» Take a walk through the world of fan-produced movie posters and fake peripheral properties. These are gorgeous works, ranging from Fake Criterion DVD Covers (scroll down for Star Wars), Aliens vs Pooh and The Poohing (a Winnie the Pooh/The Shining mashup), and this gorgeous Star Wars travel poster art - and those are just my top 3. / 0 Comments / [ 09.02.10 ]
rebecca's pocket
Thursday, 02 September 2010
» 12 Fish Every Eater Should Avoid: the most unhealthy, environmentally, and socioeconomically unsustainable seafood choices in the world. It's from the Smart Seafood Guide, which also lists your best and worst choices nationally and regionally (since where you are will define sustainability in certain cases). / 0 Comments / [ 09.02.10 ]
» What's wrong with American espresso? Well, pretty much everything, really. A well made espresso is a balance of 5 elements - and most Americans just don't have the experience to judge. "Here in the U.S. the coffee they use is good, but the way they prepare it is bad. Fifty percent of the result of a good espresso is in the hands of the barista. And if consumers can't recognize that, we lose." - Giorgio Milos, the master barista at illy / 0 Comments / [ 09.01.10 ]
» Thanks to a digital database and special printers, a few independent bookstores have begun printing out-of-print books on demand for their customers. I predicted this way back in the mid-90s, but in my vision the entire Library of Congress would be available, and buyers would be able to customize the size, typography, and illustrations of their book. / 0 Comments / [ 08.31.10 ]
» This week: The top 100 thrillers, Fantasy and Science writing award winners, spy novels by real spies, and 6 books to read after you finish Mockingjay.
Adults:
CSM: Five books to read after checking the egg recall list: Here are five books that help to place the egg recall in context
NPR: Top 100 Killer Thrillers: Your picks for the most pulse-quickening, suspenseful novels ever written
NPR: Tina Brown's Must-Reads: Stories Of Survival
NPR: Three Books For Surviving Graduate School
Guardian: The Books That Made Me: Penelope Lively
Guardian: Ten of the best railway journeys
Seattle Times: Spy novels by real spies
Shelftalk: Solidarity Forever! Celebrating Seattle's Workers and Labor History
Food & Think: A Summer Reading List for Food Lovers
Locus: 2009 World Fantasy Awards Nominees
The Royal Society: Prize for Science Books 2010 shortlist
Guardian: Guardian first book award longlist ranges around the world
Children and Young Adults:
6 Flashlight Worthy Children's Books to Read After You Finish Mockingjay
/ 0 Comments / [ 08.30.10 ]
» Mike Shatzkin reflects, and very sensibly, I think, on the future of the printed book for immersive reading. I prefer paper for immersive reading - in fact, I've never read a book using an electronic device - but I can't argue with his central premise, which is this: "Print books aren't getting better. Ebooks are." Judge for yourself. [ 08.26.10 ]
» Wouldn't you like to live here?
Jacob rolled on his scooter alongside Andrew. He climbed on to a chair to watch other kids play a board game. He grabbed a cup of water and drank it. He walked over to a woman and got a hug. He hopped on his scooter again. This went on for a couple of hours.
"Is anyone watching Jacob?" I asked Hetty Fox, matriarch of the Lyman Place play street.
"Uh," she scanned around for a moment. "No, not right now. But his cousin Andrew is right there, and everyone else here knows him, too. Besides, he has lots of aunts and uncles and cousins who live right here on the street, as well as his grandmother and grandfather. In fact, his great-grandmother lives here, too."
How old would you guess Jacob is from hearing about this situation? [...] Jacob is two - just barely two.
This isn't a scenario from a small town. This happened in the South Bronx, on a "Play Street" run by Hetty Fox. What a remarkable institution, and what a remarkable woman. I really wish we had these in San Francisco. [ 08.25.10 ]
» Have you ever dreamed of having a farm where you raise sheep and goats and sell roving and yarn? If so, Susie is looking for an apprentice. Experience is not necessary - a good pair of gloves, a solid work ethic and a 6-month commitment is all you need. [ 08.24.10 ]
» CSM: The 10 Best-paid authors in the world. JK Rowling is not even in the top 5. [ 08.24.10 ]
» This week: Nonfiction for the summer's end, astronomy-themed books, a thriller roundup, and the most wicked uncles in literature. Plus: Business book of the year longlist and the Thurber Awards.
Adults:
CSM: Beyond flooding and fundamentalism: best books about Pakistan
Which books best deliver Pakistan behind the headlines?
CSM: 5 great books about obscure presidents: The lives of our worst presidents make surprisingly good reading.
NPR: Back To Reality: Nonfiction For The Summer's End
Guardian UK: Star attractions: From Copernicus's struggles to tales of mad space exploration projects and the enduring mystery of black holes, the author of The Big Questions picks the best reads about 'this most noble of sciences'
Guardian UK: Crime fiction roundup
Guardian UK: Ten of the best wicked uncles in literature
Guardian UK: Summer Fiction Special: five established writers, plus the winner of our short-story competition and five runners up
Guardian UK: John O'Connell's thriller roundup
Guardian UK: Audiobook review roundup
Tufts University Faculty and Staff: Recommended Reading
Tufts University Faculty and Staff: Books for the Dog Days
Shelftalk: Nightstand Reads: Debut novelist Laurie Frankel shares her summer reading
Pittsylvania County Library Blog: Beach Reads
Reader's Advisor: Under the Radar: Music Makes the Difference
Urbanite: Summer Reading
jen michalski: A Shower of Summer Books
2010 Shamus Award nominations
2010 Business Book of the Year Longlist
2010 Thurber Prize Finalists
Children and Young Adults:
Shelftalk: Come on, try this at home! Fun science titles for kids
[ 08.23.10 ]
» I'm late to this, but of course you know about the disaster in Pakistan. Beyond the obvious humanitarian reasons, perhaps you're also hip to the security implications for the US. Here's how you can help. Remember, even small donations add up. [ 08.20.10 ]
» This is what it was to be a web designer in 2001:
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<link rel=stylesheet href="css/macie01.css" type="text/css>
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<link rel=stylesheet href="css/nn601.css" type="text/css>
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<link rel=stylesheet href="css/nn01.css" type="text/css>
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/ 1 Comments / [ 08.20.10 ]
» The most interesting part of this review of The Shallows (a book in which the author posits that the Internet is rewiring people's brains to be less contemplative and more superficial) is this quote from Professor Andrew Burn of the University of London's Institute of Education:
Equating the internet with distraction and shallowness, he tells me, is a fundamental mistake, possibly bound up with Carr's age (he is 50). "He's restricting what he says to the type of activities that the middle-aged blogosphere-addict typically engages in," says Professor Burn. "Is there anything in his book about online role-playing games?"
Not much, I tell him, and he's off. "Carr's argument privileges activities of the skimming and browsing kind. But if you look at research on kids doing online gaming, or exploring virtual worlds such as Second Life, the argument there is about immersion and engagement - and it's even about excessive forms of immersion and engagement that get labelled as addiction. The point is, to play successfully in an online role-playing game, you have to pay an incredible amount of attention to what your team-mates are doing, to the mechanics of the game. You can set up a thesis for The Depths, just as much as The Shallows."
