The Boston Globe's Big Picture has a terrific round up of snowy photos from around the world.
The Boston Globe's Big Picture has a terrific round up of snowy photos from around the world.
Posted at 12:05 PM in Current Affairs, photo | Permalink | Comments (0)
My editor's note from the January, 2010 Exchange magazine
The end of the decade really snuck up on me. It wasn’t until I began noticing all of the “best of the decade” stories in the media in mid-December that I realized we were facing the end of the naughts.
I know life just continues to accelerate as we age, but this is alarming. Have we really reached the end of a decade already? The beginning of the decade seems so distant now.Posted at 01:45 PM in Current Affairs, essay | Permalink | Comments (0)
I know, we have this engine of commerce to feed, that jobs depend on us spending and on us keeping that money moving – but I can’t help but think that all these adjustments, all these compromises – well, don’t they sound pretty good?
Have a happy, festive and slow season.My Dec. Editor's Note, from the Exchange magazine.
Posted at 12:33 PM in Current Affairs, essay | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Yet Olds cautioned that simulating the human brain is "such a complex problem that we may not be able to get to an answer, even with supercomputing."
"There are no guarantees in this game because the sheer complexity of the problem really dwarfs anything we've tried to do," he said.
Computer researchers say they've made a significant advance in their attempts to build a computer that "thinks" more like a brain - able to deal with ambiguity and abstractions. Until now, thinking computers have been the stuff of science fiction - HAL anyone? - and, in spite of this development, may remain there for awhile, say the researchers.
I don't know. Perhaps they could begin with something far simpler, like Sarah Palin's brain?
Ouch! Sorry to my conservative friends. But can anyone tell me they would seriously consider her worthy of national public office?
Posted at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Do we have enough people still watching and asking?
The graphic below is from the site: graphicdesignr.net/papercuts/
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Posted at 01:08 PM in Science | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 01:39 PM in essay, Food and Drink | Permalink | Comments (3)
I think Barack Obama was elected because the American electorate was captivated by his willingness to engage his opponents in dialog and debate. What a breath of fresh air! What a change from the usual divisiveness and demagoguery so common in national politics. His election itself seemed to herald a new approach to governance, or at least a return to a more balanced, thoughtful and open-minded presidency. Surely, the members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee agreed.
So, now he is president and he is doing his thing, engaging in discussion, seeking common ground and compromise – and we are pissed. The changes many of us had sought have been slow to come, the bold promises we cheered on have been watered down and many of us are voicing impatience and frustration with the pace and direction of change.
Indeed, it is doubly challenging to seek out common ground when your opponents refuse to move; consensus can be elusive when the other side holds tight to its beliefs and crafting a shared vision can be near-impossible when your opponent keeps his eyes closed tight.
The answer, I think, for those of us now voicing impatience and frustration, is not to abandon Obama or lose faith in the promise of his administration. The answer is for us to share our vision, to keep giving voice to our hopes and dreams and beliefs. Let us hold firm to our principles, for that will make it easier for Obama to craft the valid and lasting compromises that move our country forward and realize the promise we all felt during the last election.
We got what we wanted. But he can't compromise when only one side is debating. Time to raise our voice.
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Posted at 10:51 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Bill McKibben: Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future
Jason Burke: On the Road to Kandahar: Travels Through Conflict in the Islamic World
Ervin Laszlo: Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything
Ralph Steadman: The Joke's Over: Bruised Memories: Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, and Me
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