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Built on one of the last pure corners of the internet — Wikipedia — Open Archives is a place to save, collect, and connect over the things you're curious about. The site is free. When money does change hands, 100% of it goes to the Wikimedia Foundation.
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Saved by a collectorJelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential characteristics when notated. His composition "Jelly Roll Blues", published in 1915, was one of the first published jazz compositions. He also claimed to have invented the genre.
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All activity- They last and you can see how they work.
Almost nothing you own is open anymore. Your phone is a sealed slab, the software inside it is invisible even to the people who wrote it. With mechanical watches you have exposed casebacks. You can see and watch the engineering in real time. You also know that at any point this analig item can be repaired. These are part of the pendulum swing away from the digital world of closed systems and algorithmic discovery. Watches break from the planned obsolescence of the current products made by vendors who hope you keep coming back for the upgrade.
Blake Haney · Mechanical Watches · 0 replies
- The Return of US Watch Making
"One seldom discussed idea in the world of watch enthusiasm is American watchmaking. Hamilton, formerly located in Lancaster, was the last major US manufacturer before shifting its production to Switzerland years ago. However, boutique watchmaking in the United States is alive and well thanks to smaller brands like the one we're covering today. In this video, I visit RGM, one of the last and certainly the greatest American watch manufacturer. We'll take a look at how RGM designs, manufactures, and services its own collection of watches and highly-decorated in-house calibers. "
Blake Haney · Mechanical Watches · 0 replies
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