Come on, we all know her smile signals relief because she's just barely made it to the bathroom on time.
Technorati Tags: culture, Mona Lisa, da Vinci, technology
Kamloops Hillside
13 years ago
My Blog List
Saturday, December 17, 2005
That Mona Lisa Smile
New Scientist has an article claiming that Software decodes Mona Lisa's smile. Using emotion decoding software, Dutch scientists claim to have identified the feelings behind the smile. Click on the link to see what they came up with.
Come on, we all know her smile signals relief because she's just barely made it to the bathroom on time.
Come on, we all know her smile signals relief because she's just barely made it to the bathroom on time.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
OpinionJournal Interviews Orhan Pamuk
On the day before his trial, Orhan Pamuk, author of the novel Snow, is interviewed by The Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal. The piece is a serious one, but its placement in the "Arts and Leisure" section trivializes the man and his predicament.
Technorati Tags: books, censorship, commentary, culture, Turkey
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Sometimes We Should Repeat History
The Oxford University Press blog has an interesting article on Roger Williams & Church-State Separation. Williams was the seventeenth century founder of Maryland. He had been ousted from Massachusetts by the Puritans because he advocated religious freedom. They, by contrast, advocated theocracy.
Author Edwin S. Gaustad makes the point that American is experiencing a similar conflict today and argues for the wisdom of Williiams' position.
Author Edwin S. Gaustad makes the point that American is experiencing a similar conflict today and argues for the wisdom of Williiams' position.
Technorati Tags: commentary, history, ideas, religion
Friday, December 09, 2005
This is why I'm proud to be a Canadian!
Canada's most prestigious medical journal has just published Refrigerator blindness: selective loss of visual acuity in association with a common foraging behaviour
Apparently we men can't help it: staring into the fridge in a kind of stupor is a natural male behaviour. I'm glad my tax dollars are being well spent.
Apparently we men can't help it: staring into the fridge in a kind of stupor is a natural male behaviour. I'm glad my tax dollars are being well spent.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Pinter's Nobel Acceptance Speech
Harold Pinter has used his Nobel acceptance speech as an occasion to blast US foreign policy. Although the speech is outspoken, it is nowhere near as audacious as his 1966 interview with The Paris Review:
Update:You can hear Pinter's speech on the Nobel prize site.
- The other night I watched some politicians on television talking about Vietnam. I wanted very much to burst through the screen with a flamethrower and burn their eyes out and their balls off and then inquire from them how they would assess this action from a political point of view.
Update:You can hear Pinter's speech on the Nobel prize site.
Technorati Tags: arts, books, drama, nobel prize
Sunday, December 04, 2005
You can't go wrong listening to poetry
Poetry Archive has a huge collection of sound files of poets reading from their works. Search for a favourite or click "Lucky Dip" and hear let the software choose one at random. I got Charles Causley
on my second try. Not bad.
on my second try. Not bad.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
Fresh news doesn't pay the bills
Sydney H. Schanberg, writing in The Village Voice, claims that something he calls "fresh news" is what "keeps citizens feeling connected to the decisions and events that alter their lives". And that blogs won't be able to provide it. Oh, really?
When the London underground was bombed it was videobloggers who gave us the first pictures because they and not the newspapers who were there. Bloggers give us the real stuff, direct from the scene. Print and television news outlets are increasingly controlled by large media conglomerates. The news increasingly reflects corporate agendas. The phenomenon is especially visible in TV news channels like CNN and Fox. In place of investigative reporting they give us powder puff portraits of business "leaders" whose companies advertise with them. In place of honest reviews they deliver plugs for movies and TV shows made by production companies owned by their parent corporation.
When the London underground was bombed it was videobloggers who gave us the first pictures because they and not the newspapers who were there. Bloggers give us the real stuff, direct from the scene. Print and television news outlets are increasingly controlled by large media conglomerates. The news increasingly reflects corporate agendas. The phenomenon is especially visible in TV news channels like CNN and Fox. In place of investigative reporting they give us powder puff portraits of business "leaders" whose companies advertise with them. In place of honest reviews they deliver plugs for movies and TV shows made by production companies owned by their parent corporation.
