| |
| There are great benefits to connectedness, but we haven't wrapped our minds around the costs. |
|
Scientists Are Made, Not Born |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Science |
9:08 am EST, Feb 28, 2005 |
Do women have what it takes to become scientists? Clearly, debating whether women are intellectually equipped for sciences makes little sense. Women themselves have already settled the issue, one degree at a time. Scientists Are Made, Not Born |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Society |
12:45 pm EST, Feb 26, 2005 |
Thomas Kuhn famously argued that science advances not gradually but in jolts, through a series of raw and jagged paradigm shifts. Somebody sees a problem differently, and suddenly everybody's vantage point changes. "Why not here?" is a Kuhnian question, and as you open the newspaper these days, you see it flitting around the world like a thought contagion. If we had any brains, we'd build an Iraqi C-Span so the whole Arab world could follow this process like a long political soap opera. Despite everything, the thought contagion is spreading. Why not here? Why Not Here? |
|
Gran Turismo 4 - First Drive - Motor Trend |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Computers |
2:57 am EST, Feb 26, 2005 |
We got it, we played it, we love it. I have to agree. There is an awful lot to play with here. If you have a GT3 saved game on your memory card, I highly recommend using it to jump-start your GT4 experience. You can transfer 100,000 credits and buy a much better car than you'd have been able to get otherwise. The only sour note is the music, which I've seen others complain about, too. They should have been able to do at least as well as Grand Theft Auto. Unfortunately the soundtrack seems quite forgettable. But it's no big deal to me, since I generally disable the music while I'm driving/racing, anyway, so that I can hear the engine, the road (and my tires), and the other cars. Gran Turismo 4 - First Drive - Motor Trend |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Arts |
11:39 am EST, Feb 21, 2005 |
This is the official web site for SpamAlot. It's the biggest musical event since 937 AD. David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry and Hank Azaria lead a cast of, well, many, in this outrageous tale of brave knights, fair maidens, and killer rabbits. This medieval musical comedy, featuring a book by Eric Idle and a score by Idle and John DuPrez, is directed by Tony Award and Academy Award-winner Mike Nichols. Monty Python's SpamAlot |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Arts |
11:33 am EST, Feb 21, 2005 |
Telling the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail, 'Monty Python's Spamalot' features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits, and one legless knight. Based on the 1975 movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," this production features a new score, but still includes three songs from the movie. The show is in previews right now; official opening date is March 17. When it gets reviewed, you'll find the review linked here. Monty Python's Spamalot |
|
Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Humor |
11:28 am EST, Feb 21, 2005 |
Dave Eggers talks about Monty Python. The news angle is that Mike Nichols has a new Broadway show, "Spamalot", opening in February. I have seen a handful of Broadway musicals, and they havent always been my cup of tea. But what I saw of Spamalot in rehearsals was hysterically funny, and I cant imagine it being anything but a good time. I think I must have been probably ten when I started seeing it late at night ... when VCRs and Betamaxes came out the first movie that we all watched endlessly and memorized was The Holy Grail. I was pathetic. Hank Azaria said something to the effect that Monty Python sort of made it O.K. to be smart. To be able to take that kind of material and completely make it ridiculous was -- its something that nobody else did, or does, really. "Arrested Development is really the only American show today thats in touch with a true sense of absurdity. Its not the most conducive environment right now to experimenting at all, or trying to push the form forward, in any media, really. Except, every so often, somebody will do something in film and get away with it. The Meaning of Life is far darker than Id remembered. I cant remember anything since being that dark. I mean, nowadays, only animated stuff, like The Simpsons and South Park, can get away with that level of anger and bile and that sort of dim world view -- but with them it goes down easier because theyre cartoons. They were addressing history itself. History and sheep. Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition |
|
Guardian Unlimited Talk - Author Malcolm Gladwell live online, Tuesday February 22 |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Non-Fiction |
11:16 am EST, Feb 21, 2005 |
Journalist and author Malcolm Gladwell will be live online at 2.30pm on Tuesday February 22. Gladwell's new book, Blink, investigates why some people's gut instincts are better than others' and why a snap judgment made very quickly can actually be more effective than one made deliberately and cautiously. Guardian Unlimited Talk - Author Malcolm Gladwell live online, Tuesday February 22 |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Business |
2:54 pm EST, Feb 19, 2005 |
Every once in a while I hear from people who love their jobs. I don't mean people who are merely pleased to have a job, or relieved not to despise that job, but rather workers who are head-over-heels ecstatic about the work they do. People who would keep on working if they hit the lottery. People who jump out of bed in the morning, thrilled that it is Monday. It's not only people in offbeat jobs who are enamored of their work. People who are skilled and are challenged by what they do, who are proud of the product of their work and who like -- or at least respect -- the people they work with, are most likely to love their jobs. That is as true of the doorman as the TV star. Take This Job and Hug It |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Humor |
1:25 pm EST, Feb 19, 2005 |
I had a dream last night. I was 5 years old. It was summer. There was no air-conditioning in our little bungalow on the small crescent-shaped street in the suburbs of Toronto. And so to cool ourselves, we ran through the freshly hanging sheets on the backyard clotheslines. I had no idea that every one of my neighbors had the same apricot-colored linen that we did. Towels too! It was beautiful; as far as the eye could see, rows and rows of shimmering golden-orange fabric dancing in the light. I hoped it would stay like that forever, or maybe another week or so max. Rick Moranis is funny? Heh heh ... New Jersey ... Heaven's Gates |
|
America's Billion Dollar Baby, Left to Die Cold and Alone |
|
|
|---|
| Topic: Space |
2:07 am EST, Feb 19, 2005 |
Sean O'Keefe is to Hubble as Frankie Dunn is to Maggie Fitzgerald, if you just swap out compassion for selfishness and soul searching for obstinancy. Don't you think? Update: Sean O'Keefe has replied with a letter to the editor. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/opinion/l19nasa.html He says that the CAIB recommendations dictated the Hubble decision. "Nothing less than the credibility of the agency hangs in the balance. This is not about being "petulant," nor is it personal. It's about meaning what we said, doing what we said, and being responsible regardless of the popularity of the consequences." I can respect him for his willingness to take responsibility for an unpopular but well-founded decision. It seems his absolute rationality on the matter is frustrating to a public that plays itself as an avid risk taker -- that is, until something bad actually happens, at which point the public has shown itself to be quite the dutiful flip-flopper. It's a no-win situation for O'Keefe, to be sure. America's Billion Dollar Baby, Left to Die Cold and Alone |
|
