November 3, 2011 · 9:07 pm

Ayn Rand Anticipated Emoticons :-)


I have been reading Letters of Ayn Rand, partly for research, partly for finding new quotations for The Ayn Rand Bot on Twitter.

On pp. 400-401, there is a letter from Rand to Archibald Ogden, the editor of Rand’s novel, The Fountainhead. In the letter she informs Ogden that the movie version of The Fountainhead is going into production, and then she chastises him for not writing her a letter:

Do you remember that you promised me a letter? But I said I would forgive you anything, and I shall always be running after you, if you want me to. (I ought to say that with a smile, but I don’t know how to convey a smile on paper.) Do let me hear from you, and if you want the details about our child’s screen incarnation, I will keep you informed. It’s going to be very exciting.

(Emphasis added.) Here is one of the few instances in which any 12-year-old child (maybe 8- or 10-year-old) living today could teach Ayn Rand something: “how to convey a smile on paper” — i.e., type a smile emoticon. Judging by the letter to Ogden, it seems she might have used emoticons in some of her correspondence, had she lived long enough.

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October 31, 2011 · 7:10 pm

A Note To My iTunes Subscribers

As you may have noticed, this week I switched over to BlogTalkRadio as my podcast platform. Some listeners, who have been subscribing through iTunes, asked how to get the podcast there. I’m pleased to report that BlogTalkRadio also offers the option of having an iTunes subscription to my podcast.

Just go to my show page on BlogTalkRadio, and you will see the “iTunes” button right under the stylized, black-and-white drawing of me. Click on that, and iTunes should automatically start downloading my first BlogTalk episode, plus automatically subscribe you to future episodes.

I hope you enjoy the easy accessibility of the new platform as much as I do. I look forward to “seeing” you next Sunday!

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October 30, 2011 · 10:01 pm

Don’t Let It Go…Unheard #35

Today we tried our first show over at BlogTalkRadio. We discussed the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs for the entire first hour and part of the second, and then went on to briefly discuss Occupy Wall Street’s Rap Sheet, the latest news from the Middle East, and Herman Cain (including his “smoking” ad).

Thanks to all of you who joined in live over on the new platform. People seemed to like the fact that no registration is required to listen to the show (although I think you may have to sign in to use the chat feature), and a couple of you reported the sound to be fine as well. I also like the fact that, on this platform, I can play you the intro music during the live show! I hope you can join in again next week as we settle in a bit more.

Those of you who missed the live show, but would like to listen to or download it, can find it here:

Don’t Let It Go…Unheard #35 on BlogTalkRadio

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