On Valentine’s Day, beware of lovers bearing potions
In the “be careful what you ask for” category, consider the love-lorn Welsh maiden, Dwyn. Dwyn was a fifth century teenager inclined to romance. She was…
Author: The Smart Reader Staff
Briefs and quick reads selected and edited by The Smart Reader's editorial team.
Who sent the first Valentine?
The first Valentine card that was decorated and poetic is attributed to the imprisoned Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415. He eased the pain of…
Bad ideas for Valentine’s Day
* Don’t give the same Valentine you gave last year. * Don’t buy a size too big. When in doubt, buy smaller. * Don’t forget your wallet for that romantic…
Love in bloom
When we give flowers on Valentine’s Day, we follow a tradition that dates back thousands of years. Folklore tells us, for example, that when Cleopatra…
Cupid and Valentine’s Day
How did Cupid come to be associated with Valentine’s Day and cards? Cupid, represented by a cherub armed with arrows dipped in a love potion, is a figure…
Why X stands for a kiss and why it is disappearing
During the Middle Ages, few people could read and even fewer coul write. On occasion, however, they had to sign an important paper. In this case they…
The power of visualization
In Creating a Champion, Vol. 12, No. 2, Jackie Joyner-Kersee says: I visualize myself being successful. I see it and it’s up to me to perform it. Once I’m…
AI-generated images test copyright laws
Last year was huge for artificial intelligence as software giants like Microsoft and Adobe pushed generative AI tools to market and new cash-flush AI…
Artificial art? AI disrupting the art world
Could the next Picasso be a robot? AI-generated art has been around for some years, but most of the generated work was rudimentary and not worthy of the…
The tragic tale of the CIA’s spy craft cat
In what sounds like a kid’s movie plot, the Central Intelligence Agency once tried to turn a fluffy cat into a secret agent feline. In the early 1960s,…