new york

Monday various

  • Rats. Terry Jones, of Monty Python fame will be teaching a one-day comedy writing seminar in Manhattan next month. Noted Python biographer Kim “Howard” Johnson will also be on hand to interview him. But it’s the day after my sister’s wedding, and I of course already have plans. I did get to see Michael Palin several years ago, but this sounded like an interesting (if considerably more expensive) event. Even if I must admit I’ve not always been the biggest fan of Mr. Jones’ solo work. [via]

  • On the lie that is CSI: The Shaky Science Behind Forensics:

    Forensic science was not developed by scientists. It was mostly created by cops, who were guided by little more than common sense. And as hundreds of criminal cases begin to unravel, many established forensic practices are coming under fire.

    Eye-opening and more than a little frightening. [via]

  • Vogue model Liskula Cohen wins right to unmask offensive blogger. I have to agree with Bookninja that his sets a potentially troubling precedent — not least of all because the defamation seems to have been relatively very minor. I don’t know the exact particulars of the offending blog, but…well, obviously nobody wants to be called a skank, and it is offensive, but for someone in the public eye, it would seem to come with the territory. Perhaps the vitriol aimed at Cohen went beyond that, but there is a significant difference between name-calling and character assassination, between being mean to someone and spreading lies that defame their character and impede their livelihood. And Cohen apparently isn’t even going to bring a defamation suit against the unmasked blogger. Now that she knows who it is, she’s perfectly willing to let bygones be bygones. Which I guess is big of her, but why couldn’t she have done that when it was just anonymous dickhead making fun of her? Why couldn’t she have sued (or, better, just politely asked) Google to remove the offending material? And, unless I’m missing something, can’t you easily sign up for Blogger anonymously? It’s a free service, so if you give Google a fake name and contact information, what good does unmasking do?

  • Or maybe not. Ever wonder What the Internet Knows About You? [via]

  • And finally, Mark Evanier on health care:

    I have nothing against corporate profits. The heart of this nation’s economy depends on businesses being able to amass moola. But when human lives are concerned, couldn’t that be close to an equal consideration? It doesn’t even have to be more vital than making sure some corporations have their best year ever. Couldn’t it just be, you know, almost as important?

Thursday

So, saw this today…

Not much else to say except that. Our company had an employee recognition luncheon this afternoon, and for a change of pace held the event aboard a New York harbor cruise. It was nice. We left the office at 11:30, disembarked around noon, and had a really nice lunch and a chance to go up on deck and take some photos. I didn’t win any of the recognition awards, unfortunately, but we each got $10 Amazon gift cards and had the rest of the afternoon after 3 (when we returned to shore) off.

All in all, a very pleasant way to spend a Fri–what? It was only Thursday? Oh. Well, you can’t win ’em all. It was a very nice day, nonetheless.

Tuesday various

  • John Seavey on the “Vote With Your Wallet” Fallacy as it applies to comic books:

    And of course, the worst part is that DC and Marvel are the bread and butter of the modern comics store. For all that people encourage buying indie comics as a way to vote with their wallets, if DC and Marvel (possibly even just Marvel) got out of the publishing business and decided to focus on their movies and videogames, it would be an utter apocalypse for the comics industry. All the other companies combined do not sell enough copies to keep a comics store in business. And without comics stores, indie publishers have very few places to sell their stuff. So voting with your wallets…might actually mean buying DC and Marvel books you hate just to keep the store you like in business.

    The business model of the comics industry would drive Warren Buffett mad.

  • Is Detroit on its way to becoming a food desert?

    About 80 percent of the residents of Detroit buy their food at the one thousand convenience stores, party stores, liquor stores, and gas stations in the city. There is such a dire shortage of protein in the city that Glemie Dean Beasley, a seventy-year-old retired truck driver, is able to augment his Social Security by selling raccoon carcasses (twelve dollars a piece, serves a family of four) from animals he has treed and shot at undisclosed hunting grounds around the city. Pelts are ten dollars each. Pheasants are also abundant in the city and are occasionally harvested for dinner.

    Not a single produce-carrying grocery chain in the city. From the little I saw of it a couple of years ago, I’m sorry to say I can believe it. [via]

  • Is Accelerated Reader’s only criteria for assigning points the number of pages in a book? It sure seems that way, if Hamlet can be “worth fewer points than the fifth installment of the Gossip Girl series.” Shouldn’t some other factors be taking into account? [via]

  • “When Henry Hudson first looked on Manhattan in 1609, what did he see?” This, apparently. I got to see a little of the Mannahatta Project a couple of weeks ago when I accompanied my mother to an after-hours members event at the Museum of the City of New York. Interesting stuff. [via]

  • And finally, when the police shoot the Fire Chief in the courtroom over speeding tickets, you know that, just maybe, something’s wrong. [via]

My Friday night

Last night, I attended a live taping of a public radio show about things that are awesome, The Sound of Young America. Guests on the talk show included rock star Andrew WK, Scott Adsit from 30 Rock, singer Nellie McKay, comedian Kumail Nanjani and director Rik Cordero. McKay and WK were a little weird, but overall it was a great show.

It was downtown at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WNYC. I had some time to kill between work and the show, so I went and visited the High Line, a new city park that opened back in June. While I was there, I took some pictures.

Friday various

  • Tonight, I’ll be attending a live taping of The Sound of Young America. It’s streaming live at 8 PM Eastern, if you’d like to watch too. I expect part, or all, of the show will eventually find its way into the radio show and/or podcast.
  • So how is the World, Dubai’s string of man-made paradise islands for the über-wealthy and famous, doing? Not too surprisingly, not too well. [via]
  • Are Twitter users “well on their way to becoming violent, idiotic vagabonds hell-bent on destroying the world”? We can only hope! Every time I read a story like this, or one bemoaning the rise of social networking sites in general, I really don’t know how to respond, since their fears almost never match up with how I (or, I think, most people) use these things. [via] As Noel Murray writes:

    This is a common critique of Twitter: “I don’t need to know what a bunch of strangers had for lunch.” And yet that’s so far removed from the way I use the service that I’m unsure where to begin refuting it. Personally, I only follow a small group of people on Twitter, and I have a limited circle of friends of Facebook. Most of these are people I know—or at least know of. We’re talking to each other about things we’re presumably all interested in; we’re sharing quick thoughts on movies, TV, kids, and the petty annoyances and subtle joys of a passing day. The other day one of my Twitter-followers—someone I don’t follow, I hasten to note—complained that he didn’t like me having a six-or-seven-Tweet exchange with a friend and thereby “cluttering up his feed.” And all I could think was, “Dude, following me is not compulsory.” I think that’s what critics of Twitter often fail to understand. Though some may use Twitter and Facebook as one big “look at me,” the majority are just trying to stay connected with friends, old and new.

  • A live-action Scooby-Doo prequel? And here I was, thinking nothing could make me nostalgic for the Matthew Lillard/Freddie Prinze, Jr. versions… I don’t have a problem with the movie in theory — it would be ridiculous to think Scooby-Doo has any kind of canon that needs protecting, and I remember genuinely liking A Pup Named Scooby-Doo — but in practice, this looks pretty dire.
  • And finally, there’s got to be an easier way to avoid ads in Gmail… [via]