk in large, elegant copperplate.

That word was “Eternity.”