As you know, I'm of a mind that the Internet really is re-wiring our brains to make us more distracted - and I still think Carr has it wrong. Professor Burn is absolutely right that the Internet provides a variety of experiences, and that new and repeated experiences of every kind change the brain's configuration. [ 08.20.10 ]
» NPR: Video Games: The 21st Century's Fine Art Frontier? Yes. [ 08.19.10 ]
» Chick Lit? Women's Literature? Why Not Just ... Literature? Why not indeed?
[I]f Tom Wolfe had written "The Recessionistas," he would have noted the brands of shoes, the Birkin bags and the personal trainers. And he would have been praised for his attention to detail. [...] But my concern is larger, for the issue is insidious: the way Chick Lit has been used to denigrate a wide swath of novels about contemporary life that happen to be written by women.
[...] No serious woman writer want[s] to be painted with the Women's Lit label, and issues contemporary and domestic, if not presented with violence, are apparently (to academics, to critics and to the general culture -- male and female, alike) seen to have less value.
Feminism failed, really. Originally the movement was about equality for men and women. This was often framed as the freedom for women to enter the workplace as equals and for men to commit themselves to the domestic sphere if that was their calling in life. Of course the subtext to that is the reinstatement of the domestic sphere to a place of respect (the rise of factories having transformed the home from an important and necessary production facility - food, cloth, medicine, and the like - to the Victorian ideal of a haven from the working world).
Instead, women entered the workplace and the tasks necessary to survival - cooking, cleaning, and childcare - were purchased (and usually at low cost), or done as an afterthought to their "real work". Instead of shifting male attitudes about the importance of the work women have traditionally done, women's attitudes realigned to the prevailing male notion that the amount one is paid is the strongest indicator of one's worth.
Anyway, those attitudes extend to literature, apparently. / 1 Comments / [ 08.19.10 ]
» In Why there's more to cookbooks than recipes, Rachel Cooke touches on some of the things I love about food and cooking: social history, the promise of perfection, and even the writing. But for me, there's something more. When I cook from a vintage cookbook or try a recipe from a cuisine that is not my own, I feel I have a chance to enter into that other time or culture.
What people eat can't tell you everything about a time or a place - but it can tell you an awful lot. What foods were available in that place? Which foods were scare and which were abundant? How do those people think about food in general? What are the common flavor profiles? How does a (generic) dish go together? What constitutes a meal? Under what circumstances did people eat with others, and what kinds of meals are served then? What influenced changes in food over time (immigration, technology, work patterns)?
An exemplar of this is Olive Trees and Honey by Gil Marks, a collection of recipes from Jewish communities around the world. The Jews are particularly interesting in this regard since they were expelled from so many European countries over time. What this means is that they brought their food traditions to friendly countries, incorporated foods and cooking techniques from those new places into their traditional cuisine (simultaneously introducing foods and techniques to the natives of the area). When it became dangerous to stay, the Jews moved to another region - where they introduced their traditional cuisine, which now included influences and recipes from their last "host" country's cuisine, to the natives of the new region. And they did this over and over again.
So far I've cooked only a couple of recipes from this cookbook, but I've read every word. It is a beautiful and fascinating collection that's worth buying even if you choose to read it instead of cook from it.
For a snapshot of different cultures' food without the recipes, I recommend What the World Eats by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel. This beautiful book consists of photographs of 25 families in 21 countries around the world, each photographed surrounded by food they will eat in a typical week. The differences are startling and enlightening and absolutely fascinating. [ 08.17.10 ]
» Longtime readers know what a fan I am of Makiko Itoh and her sites Just Hungry and Just Bento. Those of you who share my enthusiasm for Japanese food will be excited to learn that Maki has written a cookbook called Just Bento, (due in the US by January, but hopefully sooner). I'm pre-ordering my copy today.
In the meantime, head over to the Just Bento website for Back to School week. Maki will have at least one giveaway every day this week of bento boxes and more. [ 08.16.10 ]
» This week: romance award winners, classic works of gay literature, 50 best cookbooks, historical true crime, and books that change childrens' lives.
Adults:
NPR: Three Books To Take You On That Long, Strange Trip
NPR: Literary Destinations: Five Books To Help You Escape
Christian Science Monitor: Top 5 historical true-crime books of the last decade
Christian Science Monitor: Five books that deliver life - with the boring parts edited out
Los Angeles Times: 20 classic works of gay literature
Guardian UK: Observer Food Monthly (very Anglo-centric) 50 best cookbooks: With Bold Knife and Fork (11-50) and the Top 10
USA Today: 'The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise' captivates booksellers "It's a front-runner for my most beloved book of the fall. The only difficulty I had was deciding which character I loved the best." Karen Corvello, a buyer at R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, Conn
Newsweek: What You Need to Read Now
Slate: An alternate pre-college reading list
Kansas Center for the Book: Kansas Notable Books: 15 outstanding titles by Kansas authors or about Kansas.
Shelftalk: About Time: History of the Mind
Shelftalk: About Time: Ages of Empire
Reader's Advisor: Under the Radar: New Science Fiction You May Have Missed
Flashlight Worthy: Beach Reads (15 themed lists, including steampunk, culinary memoirs, and alternate history)
Flavorwire: Literature's 10 Best-Dressed Characters
2010 RITA and Golden Heart Award Winners
Children and Young Adults:
Susan Orleans' Twitter Feed: Books that change kids worlds
[ 08.16.10 ]
» If you've ever wanted to live the life depicted on an album cover, and wish there was a convenient way to purchase the necessary accessories, look no further: My Album Cover Lifestyle has the gear you need at reasonable prices. If you've ever seen an Ikea catalog, you don't need to know the albums themselves - these are brilliant. (via br) [ 08.12.10 ]
» What Harry hath wrought: Adults who read Young Adult literature.
According to surveys by the Codex Group, a consultant to the publishing industry, 47 percent of 18- to 24-year-old women and 24 percent of same-aged men say most of the books they buy are classified as young adult. The percentage of female Y.A. fans between the ages of 25 and 44 has nearly doubled in the past four years. Today, nearly one in five 35- to 44-year-olds say they most frequently buy Y.A. books. For themselves.
I still do: sometimes favorites from my childhood, and sometimes new things. My reasons are the same as many of the enthusiasts quoted in the article: freshness, engaging characters, and really good plotting. "A lot of contemporary adult literature is characterized by a real distrust of plot. I think young adult fiction is one of the few areas of literature right now where storytelling really thrives." Lev Grossman, book critic for Time.
You can read about the hoopla surrounding the publication of Mockingjay if you're interested in the mainstreaming of YA. [ 08.11.10 ]
» You've already read about the benefits of going barefoot for adults. Now some experts say that those benefits are even more important for children - who should go barefoot as much as possible while they are growing up.
