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Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A professor's hunt for the rarest Chinese typewriter
It went into a suitcase and he took it back to California, where it joined a growing collection of Asian-language typing devices he'd hunted down. But there was one typewriter that Mullaney had little hope of ever finding: the MingKwai. Made by an eccentric Chinese linguist turned inventor living in Manhattan, the machine had mechanics that were a precursor to the systems almost everyone now uses to type in Chinese. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Only one -- the prototype -- was ever made. Advertisement 'It was the one machine,' he said recently, 'which despite all my cold-calling, all my stalking, was absolutely, 100 percent, definitely gone.' Mullaney's mania for clunky text appliances began in 2007, when he was preparing a talk on the disappearance of Chinese characters and found himself contemplating the disintegration of everything. Among the vast number of characters in the Chinese language -- around 100,000, by some estimates -- there are hundreds that no one alive knows how to pronounce. They are written down, plain as day, in old books, but their sounds, even their meanings, have been lost. Advertisement Sitting in his office, wondering at how something seemingly immortalized in print could be forgotten, Mullaney went down a mental rabbit hole. It would have been physically impossible to build a typing machine to include all the characters that were historically written out by hand, he thought. Some characters must have made the cut, while others were left behind. He sat back in his chair and asked himself: Could he recall ever having seen a Chinese typewriter? Two hours later, he was lying on the floor of his office, looking at patent documents for such devices. There had been, over the last century and a half, dozens of different Chinese typewriters made. Each one was an inventor's take on how to incorporate thousands of characters into a machine without making it unusable -- a physical manifestation of their ideas about language. Never plentiful, the typewriters were now increasingly rare, gone the way of most obsolete technology. Mullaney was fascinated. That evening turned into months of research, which turned into years of searching, as Chinese typewriters became one of his areas of historical expertise. He cold-called strangers and left voicemail messages for private collectors, people whom he suspected, from faint traces left on the internet, of having typewriters. He pored over looking for the next of kin of the last known owner of a particular machine. He called museums and asked, 'Do you, by any chance, have a Chinese typewriter?' Sometimes, they said yes. A private museum in Delaware happened to have a surviving IBM Chinese typewriter, of which only two or three were ever made. Someone at a Chinese Christian church in San Francisco got in touch with him to say they owned a typewriter that they were trying to get rid of. Mullaney took it off their hands. Advertisement The MingKwai is legendary among the handful of people who know about Chinese typewriters. It was invented by Lin Yutang, a Chinese linguist and public intellectual who had begun to worry in the 1930s that without some way to convert ink-brush characters into easily reproduced text, China would be left behind technologically -- perhaps destroyed at the hands of foreign powers. Attempts to create typing machines usually stumbled over the problem of cramming a galaxy of characters into a single machine. Lin's solution was an ingenious system housed in what looked like a large Western typewriter. But when you tapped the keys, something remarkable happened. Any two keystrokes, representing pieces of characters, moved gears within the machine. In a central window, which Lin called the Magic Eye, up to eight different characters containing those pieces then appeared, and the typist could select the right one. Lin had made it possible to type tens of thousands of characters using 72 keys. It was almost as if, Mullaney said, Lin had invented a keyboard with a single key capable of typing the entire Roman alphabet. He named his machine MingKwai, which roughly translates to 'clear and fast.' Lin, who was then living with his wife and children on Manhattan's Upper East Side, hired a New York machinist firm to make a prototype, at enormous cost to himself. He presented that prototype in a demonstration to executives from Remington, the typewriter manufacturer. Advertisement It was a failure. The machine malfunctioned at a crucial moment. Lin went bankrupt and the prototype was sold to Mergenthaler Linotype, a printing company in Brooklyn. And that, as far as Mullaney had been able to find out, was the machine's last known location. When Mergenthaler Linotype moved offices sometime in the 1950s, the machine disappeared. In his 2017 book, 'The Chinese Typewriter,' Mullaney wrote that he believed the MingKwai had most likely ended up on a scrap heap. This past January, Jennifer and Nelson Felix were in their home in Massapequa, N.Y., going through boxes that had been in storage since Felix's father died in Arizona five years before. They were looking at a wooden crate sitting among the cardboard boxes. 'What's this?' Jennifer Felix asked her husband. He'd had a peek in the crate back in Arizona. Oh, he said, it's that typewriter. She opened it, and realized it was not a typical typewriter. The symbols on the keys looked like Chinese. Nelson Felix, who often sold and bought items on Facebook, quickly found a group called 'What's My Typewriter Worth?' and posted some photos. Then they set it aside and moved on to other things. An hour later, Nelson Felix checked on his post. There were hundreds of comments, many written in Chinese. People kept tagging someone named Tom. The couple looked at each other. 