Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (Bat Segundo interview with Bissell)
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious.
Technology Archive
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Forrester Tells People What They Want to Hear
Posted on April 7, 2006 | 1 CommentThe big news going around the podcasting community is this Forrester report, which asserts “that only 1% of online households in North America regularly download and listen to podcasts.” Of... -
Honestly, Who’s Really Going to Buy Vista?
Posted on April 3, 2006 | 1 CommentWindows Vista: You’ll need 512 MB of memory (meaning a lot more) and an expensive graphics card to load. Will somebody please tell me what Vista has to offer besides... -
This Man Brainwashed His Own Children Against Google and iPod
Posted on March 29, 2006 | 2 CommentsArticle here, but I don’t think the shivers will stop until after lunchtime. -
One Step Closer to Bester’s “The Demolished Man”
Posted on March 25, 2006 | No CommentsForbes: “Carnegie Mellon researcher Tanja Schultz says one possible application is a “silent” cell phone that can detect and translate unuttered phrases like ‘I’m in a meeting’ and ‘I’ll call... -
Literary Spam
Posted on January 9, 2006 | 1 CommentThe spam comments can’t get through (thank you, good folks at Word Press), but I think a case can be made that some of it can be construed as literary.... -
The Sony Passive Reader
Posted on January 7, 2006 | No CommentsThe new Sony Reader looks spiffy, but I have my doubts. You see, the Reader here is not paper, meaning that no pages can be flipped, folded over, ripped out... -
Still Snowed Under
Posted on December 13, 2005 | 1 CommentFolks, I’m seriously bogged down and I won’t be particularly verbose here until after Thursday. In lieu of content, I leave you with this thought. The picture on the right... -
Why Wikipedia is a Problem
Posted on December 9, 2005 | No CommentsAdam Curry, historical revisionist? Not just a revisionist historian. But if Wikipedia is to be an effective resource, then it needs to ensure that impartial third parties update the entries. -
Useful Equations for “Lost” Watchers
Posted on November 17, 2005 | No CommentsTiVo + BitTorrent = TVTAD. (And if you’re an open source geek, there’s this alternative.) -
No Compelling Reason to Fill Bill Gates’ Coffers Really
Posted on November 16, 2005 | No CommentsApparently, there is no compelling reason to use Vista until 2008. -
Obviously, the Barter System Really Had Cocksucking in Mind
Posted on November 16, 2005 | No CommentsSync has a story about a 34 year old man who swaps tech support for sexual favors. “One girl didn’t even wait for me to finish the virus scan—she just... -
Hypertext Fiction: Dead or Alive?
Posted on October 20, 2005 | 5 CommentsI alluded to Robert Coover’s Litquake[1] appearance at Elbo Room in the previous post. But what I failed to mention was Andrew Sean Greer‘s introduction for Coover. Greer, who despite... -
I’ve Got Your POD Right Here. It’s Called the Next-Generation Camera Phone
Posted on September 14, 2005 | 1 CommentNew Scientist: “Commuters in Japan already anger bookstore owners and newsagents by using existing cellphone software to try to take snapshots of newspaper and magazine articles to finish reading on... -
When You’re a Fink, You’re a Fink All the Way
Posted on September 13, 2005 | No CommentsIf you have a Yahoo email account and you eventually find yourself writing about something that might be considered inexplicably dangerous (if not now, then perhaps in the not-too-distant future),... -
Where Get-Rich-Quick Schemes Are Cloaked as “Internet History”
Posted on September 11, 2005 | 5 CommentsThe Million Dollar Homepage. -
An Announcement from Apple
Posted on August 30, 2005 | 1 CommentApple Computer is preparing to make an important announcement next week. This announcement will be bigger than all other announcements. It is very important that you pay attention and that... -
iScam
Posted on August 12, 2005 | No CommentsThis doesn’t come across as too much of a surprise, but a Wired article indicates that a hacked version of OS X has made the rounds which can installed upon... -
About Schmidt
Posted on August 5, 2005 | No CommentsSo according to CNET: Google representatives have instituted a policy of not talking with CNET News.com reporters until July 2006 in response to privacy issues raised by a previous story.... -
If This is the Best AI They Can Come Up With, They Need a New Release.
Posted on July 29, 2005 | 2 CommentsFun with A.L.I.C.E. Bot: Human: How are you doing? alice : Great. How are you? human : okay alice : OK with me too. human : You just said that... -
Sun-Soaked Roundup
Posted on May 29, 2005 | 2 CommentsSarah is interviewed by Kacey Kowars. Sarah talks about the history of her blog, how she reads and selects content, her new day job, inter alia. The subject of “mean-spiritedness”... -
Fuck the iPod
Posted on February 21, 2005 | 17 CommentsWill somebody give me one good reason why I should own a fucking iPod? Will somebody explain why I should give Steve Jobs 350 hard-earned George Washingtons to apply the... -
Shuffle is Apple Lingo for “Flash Drive”
Posted on January 11, 2005 | 2 CommentsUsing stunning new technology available on nearly every MP3 freeware program and flash drive, Steve Jobs has announced a very silly product called the iPod Shuffle, which (get this) actually... -
More Archivin’ Fixins
Posted on November 11, 2004 | No CommentsThe BBC is about to release an Internet video viewer, so that one may review BBC content over the last 7 to 14 days. No word on whether this will... -
Bill Gates Tries Frightened Defense Against EU Antitrust Charges
Posted on March 24, 2004 | No Comments -
Shit-Stained Icons
Posted on February 22, 2004 | 1 CommentLike a good geek, I upgraded my browser from Firebird to Firefox. (I’m presuming Mozilla renamed it because their barebones browser has become more devious. Never mind a proper explanation.)... -
Quickies
Posted on January 21, 2004 | 2 CommentsThanks to computers, professor Floyd Horowitz has uncovered 24 stories likely to have been authored by Henry James. Using common phrases, themes and pen names (the same methodology used to... -
Harbingers of Horrific Plans
Posted on January 14, 2004 | 2 CommentsBad reviews? Shoddy placement? Nope. Bruce Stockler says the biggest obstacle to publicizing a book is obituaries The University of Michigan has launched a 20,000 volume digital collection. It uses...