Books and Movies – Page 20

Tuesday links

Published May 16, 2017 8:16 am by Claire

Closer to confirmation: mysteriously murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich was indeed in contact with Wikileaks, and the emails “hacked by Russians” may have instead been leaked by him.

Leonardo da Vinci invented an odd musical instrument (on paper). A modern instrument maker has built it. (Use the “cc” option on the video to get English subtitles.)

The governmental stupid gets thicker and thicker in California. Now dumb law threatens small, independent booksellers — as if they weren’t already threatened enough. (H/T M)

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Killing time while waiting for The Wandering Monk to arrive and begin the foundation project, I found something absolutely fascinating. Johatsu. A Japanese word meaning “evaporated people.” Not dead. Not suspiciously missing. But people who’ve chosen to disappear out of their existing identities into new, perhaps off-grid ones. A French couple have been tracking this phenomenon for years and now have published a book: The Vanished: The “evaporated people” of Japan in Stories and Photographs. PRI has done a story on the johatsu and the French pair who became obsessed with them, as has Business Insider. Oddly, it turns out…

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Saturday links

Published April 8, 2017 11:17 am by Claire

You may have heard about the Garadget flap, in which a petulant CEO “bricked” a complaining customer’s app. The key line from this article: “… when a device gets connected to the internet—whether it’s a cellphone, a thermostat, or a tea kettle—it’s no longer yours.”

And given the way the ‘Net is going, this might be good news to some of you old hands and privacy buffs: a 1986 BBS is back online.

This real-life heist has the makings of a movie. Except that Cary Grant’s dead and Sean Connery’s too old. Maybe one of the Ryans — Reynolds or Gosling — could handle the role of the suave criminal mastermind. Great mystery carried out in a rarified intellectual world.

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Tackling a great heap o’ books containing vast heaps o’ thoughts

Published March 30, 2017 1:07 am by Claire

I was feelin’ poorly yesterday. Though I managed to evade the cold that was trying to catch me, body and mind felt slow and stupid. I ended up climbing back into bed and, with eyes too tired for the computer, tried to read the vast heap o’ books that’s been building by the bedside. Inspired by a friend, I’ve gotten into reading about Eastern Orthodox spirituality, which led in turn to Gnostic spirituality. Religion to me is as fascinating as it is opaque, as compelling as it is impossible. But I keep hoping something will eventually make sense, that an…

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Thursday links

Published March 23, 2017 8:01 am by Claire

Bill Buppert says there’s a storm coming. And you can thank a cop.

But oh look. The city of Chicago is graciously granting drivers 0.2 of a break before their automated money-generating machines kick in.

Another inconvenient stat to be ignored by professional hoplophobes: lowest accidental firearm-related deaths … since 1903.

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Tuesday links

Published March 21, 2017 10:37 am by Claire

ISPs claim our browsing history and app use are not sensitive information and they should be allowed to share (sell) it freely. (H/T JB)

Can “convervatives” win the hearts and minds of millennials?

“Right and Rules.” MJR comes up with another short story with a message.

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It’s a wrap

Published March 19, 2017 11:08 am by Claire

Yesterday, Lies of Omission, the freedomista documentary-to-be, finished principal photography. My involvement with this project has been minimal, but I was there for the final day’s interviews and it was as great a meeting of minds as I’ve taken part in in years. I was there because they had to reshoot my interview from last fall. Which I’m sure made nobody happy. T.L. and Sammi Davis both had to make long, costly extra trips. Although my trip to join them was short, I was as excited to be re-interviewed as to have my my fingernails pulled out by hot pincers.…

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Midweek links

Published March 14, 2017 12:55 pm by Claire

A (semi) mainstreamer observes that there really is a liberal media bubble and tries to understand why.

The residents of Trier, Germany, don’t seem to want that gift statue of Karl Marx. But not because … well, you know, Marx. And the hundreds of millions of deaths his ideas led to. But because they don’t like the giver.

Which is more unjust? That a possible war criminal got away with it for decades? Or that “justice” now calls for extraditing a 98-year-old man?

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Monday links

Published March 13, 2017 8:06 am by Claire

Happy 28th birthday, WWW. On this day, the Web’s creator, Tim Berners-Lee talks about its three biggest threats.

“Purple America” has all but disappeared.

Vin and Cat want us to know that their ABE storefront now offers collated collections, with categories including “Comics and Graphic Novels” and “A Hit Before Your Mother Was Born.” (NFI on my part.)

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