In 1940, as German U-boats blocked ships attempting Atlantic crossings, a 15-alarm blaze at Baltimore’s Crown Cork and Seal factory consumed nine acres of baled cork, a sealant crucial to the defense industry. Was the fire caused by Nazi sabotage? In Cork Wars: Intrigue and Industry in World War II, David Taylor describes this event and its impact on the lives of three men and their families.
Perhaps 20-40 percent of worldwide tourists partake in wildlife-watching. When done right, that experience enriches travelers’ lives without interfering with those of animals. In Pandas to Penguins: Ethical Encounters with Animals at Risk, Melissa Gaskill profiles twenty-five species and one endangered ecosystem that draw tourists. She highlights local ecofriendly travel outfitters in each area.
A 1970 Monty Python sketch in which a group of Vikings chant “spam, spam…” to overwhelm conversation around them sparked use of “spam” for unsolicited email. JPEG stands for the “joint photographic experts group” that devised the now standard way to compress images. In The Computer Book, Simson Garfinkel and Rachel Grunspan provide backstories for 250 seminal events in the history of computing.
The NASW board election event was held at the Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 29, 2018. The room was open from 6:15 to 8:30 or so, with food and soft drinks provided by NASW and a cash bar. Approximately 40 people attended the meeting.
NASW president Laura Helmuth called the annual business meeting to order at 7:30 a.m. After a few conference-related announcements, she reminded attendees who had not previously voted online that paper ballots were available for the special election to fill an open seat made available when Rob Frederick left the board to run for mayor of his town.
