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As a short break from GTA, I’m watching a little bit of The History Channel’s documentary on Ben Franklin. I must say, Ben was quite a guy: entreprenuer, inventor, scientist, commander, diplomat, philanthropist, and…playa?! Yes, apparently he was a bit of a ladies’ man, in addition to all the other things we know him for. This, of course, isn’t the Ben we hear about in history class, and I think that is what I like about The History Channel. Among Ben’s inventions were the bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the lightning rod. I had heard of the first two, but I don’t recall the last one, which makes perfect sense considering his kite experiment. I think the most remarkable thing about these inventions wasn’t their greatness or their contributions to science and technology, but that Ben did not wish to patent these inventions. He provided these inventions to society with helping improve the lives of people as his sole motivation, not profits. This motivation for his inventiveness is something that is lacking in today’s society, but that’s another story for another time. That’s all for now. Watch the documentary if you want to know more about Ben. It’s pretty good.