'Who's Tom?' Mullaney was in Chicago to give a talk when his phone started going off -- ping, ping, ping. The small community of people he'd encountered in his long quest were sending up digital flares, urgently trying to get his attention. As soon as he saw the post, he knew exactly what he was looking at. It was the MingKwai. Advertisement But he didn't rejoice. He didn't sigh with relief. He was gripped with fear. What if they didn't know what they had and sold it before he could get to it? Someone could buy it with a click on eBay. They could make it into a coffee table. Take it apart and make steampunk earrings. It would be gone, just like that. He posted a comment on Facebook, asking the poster to contact him right away. After a few frantic hours, he got a reply, and the next day he and the Felixes were on the phone. He told them the MingKwai's story. He said that while it was up to them what they did with it, he hoped they would consider selling it to a museum. He was afraid that if it were sold at auction, it would disappear, a trophy hidden in the vacation home of an oil tycoon. Jennifer Felix was bewildered by what was happening. It was just a typewriter in a basement. But Mullaney had made an impression. 'It was lost for half a century,' she said. 'We didn't want it to get lost again.' 'To me it's just a typewriter,' she continued. 'But to other people it's history; it's a story, a life, a treasure.' Instructions and a box of tools were used to cast more Chinese character bars for the MingKwai 9 typewriter. CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK/NYT Mullaney figured out that Jennifer Felix's grandfather, Douglas Arthur Jung, had been a machinist at Mergenthaler Linotype. It's likely that when the company moved offices, he took the machine home. Then it was passed down to Felix's father, who, for more than a decade, had kept the MingKwai with him. 'That's what my dad decided to keep and bring across the country when they moved,' Felix said. Advertisement Keys on the MingKwai 9 typewriter. CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK/NYT Why, of all he had inherited from his own father, did he hang on to this typewriter? She doesn't know. But she feels it must have been a conscious choice: The MingKwai would not have been packed by accident. It weighs more than 50 pounds. In April, the couple made their decision. They sold the machine for an undisclosed amount to the Stanford University Libraries, which acquired it with the help of a private donor. This spring, the MingKwai made its way back across the country. When it was lifted out of the crate onto the floor at a Stanford warehouse, Mullaney lay down to look at it. The history professor could see that it was full of intricate machinery, far more delicate than any other typewriter he'd seen, and he began to imagine how engineers might help him understand it -- perhaps revealing what was going on in Lin's mind in 1947 when he invented a machine he thought could rescue China. Perhaps they could even build a new one. Lying on his stomach, Mullaney began to wonder. The MingKwai 9 typewriter. CHRISTIE HEMM KLOK/NYT This article originally appeared in
National Post
5 days ago
- National Post
Victim's sister rips into Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger: 'You're as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow'
The sister of one of the victims of Bryan Kohberger, who killed four University of Idaho students, read her impact statement in court before he was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Article content 'Don't ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud,' said Alivea Goncalves, as she tore into Kohberger. Article content Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin were all stabbed to death while they slept in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Six weeks later, police arrested Kohberger at his family home in Pennsylvania. He was a 28-year-old Washington State University graduate student at the time. Article content Article content A white Hyundai Elantra sedan, the same kind that Kohberger drove, was captured on video near the students' Moscow home. But DNA played the most crucial role in linking him to the scene. Article content Article content Article content Police were able to take a sample from a knife sheath left behind. They sent it to a lab to be analyzed and used a public ancestry database to search for matches. They discovered cousin matches and then narrowed it down, WPBF 25 reported. They relied on public records and online tools like Authorities eventually honed in on the Kohberger family. Article content Article content Article content The deal led to disappointment among some of the family members of the victims, and even got the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahead of the sentencing hearing, Trump urged the judge to make Kohberger explain his motive. Article content Article content 'These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered. While Life Imprisonment is tough, it's certainly better than receiving the Death Penalty but, before Sentencing, I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders,' wrote Trump on July 21 in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Article content 'There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING. People were shocked that he was able to plea bargain, but the Judge should make him explain what happened.' Article content At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, when asked by the judge if he would like to make a statement, Kohberger said: 'I respectfully decline.' Instead, the families and friends of the victims addressed Kohberger. Article content While many were moved to tears while they spoke, only feet away from Kohberger, one woman — the sister of Goncalves — stood out and made headlines for her fearless and scathing remarks.
