December 2009
“But there’s one question at the top of the list, the answer to which is the key...”
– Daring Fireball: The Tablet
“In Ray Bradbury’s 1953 classic, Fahrenheit 451, a ‘fireman’ is a man...”
– Fahrenheit 451… Book burning as done by lawyers | The Public Domain
“A study published in the November-December issue of Australasian Science found...”
– A Pessimistic Spin on the Power of Positive Thinking - NYTimes.com. I don’t believe a word of that stupid study.
righting an old wrong? →
When I was six or seven years old I started reading my father’s books, all of which were paperback novels, and almost all of those Westerns and science fiction. I read every novel Louis L’Amour had…
“Suppressing religion—even when done in the name of freedom and equality—strikes...”
– Luke Goodrich: Europe’s Religion Delusion - WSJ.com
my most-used iPhone apps →
In alphabetical order:
Instapaper: An amazingly useful app, and by far the best way to read articles of any length on the iPhone. Tilt scrolling is a beautiful thing.
Kindle: I have a feeling…
“It is obvious that these young and educated Iranians, literally connected with...”
– Saba Farzan: The West’s Betrayal of Iran - WSJ.com
“Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate...”
– Berkeley High May Cut Out Science Labs | News | East Bay Express. Via Erin O’Connor. Creative solutions to educational problems!
"Anyone who doesn’t read Cortázar is doomed." →
Over at if:book, Dan Visel has a nice post on the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, who is probably best known for his proto-hypertext novel Hopscotch — he was perhaps the most radically…
“A man in the back had the poise and presence of mind to call out, ‘Exit...”
– The Art of the Ditch - The New York Review of Books
“Take Diogenes, a hobo who combined unsollicited moral counselling with...”
– Conversation Hackers. Are philosophers trolls? Some are, apparently. The article provides some interesting insights into the psychology of trolling.
“For some years after 9/11, passengers were forbidden to get up and use the...”
– The truth about airplane security measures. - By Christopher Hitchens. The stupidity of the TSA cannot be exaggerated.
“Stoner by John Williams is not about a dude who smokes blunts all day. It’s...”
– The Millions: A Year in Reading: Edan Lepucki. On my list.
“I like to think that someday, someone will run a single-issue presidential...”
– The Follies of Security Theater - Ross Douthat
“Cruise control transfers regulation of your car’s speed to a computer. In some...”
– Book Review - History of Darpa - ‘The Department of Mad Scientists,’ by Michael Belfiore - Review - NYTimes.com
“At this point everything becomes clear or unclear, bright or dark. For here we...”
– Karl Barth (via wesleyhill)
the best of both worlds →
Josef Beery has done well by his iPod Touch: he’s using it as a book reader and only as a book reader, with a beautiful custom-made case. Sweet.
deal with the devil →
Ursula K. LeGuin’s letter of resignation from the Author’s Guild:
18 December 2009
To Whom it may concern at the Authors Guild:
I have been a member of the Authors Guild since 1972.
At…
“Contemporary history has a vital civic and educative function. To cast...”
– New Statesman - I believe in yesterday
“Today Ford announced the second generation of its Sync in-car connectivity...”
– Technology Review: Blogs: TR Editors’ blog: Ford Goes Wireless. I like this idea.
Les Murray, "Animal Nativity"
The Iliad of peace began
when this girl agreed.
Now goats in trees, fish in the valley
suddenly feel vivid.
Swallows flit in the stable as if
a hatching of their kind,
turned human, cried in the manger
showing the hunger-diamond.
Cattle are content that this calf
must come in human form.
Spiders discern a water-walker.
Even humans will sense the lamb,
He who frees from the old poem...
taste-testing literary style →
Nicholas Lezard looks at a new scientific “formula” that can, it is claimed, identify a given author’s stylistic “fingerprint”: the key, it appears, is “the frequency with which authors use new…
support culture! →
Some years ago Cullen Murphy, then editor of The Atlantic, told me in an email exchange that in his view John Wilson is one of the best editors around. And I’ve heard this from some other eminent…
“Astonishing discoveries in space, revelations about human nature, frightening...”
– Let’s face it, science is boring - science-in-society - 21 December 2009 - New Scientist
“Copenhagen was a disaster. That much is agreed. But the truth about what...”
– How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room | Mark Lynas |
Environment |
The Guardian
“Slightly more people went to church in 1962, but many fewer people went out...”
– Into The Mystic - Ross Douthat Blog - NYTimes.com
now why didn't I think of that →
Candace Sams, having read some negative reviews of her book by Amazon customers, decided to respond by (a) assuming a Lee-Siegel-like pseudonym, (b) blaming her editors, and (c) threatening to…
you are here →
Victorian infographics, from the ever-invaluable Bibliodyssey.
“Finally, we must always give control to the user. If we have information about a...”
– Official Google Blog: The meaning of open. So Google is saying all the right things. How reassured should I be?
“But before we cede the entire moral penthouse to ‘committed...”
– Basics - Another Challenge for Ethical Eating - Plants Want to Live, Too - NYTimes.com
“So what seems to be happening is that formal politeness, at least in spoken and...”
– Politeness: Hi there | The Economist
“The widespread support for Polanski shows the liberal cultural elite at its...”
– Roman Polanski Has a Lot of Friends. Like Andrew Sullivan, I missed this when it came out.
“Although there’s no hard statistical evidence on most-stolen titles, The...”
– Steal These Books