Technorati Tags: blogs, commentary, newspaper
Feeble logic in support of Wal-Mart
The Wall Street Journal has an editorial explaining why unions would be bad for Wal-Mart. The logic is that Wal-Mart sells to poor people; unionization would raise prices; unionization would hurt poor people. Huh? Aren't a lot of Walmart workers poor people? In fact, about 1% of the American workforce, according to the Journal, is employed by Wal-Mart. Wouldn't it help the economy, and create jobs, if suddenly 1% of the workforce (plus their spouses and dependents) were to have more money to spend on consumer goods?
There have been a couple of popular books out attacking the marketing giant lately. Check out How Walmart is Destroying America
and The Case Against Wal-Mart
.
There have been a couple of popular books out attacking the marketing giant lately. Check out How Walmart is Destroying America
and The Case Against Wal-Mart
.
Technorati Tags: business, Wall Street Journal, United States
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Digital Web Magazine - Resurrect Your Writing, Redeem Your Soul
Digital Web Magazine has an excellent article about writing for the web titled, poetically, Resurrect Your Writing, Redeem Your Soul. The web does enforce a new style of writing on bloggers, advertisers, and others, but within that style there is still room for good writing, and bad. It's the author's responsibility to write well within the conventions of the form.
Maybe the bestseller status of Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is the first sign of a renewed care for style.
Maybe the bestseller status of Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is the first sign of a renewed care for style.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
One execution every 10 days in the US
CNN is predicting that the 1,000th execution since the Gary Gilmore execution in 1976 lifted a 10 year long moratorium in the States will take place within the next week. The article mentions two or three likely candidtates for the milestone event.
I have two reactions to the story. First, sadness that such a wonderful people as the citizens of the US could tolerate this situation. And second, thankfulness that I live in another country.
I have two reactions to the story. First, sadness that such a wonderful people as the citizens of the US could tolerate this situation. And second, thankfulness that I live in another country.
Technorati Tags: commentary, capital punishment, United States
A great news and commentary site
If you're not subscribing to the International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News feed then you are missing out on some of the most interesting and sophisticated analysis of world affairs on the web. It's always good to get out of the box, and over here in Canada we're too comfortable with
American news channels such as CNN and MSNBC. By hearing the same point of view over and over we come to accept it as normal or natural. How refreshing to look at the world from a European perspective.
American news channels such as CNN and MSNBC. By hearing the same point of view over and over we come to accept it as normal or natural. How refreshing to look at the world from a European perspective.
Technorati Tags: commentary, culture, Europe, ideas, internet, news, Germany
Friday, November 25, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Support free expression!!
MoorishGirl's blog mentions Free Expression is no offence, a book of essays issued by PEN in response to a bill before the British parliament which proposed to ban any publication offensive to any member of any religion. The book link is to amazon.uk; it's not available in the US or Canada yet.
Technorati Tags: books, commentary, censorship
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Reading Anxiety
In my previous post I mentioned not having enough money or time to every read all of the books in my Amazon wishlist. Before you could say "synchronicity" I came across Book World's suggestion that one could avoid reading anxiety by keeping lists of favourite books instead of lists of books yet unread. Of course she got the idea from Box Of Books, a blog which is driven by reading anxiety.
One of my favourite things: NY Times100 Notable Books of the Year
You know the year is winding down when the New York Times lists its 100 Notable Books of the Year . I always read the list carefully and make sub lists of things I want to read. And then I check my local library's online catalogue to see which ones are in. Only a few ever are and those are hard to borrow because there are always people who have put "holds" on them. It's one of the downsides of living in a small town with a small library.
If a book is really calling out to me to buy it, I include it in my ever expanding Amazon wishlist. I will never have enough money to buy all of the books on the wishlist, nor a long enough life to read them even if I did.