Vancouver Sun
5 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
Victim's sister rips into Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger: 'You're as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow'
The sister of one of the victims of Bryan Kohberger, who killed four University of Idaho students, read her impact statement in court before he was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. 'Don't ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud,' said Alivea Goncalves, as she tore into Kohberger. Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin were all stabbed to death while they slept in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Six weeks later, police arrested Kohberger at his family home in Pennsylvania. He was a 28-year-old Washington State University graduate student at the time. A white Hyundai Elantra sedan , the same kind that Kohberger drove, was captured on video near the students' Moscow home. But DNA played the most crucial role in linking him to the scene. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Police were able to take a sample from a knife sheath left behind. They sent it to a lab to be analyzed and used a public ancestry database to search for matches. They discovered cousin matches and then narrowed it down, WPBF 25 reported . They relied on public records and online tools like Authorities eventually honed in on the Kohberger family. Police tested items that were thrown out in the family's trash, which matched the DNA profile found on the knife sheath. This link reportedly gave authorities what they needed in order to arrest Kohberger. Further testing revealed that Kohberger was a 'statistical match' to DNA left on the sheath, prosecutors said, per CNN . His DNA was also found under one of the victim's fingernails, CNN reported . In July, Kohberger, now 30, took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. The deal led to disappointment among some of the family members of the victims , and even got the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahead of the sentencing hearing, Trump urged the judge to make Kohberger explain his motive. 'These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered. While Life Imprisonment is tough, it's certainly better than receiving the Death Penalty but, before Sentencing, I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders,' wrote Trump on July 21 in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. 'There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING. People were shocked that he was able to plea bargain, but the Judge should make him explain what happened.' At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, when asked by the judge if he would like to make a statement, Kohberger said: 'I respectfully decline.' Instead, the families and friends of the victims addressed Kohberger. While many were moved to tears while they spoke, only feet away from Kohberger, one woman — the sister of Goncalves — stood out and made headlines for her fearless and scathing remarks. Alivea Goncalves addressed the 30-year-old killer directly and without hesitation. 'You didn't win. You just exposed yourself as the coward you are. You're a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser who thought you were so much smarter than everybody else. Constantly scolding, turning your nose up to grammar mistakes, nitpicking and criticizing others,' she said. 'You act like none can ever understand your mind. But the truth is you're basic.' She also said that Kaylee and her best friend, Mogen, would have been kind to him if he had approached him in public. She described the girls as all of the things Kohberger could never be: 'loved, accepted, vibrant, accomplished, brave and powerful.' Read her full statement to Kohberger: I'm not here today to speak in grief. I'm here to speak in truth, because the truth is my sister Kaylee and her best friend Maddie were not yours to take. They were not yours to study, to stalk or to silence. They were two pieces of a whole, the perfect yin and yang. They are everything that you could never be: loved, accepted, vibrant, accomplished, brave and powerful. Because the truth about Kaylee and Maddie is they would have been kind to you. If you had approached them in their everyday lives, they would have given you directions, thanked you for the compliment, or awkwardly giggled to make your own words less uncomfortable for you. In a world that rejected you, they would have shown mercy. Because the truth is I'm angry. Every day I'm angry. I'm left shouting at the inside of my own head everything I wish I could say to you. The truth about me is when I heard the news, I didn't cry. I listened for them. I promised them I would, that I would fight for them, that I would show up no matter what it cost me. I swore I'd never let them feel alone. Because you see, I've always been their heavy weight. I've always been the one to fight the battles they didn't feel ready to fight themselves. All it ever took was a call and they know I would handle it for them, no matter the time, no matter the cost. They could wave their white flag because they knew I would never back down. Not for them, and not even death could change that. Somewhere along the line, I started to think about what I would say to them if I was given just one more last chance. If I could gather enough heartbreak or love or sacrifice or whatever it took to get just one message across. What would I say? Throughout this entire process, I've written