Happy birthday, everyone. We’re all teenagers today!
Today is the day that iBrattleboro.com turns 13 years old. We can now watch PG-13 movies without adult supervision!
13 is a baker’s dozen, the number of cards in each suit of the deck, and the number of original colonies.
Math lovers will note that 13 is the 6th prime number, the smallest emirp, a Fibonacci number, and a happy number.
While many here consider 13 to be unlucky, Italians and Colgate University consider it to be a lucky number.
Quite a few bands have songs or albums named “13” – Big Star, Megadeath, Pixies, Blur, and others. There are also films of that name.
In February of 2003, Lise and I decided to launch iBrattleboro.com by adapting some open-source software into a do-it-yourself local news site. There was a rather dark mood in the country at that time. Politicians and major media were on a path to war, and media companies wanted to consolidate their power. We wanted to build something that would allow people to think and write for themselves, almost in self-defense. A safety valve, in case things got worse.
The big news while we were working to launch it, for example, was a major worldwide protest against going to war in Iraq. New York City streets were filled with people, but the corporate media was barely covering it. They’d show tight shots of 3-4 people, implying that it was nothing. People who were there knew it was a lie by omission. As we watched and worked, we realized what we were doing could become useful, if it was used.
And that’s about it. Our theory was that everyone knows something useful or interesting and is capable of sharing it with their neighbors.
To celebrate this year, we’re debuting a new slogan. It’s taken a while, but we think it sums things up pretty well:
iBrattleboro.com – Write Where You Live!
Happy Birthday.
Happy Birthday!!
Are you having a coming of age celebration, or teen sleepover, or anything like that? And I know you try to be low key on the following, so I’ll promote it: How ’bout those who can afford it send a little (or large) financial gift to ibrattleboro? You know teens, all they want is money! Indulge them at least for today.
And thanks so much for all the numbers info. Fun! I can’t believe I never heard of some of it before. Always fascinated by primes, etc.
Along with number fun, I love word play, and the only thing I would say about the new slogan is to rotate the various homophones for “write” and be sure to include “‘rite’ (of passage) where you live” on this momentous birthday!
13!
Congratulations to you and all of us! Should we have a coming of age party?
Perhaps a bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah?
Perhaps a bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah where you must be called to the Torah and make a big party.
(My sign-in CAPTCHA Math question just now totaled 13)
13
Get a load of this. I’m 69. That’s five thirteens plus four, the addition of the one and three in 13? How often does that happen?