Monthly Archives: January 2012
Is there anybody out there?
Douglas Koke presents a very cool time-lapse video (with motion graphics overlay) of the Very Large Array in New Mexico. Music courtesy of Telefon Tel Aviv, one of my favorite bands. View large for the full effect: In related news, … Continue reading
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Train makes me happy
So sue me. Gotta love that playful, free-associative, it’s-all-good attitude that can drop “deep-fried chicken,” “soy latte,” and “Mister Mister” into the lyrics for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Because you know what? They’re right. It’s all good. (Also, “Drops of … Continue reading
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Twitter chooses profits over free speech. In other news: water is wet, and 2+2=4.
You knew this was coming, didn’t you? In the victory against SOPA and PIPA, advocates for the free and open Internet successfully fended off censorship imposed by government; now we are reminded that there’s nothing preventing online social networks from … Continue reading
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Miscellany: Blume, Hitchens, Lamarr, Tyson; The West Wing as science fiction; groupthink and solitude; what e-books can’t do; and the end of SOPA (for now)
Time for another grab-bag of links that caught my eye: 1) An NPR interview with the incomparable Judy Blume, who talks about censorship, how to inspire kids to read (and how not to), the folly of labeling authors and books … Continue reading
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Newt Gingrich is right (about exactly one thing)
I never thought I’d say this, but Newt Gingrich is right. Call him a blowhard. Call him an egotist. Call him a moral hypocrite. Call him a bomb-thrower. Call him undisciplined and incapable of follow-through. Call him one of the … Continue reading
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How to listen, cont’d: When life hands you lemons (or a Nokia ringtone)
Following Stefon Harris’ advice, violist Lukáš Kmit’ takes what he hears and runs with it: Well done. (via Boing Boing)
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Yosemite and the stars
Presenting Project Yosemite — be sure to watch it full-screen. I must see this for myself one day: I’m awed and humbled to be in a universe where such beauty exists. That is all. (via io9)
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The president sings!
Oh, yeah: Not bad at all; wish he’d gone on a little longer. Better, in my opinion, than Bill Clinton’s not-incompetent sax-playing — and certainly much better than Clinton’s own attempts at singing. In any case, it’s always refreshing to … Continue reading
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Beautiful words
Word maven Patricia T. O’Conner quotes this passage from Eudora Welty’s One Writer’s Beginnings and asks us simply to savor the language: At around age six, perhaps, I was standing by myself in our front yard waiting for supper, just … Continue reading
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True patriotism, cont’d: “These words around me will forever live”
Andrew Sullivan pretty much sums up what I’ve been trying to say on this topic: So many points here that I vigorously agree with. Patriotism, for instance, as a love not just of where one’s from, but of where one … Continue reading
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