my feelings down at every moment, my wishes, my love, my denial, my anger. And as one final act of love, I'd planned to read these thoughts, even jarring and discombobulating and not even making sense. Because for me, that was true love as bare and as naked as it could be, not laced in pretty words or dressed for the occasion, but written through bleary eyes at 2 a.m. with clenched fists angry at this reality. My true final act of love was to continue on without them for them. That dream to read aloud my love to them, to bring meaning through pain, was the latest blow in realizing you don't deserve it and Kaylee and Maddie don't need it. Kaylee and Maddie have always known my love, and they would never ask me to prove it by further victimizing myself to a defendant who has shown no guilt, no remorse, no apprehension. They would say to me, 'Why would you give the satisfaction of showing vulnerability now? You promised that you would never back down.' And for that clarity, I'm thankful. I won't stand here and give you want you want. I won't offer you tears. I won't offer you trembling. Disappointments like you thrive on pain, on fear and on the illusion of power. And I won't feed your beast. Instead, I will call you what you are: sociopath, psychopath, murderer. I will ask the questions that reverberate violently in my own head so loudly that I can't think straight, most any day. Some of these might be familiar. So, sit up straight when I talk to you. How was your life right before you murdered my sisters? Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your apartment? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at this time. Why did you choose my sisters? Before making your move, did you approach my sisters? Detail what you were thinking and feeling. Before leaving their home, is there anything else you did? How does it feel to know the only thing you failed more miserably at than being a murderer is trying to be a rapper? Did you recently start shaving or manually pulling out your eyebrows? Why November 13th? Did you truly think your Amazon purchase was untraceable because you used a gift card? How do you find it enjoyable to stargaze with such a severe case of visual snow? Where is the murder weapon, the clothes you wore that night? What did you bring into the house with you? What was the second weapon you used on Kaylee? What were Kaylee's last words? Please describe, in detail, the level of anxiety you must have felt when you heard the bearcat pull up to your family home on December 30, 2022. Which do you regret more: returning to the crime scene five hours later or never, ever going back to Moscow, not even once after stalking them there for months? If you were really smart, do you think you'd be here right now? What's it like needing this much attention just to feel real? You're terrified of being ordinary, aren't you? Do you feel anything at all, or are you exactly what you always feared? Nothing. If you're so powerful, then why are you still hiding? Defendant, you see, I'm here today as me, but who are you? Let's try to take off your mask and see. You didn't create devastation. You revealed it, and it's in yourself. And that darkness you carry, that emptiness, you'll sit with it long after this is over. That is your sentence, and it was written on the wall long before you ever pled guilty. You didn't win. You just exposed yourself as the coward you are. You're a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser who thought you were so much smarter than everybody else. Constantly scolding, turning your nose up to grammar mistakes, nitpicking and criticizing others. You wanted so badly to be different, to be special, to be better, to be deep, to be mysterious. You found yourself thinking you were better than everyone else, and you thought you could figure out the human psyche and see through it, all while tweaked out on heroin. Lurking in the shadows made you feel powerful because no one ever paid you any attention in the light. You thought you were exceptional all because of a grade on a paper. You thought you were elite because your online IQ test from 2010 told you so. All of that effort seem important, it's desperate. There is a name for your condition, though your inflated ego just didn't allow you to see it: wannabe. You act like none can ever understand your mind. But the truth is you're basic. You're textbook case of insecurity disguised as control. Your patterns are predictable. Your motives are shallow. You are not profound. You're pathetic. You aren't special or deep, not mysterious or exceptional. Don't ever get it twisted again. No one is scared of you today. No one is intimidated by you. No one is impressed by you. No one thinks that you are important. You orchestrated this like you thought you were God. Now look at you, begging a courtroom for scraps. You spent months preparing and still all it took was my sister and a sheath. You worked so hard to seem dangerous, but real control doesn't have to prove itself. The truth is, the scariest part about you is how painfully average you turned out to be. The truth is, you're as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty. Let me be very clear. Don't ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud. I see through you. You want the truth. Here's the one you'll hate the most, if you hadn't attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night, like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your f—ing ass. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Edmonton Journal
