November 2008 – Nullius in Verba

Apparently Atlas Shrugged Because He Didn't Understand

New York magazine has posted personals ads from TheAtlasphere.com. The Atlas in Atlasphere alludes to Atlas Shrugged, Rand’s 1000 page Magnum Opus. Magnum opus is Latin for “doorstop.” The Atlasphere’s mission is to “bring together admirers of Ayn Rand’s novels, from around the globe, to network both personally and professionally.” After all, Ayn Rand’s novelsContinue reading “Apparently Atlas Shrugged Because He Didn't Understand”

Apparently Atlas Shrugged Because He Didn’t Understand

Lynne Viehl's Devil's Writing Dictionary

S. L. (Lynn) Viehl over at Paperback Writer has a nifty Devil’s Writing Dictionary. I love her definition of novel: Novel: a rambling, proportionally disorganized fictional prose narrative of considerable length (usually 60,000 words or more) that typically possesses some semblance of a plot (unless literary, see Literature) that is presented in between sequences ofContinue reading “Lynne Viehl's Devil's Writing Dictionary”

Lynne Viehl’s Devil’s Writing Dictionary

I Give Thanks

For writing. For friends. For my wife. For great holiday stories, like the one I just heard about a couple arguing over who is more OCD. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone. If you’re one of my readers from outside of the US. It’s a day of gluttony in which we’re thankful that … well youContinue reading “I Give Thanks”

Word (or Phrase) of the Year

From the American Dialect Society: What is the word or phrase which best characterizes the year 2008? What expression most reflects the ideas, events, and themes which have occupied the United States and its residents? Nominations should be sent to woty@americandialect.org. The best “word of the year” candidates will be: —new or newly popular inContinue reading “Word (or Phrase) of the Year”

Timberati — Too Big to Fail

From Truthdig: The Fed and the Treasury are once again throwing good cash after bad business. This time the culprit is Citigroup, which could get bailed out—courtesy of you—to the tune of $100 billion. And with that, we’d like to announce that Truthdig is officially too big to fail. For a mere $50 billion, weContinue reading “Timberati — Too Big to Fail”

If it isn’t grown…

I love technological gadgets. I remember getting one of the first electronic handheld calculators in the 1970s. It cost about $100. Soon, Moore’s Law kicked in, the capacity increased and the price decreased, and in a few years places gave calculators away. Moore’s Law has brought down the cost of electronic gadgets. Cellular phones usedContinue reading “If it isn’t grown…”

Save Trees, Use More Paper

Earlier this year, Kevin Periera of G4 told Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal, the Amazon Kindle “is the savior to many, many forests in the future.” [Read it here] As a licensed forester and certified treehugger, I don’t think so. Trees don’t get cut down when you use electronic stuff, right? Well they may be, forever. TheContinue reading “Save Trees, Use More Paper”

PowerBook We Hardly Knew Ye

Well, my beloved Apple PowerBook G4 died in its sleep (mode) yesterday. And though I had backed up its contents frequently, it takes with it the latest versions/downloads of iTunes, RSS feeds, Word documents, and the only Apple product in the house with which to synchronize the iPod. It is survived by two atavistic cousins–uncoolContinue reading “PowerBook We Hardly Knew Ye”