I haven’t posted a photograph in a while, so here’s an image of Enmore Road from about an hour ago — uploaded while I sip an absinthe cocktail at The Sly Fox Hotel.
Saturday Reading, 1 March 2008
Summer’s over, so time to burrow indoors and catch up on reading, yeah? Here’s a few things to kick off your weekend.
- Learning to Lie, a fascinating article covering not only how lying is a sign of an intelligent child, but how we learn that no-one likes a tattle-tale and teen rebellion. Hat-tip to Bruce Schneier.
- A selection of 27 images from Life‘s coffee-table book 100 Photographs that Changed the World.
- 6 Influential Datasets That Changed the Way We Think. Hat-tip to O’Reilly Radar.
- Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait, an amazing series of photographic images by Chris Jordan which illustrate the excesses of human consumption.
Silly Internet filtering
Boing Boing has started collecting stupid decisions by Internet filters. Example: a school blocking all forums and social networking sites. Talk about overkill!
In Finland, they go buses good!
Finland makes our buses look crap, as well as our phones. “Every bus and tram in Helsinki and the surrounding cities of Vaanta and Espoo are being fitted with Linux servers and GPS units. Every bus and tram in the conurbation will not only become a wireless hotspot serving broadband internet throughout the vehicle — for free — but every bus and tram is visible on a Google map (the beta version is at tinyurl.com/2gftso) that uses the same real-time passenger information as the controllers in their command centre.” Hat-tip to Guy Beres.
My Australia 2020 application… done!
Done! I’ve just emailed my application for the Australia 2020 Summit. Here’s my “100 words or less on why you (or your nominee) should participate”:
Australia’s democracy, created in the age of steam trains and the telegraph, must grasp the social media and online collaboration tools already transforming our world. Not tentatively, but with bold confidence.
I know these tools and their technology — and their flaws. Practical knowledge, untainted by the need to prop up old-media empires or sell products.
Armed with a high-powered “BS Detector”, I take a forensic approach to analysing complex issues — synthesizing and explaining practical solutions in clear, unambiguous language.
My passions are aroused by issues of integrity, human rights, truth, tolerance and transparency.
As I’ve mentioned before, my referees were Adam Salzer are Zern Liew. Nice to have one at each end of the alphabet, eh?
The more I look through my writing, the more I see the themes of this summit session running through so many articles.
Odd obituary for Heath Ledger
Who’d have thought? An obituary for Heath Ledger in Middle English! Well, for a character he played. Doffing the hat to Quatrefoil, who writes, “Whoever writes this blog is frequently side-splittingly funny, but he or she can write (and knows their Middle English passing well). I am filled with wonder and envy.”