Tracy Byrne, a podiatrist specialising in podopaediatrics, believes that wearing shoes at too young an age can hamper a child's walking and cerebral development. "Toddlers keep their heads up more when they are walking barefoot," she says. "The feedback they get from the ground means there is less need to look down, which is what puts them off balance and causes them to fall down." Walking barefoot, she continues, develops the muscles and ligaments of the foot, increases the strength of the foot's arch, improves proprioception (our awareness of where we are in relation to the space around us) and contributes to good posture.
[ 08.10.10 ]
» Lots of lists this week, from Nancy Pearl's Under the Radar picks, to the best graphic design books, to the best summer food books, to Neil Gaiman's recommendations for children.
Adults:
NPR: Librarian Nancy Pearl Picks 'Under The Radar' Reads
NPR: Audience Picks: Top 100 'Killer Thrillers'
Guardian UK: Patrick Cramsie's top 10 graphic design books
Guardian UK: My favourite books on sport
Guardian UK: Ten of the best motorbikes in literature
Guardian UK: Science fiction roundup
Smithsonian: A Summer Reading List for Food Lovers
Nature: Vacation reading
Health Beat: Page-Turners: Summer Reading
Shelftalk: Monday, August 9, 1945: Part 2
Shelftalk: About Time: Hidden History
The Kitchn: Best Summer Food Books
Halifax Public Libraries The Reader: CBC Information Morning - Summer Books (part two)
Halifax Public Libraries The Reader: Fiction to try if you like....
Halifax Public Libraries The Reader: Books Into Film - Summer/Fall 2010
The Librarian Next Door: August's To-Read List
Hacker News: Summer Reading Recommendations
CyberMage: Formidable Female Protagonists in Science Fiction (help bring the list to 100)
RA for All: More Offbeat Summer Reading Ideas
How Stuff Works: 21 Best-Selling Books of All Time
2010 Dylan Thomas Longlist for any published writer in the English language under the age of thirty
The Crime Writers' Association's International Dagger Awards winner and shortlists (poke around)
Amazon: Editor's Top Ten
Amazon: Best Fiction of 2010... So Far
Amazon: Best Nonfiction of 2010... So Far
Children and Young Adults:
Guardian UK: Picture books for young children: there's a buzz about the place
Guardian UK: Summer books for older children: runners and riders
Guardian UK: Summer reading for teenagers: darkness, danger and charity shops
Barnes and Noble: Neil Gaiman recommends 3 children's books
Shelftalk: New twists on old tales
Halifax Public Libraries The Reader: Orphans : Family Reading - Family Reading: Ages 8+ (Children's books that adults will love too!)
Your Daily Thread: Green Reads For Kids of All Ages
ThinkExist.com's Top Ten Summer Books
Amazon: Best Books of 2010... So Far for Kids and Teens
[ 08.09.10 ]
» I know the rest of the country has been subjected to heat wave after heat wave, but I'm jealous. And I wonder why anyone with air conditioning complains about the heat anymore. Author and agricultural scientist Stan Cox has lived without air conditioning for several years and he doesn't complain - he says he enjoys the thermal variety. "In response to record-breaking summers, we're relying more on air-conditioning, which produces greenhouse emissions that make the summers hotter. It's a cycle that makes you wonder: How long can it go on?" - Stan Cox / 1 Comments / [ 08.06.10 ]
» A bus that spans 2 lanes, enabling cars to drive underneath? As this video depicts it, it's actually a pretty awesome idea - notwithstanding the real-life velocity and trajectory of most Chinese drivers. [ 08.05.10 ]
» Harold McGee on enhancing the flavors of wine and coffee by diluting with water. [ 08.04.10 ]
» A study based on 20 years of research [pdf] suggests that children who have 500 or more books in the home average 3.2 years more schooling than children in homes without books. The effect was strongest in families with the lowest levels of parental education. / 1 Comments / [ 08.03.10 ]
» This week's summer reading installment features the 10 best dragons in literature, classics for kids, fresh voices in Science Fiction, and the Booker Longlist.
Adults:
NPR: One Nightstand, Six Affairs: Novels Of Illicit Love
North Country Public Radio: Readers & Writers 2010 Summer Reading List
Seattle Times: Fresh voices in science fiction: Karen Lord, Eleanor Arnason and Amelia Beamer In the field of science fiction, small independent presses are willing to take chances
Guardian: Bike blog summer reading list
Guardian: John Mullan on 10 of the best fire-breathing, treasure-guarding - or tattoed - dragons in literature
Guardian: Steven Poole on science, pseudo-science and perception
Guardian: Catherine Taylor's choice of first novels
The Nation: Nation Readers' Summer Books
Pop Matters: When Trends Survive: 5 Trends That Have Made the Leap to Subgenre Status
Paste: Eight Literary Works That Deserve a Graphic-Novel Treatment
Shelftalk: About Time: The Big Picture
Shelftalk: Monday, August 6, 1945: Part 1
Reader's Advisor: Under the Radar: National Golf Month (F and NF)
Reader's Advisor: Under the Radar: New Environmental NF You May Have Missed
Suite 101: Top 10 Summer Romances of 2010
Man Booker 2010 Longlist
Carnegie Library: Summer Reading Suggestions
Daily Beast: 6 Great Summer Beach Reads
Children and Young Adults:
National Endowment for the Humanities: Summertime Favorites: classic literature for young people from kindergarten through high school
Carnegie Library: Summer Reading for Kids Infants through 5th Grade
Carnegie Library: Teen Summer Reading
PBS: Booklights: Thursday THIRTY: Summer Books, Tot to Tween
Guardian: Summer reading for children
Shelftalk: Children's Classics from the 1970s
Christianbook.com: Summer Reading List for Grades K-12, and Historical Fiction for all ages
[ 08.02.10 ]
» This week's summer reading installment features medical graphic novels, the best nameless protagonists, and a thrillers roundup.
Adults:
NPR: Fun In The Sun: Laugh-Out-Loud Summer Books
NPR: A London Cabbie's Summer Reading Picks
Guardian: Cian O'Luanaigh: My favourite medical graphic novels (and a blogpost introducing the genre)
Guardian: Greg Baxter's top 10 memento mori - fearless autobiographical writers
Guardian: Which books are on your summer holiday reading list?
Guardian: Ten of the best nameless protagonists in literature
Guardian: Thrillers roundup
More Magazine: The Top 100 Books Every Woman Should Read Part I: The Classics
More Magazine: Summer Books You'll Remember
More Magazine: 7 Summer Cookbooks
More Magazine: 11 Top Celeb Cookbooks: Editors' Picks
More Magazine: Into the Wild
More Magazine: 23 Scandal-Filled Summer Reads
Shelftalk: About Time: Dark Days and Deeds
Reader's Advisor: Under the Radar: New Fantasy Books You May Have Missed
2009 Shirley Jackson Awards Winner (announced July 11th 2010)
Daily Beast: James P. Othmer: 6 Great Novels on Work
Children and Young Adults:
Shelftalk: Princess Books for Little Girls
[ 07.26.10 ]
» It seems that humans do a simple moral calculation whenever faced with a choice: "Have I done something good recently?" Those who have (or who have just thought about it) tend to give themselves more leeway in other areas.
