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Kathleen Casey-Kirschling says she's hardly a spokeswoman for her generation. But she has gotten used to being treated like one.
Kathy, as she prefers to be called, has become celebrated as the nation's first baby boomer - born, as The Philadelphia Inquirer heralded at the time, a second past the stroke of midnight in Philadelphia on Jan. 1, 1946.
NPR : Robot Receptionist Dishes Directions and Attitude
Tank sits in the lobby of a computer science building, at a desk decorated with desert storm camouflage and a framed photo of Dwight Eisenhower. He has a computer monitor for a head. On the screen is a blue Frankenstein face. When his sensors register your presence, he smiles pleasantly and says, "Hello there. What can I do for you?"
And he got back… story.
Says he: “Don't believe the hype! It's a good (not great) work of art that is not at all the propaganda tract that both its amen chorus on the left and their antagonists on the right claim.”
From Time's 2004 "people who mattered" on [now-disgraced faux-cloning researcher Hwang Woo Suk]: "While such research raises troubling ethical questions, Hwang has already proved that human cloning is no longer science fiction, but a fact of life." Kudos to the media in South Korean that exposed the real facts.
Apparently what Hwang actually proved is that Time is science fiction…
Michael Chrichton addressed environmental management in the century ahead in a speech delivered last month to the Washington Center for Complexity and Public Policy. He quotes:
“We simply cannot afford to gamble … by ignoring it. We cannot risk inaction. Those scientists who say we are merely entering a period of climactic instability are acting irresponsibily. The indications that our climate can soon change for the worse are too strong to be resonably ignored.”
The quote, he says, is from Lowell Ponte in 1978, and is a call to action against the threat of… global cooling.
If you live somewhere in… er, the environment… you should probably read what he has to say. Cycles of fear, systems theory, and Yellowstone Park all figure prominently. (The pictures are good too; I like the map particularly.)
Yahoo News: Hookah trend is puffing along. I gather it’s particularly popular with caterpillars and people who want to die of lung cancer.
Joss Whedon: “The fact that they made four bad Batman movies is kind of a testament to the triumph of the human spirit, because it's, like, almost impossible.” USA Today’s Pop Candy has the interview. Joss also has nice things to say about Sky High. Oh, and the “best-case scenario for the future of the Firefly/Serenity franchise”, too. (Go buy Serenity on DVD. The Hollywood Reporter shows it as only the third-top-selling DVD last week. That’s called room for improvement, people!)
An encouraging stat from Rasmussen Reports:
Sixty-four percent (64%) of Americans believe the National Security Agency (NSA) should be allowed to intercept telephone conversations between terrorism suspects in other countries and people living in the United States.
That includes 51% of Democrats, interestingly enough.
It’s been nearly two years since I blogged here about E Ink foldable displays, and said, “apparently they're ready to hit the market in the next year or so.” Yeah, or not. Own one yet? Me neither.
But it looks like we may be getting close! In fact, if you live in Japan and have a couple of grand lying about, next month could be your month. Engadget:
The watch will be called the "Seiko Spectrum," and it's set to be released on January 27, 2006 in Japan. Save your money for this one — pricing is set at 262,500 yen, or around $2,200 USD. Or just, you know, wait until they get cheaper. At least it's a step in the right direction; there's not really much room to argue against the advantages electronic ink provides over conventional displays for these kinds of applications. By the way, if you do want one of these watches, get moving: only 500 will be produced.
Don’t drag your feet, shoppers, you don’t want to know how much these will cost once they become collector’s items.
Russell replies in the comments to my recent post on the UCLA media bias study:
This assumes that the UCLA researchers are completely unbiased themselves when they determine what "on the liberal side of an issue" is.
I don't believe so… which is, I think, a clever part of the study design…
Continue reading "The UCLA Media Liberalism Study: What is Liberal, Anyway?" »
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