i202 Fall 2009 School of Information, UC Berkeley

Today, October 7, could be re-christened "202 day" - it's hard to find someone or something that was born this day that doesn't merit a mention on this blog.

Let's take a look:

• Carbon Paper, 203. Write once, read many. All of a sudden, the differences between atoms and bits don't seem so enormous.
• Bar Code, 57. Before XML, if you wanted a machine-readable format you better get your pinstripes right.
• Krispy Kreme donut burger, 0. Is it a donut? Is it a burger? Is it delicious? Yes.
• Ollie North, 66. The anti-hero of records management.
• John Mellencamp, 58. The king of AKA, Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp can ALL rock your bones with pop-rock grooves that summon a down-home country sensibility. A rose by any other name, indeed.
• Toni Braxton, 41, Yo Yo Ma, 54, and Thom Yorke, 41. It is only by the most generous semantic liberties that they can all be labelled musicians.
• Simon Cowell, 50, and Vladimar Putin, 57. After years of information studies will we be able to figure out why they fit together. And they do.

And, of course, my dear Mom. Happy b-day Mama!