University of Toronto behavioral marketing professor Nina Mazar showed in a recent study that people who bought green products were more likely to cheat and steal than those who bought conventional products. One of Mazar's experiments invited participants to shop either at online stores that carry mainly green products or mainly conventional products. Then they played a game that allowed them to cheat to make more money. The shoppers from the green store were more dishonest than those at the conventional store, which brought them higher earnings in the game.
From a practical standpoint, this behavior offsets any gains the "good" behavior might otherwise have engendered. I'd like to see some research on the subset of people who bought from the green store and didn't cheat. How do they see the world differently than everyone else? / 3 Comments / [ 07.23.10 ]
» Long-time readers know how impatient I am with the idea that creativity belongs to a small subset of people. Recent research supports what I've known all along - that creativity is the birthright of every human being. More importantly, it uncovers the formula for teaching creativity to children (and to you, adult reader) even in schools tied to standardized testing.
So what does this mean for America's standards-obsessed schools? The key is in how kids work through the vast catalog of information. Consider the National Inventors Hall of Fame School, a new public middle school in Akron, Ohio. Mindful of Ohio's curriculum requirements, the school's teachers came up with a project for the fifth graders: figure out how to reduce the noise in the library. Its windows faced a public space and, even when closed, let through too much noise. The students had four weeks to design proposals. [...]
Along the way, kids demonstrated the very definition of creativity: alternating between divergent and convergent thinking, they arrived at original and useful ideas. And they'd unwittingly mastered Ohio's required fifth-grade curriculum--from understanding sound waves to per-unit cost calculations to the art of persuasive writing. "You never see our kids saying, 'I'll never use this so I don't need to learn it,'" says school administrator Maryann Wolowiec. "Instead, kids ask, 'Do we have to leave school now?'"
[ 07.22.10 ]
» Is bizarro fiction the most awesome literary genre ever conceived? Consider the evidence:
Jeff Burk's Shatnerquake is the story of William Shatner. [...] All of the characters he has ever played are suddenly sucked into our world on a mission to hunt down and destroy the real William Shatner.
I rest my case. (And this described as "a comparatively mild example".) [ 07.21.10 ]
» Educational games are notoriously dreary, but here's a model that more studios should emulate: Game developer Adam Saltsman retooled his popular platformer to require players to use a changing set of letters in order to win. The result is a FUN touch-typing tutorial, Canabalt: Typing Tutor Edition. (thanks, jjg!) [ 07.20.10 ]
» This week's summer reading installment includes monster hits, Stephen Kings must-reads, lots of awards shortists, and books for SF fans
Adults:
NPR: Zombies And Giant Squid: Summer's Monster Hits!
NPR: Beakers To Beaches: Summer's Best Science Books
EW: Stephen King: 6 Must-Reads for Summer
EW: Lost: The Essential Reading list
Guardian: Michael Stanley's top 10 African crime novel
Guardian: The 10 best credit crunch books
WGBH:Greater Boston Summer Books 2010
The Reader's Advisor: Under the Radar: Cool Reads for Hot Days
The Orange Prize for Fiction 2010 shortlist
2010 Christy Awards (Christian fiction)
2010 Canadian Authors Association Literary Awards
RUSA Notable Books Council: The 2010 Selection of Titles (25 very good, very readable and at times very important fiction, nonfiction and poetry books for the adult reader)
Shelfari: Mark Charon Newton: Science Fiction and Fantasy books every Mainstream fan should read, and Mainstream books every Science Fiction and Fantasy fan should read
Grasping for the Wind: 12 Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels and Stories of Americana
2010 Hugo and Campbell Awards Nominees (Science Fiction)
2010 Locus Award Winners (Science Fiction and Fantasy)
2010 Mythopoeic Awards (Fantasy)
2010 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist (Science Fiction Literature)
2010 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award Nominees (Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror novels by a single author)
Kotaku: 2010 Summer Reading List
Rapsheet: 100 Books you have to read
io9: The best science fiction and fantasy books for summer escapism
World News: Summer reading: 'coalition books' two books - unlikely bedfellows or easy companions recommended by British writers and politicians
Children and Young Adults:
2010 Guardian children's fiction prize longlist
Bookpage: Top 10 Best Books for Baby
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: Suggestions of great summer reading books for children
Barnes & Noble Teen Beach Reads
[ 07.16.10 ]
» Compare and contrast: Repealing the estate tax and extending unemployment benefits. [ 07.16.10 ]
» Oh, awesome. I write like H.P. Lovecraft or David Foster Wallace, depending on which essay you choose. (via w.o.l) [ 07.15.10 ]
» A $50-a-year program that works as well as summer school? Just wow. Combine this with a lunch program and you would have a low-cost and effective program that nearly any school district could afford.
In a study that compares students who received free books over the summer with students who didn't, Richard Allington, an education professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, found encouraging results. He tracked low-income first- and second-graders in Florida who chose a dozen free books at their reading level for three summers in a row.
"The effect was equal to the effect of summer school," Professor Allington says. "Spending roughly $40 to $50 a year on free books for [each kid] began to alleviate the achievement gap that occurs in the summer."
(via bp) / 1 Comments / [ 07.14.10 ]
» This week: 25 best books for kids, 5 apocalypses for adults, and a lesbian summer reading list.
Adults:
NPR: Comfort Books: Three Soothing Summer Reads
MSNBC: Have fun reading in the summer sun: Try great book recommendations from these three authors
Good Morning America: Top Book Picks for Great Summer Reading from 'Good Morning America'>
Monterey Conty Herald: Books to transport you on your days of leisure
Columbia Journalism Review: Regret the Error's Summer Reading List
About.com: Lesbian Summer Reading List 2010
The Millions Five Apocalypses: A Particularly Catastrophic Summer Reading List
The Humble Blog: Recommended Summer Reading (books on home remodeling)
Young Readers:
Family Fun: The 25 Best Summer Books for Kids
PKids Blog: 5 Summer Books for Strong Daughters
[ 07.12.10 ]
» NYT: What We Still Don't Know About Sunscreens.
A yearlong study by the Food and Drug Administration has produced sobering data indicating that a form of vitamin A, retinyl palmitate, may accelerate development of skin tumors and lesions when applied in the presence of sunlight. That wouldn't be a problem if the substance weren't an active ingredient in more than 40 percent of all sunscreens available in the United States.
[ 07.09.10 ]
» Smithsonian Magazine: How Our Brains Make Memories
For those of us who cherish our memories and like to think they are an accurate record of our history, the idea that memory is fundamentally malleable is more than a little disturbing. [..] But if he is right, it may not be an entirely bad thing. It might even be possible to put the phenomenon to good use to reduce the suffering of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, who are plagued by recurring memories of events they wish they could put behind them.
(via br) [ 07.07.10 ]
» Here's a poser: How do you prevent that garden pest, the Elephant? [ 07.06.10 ]
» This week: the best of the most popular, the top 10 women travelers in fiction, suggestions for teens and tweens, and JP Morgan's annual Billionaire reading list.