If a book is really calling out to me to buy it, I include it in my ever expanding Amazon wishlist. I will never have enough money to buy all of the books on the wishlist, nor a long enough life to read them even if I did.
Technorati Tags: books
Sunday, November 20, 2005
How many patents does this post violate?
The Guardian Unlimited has an interesting and scary article on intellectual property and on what has been patented so far. One click shopping? Amazon owns that. XML? Microsoft is trying to patent that. Somebody is claiming ownership of clickable links.
My plan? To patent the short rhetorical question.
My plan? To patent the short rhetorical question.
Technorati Tags: internet
A rant on Drucker
The Economist has a long and balanced article on Peter Drucker titled Trusting the teacher in the grey-flannel suit . I work in management, specifically educational administration, and think that the application of management by objectives to teaching and learning has lead to the present mediocrity in North American and is the real answer to the questions "Why can't Johnny read?"
He wrote many books; The Essential Drucker provides an introduction.
The rant: Management by objections has lead to outcomes based education, in which education is viewed as a product doled out in measurable units that will give students measurable skills. Such skills need to be observable, or they don't exist. These observable, measurable skills are finite and are all that counts about education. Looked at another way, if you can't mark it you shouldn't teach it. Or, looked at from the point of view of the student: if it's not for marks, I'm not doing it or learning it.
Such a philosophy places an upward limit on learning. Or, more precisely, it places a disincentive on learning for its own sake, for the joy of exploring an idea to its fullest. Intellectual curiosity is not rewarded in outcomes based learning. It gets in the way of the lesson plan.
Outcomes based education leads to classes where students spend all their energy copying the powerpoint instead of considering the ideas being put forth. Remember the points for the test and success will follow.
Dumbing down is now the preferred method of instruction in most elementary, secondary, and undergraduate programs. Soon it will be possible for people of average intelligence to attain degrees from "good" schools.
He wrote many books; The Essential Drucker provides an introduction.
The rant: Management by objections has lead to outcomes based education, in which education is viewed as a product doled out in measurable units that will give students measurable skills. Such skills need to be observable, or they don't exist. These observable, measurable skills are finite and are all that counts about education. Looked at another way, if you can't mark it you shouldn't teach it. Or, looked at from the point of view of the student: if it's not for marks, I'm not doing it or learning it.
Such a philosophy places an upward limit on learning. Or, more precisely, it places a disincentive on learning for its own sake, for the joy of exploring an idea to its fullest. Intellectual curiosity is not rewarded in outcomes based learning. It gets in the way of the lesson plan.
Outcomes based education leads to classes where students spend all their energy copying the powerpoint instead of considering the ideas being put forth. Remember the points for the test and success will follow.
Dumbing down is now the preferred method of instruction in most elementary, secondary, and undergraduate programs. Soon it will be possible for people of average intelligence to attain degrees from "good" schools.
Technorati Tags: management
Thursday, November 17, 2005
The news just keeps getting better
On the heels of a report that caffeinated coffee is not bad for your heart (see previous post to this blog), comes the news from Scientific American that sweets help to reduce stress.
Can I deduct visits to Tim Horton's as a medical expense?
Can I deduct visits to Tim Horton's as a medical expense?
I just knew it: Decaffeinated coffee may be harmful to your heart
The American Heart Society web site has an article saying that decaffeinated coffee could promote an increase in harmfl LDL cholesterol in the blood. As one who likes his coffee strong and black, I feel calmly smug.
I wonder if anyone is working on the health benefits of scotch? If you are contact me if you need someone to test your theories.
I wonder if anyone is working on the health benefits of scotch? If you are contact me if you need someone to test your theories.
Monday, November 14, 2005
The rich live in their own ghettoes. Institutionalized racism is a daily reality.
SPIEGEL carries an interview with the liberal Islamic philosopher Tariq Ramadan. The title of this post is a direct quotation from it.
Technorati Tags: books, commentary, culture
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