The co-creator and executive producer of hit TV series 24 has quit the show. Joel Surnow's contract with 20th Century Fox TV, the program's production company, was due to expire on April 30 but it was announced on Wednesday the studio had granted his request for an early release to pursue new projects. He says, "I did some soul-searching. I took it as an opportunity to write on my own and do other things. After doing 24, I don't know if I want to do a mainstream show again. I like what's going on in cable; there is an opportunity to stretch dramatically there, which is something I'm trying to do."

From the archive:

“24,” by suggesting that the US government perpetrates myriad forms of torture, hurts the country’s image internationally. Finnegan, who is a lawyer, has for a number of years taught a course on the laws of war to West Point seniors —— cadets who would soon be commanders in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. He always tries, he said, to get his students to sort out not just what is legal but what is right. However, it had become increasingly hard to convince some cadets that America had to respect the rule of law and human rights, even when terrorists did not. One reason for the growing resistance, he suggested, was misperceptions spread by “24,” which was exceptionally popular with his students. As he told me, “The kids see it, and say, ‘If torture is wrong, what about “24”?’”

Have you seen Taxi to the Dark Side?

'24' Mastermind Leaves Show

Can you describe your life in six words?

That's what the editors of storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers in 2006; the results, though decidedly uneven, make for compulsive reading and prove arguably as insightful as any 300+ page biography. Taken as a whole, this cascade of quotes from contributors famous and unknown creates a dizzying snowball effect of perspectives and feelings.

Highlights from professional writers and artists include journalist Chuck Klosterman wondering, "Nobody cared, then they did. Why?"; pop singer-songwriter Adam Schlesinger lamenting, "We still don't hear a single"; and comic strip artist Keith Knight illustrating "I was a Michael Jackson impersonator."

At their best, these nano-memoirs evoke the same kind of rich emotional responses as a good story: 9 year old Hannah Davies considers herself "Cursed with cancer. Blessed by friends"; Zak Nelson says "I still make coffee for two"; Scott Birch claims "Most successful accomplishments based on spite." Some entries read like bumper stickers (Rip Riley: "No wife. No kids. No problems"), and others are just plain weird (Amy Sedaris: "Mushrooms. Clowns. Wands. Five. Wig. Thatched"), but this compelling little book will have readers and their friends hunting for favorites and inventing six-word self-definitions of their own.

This review in six words? Read. Enjoy. Pass it on. Repeat.

Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure

Ben Fry, author of Visualizing Data, is featured in this new MoMA exhibition. From the news:

... a thoughtful and provocative collection of ideas, theories and experiments, which raise dazzling possibilities for the future. Some will work. Others probably won't. But that's part of the fun of an inspiring exhibition that poses (at least) as many questions as it answers.

About the exhibit:

In the past few decades, individuals have experienced dramatic changes in some of the most established dimensions of human life: time, space, matter, and individuality. Working across several time zones, traveling with relative ease between satellite maps and nanoscale images, gleefully drowning in information, acting fast in order to preserve some slow downtime, people cope daily with dozens of changes in scale. Minds adapt and acquire enough elasticity to be able to synthesize such abundance. One of design's most fundamental tasks is to stand between revolutions and life, and to help people deal with change. Designers have coped with these displacements by contributing thoughtful concepts that can provide guidance and ease as science and technology evolve. Several of them—the Mosaic graphic user's interface for the Internet, for instance—have truly changed the world. Design and the Elastic Mind is a survey of the latest developments in the field. It focuses on designers' ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and social mores, changes that will demand or reflect major adjustments in human behavior, and convert them into objects and systems that people understand and use.

The exhibition will highlight examples of successful translation of disruptive innovation, examples based on ongoing research, as well as reflections on the future responsibilities of design. Of particular interest will be the exploration of the relationship between design and science and the approach to scale. The exhibition will include objects, projects, and concepts offered by teams of designers, scientists, and engineers from all over the world, ranging from the nanoscale to the cosmological scale. The objects range from nanodevices to vehicles, from appliances to interfaces, and from pragmatic solutions for everyday use to provocative ideas meant to influence our future choices. The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue.

