the grandma test

Whenever I wonder whether I should get really angry about a feud on the Internet – or even in real life, where many Internet tendencies are born – I use a private standard, which I believe I invented, called the Grandma Test. The Grandma Test works as follows: could my 85-year-old Southern grandmother understand the [...]

hurricanes and faster things

o Good news, everyone: I found the filthiest toilet in Boston.1 It’s the men’s room in the Borders at Downtown Crossing. The first time I used it, several years ago, I remember I needed a token to open the door but nothing else about the experience. The second time I used it, this past Sunday: [...]

chain chain chain

This week’s links have some games in them: Budget Hero: a colorful online game that challenges you to balance the budget. First, you assign yourself various badges to reflect your priorities, like Health and Fitness or National Defense or Fiscal Responsibility. Then, you choose which programs you want to expand or cut, in the form [...]

and it feels like love, got the radio on and that’s all that we need

A memorial media blow: First off, I’m saddened to hear of Sydney Pollack passing. I only knew two of his films well enough to comment on them – The Firm and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? – but those two showed enough of his style to merit some acclaim. Bridge of Birds: A grown-up fairy [...]

professor? what’s another word for pirate treasure?

Before taking the current job, I had one interview and a follow-up with Extensive Enterprises (they took over the old Bear Stearns offices downtown). I had almost reached the elevator after the second interview when the COO caught up with me in a hurry. “I actually wanted to talk with you a bit more before [...]

you don’t know me, you just love me

Why do people (I include myself here, for once) get so excited when hearing that their favorite book will be made into a movie? Without drowning you in theory I barely understand myself: different forms of media come bundled with different expectations, both by the creator and the audience. A painting stands as a single [...]

it’s like that, and that’s the way it is

First and most important, c/o Phanatic (who swiped it from a friend of his) here’s some fresh breakin’ to start your day. Next: I remember reading a copy of the Journal at the kitchen table in the family homestead over Christmas and seeing a full-page ad for Lifelock – an identity theft protection service. In [...]

I’m the daddy of the mac, daddy

I got sucked into the videos at TED.com late on Sunday night and lost an hour or so watching them. If you only have time to watch one video in your busy day, watch Ken Robinson’s talk on how institutional education kills creativity. It has the virtues of being both moving and entertaining: (I can’t [...]

the only guarantee in life is a life worth dying for

A short, sharp and shocked media blow this week: The Best of Fritz Leiber: “America the Beautiful” and “Poor Superman” can be read as prophetically savage satires of the American right and left, respectively, at the dawn of the 21st Century. Or they’re just good sci-fi, as the rest of this collection is. When Life [...]

you’ll never watch your life slide out of view

For this week’s Friday Feedback, I want Five Different Versions Of The Same Thing. To get us started, I select the song “Common People” by Pulp. First, here’s the original music video: Second, here’s a short comic by Jamie Hewlett illustrating the lyrics: Third, here’s William Shatner, Ben Folds and Joe “Into The Night” Jackson [...]