In a hotel room in Larkspur California, I was hoping it would be warm, but it’s only mild. Ten miles from here there was a rare snowfall, about an inch fell and it is all over the local news from San Francisco. I read today about a monster telescope that […]
Yin Mingshan spent 22 years in a Chinese communist workcamp and prison as punishment for his political dissent. The NY Times reports today that Yin is now the enormously wealthy president of Lifan, an up and coming Chinese car maker with its sites firmly set on the U.S. market. “Chairman […]
On the plane to San Francisco, we watched ‘Walk the Line,’ the Johnny Cash biopic. The movie was poignant, especially in the portrayal of Johnny’s father and the tortured relationship between father and son. One scene was set at the height of the star’s drug and booze addiction, when Cash […]
Remember that word, brrreeeport. It’s not a city in Connecticut, nor a new flavor of frozen yogurt. It’s the word that a famous blogger made up to try to string all of the ‘Z list’ bloggers into a more powerful collection. You may have remembered another post that talked about […]
This is from an incredible collection of photographs by a Chinese photographer named Li Wei.The image is called “Dream Like Love.”
American Idol crushed the Olympics in last night’s TV ratings. And deservedly so. I mean why would we wanna watch distant skiiers cruising down slopes or figure skaters falling when we can see the reaction from twenty kids who’ve just gotten rejected by Simon, Randy and Paula? My employees mocked […]
Kevin Sites interviewed an actor in his high ranked Yahoo column, The Hot Zone: “Ali Suliman is a Palestinian actor who played the part of Khaled in the recent film, “Paradise Now,” the only Palestinian film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. AS: It’s the first time someone […]
Cory Doctorow wrote a long defense of Google Print today. If adding value to someone else’s creation entitled him to a chance to say no, then anyone who makes an iPod case, an automobile cup-holder phone-cradle, or a lens-wipe for a camera should have gotten permission from the creators of […]
From Boingboing.net, a great idea for a world sorely lacking a sense of humor.Israeli Anti-Semitic Cartoon Contest: The story so far: Danish paper publishes cartoons that mock Muslims. An Iranian paper responds with a Holocaust cartoons contest. Now, a group of Israelis announce their own anti-Semitic cartoons contest. Amitai Sandy, […]
Wired News ran a story about an innovative company in Canada.Ottawa-based Iogen is already producing ethanol by exploiting the destructive nature of the fungus Trichoderma reesei, which caused the “jungle rot” of tents and uniforms in the Pacific theater during World War II. Through a genetic modification known as directed […]
Blogging is a world of have and have-nots, according to a story in New York Magazine, titled Blogs to Riches. “Economists and network scientists have a name for Shirky’s curve: a “power-law distribution.” Power laws are not limited to the Web; in fact, they’re common to many social systems. If […]
Tonight’s travels took me to a teeny tiny Thai restaurant in downtown Greenfield. The diminutive eatery, staffed by one smiling women, is called Hetterkorn. They had seating for two. The restaurant was a sliver of a space, and her wok sizzled by the cash register. We ordered our pad thai […]