Adults:
NPR: Wisdom of the Crowds: Notables most deserving of a second splash of attention
Guardian UK: Jennie Rooney's top 10 women travellers in fiction
World News: The best summer books: from fishing to finance
JP Morgan: 9th Annual Summer Reading List
Real Simple: Top authors pick best summer books
University of Texas at Austin: Faculty and staff recommend books to expand your horizons, wherever the summer takes you
Kojo Nnamdi Show: 2010 Summer
This year's recommendations for the best summer reading from book editors, librarians and independent bookstore owners
Graphic Novel Reporter: The Hottest Graphic Novels of Summer 2010
Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance: 2010 Summer Okra Picks - great southern books, fresh off the vine
Shelftalk: About Time: Books about Discovering America
Beach Books: 10 Hot Summer Must-Reads
Young Readers:
Kidlitosphere: Carnival of Children's Literature (on almost any subject you can imagine)
USA Today: Pop Candy: Ten summer young-adult books you'll want to read, despite your age
On Point Radio: Summer Reads for Kids (with printed list)
Push to Talk: Summer Reads for Teens
Push to Talk: More Summer Reads for Teens
Push to Talk: Four on a Theme
[ 07.05.10 ]
» The Museum of Animal Perspectives features films made with animal-borne cameras, giving you an armadillo, sea turtle, or scorpion-eye view of the world. (via gtw) [ 07.02.10 ]
» If these Q&As (Part 2 and Part 3) with Italy for the Gourmet Traveler author Fred Plotkin don't make you dream of traveling to Italy (and eating!), nothing in the world will. [ 07.01.10 ]
» Book publishers Ballantine Books and Harlequin Teen are planning to electronically publish inexpensive "bridge" stories for two of their authors, both to build buzz among current fans, and (hopefully) to attract new readers. [ 06.30.10 ]
» Oil reaches Pensacola Beach in Florida. These pictures are just devastating. [ 06.29.10 ]
» This week's summer reading installment includes suggestions for progressive Christians, authors' recommendations, and lots of books for kids and tweens.
Adults:
Today: Have fun reading in the summer sun: Try great book recommendations from these three authors
Relevant Magazine: Top 10 Summer Books
Huffington Post: Nina Sankovitch: What I am Reading This Summer and Why
Children and Young Adults:
ABC News: Summer Reading: The Best Books for Your Kids
Salon: Best fantasy books for children
A summer reading list that will let your kid explore the magical realm (and you may even want to come along too)
Shelflife: Children's novels: Summer adventures away from home
BrightHub: Reading lists for Elementary Students in the Summer
BrightHub: Books for Summer
Our Big Earth: Must-Haves for Your Tween's Summer Reading List
Huffington Post: Pam Allyn: Summer Reading: A Midsummer Night's Read
[ 06.28.10 ]
» Chefs Resources is a "culinary wikipedia" designed to be a collaborative culinary resource for professional chefs. I share it here for those, like me, with a passion for cooking and food culture. [ 06.25.10 ]
» Why I Returned My iPad. It's all true. One of my goals as a parent will be to ensure that my children are bored part of the time. That's when children invent games, write stories, learn new skills, or read an unfamiliar book. Just as the eye needs space to make sense of words on a page, the mind needs space to make sense of its thoughts, intentions, and emotions. (thanks, jjg!) [ 06.24.10 ]
» Jim Emerson has written a thoughtful post on the ways in which the experience and social element of film-watching have changed, not disappeared--and why that points to a brighter future (and present) than the past. It's a terrific piece, well worth reading for that alone.
Embedded deep in the article is a tangential and thought-provoking idea that is also worth your consideration:
[W]e need a Slow Internet Movement along the lines of Slow Food and Slow Cinema, if we're really going to take advantage of the archival nature of the Web. It's not just about being first and fast and superficial; it's an opportunity to consider a spectrum of arguments and evidence.
As you know, the blogging mainstream has veered 180 degrees from anything resembling a Slow Internet aesthetic[*]. But Jim's phrase "the archival nature of the Web" hits the nail on the head. With so much analysis, reflection, and imagination collected on the Internet, why are there not more writers curating, collating, and synthesizing this vast repository with measured deliberation?
Most popular bloggers will tell you that this is exactly what they do--but they do it at lightning speed. The popular Web most closely resembles a hyper-paced newspaper, with Extra editions required for every new development, regardless of its importance. Publish (and publish and publish) or perish is the credo--and in fact the reality--of any Internet publication that desires mindshare and/or advertising revenue.
The Slow Web would be more like a book, retaining many of the elements of the Popular Web, but unhurried, re-considered, additive. Research would no longer be restricted to rapid responders. Conclusions would be intentionally postponed until sufficiently noodled-with. Writers could budget sufficient dream-time before setting pixel to page. Fresh thinking would no longer have to happen in real time.
I love the Fast Web, and I value the work that is done there. But no matter how informed, intelligent, and talented a writer may be, an idea that has been returned to and then turned away from, repeatedly, is simply different from one that is formed in a few hours, based on that afternoon's best available facts. (via @ebertchigago)
[*] Obviously there are exceptions, but on the Web in general and on blogs specifically, to the "first and fast" belong the spoils traffic. [ 06.23.10 ]
» 10 artists who are creating sublime art with the barest of resources, using the Internet, video, and...sand. [ 06.22.10 ]
» This week's summer reading installment includes books on finance, crime novels, sci-fi, recommendations from the women of Forbes, and some scary books for kids.
Adults:
NPR: Top Reads: Summer Heat Sparks Rise In Crime Novels
NPR: Summer Books That Make The Critics' Cut
Houston Chronicle: It's summer reading time, so get crackin' - a book, that is
Portland Tribune: Sports books: My suggested summer reading
WSJ Blogs Financial Adviser: Nine Books to Read This Summer (Plus My Own)
National Post: Summer Reading: Some reminders that life is awesome
NJ.com: Travel around the world through summer's best beach books
Elle: Top 10 Summer Books for 2010
Forbes: The Absolute Best Books For Summer: Members of the ForbesWoman community tell us which books will make their summer reading lists and why
Kevin Hatch: Scifi for Summer Reading
S. Krishna's Books: Summer Reading List
Children and Young Adults:
Salon: 10 great "grownup" books for kids A summer reading list of adult literature suitable for middle school readers
Bright Hub: Summer Books that are Haunted!!
[ 06.21.10 ]
» The New Yorker: Fresh Hell. What's behind the boom in dystopian fiction for young readers? Heck, I think it's because they already live in dystopia: their parents' homes. [ 06.15.10 ]
» Now you can support Rebecca's Pocket by making your summer book purchases at Amazon's Summer Reading Store!
This week's summer reading installment includes books on soccer, the best science fiction of 1912, books that have captured and shaped the experiences of African-Americans, 10 recommended writers over the age of 80, and a lesbian mystery roundup. Plus picture books, chapter books, and other books for kids.
