Acts of Volition

Since many of us use it every day, it is easy to lose sight of just how remarkable the internet can be. This morning, I had a quick chat with my friend Peter, who is usually downstairs in the building our companies share. Today, though, he is in Croatia.

If you are walking from point A to point B in the rain, do you get more or less wet depending on how fast you walk?  •  Sounds stupidly simple, doesn’t it. Not so (for me, at least). Here are some things we can assume for the sake of the problem:  •  let’s assume you are rectangular - let’s say, 1 …

Tonight on As It Happens, a daily current affairs show on CBC Radio, the lead story was the CBS George Bush National Guard memos. It is weird to hear weblogs discussed in the “real world”. I feel like someone found out about our secret club…  •  Listen to the piece from As It Happens on CBC Radio …

This week on Quirks & Quarks, Canada’s weekly science program on CBC radio discussed the issue of long term (really long term) nuclear waste management.  •  The program was well produced, covered the topics from interesting angles, and generally made for great listening. Eerie vignettes of …

A few years ago, Stephan Wolfram published a 1200+ page book boldly called A New Kind of Science. Wolfram had been apparently working on the concepts for about 20 years. He was an early Sun engineer and went on to create Mathematica, a powerful mathematics application.  •  When the book came out …

Not really an original thought, but a thought none the less, it occurred to me this week that some of the primary sponsors of the Olympic games are pushing products that actual Olympic athletes could never actually use.  •  Do you think someone setting a world track-and-field record would have …

Having lived through a federal election here in Canada last month, and witnessing much of the partisan debate leading up to the presidential election in the US, I hereby declare that the word progressive is devoid of meaning.  •  If you do insist on using the word, please keep in mind that it is …

Given the petty squabling and childish interuptions I’m seeing on the Canadian federal leadership debate, maybe it’s in his best interest that the leader of the Green Party was excluded from the debate.  •  I’m guessing there was a language issue when Gilles Duceppe said of Canada / US relations …

A look at how Stuart Brand’s classic work of social and architectural criticism, How Buildings Learn, applies to web design and development.  •  First, if you are in any way interested in design, history, or architecture, which I assume you are by your presence here, read the book How Buildings …