A California inventor has developed a book-binding machine that makes it cheap and easy to print professional-quality books within minutes.

This is a great technology that i truly hope catches on. I'm an avid reader, and one who can't stand to read anything more than a few pages long on a computer screen. I maintain that ebooks, if the correct form factor ever comes about, will be of great utility for technical books and references, in which hyperlinking and annotation capabilities are critical.

For pleasure reading, however, there's nothing better than a book. There's something really luxurious about a well made book, the texture, smell and heft, and the unabashed inefficiency of bound paper.

] Care to drop the pages-long descriptions of minutia unrelated
] to the plot, too? Done.
I have some reservations about the kinds of modifications or scalability enabled by such technology, because i think it's dangerous to encourage people to excise "undesirable" pieces of an artwork (which a novel is). Literature (art in general, really) is a passtime where the efficiency of information transmission should not be a concern...

However, i think the positive features will far outweigh the negative, allowing (eventually) cheap access to public domain works and newcomers and permitting flexibility in the edition sold (some people like the short, fat trade paperback, where i'd prefer a midsized hardback... no problem, offer multiple bindings).

Definitely something to keep an eye on...

Book-Binding Technique Could Revive Rare Texts

Damn that's hot.

I'm not a BMW loony at all (not that i don't want an M3 or M5, mind you), but this car is very, very dope looking. I'm looking forward to hearing some more detailed performance info...

World Premiere of BMW 6-Series Convertible

:akoff's laws are my favorite...

] Frames trump facts.
]
] This has an important consequence. Political liberals
] have inherited an assumption from the Enlightenment, that
] The facts will set us free, that if the public is just
] given the facts, they will, being rational beings, reach
] the right conclusion.

Lakoff's Second Law

] Voters vote their identities, not their self-interest.
]
] Because of the way they frame the world, voters vote in
] a way that best accords with their identities and not
] in accord with their self-interest. That is why it is
] of no use for Democrats to keep pointing out that Bush's
] tax cuts go to the top 1 percent, not to most voters.
] If they identify with Bush because they share his
] culture and his world view, they will vote against
] their self-interest.

What's Your Law?

] ...the cops wanted to deliver a final message to those still
] around. "Bye! Don't come back here!" shouted one. A pudgy
] officer gave the finger to an activist with a video
] camera. "Put that on your Web site," he said. "Fuck you."

Salon.com News | This is not America

the naming and design of this site is so absurd it almost seems like a hoax. on the other hand, SirMixALot wouldn't mislead us, so i'll give it the benefit of the doubt. i like some of the concepts, but, WMA can suck it, which is about as far as my personal involvement can go.

Weed - Music Guide

] Most cool family tree of electronic music. Includes sound clips representative of
] each genre.
]
] This is most cool.

yeah, this is badass. i've heard about 60% of the tracks i clicked on, and i'm no where near being an aficionado of electronic music. I've got a some Daft Punk and some Crystal Method and i when i was a kid i listened to a fuckload of Ray Lynch and old Eno-inspired stuff i can't name anymore. I'm not sure if the kiddies would approve, but to me, this is a really cool presentation of an increasingly complicated set of incestuous genres.

Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music

] PAULA ZAHN: There is a point at which, but you were
] denying what he suggested.
]
]
] JOE TRIPPI: You're forgetting that part, paula.
]
]
] PAULA ZAHN: I'm not forgetting it. I just wanted to
] clarify that he had, in fact, repeated something and he
] did say later on...
]
]
] JOE TRIPPI: Keep reading the interview, and we'll get to
] the part where he says he did not believe it.
]
]
] PAULA ZAHN: No, I am not denying that, but i wanted to
] challenge your point...
]
]
] JOE TRIPPI: That's not how you started the interview.
]
]
] PAULA ZAHN: I think our audience has a pretty good sense
] now of what was said and what wasn't said. Joe trippi,
] thank you for your time.

holy shit! Trippi fucking represented on Paula Zahn. That's fucking ballsy right there.

Blog for America : Trippi on Paula Zahn | January 10, 2004

] In Tuesday's special election to fill [Florida] state
] House seat 91, 134 Broward voters managed to use the
] 2-year-old touch-screen equipment without casting
] votes for any candidate.
]
] The percentage of nonvotes -- 1.3 percent -- is modest
] compared to the days of ''hanging'' and ''pregnant
] chads.'' But in Tuesday's race, every vote was crucial.
] In a seven-candidate field, Ellyn Bogdanoff beat Oliver
] Parker by just 12 votes.
]
] ''These were the new machines,'' said Chas Brady, a
] spokesman for Parker's campaign. ``This was not supposed
] to happen.''

I'm tempted to laugh, except that this is too serious for that. Goddammit people, we're talking about VOTING, the essence of democratic society. Damn right it was not supposed to happen. And who thinks this will make one IOTA of difference to officials in other places, like, say, DeKalb county, where the election officials have assured us that the systems have been well tested and will not fail. Sweet bloody Jesus, i can't believe we're letting EGO and corporate INTERESTED PARTIES fuck with the system so much.

totally unbelievable.

New system no easy touch for 134 voters in Broward

So what to do?

I look forward to the rest. This is more of an abstract than a column, but promises a good analysis...

War of Ideas, Part 1

] Computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ.N said
] on Thursday it will soon sell a digital music player
] based on Apple Computer Inc.'s AAPL.O popular iPod player
] and announced plans for a home "entertainment hub."

!

i don't know how to think about this. intelligent cross promotion or clone fiasco? brain... can't... function...

Reuters | HP to Sell Own Version of Apple iPod Music Player