Links

Stuff I find around the web that interests or amuses me.

So many books, so little time

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In a fortuitous bit of serendipity, I just re-discovered a website I’d found a few months ago, but forgotten to bookmark — All Consuming, which scans recently updated weblogs for Amazon book links, and uses that data to track what books are currently popular in the weblog world. Nifty stuff to explore!

Amusingly enough, there’s a feature in the top right that lists the first line of a book for you to attempt to guess the source, which reminded me of a bookstore up on Broadway on Capitol Hill that does the same with a readerboard on the sidewalk. As it turns out, that very bookstore is where All Consuming’s webmaster got the idea! Small world, I tell ya.

Incidentally, though, I’ve never run across a first line up at the bookstore that I knew. Hm. Guess I just haven’t read enough yet!

Web Writing Style Guide

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on a side note, i wonder when somebody will get the hair to standardize style and do a stylebook specifically for the web? Like MLA, AP, Chicago Manual of Style, etc.

— Kirsten, in a comment on this site

Your wish is granted!

Well…er…sorta. I don’t think this is quite what you were aiming at. Pretty accurate, though!

No matter what Flash-blinded web monkeys would have us believe, the Internet is a text-based medium: especially its major discussion forums (IRC and Usenet) where people from all over the world can interact and share information. A popular misconception about text messages on the Internet is that, to be an effective communicator and earn the respect and admiration of your peers, you must be able to write lucid prose; that your messages, articles, posts and pages must be easy to understand and pleasant to read.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Popular sites filled with cutting-edge Internet cognoscenti (such as Slashdot and ShackNews) give the lie to this harmful and destructive myth: they are brimming with horrific grammar, atrocious spelling, gratuitous abbreviation and childish, arrogant attitude. To be “in” on the net, you must write like a wanker.

As far as when someone will write a real style guide, I’m not sure, though it wouldn’t really surprise me if there were one already out there and I just haven’t stumbled across it yet. Pointers, anyone?

Wireless in the classroom

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In response to this article about the pros and cons of wireless ‘net access on campus, Robert Scoble presents a list of suggests as to how teachers can adapt. Rather than panicking and denying all ‘net access across the board, why not come up with ways to involve use of the ‘net in class?

So, teachers, why not turn it around? Why not see [wireless internet] as a fact of life, both in school, in your community, and in the work world, and see if you can use it to make your (and your students’) experiences better? Here’s some ideas:

Giant sea sparrows?

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An article on Nov. 10 about animal rights referred erroneously to an island in the Indian Ocean and to events there involving goats and endangered giant sea sparrows that could possibly lead to the killing of goats by environmental groups. Wrightson Island does not exist; both the island and the events are hypothetical figments from a book (also mentioned in the article), “Beginning Again,” by David Ehrenfeld. No giant sea sparrow is known to be endangered by the eating habits of goats.

— Correction in The New York Times, Dec. 15th, 2002 (via Metafilter)

As mr_crash_davis pointed out, “Not ‘No giant sea sparrow is endangered by…’, but ‘No giant sea sparrow is known to be…’, just in case one turns up somewhere.”

Psychoptrometry

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I think that the next time I need to get new glasses, I want to go to whoever Jonathan’s optomotrist is…

Halfway through the testing procedure, which took nearly 45 minutes, I commented on the fact that I felt a degree of performance anxiety, experienced as a strong desire to provide the “correct answer” to each of the optometrist’s questions about the relative sharpness of individual test charts. He told me that this was quite natural, since I had such a strong emotional investment in the process.

He said that he listened very carefully to a patient’s voice while conducting these tests, in many cases giving greater emphasis to the emotional resonance of their answers than to the choices they actually made. Why? To avoid the risk of prescribing a lens that is stronger than necessary. He also factored this “emotional coefficient” into his choice of one kind of spectacles over another.

…I went to the appointment expecting that he would recommend…progressive lenses, which would provide a smooth transition from intermediate to near. This was, in fact, his recommendation but out of curiosity I asked him about bifocals, segmented lenses with two distinct regions for — in my case — intermediate and near vision.

“I only prescribe bifocals for patients with rigid personalities,” he answered. “In other words, people who see the world in terms of black and white rather than shades of gray. Of course I wouldn’t be having this conversation with someone who needs bifocals.”

The optometrist as psychotherapist, I thought to myself, what an intriguing character.

Religions are wacky

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I haven’t found a major religion yet (or even a minor one) that isn’t wacky. I know that this post will bring out the wackiest among you too. Hey, you can’t sell me on your religion. They all stink.

While we’re on this, a few years ago I made this claim in the off.ramp newsgroup that I used to hang out in: God is a Dumbass. I offered Nevada and the Moon as proof. Guess what? No one ever was able to prove me wrong. At minimum I believe that God — if she exists — drinks cheap whiskey. That’d explain why things go to hell once in a while.

— Robert Scoble, on his weblog.

Not a bad way to go, really

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Well, if you decided to choose how you were going to die — would you pick something different?

Rolf Eden, a Berlin property tycoon, former nightclub owner, and all-purpose celebrity, says he is offering $125,000 to any woman, from anywhere in the world, who can kill him with sex.

“My real desire is to die on a lady, while making love,” Eden said. “A lawyer has my will, and in my will I have $125,000 for this lady.”

Eden is known by many as the “Hugh Hefner” of Germany. He doesn’t publish a magazine, but he is a wealthy playboy.

Eden says that even at age 72 he is fit as a fiddle, and ready for love. He claims he will pay for an unspecified number of women to fly to Berlin from various parts of the world, for a couple of days of sexual activity, providing they fit his criteria.

Basically that seems to mean they must be young, attractive, healthy, and with a practical outlook on life. “If a lady will come here, she really has to work hard,” he said.

As for the obvious objections which women’s right groups would have, Eden is unrepentant. “If they’re outraged, the leader, if she’s young and beautiful, she should come here and I’ll change her mind very fast.”

Time for me to start saving. I’ll post when I have my own $125,000 ready to spend. ;)

Thanks to Karl for this one!

Remember the 80’s?

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How fun — I just took the 80’s Purity Test. It’s weighted a bit more towards ‘girl stuff’ (lots of questions about wearing scrunchies and jelly shoes and the like), but I still didn’t do too badly:

Total Questions:249
Questions answered Yes:160
Maximum possible Score:249
Score:161
Percent impurity:64.6
Percent purity:35.4
Explanation:You answered “yes” to 161 of 249 questions, making you 64.6% 80s (35.4% non-80s); that is, you are 64.6% in the 80s domain (your purity is 35.4%).

(Thanks to Throughyoureyes)

Everything, everything…

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Antipixel: The Radius of Human Experience:

Here’s a little game I sometimes play when I’m bored. Works best in the denser urban environments, but you can play it anywhere. It helps to believe that pretty much anything a human can do is being done by someone somewhere at any given moment (although you can switch this thought off when you’re done).

Imagining yourself at the centre of a circle, how far do you have to expand the radius of that circle until you’ve encompassed all of human experience?

For example…

Great post. I tried to find a good way to work it into my site for a few minutes, then just decided a quote and a link would work just fine. I probably do that too much, but here, it seemed the best approach.

I’m going to hell, aren’t I?

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In an effort to help protect the DC-area public from the current sniper shootings, the local police have issued a list of tips for staying safe. One of the tips is, “When moving outside, walk briskly in a zigzag pattern.”

Okay, yes, I know this is a horrible thing, and I do hope that they catch this psycho soon.

But I do have to admit to a certain level of amusement at picturing the entire DC population zigzagging along the city sidewalks like a bunch of drunks.