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The Rise and Fall of the Powdered Wig (2020)
- litoE 1y ago> In 1700, 800 shillings was approximately £40. Since there were 20 shillings to a pound, 800 shillings were exactly £40. </nitpicking>
- ggm 1y ago38 Guineas .. approximately.
- Theodores 1y agoBatteries weren't included, but a good article, nonetheless. Interesting how baldness used to mean syphilis, few people know that. What I also find interesting about men's hair is that long hair was common until the war machine came along with the short back and sides. Instead of hair, men got helmets. The only time Americans got majorly anti-war was during the Vietnam War era, and the counterculture very much meant long hair for men, not a military style buzz cut. Also fun to know, going grey prematurely isn't just 'genetics', as in that wonderful catch-all for anything medical we don't understand. Vitamin B12 also plays a part. Don't ask me how I know!
- WalterBright 1y agoThe Romans had short hair. The Romans associated short hair with freedom. My dad, being in the military, had short hair. He said that short hair was practical when living in the mud. Short hair also allowed an enemy to use it as a handle to pull your head back and cut your throat. There are zero pictures of him with any remotely long hair. I've had short hair for a long time, now. It's super easy to take care of. Doesn't need combing at all. Haircuts are cheap. And I use the top of my head to reflect light onto whatever I'm working on.
- ggm 1y ago> Short hair also allowed an enemy to use it as a handle to pull your head back and cut your throat You meant long hair surely?
- WalterBright 1y agoYes. Thanks for pointing out the mistake!
- ljlolel 1y agoInterestingly, this doesn't mention that, like the tomato and the potato, Syphilis was from The New World. It’s a disease that caused this hair loss, unlike European diseases which killed a lot of Native Americans. Syphilis caused these issues but didn't cause death. However, it's interesting to note why this trend happened after the year 1492.
- mkl 1y agoIt's not nearly as clear-cut as that, as there is evidence of its presence in Europe earlier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syphilis#History
- hinkley 1y agoI'm trying to imagine under what scenarios a person or an entire ship full of people would find the New World and simply not tell anyone about it. There are some pretty big gaps in the island chains out there in the Atlantic, so it seems less likely that someone from the western hemisphere brought it to the Azores or Cape Verde before Columbus sailed across.
- colechristensen 1y agoVikings made it to North America 500 years before Columbus, their colony wasn't working out very well so they left.
- mkl 1y agoThe question is whether syphilis came from the Americas to Europe at all, or whether it was in both places already.
- hinkley 1y agoThat’s only the first question. Occam’s razor suggests that since almost no cases showed up prior to Columbus, that it was spread by his men. If a few cases show up before that? That’s not usually how infections spread it’s possible a weaker strain was here, maybe one that affected some other species and crossed over. But if it means someone else got to the Americas first, that’s a cultural bomb that would immortalize your name for documenting. So it’s worth looking at it from one side or the other to determine if the second question is worth the payoff times the probability of being true.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- dang 1y ago[stub for offtopicness]
- more_corn 1y agoYou missed a letter in the headline which makes it more appropriate for hacker news but less accurate.
- ahartmetz 1y agoYeah, I was hoping that it wasn't a typo!
- gnabgib 1y ago(2023) Powdered wig
- jachee 1y agoThat’s a funny typo in the HN headline. :D
- all2 1y agoI was wondering, does it light up? Spin on demand? A spinning wig could be a fun party trick.
- Waterluvian 1y agoThe powered wig is the must-have ubiquitous tech device that everyone has in 2057. It’s our version of your era’s smartphone. It is an AI-powered neural interface used to communicate with people, get the latest news, watch some vids, or even check your emails, if you still do that. It’s essentially the “killer app” for AI, taking a good 21 years for the tech industry to figure it out. Don’t ask about the form factor, that’s a long story. But I promise it looks less silly when everyone’s wearing one. Oh, and a little tip from the future: don’t overpower your wig.
- summa_tech 1y ago
- relwin 1y agoOn the "new" page this item reads "powered wig." I thought it was a Team Fortress 2 entry...
- hinkley 1y agoThe first title was 'powered wig' which I was absolutely sure was a typo but it fueled a five minute think on what exactly a powered wig would do. No practical answers presented themselves.
- aptly_yclept 1y agoIt would be practical in strong wind.
- tekne 1y agoEEG input method?