Adults:
NPR: Fiction, Long And Short, For Summertime Escape
NPR: To Market, To Market: 10 Top Summer Cookbooks
NPR: Historical Fiction: The Ultimate Summer Getaway
NPR: Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads
NPR: Fiction, Long And Short, For Summertime Escapes
NPR: Vampire Stories: Two New Twists On An Old Nemesis
Guardian: Carlos Ruiz Zafón's top 10 20th-century gothic novels
Guardian: Mihir Bose's top 10 football books
Vancouver Sun: Prep for the World Cup with these books about soccer
Bradenton.com: 10 hot new summer books
Lambda Literary: Lesbian Mystery Roundup: May 2010
Publishers Weekly: The Books on Foodies' Beach Blankets
Essence: 40th Anniversary Portfolio: 40 Summer Books 40 books that have captured and shaped the experiences of African-Americans
Forbes: Twenty-One Women Entrepreneurs Reveal Their Favorite Business Books
The Orange Prize for Fiction 2010 shortlist [longlist]
The Nebula Awards
Independent Book Publishers Association: Benjamin Franklin Award Finalists 2010
Gospel Music Channel: Summer Reading 2010: The Best of the Best
No Tells: Recommended Summer Reading (Poetry)
Shelflife: Short short stories
The Reader's Advisor: Under the Radar: Thrillers to Read While You Wait for the New Stieg Larsson
Ward Six: Ten Over 80: Writers To Go Back And Read
io9: The Best Year of Science Fiction Ever: 1912
Goodreads: Summer
Goodreads: Summer Reading
Goodreads: Summer Books
Children and Young Adults:
Shelflife: Summer Reads for Tweens
Shelflife: Children's Summer Reads: Picture Books
Shelflife: Children's Summer Reads: Chapter Books
Shelflife: Ship Ahoy!: Sail Into the Sunset with a Picture Book
Shelflife: Can You Feel the Beat? Picture Books that Boogie!
[ 06.14.10 ]
» This week's installment includes thrillers, business books, and writer's favorites from summers past.
Adults:
NPR: Summer Titles That Will Transport You Into The Past
NPR: Booksellers' Picks: 15 Soaring Summer Reads
Salon: Your guide to nail-biting summer reads
Salon: Your guiltiest summer reading pleasures
New York Books: If You Liked My Book, You'll Love These: Six writers on their favorite reading, genre by genre
USA Today: Roundup: Mysteries, thrillers to chill you this summer
NYTimes: Summer Shares: Eight writers tell us what they have read on their summer vacations.
LA Times: Summer reading: 60 titles for 92 days
Seattle PI: The Early Word Swimsuit Edition: New Summer Reading, Week of June 1, 2010
New York Post: Summer beach book preview
Publisher's Weekly: 'PW' Staff Picks 2010
Time: Summer Book Picks
EW.com: Books WEEK OF JUN 7 - JUN 13
The Root: Summer Reading: Best of the Beltway
The 100 Best Business Books of All Time [Cool Tools recommendation]
[ 06.08.10 ]
» The pictures BP doesn't want you to see. [ 06.04.10 ]
» The rise of the Historical Mystery from niche to award-winning, best-selling genre. I'd never even heard of Uncle Abner before, or indeed, most of these protagonists. [ 06.03.10 ]
» Happy Summer, and welcome to the inaugural 2010 Summer Reading List of Lists. Check the Pocket once a week for updates, or just bookmark the 2010 Summer Reading List and refer back when your bookshelf runs dry.
Adults:
Journal of Opinion, 1934: Good Books That Almost Nobody Has Read
USA Today: Hot summer books: Titles worth reading in every genre
USA Today Summer Books Calendar
NYT: Beach-Chair-Worthy Books
WSJ: Summer's Best Reads
WSJ: Great Expectations Sixteen reads the book world is betting on, from literary debuts to scientific adventures
NPR: Sizzling Summer Picks From Indie Booksellers
CSM: Summer 2010 reading guide
CSM: 5 mysteries that sizzle make cool summer reading
CSM: 8 (smart) books for the beach
CSM: 10 great books for Father's Day
CSM: 5 gripping real-life adventure stories
LA Times: 'Lost' reading list: the show's creators discuss literary influences, from Stephen King to Flannery O'Connor
The Arizona Republic: Summer Books: Fiction
BusinessWeek: Business School Summer Reading Lists 2010
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Summer books: Hornets, vampires, terrorists are coming
by
Lincoln Journal Star: Summer reads: Books to keep you reading all summer long
Bloomberg: Top 50 Business Books, 'Animal Spirits' to 'What the Dog Saw'
Newsday: Beachy keen: 10 hot new summer books
O Magazine: 10 Books to Read Right Now
Entertainment Weekly: 18 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer
Details: Your Essential Summer Reading List
Westchester Magazine: Summer Reading
2010 James Beard Foundation Media and Book Award Winners
2010 Edgar Nominees
Agatha Award Winners
2010 Caine Prize for African Writing Shortlist
Library Journal: Short Takes: Summer Men's Fiction
Library Journal: Short Takes: Summer Women's Fiction
Top 10 Welsh underground novels
Desert Island Books (ones that actually take place on a desert island)
Arabic Writer's Union: The Best 100 Arabic Books
The Best True Crime Books
National One Book+One Parish+One Summer 2010 Begins
Summer Reading Ideas: Victorian Literature and the Novel
Children and Young Adults:
Los Angeles Times, April 3, 1960: "200 Great Books for Young Americans," ages 14 to 18
The Summer 2010 Children's Indie Next List
Guardian UK: The best children's books ever
CSM: 5 books for kids of all ages
St. Louis Post Dispatch: Reading for a Summer of Fun
Salon: Your daughters' summer vacation reading list Ages 4-12
The Statesman: Children's books: Summer titles for every age
Arizona Daily Sun: Summer reading: All in the family
The E.B. White Read Aloud Awards
Writers Against Racism: Ira Socol's DIVERSE Summer Reading List (secondary level)
About.com: Top 10 Summer Reading Lists For Kids and Teens: 2010 (scroll past the ads to get to the bulk of the list)
Summer reading for antsy little boys
Summer Reading: 52 Picks for the Hols (Bonus: adult titles, too!)
[ 06.02.10 ]
» Rabbi Jill Jacobs: Five principles that can guide us toward more effective social justice education [ 05.28.10 ]
» What does a poor person look like? Engineers Without Borders member Duncan McNicholl found himself frustrated with media depictions of "poor Africans", so he has begun photographing his African hosts in 2 sets of clothes: the decrepit clothing usually depicted, and his subjects' very best clothes. The results are fun and enlightening, a lesson in themselves on media literacy and the ways in which typical media depictions of poverty tell only one part of the story. (via @anildash) [ 05.27.10 ]
» The Demographics of Fast Food in America analyzes Twitter and other social media for mentions of fast food restaurants and then maps regional preferences.
