Flotsam & Jetsam

Toronto on Ice, by Sam Javanrouh. Compare also the still image.

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:02:34 -0500

Toronto on Ice, by Sam Javanrouh. Compare also the still image.

Scott and Scurvy

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:14:28 -0500

Scott and Scurvy:

Maciej Ceglowski tells the story of how the cure for scurvy had to be rediscovered. Fascinating stuff. (via Kottke)

I.M. Pei up in here For more photos of Rochester, see the full...

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:45:00 -0500

I.M. Pei up in here

For more photos of Rochester, see the full set.

It’s bad enough I have to spend 30 minutes standing in line for the X-ray machines; I could really...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:58:29 -0500

It’s bad enough I have to spend 30 minutes standing in line for the X-ray machines; I could really do without the nonstop TSA propaganda.

An Open Letter to Steve Jobs Concerning the HTC Lawsuits.

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:48:25 -0500

An Open Letter to Steve Jobs Concerning the HTC Lawsuits.:

Indie Mac developer extraordinaire Wil Shipley:

If Apple becomes a company that uses its might to quash competition instead of using its brains, it’s going to find the brainiest people will slowly stop working there. You know this, you watched it happen at Microsoft. Enforcing patents isn’t a good long-term play: it’s the beginning of the end of the creative Apple we both love.

Boulder Country Day to rename middle school after Scott Alexander

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:04:00 -0500

Boulder Country Day to rename middle school after Scott Alexander:

Mr. Alexander is probably the best teacher I’ve ever had. Awesome that he’s being recognized in this way, really unfortunate that he’s currently battling cancer (I take it for granted that the timing of the former has something to do with the latter).

Note to self: next time, use the scissors.

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:50:00 -0500

Note to self: next time, use the scissors.

10th September 2007 — stuart woodman

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:47:00 -0500

10th September 2007 — stuart woodman

How Books Are Made

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:42:46 -0500

How Books Are Made:

Charles Stross demolishes the common misconception that “the only two people that matter are the author and the reader (one puts creativity in, the other money: the rest add cost)”:

In summary, while it’s true that the author is the one with the creative input, they only do about half the work. And the other half of the job is not optional. The reason publishers exist is to provide for division of labour; if I did the other 50% to bring my rough manuscripts up to published-book-quality, I’d only be able to write half as many novels.

Gunfire hits 2 kids at Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:24:43 -0500

Gunfire hits 2 kids at Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton:

Math teacher saves the day:

The bizarre burst of gunfire that erupted just after 3 p.m. at Deer Creek Middle School, 9201 W. Columbine Drive, ended when David Benke, a 57-year-old math teacher, rushed the shooter, wrestled him to the ground and held on as others helped him subdue the man.

curvedwhite: Minimalist Movie Posters by Eduardo Prox (via...

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:25:00 -0500

curvedwhite:

Minimalist Movie Posters by Eduardo Prox

(via Daring Fireball)

adamisacson: I don’t like “country” music or “urban” music. Just songs...

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:48:35 -0500

adamisacson: I don’t like “country” music or “urban” music. Just songs about SUVs, soccer practice and the Olive Garden. You know, “suburban” music.

Word of Warning

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:17:00 -0500

The charm of a narrow cobblestone street is somehow lost when it’s covered in several inches of decaying slush and you can’t walk down it without embedding half a pound of rock salt into the soles of your shoes.

Recently read: Noah’s Flood: The Genesis Story in Western Thought, by Norman Cohn More Cohn,...

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:15:00 -0500

Recently read: Noah’s Flood: The Genesis Story in Western Thought, by Norman Cohn

More Cohn, this time a thin but wonderfully illustrated volume surveying where the story of Noah’s flood came from and how people have understood it and attempted to reconcile it with science and natural history. Though Cohn has the good sense not to stray from his subject, he inspires sufficiently many interpolated digressions that it’s reasonable to interpret this book as the highly-compressed form of a much more extensive intellectual history.

La Vie D’Ennui

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:07:00 -0500

La Vie D’Ennui:

There’s something exquisite about boredom. Like melancholy and its darker cousin sadness, boredom is related to emptiness and meaninglessness, but in a perfectly enjoyable way.

(via ALDaily)

A generalization of Milnor’s μ-invariants to higher-dimensional link maps

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:50:00 -0500

A generalization of Milnor’s μ-invariants to higher-dimensional link maps:

Ulrich Koschorke

From Matthias Heiderich’s Winter Berlin series (via...

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:12:00 -0500

From Matthias Heiderich’s Winter Berlin series (via Monoscope).

Prints Some decoration for the wall above my desk. On the left...

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:24:00 -0500

Prints

Some decoration for the wall above my desk. On the left is “Untitled (Let’s make better mistakes tomorrow)” by Mike Monteiro and on the right is “Velodrome” by James Deavin; both via 20x200.

Recently read: Cosmos, Chaos, and the World to Come: The Ancient Roots of Apocalyptic Faith, by...

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:52:50 -0500

Recently read:

Cosmos, Chaos, and the World to Come: The Ancient Roots of Apocalyptic Faith, by Norman Cohn

A comprehensive argument that the expectation of a final consummation in which good will utterly triumph over evil was unknown to the Near East until the rise of Zoroastrianism. In addition to the main argument, Cohn also argues persuasively that Zoroaster’s innovation was due to a radical reinterpretation of the combat myth (e.g. Seth, Marduk, Indra, Ba’al, etc.) and that Zoroastrianism had a considerable influence on the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel (and thus, obviously, on Christianity). Although I was never much for comparative religion, I find Cohn’s books fascinating.
The Devil’s Company, by David Liss

In which Liss trades in his fascination with the advent of modern capitalism for a wearying contempt. Yes it’s a novel (and by an author whose past work I’ve mostly enjoyed), but it’s an awfully didactic one.

SEPTA logic: Let’s cut prices but run all trains on exactly the same schedule. What is this “price...

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:30:32 -0500

SEPTA logic: Let’s cut prices but run all trains on exactly the same schedule. What is this “price elasticity of demand” of which you speak?