Tuesday, August 30, 2005
The Moral-Hazard Myth
Malcom Gladwell's archives of past New Yorker articles does not yet have this little ditty up yet. What is this little ditty? Something that pokes a fun little hole in the Right's excuse for not providing health care for every living citizen. Or as my college professors professed, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right. Health care and Education for every citizen of the united states should be free and universal both. And by virtue of being free and universal, need not be sub-standard. This article gets to the bottom of why.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Google aims for Web developers' hearts and minds | Tech News on ZDNet
Their API's have gotten considerably better in the past year. This and much more no doubt is true.Jabber Overview
There's a lot of buzz about Jabber now, due to Google Talk. What is Jabber? It's instant messaging of the Open Source type. That's it. And it works.Wired News: Flickr Fans to Yahoo: Flick Off!
Gosh, you know, like, get a life. I love my flcikr. I love my yahoo. I love my google. I love my computer. But seriously, why shouldn't Flickr sell to the highest bidder? Why shouldn't that bidder have their way with them? I may just be a customer, but they're not doing anything that changes my experience with the site. Some people will complain about anything.Before It's Too Late in Iraq
Mas. No mas.Opinion: Clark on Iraq Strategy
How come Bush doesn't have public pow-wow's like this? I remember Clinton tried somewhat unsuccessfully to have town meetings during his stints on warring with Iraq. And then he had successful town meetings when it came to other foreign campaigns, Kosovo comes to mind there. The bottom line was that he was actively trying to engage the voting public in the decisions making. Some might call that "manufacturing" consent. I call it good diplomacy.Monday, August 22, 2005
Wired News: You'll Know When You're Older
"Why bother with online dating when you spend the majority of your day with your peer group?"Wired News: How Mobile Phones Conquered Japan
"Through a series of real-world case studies, it examines the relationship between mobile technology and Japanese society. In doing so, it sheds light on the way handheld connectivity tends to reshape cultures worldwide."Sister Furong
"She is seen as a pioneer pushing the boundaries of traditional media controls but in the process has become a target of government censors in the tightly controlled country."Wednesday, August 17, 2005
AdPulp: Turning Text Into Photos
Makes me want to open a restaurant.Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Book, Magazine, Song, Call
Intermingled with bits of stories from my days of the week. Photos and events from the past week that others would find of interest. This is the format of a podcast I would do. How long would it take? Perhaps two hours any given sunday. Or no?
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
The Format
Francis Ford Coppola. Gus Van Sant. Spike Lee. These are the men I wanted to be. As a kid, I looked up to George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. As I got older, I wanted to be Martin Scorcese. I learned the elements of writing and photography. I listened to U2 and R.E.M. wonder where I could put "Bullet the Blue Sky" and "Radio Free Europe" into the script. I watched documentaries and listened intently to the way adults talked about film. I acted. I shot video. And I read like a muthafucka.Movies, as a kid, are the culmination of our imagination. The making of movies movies are a complicated matter. But as a kid, you don't get wrapped up in the production, you get wrapped up in the results. And when you start to think about what it might have taken to make a movie like that, nothing in your mind seems to prevent you from thinking it would be worth the effort.
As I've aged I realized that any art worth telling your peers about is worth the effort. Though I may not now be an artist, I can certainly hearken back to the old days when I used to see a movie like "Aliens" and then run home to tell my family what a masterpiece it was. That actually happened. In college, I wrote a column for a zine called "Denizine" which sadly is no longer online. The column was a weekly number featuring my reviews of new releases of feature films. And now, from time to time, I'll write a review here, in my blog, if for no other reason than to not forget. As defeatist as that sounds, I know none will read these words who I do not personally direct here. And I lack the energy to personally direct much of anything anymore.
So I'm wondering what it would take to write a weekly segment on the art that I adore. Better than that, why just write it? Why not sample it, cut it, mix in my ideas on top and republish? Not so much a mash up for the sake of mashing up, but a critique. I'm thinking Roger Ebert in the age of podcasting; less passive and more digital.
Just thinking.