The maps actually denote the places in which residents post sigificantly more than others about food chains, so the McDonald's map shows little difference between states. There are some striking differences, though for Krispy Kreme, In-N-Out Burger, Dunkin Donuts, and others. [ 05.26.10 ]
» The truth about Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the media, autism, and the MMR vaccine. (via w.o/l) / 1 Comments / [ 05.25.10 ]
» New research shows that babies have an innate understanding of meanness and fairness - the building blocks of adult morality. [ 05.07.10 ]
» It's true: What if the Teabaggers Weren't White?
Imagine that hundreds of black protesters were to descend upon Washington DC and Northern Virginia, just a few miles from the Capitol and White House, armed with AK-47s, assorted handguns, and ammunition. And imagine that some of these protesters - the black protesters - spoke of the need for political revolution, and possibly even armed conflict in the event that laws they didn't like were enforced by the government? Would these protester- these black protesters with guns - be seen as brave defenders of the Second Amendment, or would they be viewed by most whites as a danger to the republic? What if they were Arab-Americans? Because, after all, that's what happened recently when white gun enthusiasts descended upon the nation's capital, arms in hand, and verbally announced their readiness to make war on the country's political leaders if the need arose.
Imagine that white members of Congress, while walking to work, were surrounded by thousands of angry black people, one of whom proceeded to spit on one of those congressmen for not voting the way the black demonstrators desired. Would the protesters be seen as merely patriotic Americans voicing their opinions, or as an angry, potentially violent, and even insurrectionary mob? After all, this is what white Tea Party protesters did recently in Washington. [...]
In other words, imagine that even one-third of the anger and vitriol currently being hurled at President Obama, by folks who are almost exclusively white, were being aimed, instead, at a white president, by people of color. How many whites viewing the anger, the hatred, the contempt for that white president would then wax eloquent about free speech, and the glories of democracy? And how many would be calling for further crackdowns on thuggish behavior, and investigations into the radical agendas of those same people of color?
To ask any of these questions is to answer them. Protest is only seen as fundamentally American when those who have long had the luxury of seeing themselves as prototypically American engage in it. When the dangerous and dark "other" does so, however, it isn't viewed as normal or natural, let alone patriotic. Which is why Rush Limbaugh could say, this past week, that the Tea Parties are the first time since the Civil War that ordinary, common Americans stood up for their rights: a statement that erases the normalcy and "American-ness" of blacks in the civil rights struggle, not to mention women in the fight for suffrage and equality, working people in the fight for better working conditions, and LGBT folks as they struggle to be treated as full and equal human beings.
If I know any white people who are waxing eloquent about the Tea Baggers, they aren't doing it to me. So I have no sense of how widespread this sentiment really is. But I doubt if any of them - or their parents - were going on about the Patriotism of the Black Panthers in the Sixties. (via @ebertchigago) [ 05.06.10 ]
» Looking for some novelty in your bourbon-drinking? Join a growing group of enthusiasts and small distileries and have some artisanal white whiskey, or as you might better know it, hooch.
The "you should sell this" moment for Death's Door's founder, Brian Ellison, came in early 2008 when he was preparing to age some red-winter-wheat-based distillate. A small Chicago distributor thought the raw liquor was so good he asked for 50 cases as is, and quickly found buyers.
"I always thought at some point people would get tired of it," Mr. Ellison said. Instead, Death's Door has sold more white whiskey in the first quarter of this year than it did in all of last year.
[ 05.06.10 ]
» So far up my alley. If I had the time (and the bankroll) I'd create a restaurant like this. I'm tempted by the annual subscription. [ 05.04.10 ]
» Good news! If you're middle-aged, your brain works better than it did when you were 25. Bonus: Maximize those advantages in one simple step.
There's a lot of hype in this field in terms of brain improvement. I did set out to find out what actually works and what we know. What we do with our bodies has a huge impact on our brains. Our brains are more like our hearts in that everything you do for your heart is thought to be equally as good or better for your brain. Exercise is the best studied thing you can do to your brain. It increases brain volume, produces new baby brain cells in grownup brains. Even when our muscles contract, it produces growth chemicals. Using your body can help your brain.
[ 05.03.10 ]
» In a perfect confluence of my interests, Merel Karhof has created the Wind Knitting Factory, in which a manual spool knitting machine, powered by the wind, creates knitted tubes that are periodically harvested as scarves. (thanks, jjg!) [ 04.30.10 ]
» Publish or Perish is a particularly smart article on the state of the book publishing business and the effect the iPad and Kindle hope to have on the future of books. Chock full of things I didn't know, and thoughtful observations from those on all sides. [ 04.28.10 ]
» You know you baby was born near-sighted, but do you ever wonder how your newborn, month-old, or 6-month old baby actually sees the world? Now you can see for yourself with Tiny Eyes. [ 04.27.10 ]
» Want to avoid hip or knee replacement surgery? Here's how. [ 04.26.10 ]
» In spite of child-development theorist Jean Piaget's assertion that children under 12 are not capable of abstract reasoning, some philosophers are using children's books to introduce children to the major philosophical concepts - and inspiring some very thoughtful discussions. Consider The Giving Tree:
Most of the young philosophers had no problem with the boy using the tree's shade. But they were divided on the apples, which the boy sold, the branches, which he used to build a house, and the trunk, which he carved into a boat. [...]
Some reasoned that even if the tree wanted the boy to have its apples and branches, there might be unforeseen consequences.
"If they take the tree's trunk, um, the tree's not going to live," said Nyasia.
Isaiah was among only a few pupils who said they would treat an inanimate object differently from a human friend.
"Say me and a rock was a friend," he said. "It would be different, because a rock can't move. And it can't look around."
This gave his classmates pause.
[ 04.19.10 ]
» Associated Press finally catches up with me! They asked two chefs and a magazine food editor to create one week of tasty menus within the monetary limits of a food stamp budget. One of the chefs was unable to stay within budget, and I don't think any of them actually prepared the meals - they just planned and budgeted them. If you want to see how we ate well for an entire month using organic ingredients (and enjoying a drink with dinner) on the same budget, you can read about my 30-day Organic Food Stamp Challenge. (via @kathrynyu) [ 04.16.10 ]
» Why do we enjoy reading (and other narrative forms)? Psychologists and English professors are working together to explore how the brain processes literature - and why we enjoy it so much - or as one of them puts it, "mapping wonderland." [ 04.08.10 ]
» Is this the tiniest library in the world? [ 04.05.10 ]
» This year, create brightly colored Easter eggs using cabbage, turmeric, beets for dye. It's easier than you think, and the results are stunning. [ 04.02.10 ]
» This really makes me wish I had a dog. (via jmff) / 1 Comments / [ 03.31.10 ]
» What is the foodshed of a typical San Francisco Taco? Recent research by the California College of the Arts "reconfigures the idea of a Mission taco" from a local food to one with global origins - but it took weeks of research and persistence to source all the ingredients.
"It was very difficult to trace the origins of these foods," said John Bela, a director at Rebar and an instructor for the class. "There was an intentional obfuscation of food origins that we didn't anticipate. We were stonewalled by corporations. So we had to use subterfuge, like having our Puerto Rican aunt call to ask."
