Monthly Archives: April 2007

The Memory of Parchment

Posted on April 27, 2007 by

Not one, not two, but three texts buried in a 13th century prayer book made out of parchment: Works by mathematician Archimedes and the politician Hyperides had already been found buried within the book, known as the Archimedes Palimpsest. But … Continue reading →

Posted in books, history | Leave a comment

The unpredictability of “cumulative advantage”

Posted on April 23, 2007 by

I suppose this article from the NYT will be locked away behind a subscription soon, but Duncan J. Watts describes his team’s experiment and suggests that it’s never possible to predict swings in aggregate behaviour (e.g. how popular something is) … Continue reading →

Posted in society, sociology | Leave a comment

Taiji Kozaki – motion picture engineer & steam deliverer

Posted on April 20, 2007 by

(from PingMag) With his Taisho-era film projector, formal Western costume and top hat, Taiji Kozaki looks like he just stepped out of cinema’s early past: I project old animations in cinemas using a manual motion picture projector while reading out … Continue reading →

Posted in film, history, Japan | Leave a comment

The past and future of hedgehogs and foxes

Posted on April 19, 2007 by

Tetlock (see earlier post) spurred me to track down a copy of Isaiah Berlin’s Russian Thinkers so I could zap a copy of “The Fox and The Hedgehog”. The bulk of the essay examines Tolstoy’s particular philosophy of history, explains … Continue reading →

Posted in books, future, history, ideas | Leave a comment

TED – videos of ideas and lectures online

Posted on April 19, 2007 by

TED (Technology.Entertainment.Design), a well-known ideas conference, has made videos of its 2007 talks available online and downloadable into your media device of choice. Sponsored by BMW, high profile and polished, which somehow makes me wonder how much of the content … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, cities, demographics, design, economics, future, ideas, inspiration, media, random, society | Leave a comment

Quick Note: House of Meetings

Posted on April 19, 2007 by

Although the blurb plays up the love triangle formed by the unnamed narrator, his brother Lev and the target of their love Zoya, it’s really about the brothers’ relationship over the decades. Amis tries a bit too hard to express … Continue reading →

Posted in books | Leave a comment

Philip Tetlock: Foxes and Hedgehogs

Posted on April 17, 2007 by

Tetlock also found that specialists are not significantly more reliable than non-specialists in guessing what is going to happen in the region they study. Knowing a little might make someone a more reliable forecaster, but Tetlock found that knowing a … Continue reading →

Posted in books, future, literature | 1 Comment

“All of you, dance like you want to win!”

Posted on April 12, 2007 by

Boing Boing picked up this video clip of a cosplayer mass dance in Akibahara. Haruihiism is to blame: The last time I saw a dance craze like that was with Kodomo no Omocha (Kodocha for short). As an example, look … Continue reading →

Posted in anime, Japan, media, music, YouTube | Leave a comment

“Blurb” at The Substation, 14/4/07

Posted on April 11, 2007 by

UPDATE 13/4/07: The schedule’s been changed. Apparently the NC-16 stuff is going to be screened first: The short film I submitted to SIFF didn’t get shortlisted for a prize, but it’ll be screened at The Substation with all the other … Continue reading →

Posted in film, Singapore | Leave a comment

For your listening / viewing pleasure

Posted on April 10, 2007 by

Better late than never. The Arcade Fire performs live with David Bowie, Sept 2005

Posted in music, YouTube | Leave a comment