Month: August 2007
-
Al Gore Comeback Lines
Al Gore on quick ways an individual can reduce CO2 emissions. Drew Westen responds to a shallow book review written by David Brooks. He imagines a comeback Gore could have given to Bush: George Bush wants to make character an issue in this election. Governor, I wouldn’t go there if I were you because it’s…
-
Linkfest
eek. I have to close all my browser windows. I guess it’s time to blog. 25 foreign book covers for Jack Kerouac’s The Road. Slashdot commentary about allofmp3.com and Russian law. Apparently, Russian royalty rates for artists is 20x the percentage the US artists usually receive. That is what enrages American record companies. from a…
-
Yu Gi Oh for children? (A parents’ guide)
A shout out to the blogosphere: does anyone have children who play Yu Gi Oh? If yes, do you have advice about how to get started? i have a 7 year old nephew who I’m thinking of buying some cards for. Here’s a parents’ guide. Here are rules about basic gameplay. James Paul Gee has…
-
Foreign Policy Lessons
Child’s guide to American Foreign Policy. John Dickerson admires how Barack Obama answers hypothetical questions. old Tom Tomorrow political cartoons (animation, not comics). Here’s a 2003 interview with him.
-
Oh, Fazidah!
If you want to hear one of my favorite songs, download the mp3 here. Here’s some information about this song. It’s a song sung during Ramadan. Speaking of which, I’ve been encountering some great music from jamendo and have been meaning to resurrect my Share the Music weblog. will do so soon.
-
Barcamp Houston–Postscript
Whew, I came back from Barcamp Houston. Exhausted. (work in progress. I’ve going to add comments later when I have more time). The talk went pretty well, but I’ve noticed that I usually put too much stuff in presentations. It’s hard to have a sense how long a presentation actually will be until you’ve done…
-
Giving Readings
Charlie Stross gives advance about how authors can give a public reading. To summarize, read a 25 minute story, then a shorter 15 minute story, then 5 minutes from something unpublished. That sounds good, but it’s really hard for a performer to be engaging for longer than 25 minutes, if only because the audience becomes…
-
SXSW Panel Picker
Oops, I forgot to submit a panel idea to South by Southwest 2008. (I was doing to do something about ebooks, reading, etc). You can vote on the panels here. That’s okay. It wouldn’t have gotten picked anyway (it’s far more fun being in the audience anyway). However, I’m working on a really interesting presentation/panel…
-
Savvy Politicians and politics
Liza Mundy on the political background of Barack Obama. Just a great piece of journalism! This random youtube video from a news network shows why Obama is so deft politically: shooting a free throw, and turning an interview question about basketball into a pitch for better schools. Score! Have I indicated a preference for president…
-
Wrong Numbers from Morocco
Here’s another fun thing about skype: receiving wrong numbers from faraway countries. I played a message of a woman from Morocco who clearly recognized she had the wrong number, but then forgot to hang up skype. Can you imagine how much it used to cost to forget to hang up the phone on wrong numbers…
-
How It’s Made: ideal TV for elderly populations
I wish I can remember the blogger that clued me in about it, but I’ve recently become addicted to the show “How it’s Made.” (on the Discovery Channel). Here’s the informative wikipedia page about the show. It’s great and actually serves a very specific purpose. I take care of a relative with bad hearing and…
-
How to Give a presentation
Brett Tabke about how to give a semi-decent presentation at a technical conference. My favorite points: never depend on internet access and always have three takeaways on the final slide (so if you’re running short of time, you can fast forward to it for the conclusion). A list of reasons why Microsoft’s ooxml documentation ISO…
-
Google Hoaxes
A wikipedia listing of google hoaxes. I have missed a surprising number of these such as Google Romance.
-
Web anachronisms: Google as a verb?
A difficult literary question: I used the word “google” as a verb in a short story. 50 or 100 years from now, will people even understand what the word means? Or will you need a footnote: google (verb): to use a search engine to find information, named after one of the first companies to offer…
-
Global Warming Hall of Shame (Or: Why Gay Marriage Threatens the Country More than Melting Icecaps)
Matt Yglesias comments on survey results about which issues cause people to vote against a candidate. Top of the List? Gay marriage, abortion. The bottom? Environment and Gun Control (translation: issues that affect most ordinary Americans). Even when the question is posed to environmentalists, they still answer the same way. Commenters point out that the…
-
Presentation (August 25): Optimizing for Reading: The Art and Science of Presenting Content
This Saturday I’ll be giving a presentation with Gerry Manacsa at Barcamp Houston. (See my post-presentation wrapup here) Subject Optimize for Reading: the art (and science) of presenting content Date: August 25, 2007. Probably 10:00 AM. (There is no set schedule, but we’ll probably be presenting before noon). Location: Houston Technology Center Cost: Free! (as…