Living the Liminal

September 22, 2007 / Technology

Naked Pics & Ancient Bugs

This story was printed about 12 years ago, but it’s the first I’d heard of it and is fascinating (definitely a play or a film script in the making):

“The Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal”

(via Boing Boing)

As Tom Merrit from CNET points out, when the scientists say “don’t worry,” it’s usually time to head for the underground bunker. So now that the polar ice caps are melting, we are going to be facing more of these:

“Eight-million-year-old bug is alive and growing”

Of course, the scientists say, don’t worry, but I’m thinking that bacteria this old and this tough could be just a bit worrying.

(via Buzz Out Loud)

August 7, 2007 / Politics

Unca George is Listenin’

Because I don’t like to send political emails, I figured I’d post this here: Subject: Don’t let Congress off the hook for letting Bush wiretap our phone calls Hi, The Democratic-controlled Congress did the unthinkable on Saturday night: They gave President Bush and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales more unchecked power to wiretap Americans without a …

September 22, 2007 / Theatre

New Sound Design Gig

Your very own, humble yet pretty-damn-talented, LtL will be designing sound for a show called Purple Hearts which is being directed by David Epstein and produced by the Invisible City Theater Company. It’s a pretty intense play about the few men who survived for weeks in the USS West Virginia after it had sunk in …

June 11, 2008 / Writing

On Writing for the Web

For anyone interested in meaningful writing for the web, check out this great article “Reviving Anorexic Web Writing” by Amber Simmons.

As she puts it:

Content is the heart of a brilliant user experience. From the body content to the alt text to the footer, the words that shape the page lie at the very center of an engaging visit. If the words aren’t beautiful and meaningful, the sleekest design in the world won’t compensate for it. The body can never replace a missing heart. (Link)

(via 43 Folders)

August 1, 2007 / Technology

Steppin’ Out & Powering Up

Very cool new tech/power possibilities:

A Crowd Farm in Boston’s South Station railway terminal would work like this: A responsive sub-flooring system made up of blocks that depress slightly under the force of human steps would be installed beneath the station’s main lobby. The slippage of the blocks against one another as people walked would generate power through the principle of the dynamo, a device that converts the energy of motion into that of an electric current.

MIT duo see people-powered ‘Crowd Farm’

(via Cnet’s Buzz Out Loud)

Technorati Tags: technology, mit, south station, energy

September 22, 2007 / Politics

Not falling far from the Bush

BBC Radio does a story about a planned coup by a group of right wing businessmen, including Prescott Bush.

The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans. The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George Bush’s Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression. Mike Thomson investigates why so little is known about this biggest ever peacetime threat to American democracy.

I haven’t listened to this yet, because I’m at work at can’t, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to check it out tonight.

Follow this link for the show. (via Boing Boing; requires Real Audio)

July 18, 2007 / Creative Writing

Writin’ & Fightin’

Write Fight is back and I’ve entered into this weeks battle! The challenge was to write a story using the title: “Death Comes with ________” where each writer could fill in the blank or use the word “Bananas.”

I chose to write a story called “Death Comes with Jeff.” If you can take a few minutes to head on over to Write Fight and read the stories and decide that mine is the best and vote for me . . . well, I’d be mighty appreciative.

Technorati Tags: fiction, writing contest, short stories, write fight

July 18, 2007 / Politics

Read This: A great Mother Jones article about Iraq

I just read an amazing piece in Mother Jones: “The Way to Go In Iraq,” by Peter Galbraith. I’ll be honest, I am against the war, have been from the beginning, yet I don’t really know what is going on over there. I hear about “benchmarks” but don’t know what those benchmarks might be or …