[ 03.19.10 ]
» Xavier University's 1991 basketball MVP and inductee to the Xavier athletic hall of fame? A 5-foot-4-inch, 77-year-old nun. [ 03.18.10 ]
» Two book lists for you: Steampunk: 20 Core Titles which ranges from Steampunk precursors through the classics that defined the genre to newer titles worth reading. And Top 10 Graphic Novels: 2010. / 1 Comments / [ 03.17.10 ]
» German teenager Helene Hegemann's book, which includes unattributed passages from other writers, has been selected as a finalist for the prize of The Leipzig Book Fair. When a blogger noticed his own work in her book,
[Ms. Hegemann] presented herself as a writer whose birthright is the remix, the use of anything at hand she feels suits her purposes, an idea of communal creativity that certainly wasn't shared by those from whom she borrowed.
After exploring the historical precedents of allusion and mashups, the article gets to the heart of the matter:
You could argue, of course, that Warhol's use of a soup can or Danger Mouse's use of the Beatles and Jay-Z on the Grey Album represent one thing, a re-contextualizing of cultural artifacts so well known they are a kind of shorthand. But does lifting from an obscure blogger -- or even importing a description of a sunset by Steinbeck or a suburban tableau from Updike -- accomplish the same thing?
[ 03.17.10 ]
» Reading: Harvard Views of Readers, Readership, and Reading History s an online exploration of the intellectual, cultural, and political history of reading as reflected in the historical holdings of the Harvard Libraries. (via tra) [ 03.17.10 ]
» For the Dishwasher's Sake, Go Easy on the Detergent and other tips for optimum efficiency when using your dishwasher and clothes washer. Pre-rinsing wastes water! [ 03.16.10 ]
» The biggest winner at the Vancouver Winter Olympics? Local hotdog stand, Japa Dog.
People are standing outside in cool wet weather for the popular Japanese hot dogs, waiting an hour and up to 90 minutes for a taste. Instead of the standard beef wiener with ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, and sauerkraut, the flavors include mayonnaise, seaweed, bonita flakes, fried cabbage, plum sauce, and grated radish.
[ 03.15.10 ]
» Read about Nestle's brilliant strategies for building a deep following in Japan for Kit Kats: limited-edition and regionally specific flavors, sales points in the Post Office, and wacky, whimsical flavors like strawberry-cheesecake, wasabi-flavored white chocolate, and their best-seller, soy sauce. [ 03.10.10 ]
» Have you heard of Pandora? You select a song and it will program a stream of "more like this" music based on its musical "genome". Now the company is poised for success as it positions itself to be as ubiquitous as FM radio.
My problem with Pandora? My ideal radio station would be based on two or three favorite songs. / 2 Comments / [ 03.09.10 ]
» Are extreme couponers practicing a time-honored form of augmented reality gaming? That's not quite what it is, of course. But when you assemble a 6-foot tower of Jello and post it to a coupon forum, clearly it isn't about saving money. It's about the game itself. [ 03.09.10 ]
» Three Proven Steps to Advance the World's Women, on International Women's Day. Absolutely right, and absolutely critical. (via @BillGates) [ 03.08.10 ]
» Fascinating. A new study suggests that subsidizing healthy food at the supermarket results in the purchase of more junk food! Taxing junk food had the opposite effect. I would have predicted the opposite outcome. [ 03.08.10 ]
» Chart of the day: Payday lenders' lobbying expenditures.
The meat of the story, though, from Keith Epstein of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund, is well worth reading: it shows an astonishingly effective lobbying organization which has persuaded lawmakers around the country that payday lenders are both popular in their local communities and not particularly profitable.
One of the biggest payday-lender lobbyists calls itself the Community Financial Services Association; it increased its spending by 74 percent over the past year, to $2.56 million. That helps pay for people like Steven Schlein, who goes around saying things like "Who's going to make that kind of credit available to working people besides us?". (Answer: banks, community development credit unions, non-profit lenders, etc. And if "that kind of credit" is being extended at 650% APRs, then maybe it shouldn't be made available at all.)
Are lawmakers really this stupid? Corrupt? It's shameful. [ 03.05.10 ]
» We live in wondrous times: A machine that prints organs is coming to market - for about $200,000. My dentist has an in-office machine that produces a crown in about half an hour from a scanned image of your tooth. When I saw that, I felt like I was in the future. But the prospect of creating on-demand custom organs is straight out of Star Trek. [ 03.04.10 ]
» New science shows that film directors have become more adept at structuring their films to produce pink noise - the natural rhythm of the brain. Bonus: the scientist studying film editing patterns is named "James Cutting". [ 03.03.10 ]
» Get your baby some earmuffs to protect their hearing!
Hearing loss from exposure to loud noises is cumulative and irreversible; if such exposure starts in infancy, children can live "half their lives with hearing loss," said Brian Fligor, director of diagnostic audiology at Children's Hospital Boston.
Because a young child's ear canal is much smaller than an older child's or an adult's...the sound pressure entering the ear is greater. An infant might perceive a sound as 20 decibels louder than an older child or an adult. The shorter length of the ear canal increases dangerous noise levels in the higher frequencies, which are crucial to language development.
[ 03.02.10 ]
» The next time I'm in Tokyo, I'm going to make a point to visit the Studio Ghibli Museum.
"The Ghibli Museum is a portal to a storybook world. As the main character in a story, we ask that you experience the Museum space with your own eyes and senses, instead of through a camera's viewfinder. We ask that you make what you experienced in the Museum the special memory that you take home with you."
Fair enough. Still, there are areas within the museum that seem to be crying out for a photo op, such as the fabulous, furry Cat Bus, over which little kids (age limit: 12) scramble over in pure glee.
Maki has posted a detailed review that includes instructions for non-Japanese speakers for purchasing tickets (at the Lawson's!). [ 03.02.10 ]
» How to make the best tea. Detailed instructions on choosing teas, brewing equipment, and a simple trick to ensure that your water is the proper temperature. [ 03.01.10 ]
» Harold McGee: Better Bread with Less Kneading. Trust Mr. McGee to cut through the no-knead hype to identify when that method is best and when to knead. Science bonus: flour/water proportions necessary for a good loaf of bread. [ 02.26.10 ]
» The joy and diversity of Belgian beers. [ 02.26.10 ]
» The Great Recession seems to be coming to an end, but based on the past 2 jobless recoveries, the millions thrown out of work may face unemployment for many years more. [ 02.25.10 ]
» Do expensive things taste better? Actually, they do. This explains all those ugly, expensive, designer handbags and shoes.
When tasting the wine out of the $10 bottle, the medial orbitofrontal cortex - an area of the brain that is strongly related to experiences of pleasure - showed only very little activity. When the exact same wine was poured out of a $90 bottle however, this brain area showed levels of activation which indicate that the participants were indeed drawing much more enjoyment from the same wine this time around. In other words, the price tag seemed to have a real physiological influence on the taster's taste experience.
[...] Interestingly enough, the primary taste areas show no significant differences in activation for the different experimental conditions.
[ 02.25.10 ]
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