The Holocene

"And what he has created—with “The Wire” and now with “Treme”—is a kind of novel in TV form. It..."

Wed, 05 May 2010 13:13:39 -0400

“And what he has created—with “The Wire” and now with “Treme”—is a kind of novel in TV form. It became a cliché to describe “The Wire” as “novelistic,” but in fact the forms have a lot in common, far more so than the novel and film. The sheer length of the TV series allows it to take place in something like novelistic time, unspooling its plot and building its elaborate structure in relative leisure. And by creating shows that reward sustained attention and repeated re-viewings, Simon teaches us to watch television in a way that is very similar to close reading.”

- THE READ: David Simon’s World | The New Republic

How can the NYT have an article about the seductive and dangerous qualities of PPT without quoting...

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:33:06 -0400

How can the NYT have an article about the seductive and dangerous qualities of PPT without quoting Edward Tufte? http://nyti.ms/ciuEdE

"Those types of PowerPoint presentations, Dr. Hammes said, are known as “hypnotizing chickens."

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:55:38 -0400

“Those types of PowerPoint presentations, Dr. Hammes said, are known as “hypnotizing chickens.””

- Yeah, so, I admit it—I’ve tried my hand at that too …

Enemy Lurks in Briefings on Afghan War - PowerPoint - NYTimes.com

Another incredibly mousable graphic from the folks at the NYTimes. This time, subway ridership....

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:25:13 -0400

Another incredibly mousable graphic from the folks at the NYTimes. This time, subway ridership. http://nyti.ms/9wQIS3

This is getting so meta! Nonetheless, an interesting look behind the curtain for us laymen:...

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:41:38 -0400

This is getting so meta! Nonetheless, an interesting look behind the curtain for us laymen: ‘What a Tweet Looks Like http://bit.ly/bik8AW

I just watched some stand-up in Finnish. It’s amazing how...

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 12:15:14 -0400

I just watched some stand-up in Finnish. It’s amazing how weird funny people look when you can’t tell that they are funny.

Comedy Fight Club 4 Finalen: Mikkel Malmberg (via DanmarkTV)

"I don’t think Palin’s phraseology is actively attractive to her fans. Rather, what is remarkable is..."

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:50:09 -0400

“I don’t think Palin’s phraseology is actively attractive to her fans. Rather, what is remarkable is that this way of speaking doesn’t prevent someone, today, from public influence. Candidates bite the dust for being untelegenic, dour, philanderers, strident, or looking silly posing in a tank. But having trouble rubbing a noun and a verb together is not considered a mark against one as a figure of political authority.”

- What Does Palinspeak Mean? | The New Republic

A fun little desconstruction of spoken English from a number of sources. It shows that Palin is indeed speaking the way many people do. The problem is that this means she isn’t thinking any more clearly than they are either.

'We're All Gonna Die - 100 meters of existence'

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:24:59 -0400

'We're All Gonna Die - 100 meters of existence':

This is a very interesting photograph, but I can’t quite imagine it installed. A web browser seems like its perfect medium—a long print in a gallery doesn’t strike me as equally compelling.

"Seriously, how “vibrant” a culture of intellectual inquiry are you going to have under a..."

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:21:11 -0400

“Seriously, how “vibrant” a culture of intellectual inquiry are you going to have under a government that is afraid of Bjork?”

- James Fallows: Every So Often It Must Be Said… - International - The Atlantic

I once knew someone who had an pathological fear of Bjork ever since the red carpet Ostrich Dress and Egg fiasco. Maybe its the same thing in this case …

It’s barely dawn, but this morningjas a hot-city feel to it.

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:39:58 -0400

It’s barely dawn, but this morningjas a hot-city feel to it.

This taxi driver is playing the live action version of Grand Theft Auto.

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:00:46 -0400

This taxi driver is playing the live action version of Grand Theft Auto.

cmpblldllghn: annicka: betelnut:deantrippe: Barack Obama...

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:25:58 -0400

cmpblldllghn:

annicka:

betelnut:deantrippe:

Barack Obama Looking at Awesome Things #15: Proton Pack.

for kelsey

oh my god

That health care win does seem to make Obama feel like he can take on anything.

