January 2008
8 posts
Are we now living in the Anthropocene? →
“In 2002, Paul Crutzen, the Nobel Prize–winning chemist, suggested that we had left the Holocene and had entered a new Epoch—the Anthropocene—because of the global environmental effects of increased human population and economic development.”
What I admire about professions like Engineering... →
“In short, their Code of Ethics.
Try this: Employ an Engineer. Ask her to slap together a bridge. The answer will be no. You cannot badger her with talk of how since You Hold The Gold, You Make The Rules. You cannot cajole her with talk of how the department needs to make its numbers, and that means getting construction done by the end of the quarter.”
“Confusing “its” and “it’s” is the signature of moronic writing precisely...”
– The Use of the Apostrophe in the English Language
"Who goes Nazi?" by Dorothy Thompson (Harper's... →
“It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi. By now, I think I know. I have gone through the experience many times–in Germany, in Austria, and in France. I have come to know the types: the born Nazis, the Nazis whom democracy itself has created, the certain-to-be fellow-travelers. And...
1 tag
Two great blog posts today for Twitter users. Paul Downey points out two kinds of Twitter users: Twits, who use Twitter for supporting ambient intimacy with their friends, and Twerps, who use Twitter as a form of IRC.
In the same vein Phillie Casablanca has posted The Ten Commandments of Twitter, providing moral guidance for Twits everywhere.
“The more I travel, study history and read the papers, the more convinced I...”
– Read more in Steven Dutch’s essay The World’s Most Toxic Value System.
“Amplified individuals share four important characteristics. First, they are...”
– From Jane McGonigal’s blog Avant Game.