The Surprising History Behind Typographic Symbols

It’s fascinating to think that younger generations will grow up only knowing “pound signs” as “hashtags”—yet, before that, did you know they were actually referred to as “octothorpes”? This continuous evolution of language affects all of us, and it’s the focal point of Adriana Caneva and Shiro Nishimoto’s new book “Glyph.” From ampersands to slashes, interrobangs and manicules, there’s a wide world of typographic symbols …

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Facebook's "dislike" button, a long-lost GoPro and the legends who shaped NYC culture in this week's look at the web

1. Legendary Typographer Adrian Frutiger Has Died at 87 Typography legend Adrian Frutiger, best known for sans-serif design and for creating the typeface used in London’s street signs, died last week at the age of 87. Frutiger began his career at Paris’ Deberny & Peignot type foundry, where he designed and adapted fonts for phototypesetting machines. He later went on to create 30 different typefaces, …

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A 9/11 search-and-rescue dog gets celebrated, a TED talk about what really matters, Hayao Miyazaki's theme park and more in this week's look at the web

1. The Last Living 9/11 Search Dog Gets the Best Day Ever Once in a while, BarkBox will choose a special pup and treat them to a “Dog’s Best Day.” And no dog is more deserving than their latest honoree Bretagne: the last known living search and rescue dog to work at Ground Zero on 9/11. To salute Bretagne for her incredible service and to …