James Fallows' Interview with Google's Dan Drummond

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:57:59 -0400

James Fallows' Interview with Google's Dan Drummond:

Fallows’ raw transcript of his interview with Google’s chief council gives some insight in the timing and process of Google’s withdrawn from mainland China. What blows my mind is the Chinese stance that censorship is a reflexive responsibility, that such a practice is a law, and that all of these things can be discussed so rationaly. I know that this is one of the basic absurdities of a totalitarian state, but the Google episode is bringing it home for me.

On an different tack, one that’s maybe a little meta: Fallows is clearly going through his method as a journalist here, and the new media is acting as a very productive rider. He is covering this subject. He gathers annecdotes, performs interviews. This material will be condensed, synthesized, and edited to make an article. In the meantime, however, he is making use of the raw material on his blog at the Atlantic with what seems like very little extra effort expended in the way of reporter overhead. I read the full content on my RSS reader, and it both makes me feel like I am one of his readers (good for him) and much more interested in buying the end product (good for the Atlantic). It would seem that the only people who should be afraid of this business model are those who have no ability to go beyond the first-order of content. If all you are doing is republishing what is essentially a commodity (ahem, MacRumors and Apple Insider), then you can’t execute the change, use the lever of your mind to make something of the raw material, then you are in trouble in the media world. You are just an amature or a wire service.

A great little report by #TNR on the contrasting scene in DC: anti-healthcare Tea Partiers and...

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:48:23 -0400

A great little report by #TNR on the contrasting scene in DC: anti-healthcare Tea Partiers and pro-immigration families http://bit.ly/bpbY5L

Save funding for NY State Parks and Preservation, via #MAS http://bit.ly/boWGp4

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:48:23 -0400

Save funding for NY State Parks and Preservation, via #MAS http://bit.ly/boWGp4

"During the president’s first year, as Obama’s and the Democrats’ poll numbers fell, and as the..."

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:10:47 -0400

“During the president’s first year, as Obama’s and the Democrats’ poll numbers fell, and as the Democrats lost key elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, a kind of fatalism took hold in Washington. It was inevitable, the feeling went, that an administration facing an economic downturn would get drubbed in the next elections, and perhaps even lose the House and the Senate. But this argument assumed the kind of static insider model that the Obama administration followed during its first year. This model needs to be discarded, and replaced by the kind of political model that would be familiar to Franklin Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan: one where the politics of maneuver within Washington was supplemented—or better, transformed—by a politics of vigorous protest and advocacy. That’s the real lesson of the health care battle.”

- John B. Judis, Democrats Discover Their Base | The New Republic

[A good “sideways glance,” as my thesis advisor always used to day.]

Via @Pogue, I tried #numberquotes.com. It’s weird. So many of their metrics are about how many...

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:46:25 -0400

Via @Pogue, I tried #numberquotes.com. It’s weird. So many of their metrics are about how many iPhones, MacBooks or Escalades you could buy.

"Lots of times the families will go down to Kinko’s,” the funeral director tells me...."

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:51:24 -0400

““Lots of times the families will go down to Kinko’s,” the funeral director tells me. “They can do a memorial folder thing down there.” Do you help them get photos off Flickr, off Facebook? “We don’t really help with that.””

- Raiding Eternity - Myspace - Gizmodo

Life in the Cloud.

(We’ve heard this story before, but this is a nice, albeit slightly mawkish, riff.)

Lastly, here’s Robin interacting with his fauxPad. I think...

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:02:00 -0400

Lastly, here’s Robin interacting with his fauxPad. I think he’s making color adjustments. On a fake, printed-out inspector that Bill made. To the document that is actually just a piece of paper. Man, software development is weird. (via Designing OmniGraphSketcher for the iPad - Blog - The Omni Group)

Sounds like a fun craft activity for the kids …

Dear USAir Shuttle business traveler: your shiny tassle loafers & roller-attaché do not make you...

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:04:30 -0400

Dear USAir Shuttle business traveler: your shiny tassle loafers & roller-attaché do not make you a better human being. But my hair wax does.