Monthly Archives: December 2007

Green ears

Posted on Sunday, 30 December 2007 by David Gorsline

The FedEx guy left a box at my door yesterday. A Saturday delivery? Yes, indeedy: the XO laptop that I received in exchange for my donation to the One Laptop Per Child project. The machine is just adorable. If Elle … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing and Mathematics, Tools and Technology | Comments Off

More than a cappucino

Posted on Saturday, 29 December 2007 by David Gorsline

Starbucks is making strides in areas beyond finding creative, entertaining ways to separate you from your cash in its stores. Continuing to deepen its involvement with the agricultural sources of its drinks, the company is in the middle of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Natural Sciences | Comments Off

Becoming reality

Posted on Thursday, 27 December 2007 by David Gorsline

Brian Hayes’ XO laptop has arrived. If the styling has a whiff of Fisher-Price about it, there’s also some thoughtful ingenuity at work here, and designers of machines for grownups might learn something from it. * * * The wifi … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing and Mathematics, Tools and Technology | Comments Off

My year in cities, 2007

Posted on Thursday, 27 December 2007 by David Gorsline

The out-of-town places I overnighted in this year: Ephrata, Pa. Gadsden, Ala. (just a sleepover) Lafayette, La. Meridian, Miss. (just a sleepover) Martinsburg, W. Va. (3 visits) 2006′s list. 2005’s list.

Posted in Like Life | Comments Off

The pebble not the stream

Posted on Monday, 24 December 2007 by David Gorsline

Via Robot Wisdom auxiliary: an excellent introduction to the works of Stephen Sondheim, illustrated with video clips (the clip from a concert version of Sweeney Todd is not to be missed, especially since the song is mostly cut from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Theater | Comments Off

You see the difficulty

Posted on Monday, 24 December 2007 by David Gorsline

I took a quick walk on the first mile and a half of the Cross County Trail, following Difficult Run down to the beach at the Potomac River. The track was quite muddy in a few places, thanks to this … Continue reading →

Posted in In the Field | Comments Off

The Second Shepherds’ Play

Posted on Monday, 24 December 2007 by David Gorsline

The Folger Consort and director Mary Hall Surface’s reconstruction of this pre-Shakespearean mystery play is a marvel for the Christmas holiday season. Indeed, the genesis of this play is one of its mysteries. At one time it was attributed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Reviews, Theater | Comments Off

Go birding

Posted on Friday, 21 December 2007 by David Gorsline

Via Via Negativa: Peaceful Societies reports on the unexpected popularity of birding among the Amish of eastern Ohio, especially the Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The center of the Amish birding activity is Holmes County, where [Bruce] Glick indicates that “the … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds and Birding | Comments Off

Some snaps

Posted on Friday, 21 December 2007 by David Gorsline

I moved the Mac that has the scanner attached to another place in the house, one more convenient, less underfoot. So of course to test it after relocation I did some scanning. My ostensible purpose was finding a new buddy … Continue reading →

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Is taste disinterested?

Posted on Wednesday, 19 December 2007 by David Gorsline

Via Arts & Letters Daily: Sam Anderson reviews Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk about Love, a study of Céline Dion, singer beloved by Ghanaian cabdrivers. Overcoming a reflexive distaste for the Québecoise, Wilson “feels a twinge of critical conscience” and immerses … Continue reading →

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The year in review

Posted on Monday, 17 December 2007 by David Gorsline

Meme via Pondering Pikaia: the first sentence of the first post of each month from this blog: January 4: Via things magazine, a museum of strange and rarely used HTML tags. February 4: Charles Isherwood articulates why I was underwhelmed … Continue reading →

Posted in Memes, Metaposting | Comments Off

Sciencedebate 2008

Posted on Friday, 14 December 2007 by David Gorsline

The world is a really, really complicated contraption, replete with moving parts that can malfunction at any time. You can make a pretty good case that the United States President, along with his science and technology advisers, is in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Public Policy and Politics | Comments Off

Abecedarian acrostic

Posted on Thursday, 13 December 2007 by David Gorsline

“Ode on Dictionaries,” by Barbara Hamby. you are the megaphone by which I bewitch the world       or not, as the case may be. O chittering squirrel, Ziploc sandwich bag, sound off, shut up, gather your words       into bouquets, folios, flocks … Continue reading →

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The Green 500

Posted on Wednesday, 12 December 2007 by David Gorsline

Wu-Chun Feng and Kirk W. Cameron of Virginia Tech have initiated a new system of league tables for supercomputers based on energy efficiency, The Green500 List. They introduce the rankings in an article in the December, 2007 issue of Computer. … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing and Mathematics, Energy Sources and Consumption | Comments Off

False cognates

Posted on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 by David Gorsline

I am not that guy. In my occasional ego-surfing, I have come across the following people with the same first and last name as me. If you’re looking for one of these guys, I’m not the one you’re looking for. … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs and Internet | Comments Off