Design and the Elastic Mind | MoMA | Exhibitions | 2008

"Twittering" is unobjectionable because you are deciding what information you want to put out. More problematic is the amount of unintended sharing going on. Most troubling of all is the growing inclination of Web sites to spread personal information without users’ consent.

But push-back is becoming more common.

One Friend Facebook Hasn’t Made Yet: Privacy Rights

A weakening US economy is taking a small swipe at American vanity.

But analysts said the outlook for breast implants was not that bad.

"It's one of the last things to get hit when the economy turns."

Cosmetic procedures decline as economy weakens

CIA set up front companies after 9/11 as part of a constellation of "black stations" for a new generation of spies. But after spending millions on such companies, all but two were deemed ineffective and shut down.

The experience reflects an ongoing struggle at the CIA to adapt to a new environment in espionage. The agency has sought to regroup by designing covers that would provide pretexts for spies to get close to radical Muslim groups, nuclear equipment manufacturers and other high-priority targets.

But progress has been painfully slow, and the agency's efforts to alter its use of personal and corporate disguises have yet to produce a significant penetration of a terrorist or weapons proliferation network.

"I don't believe the intelligence community has made the fundamental shift in how it operates to adapt to the different targets that are out there," said Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

CIA's ambitious post-9/11 spy plan crumbles

"Their confidence was restored by his confidence. When he smiled on the crisis, it seemed to vanish."

Would we call this a cult of personality?

"Today, attacks on the cult of personality seem really to mean attacks on the ability to make speeches that inspire. But you only have to look at crucial moments in the history of our time to see how crucial it was to have a leader who could inspire, who could rally a nation to a standard, who could infuse a country with confidence, to remind people of the justice of a cause."

From the archive:

I've come to the conclusion that you actually want shifty, dishonest politicians elected by an apathetic populace. This means that things are working.

There are two reasons that people act: Carrots and Sticks. Lowering the barrier to entry might be a carrot, but the sticks are much more effective and come when the political situation makes it impossible for people to go about their lives without acting.

I'm confident that technology has improved the resources available to people if/when they choose to act. So far they don't need to, largely. Don't wish for times when they do. When people are involved and committed and political leaders are honest and have clear vision; that usually happens when things are really, really fucked up. Who are the U.S. Presidents we most admire? What was going on during their presidencies?

The charisma mandate

They provide a thrill, bragging rights, and occasionally the chance to win thousands of dollars.

"What happened last night is what everyone was afraid could happen, but at a much larger scale."

"You can really get going for a while. It's pretty popular. It's pretty sophisticated."

Police are aware of the aficionados, but the information stays within a tight circle.

Illicit Activity Regularly Eludes Police

The underlying problem is as old as finance itself—borrowing short to lend long. As a strategy it can be extremely profitable but it is very vulnerable to crisis. Three things can go wrong: the costs of borrowing can go up, access to borrowing can dry up, or the assets bought with borrowed money can fall in value. All three have happened at various stages over the last six months.

The credit crunch will be with us for a while.

Market.view: Still Here | Economist

A little something for Huckabee ...

A skittish kitten that scampered out of its carrier on a subway platform has been found after 25 days in the underground tunnels.

Transit workers tracked down 6-month old Georgia under midtown Manhattan Saturday. Police reunited her with owner Ashley Phillips, a 24-year-old Bronx librarian.

After hearing that the black cat might have been spotted below Lexington Avenue and East 55th Street, track workers Mark Dalessio and Efrain LaPorte went through the area making "meow" sounds.

Georgia responded, and they found her cowering in a drain between two tracks.

Georgia had lost some weight and scratched her nose but was otherwise unhurt. She had disappeared while Phillips was bringing her home from a veterinarian visit last month.

Runaway kitten found after weeks in New York City subway