Monthly Archives: September 2005

The best idea since Flickr

“Librarything is”:http://www.librarything.com a combination lookup tool for bibliographic information, a way to tag and catalogue your books collection, and a social service, where you can browse other people’s libraries. Type in a few identifying words from a book’s spine, and … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Net stories | 10 Comments

SmartassNerd help wanted

If anyone knows the code that will produce rss feeds of comment threads, will they make themselves known to the management? I really would like people to be able to subscribe to these, if they want to. Continue reading

Posted in nördig | 4 Comments

With a preface by whom?

Is there anyone who can cast light on this entry from the Library of Congress catalogue? bq. Author: Dawkins, Richard, 1941- Title: The selfish gene / Richard Dawkins ; *with a pref. by Anaïs nin.* Published: New York : Oxford … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Literature | 2 Comments

How much was Bush to Blame? (2)

via “John Naughton,”:http://memex.naughtons.org/ I see that there’s “a very lucid piece”:http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/aftermath_2807.jsp by Geoffrey Hodgson on OpenDemocracy.net arguing, as I did a couple of entries down, that we should blame the system for the failure of government, not just the Bushies. Continue reading

Posted in Blather | Comments Off on How much was Bush to Blame? (2)

Good advice

No: better than that. “The best advice”:http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006448.html#006448 you could ever give your children. (from Making light). Continue reading

Posted in Literature | 1 Comment

Benny Morris

Oliver asked me to post the Benny Morris profile. It’s here, as a PDF. Continue reading

Posted in Journalism | 2 Comments

an experiment in democracy

I had written an entirely different wormseye, about choosing Muslim leaders. this this bubbled up, and I’m not sure whether to use it instead. Do any of you have opinions? (serendipitously, I find on Brad deLong “an illustration”:http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2005/09/william_rehnqui.html of my … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Journalism | 8 Comments

Petrol prices revisited

There is a photo up on Snopes.com which has been submitted as an urban legend. “It shows “:http://www.snopes.com/photos/katrina/gaspump.asp a petrol station in Georgia charging $6.00 for a gallon of gas — the person who sent it in thought it must … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Travel notes | 2 Comments

Not a bad list

Here are the profiles that a quick prod round the archives found, not really in chronological order. “Eva Hoffman”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,,479469,00.html “Mary Midgley”:http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,,421562,00.html “Stewart Brand”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,,531898,00.html “Tam Dalyell”:http://politics.guardian.co.uk/Books/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,,683421,00.html “Brian Aldiss”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/Books/departments/sciencefiction/story/0,,507577,00.html “Steve Rose”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/Books/departments/scienceandnature/story/0,,618904,00.html “Evelyn Fox Keller”:http://www.guardian.co.uk/saturday_review/story/0,,392351,00.html “Bob Conquest”:http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,894897,00.html “Elizabeth Jane Howard”:http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,835703,00.html “Redmond O’Hanlon”:http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1079385,00.html “John … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Journalism | 4 Comments

Progress

“One adult American in five thinks the Sun revolves around the Earth.”:http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/30/science/30profile.html Perhaps the most frightening thing about this statistic is that the NYT felt obliged to end the sentence “… an idea science had abandoned by the 17th century” … Continue reading Continue reading

Posted in Science without worms | 4 Comments