5 days ago
- Edmonton Journal
Victim's sister rips into Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger: 'You're as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow'
The sister of one of the victims of Bryan Kohberger, who killed four University of Idaho students, read her impact statement in court before he was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Article content 'Don't ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud,' said Alivea Goncalves, as she tore into Kohberger. Article content Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin were all stabbed to death while they slept in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Six weeks later, police arrested Kohberger at his family home in Pennsylvania. He was a 28-year-old Washington State University graduate student at the time. Article content Article content A white Hyundai Elantra sedan, the same kind that Kohberger drove, was captured on video near the students' Moscow home. But DNA played the most crucial role in linking him to the scene. Article content Article content Article content Police were able to take a sample from a knife sheath left behind. They sent it to a lab to be analyzed and used a public ancestry database to search for matches. They discovered cousin matches and then narrowed it down, WPBF 25 reported. They relied on public records and online tools like Authorities eventually honed in on the Kohberger family. Article content Police tested items that were thrown out in the family's trash, which matched the DNA profile found on the knife sheath. This link reportedly gave authorities what they needed in order to arrest Kohberger. Article content Article content Article content Article content The deal led to disappointment among some of the family members of the victims, and even got the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahead of the sentencing hearing, Trump urged the judge to make Kohberger explain his motive. Article content 'These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered. While Life Imprisonment is tough, it's certainly better than receiving the Death Penalty but, before Sentencing, I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders,' wrote Trump on July 21 in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Article content 'There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING. People were shocked that he was able to plea bargain, but the Judge should make him explain what happened.' Article content At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, when asked by the judge if he would like to make a statement, Kohberger said: 'I respectfully decline.' Instead, the families and friends of the victims addressed Kohberger.
Calgary Herald
5 days ago
- Calgary Herald
Victim's sister rips into Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger: 'You're as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow'
The sister of one of the victims of Bryan Kohberger, who killed four University of Idaho students, read her impact statement in court before he was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday. Article content 'Don't ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud,' said Alivea Goncalves, as she tore into Kohberger. Article content Article content Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin were all stabbed to death while they slept in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Six weeks later, police arrested Kohberger at his family home in Pennsylvania. He was a 28-year-old Washington State University graduate student at the time. Article content Article content A white Hyundai Elantra sedan, the same kind that Kohberger drove, was captured on video near the students' Moscow home. But DNA played the most crucial role in linking him to the scene. Article content Article content Article content Police were able to take a sample from a knife sheath left behind. They sent it to a lab to be analyzed and used a public ancestry database to search for matches. They discovered cousin matches and then narrowed it down, WPBF 25 reported. They relied on public records and online tools like Authorities eventually honed in on the Kohberger family. Article content Police tested items that were thrown out in the family's trash, which matched the DNA profile found on the knife sheath. This link reportedly gave authorities what they needed in order to arrest Kohberger. Article content Article content Article content Article content The deal led to disappointment among some of the family members of the victims, and even got the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump. Ahead of the sentencing hearing, Trump urged the judge to make Kohberger explain his motive. Article content 'These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered. While Life Imprisonment is tough, it's certainly better than receiving the Death Penalty but, before Sentencing, I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders,' wrote Trump on July 21 in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. Article content 'There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING. People were shocked that he was able to plea bargain, but the Judge should make him explain what happened.' Article content At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, when asked by the judge if he would like to make a statement, Kohberger said: 'I respectfully decline.' Instead, the families and friends of the victims addressed Kohberger.
