The Orwell Diaries
The British group ‘The Orwell Prize’ is now posting the diaries of George Orwell online, exactly 70 years later. So, on September 10th 2008, they posted Orwell’s entry for September 10th 1938. Fascinating. His entries up to this point have mostly logged the nature and people around him. Little of surpassing genius; just a little […]
twhirl: Twitter and FriendFeed On Your Desktop
If you use the Twitter or FriendFeed services, you know that one of the most difficult things about them is remembering to check the respective websites for updates. They’re all great, as long as you remember to check them. twhirl is the answer. It’s a little application that sits on your desktop and displays your […]
Discover Card’s Hard Sell
I have a friend. Her mother, sadly, has Alzheimer’s and lives in a nursing home, so my friend manages her mother’s finances for her. For convenience, my friend often answers the phone as her mother when her mother’s financial institutions call. Otherwise, she spends several minutes explaining the situation to a confused phone rep. So […]
Cool Words of the Month
I like to open the dictionary to a random page and note down cool words, once a month. It’s a good writing exercise, and it introduces me to new words. I also rediscover words that just look neat or sound beautiful. This month’s cool words: Faro – a card game used for gambling, its name […]
Media Fast Reflections
I’ve finished my Media Fast, and have caught up on email, blogs, etc. After reflecting on the experience, I’ve come to several conclusions: I consume a lot of media. DVDs, blog posts, music, movies. Hours per day. Even without a TV. There’s a cultural expectation that everyone consumes a lot of media. People are genuinely […]
Osamu Tezuka’s Brilliant Buddha
I recently finished Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha, a manga adaptation of the life of Buddha. It’s about 3,000 pages that focus on the historical man, and the evolution of his philosophy, as opposed to attempts to teach you Buddhism. I had to be careful when reading this book, as I couldn’t simply pick it up, then put it down; I’d get sucked in and read through to the end. This is partly due to Tezuka’s unique style: he […]
Polymeme – Unusual News
Polymeme is a website devoted to “intelligent content that lies beyond the usual echo chambers of tech news, celebrity gossip or American politics.” This doesn’t mean off-beat stories; Polymeme specializes in articles about subjects we care about, but from perspectives we don’t normally see. For example: From The Independent — Solar panels ‘take 100 years to pay back installation costs’ From IdeaBlob — Designing […]
How Can I Draw Better?
I love to draw. I can’t draw well, but I love doing it and coming up with something that satisfies my (very low) standards. Tonight, I spent a couple hours drawing hair, using Mark Crilley’s YouTube videos. And I’m very happy with some of the results. Of course, they have plenty of flaws. But I’m […]
Media Fasting: No Media for a Week
Today begins my week-long Media Fast, my twice-a-year vacation from all media. I avoid anything that was produced for an audience. No books, magazines, newspapers, movies, DVDs, TV, music, or blogs. I stay reasonable about all this. If I walk into a coffee shop in which a TV sits in one corner, blaring CNN, then […]