Writing about other things

The handful of people who follow this blog might find infuriating my reluctance to post on a regular basis, but I do write a lot elsewhere and privately. Also, I have been busy with technical things.

Here I ask a blogger about the Honduras coup why the person doesn’t identify himself. Lots of good replies.

Screed about the blandification of TV sci fi shows on a pro-male site. Don’t bother reading the comments. 

Two articles about Netflix.   Daniel Roth writes about  how Reed Hastings accomplished Instant Watch and how it will revolutionize watching.  (Read my thoughts about the Roku—which I am still loving to death).

Health insurance companies seeking a loophole to discriminate more in  rates: financial incentives to participate in wellness programs.

A consensus is forming in the US Senate to support the Kerry-Graham climate bill. Gigantic news.

Guide to backing things up on Vista.

Ask the Headhunter articles. Good stuff. See basic job-hunting mistakes.

New Yorker Review of Books has a podcast. My only complaint (if you can call it that) is that the people interviewed are usually literary biographers and historians..interesting but only up to a point.

I am now reading Vivian Gornick’s End of the Novel of Love, an excellent discussion about love and relationships through the lens of 20th century literature. Here’s an interview. Here’s her statement regarding a pseudo-scandal where she is alleged to have faked parts of her memoir.

Dating Videos: Lovedrop on bad male body language. See the essay on compliance and value.

Brooks Jackson explains why medical malpractice is an overblown threat.

Hitler finds the truth about Santa.

Did Glen Beck rape and murder a young girl in 1990?  Maybe not, but a person attacks Glen Beck’s style of insinuation. Recommended: the lawyer’s brief defending him (PDF)

Please cut the crap compiles some anecdotes about how health insurance mistreats customers. Part 1 and Part 2.

Timothy Noah explores the reasons the US hasn’t yet been attacked by terrorists after 9/11. Among other reasons, he argues that 9/11 was a tough act to follow.

Also here is a video of the USCC Naked Run 2009, (an annual tradition of students running naked in the rain in California). Totally safe-for-work, but the girl who videotapes is having a good time. Pity the poor company which unintentionally bears the same name.  I predict this tradition will NOT last much longer (now that everybody and their dog has a cell phones nowadays).

A kilogram of beef is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than driving for 3 hours while leaving all the lights on back home.

Paul Ohm contends that Netflix aggregate customer data will enable individuals to be identified.

Two incredible videos by my favorite Albanian singer Eli Fara: Here’s a traditional folk song with Fara’s haunting voice (my favorite) and a delightful singing at a hotel for 2009 New Year.