“I felt I could understand the animosity and hatred which an Islamic believer would have for our system,” says John Updike about his new novel. Oh, dear Jesus.
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May 2006
Ahmadinejad: We have always said that we support the popularly elected government of Iraq. But in my view the Americans are doing a bad job. They have sent us messages several times asking us for help and cooperation. They have said that we should talk together about Iraq. We publicly accepted this offer, although our [...]
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Why would you keep M.I.A O.U.T of U.S.A. [via] ? But let Arundhati Roy in? At least M.I.A gets the BlairBush love… (.mov link).
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Sungnyemun, was built by Tae-Jo in 1396, the first king of the Lee dynasty, to keep the Pakistanis out of Seoul. I just loved the continuities in the two pictures below. One is from the Reverend Corwin & Nellie Taylor Collection and dates from early 20th c. and the other is from yesterday – or [...]
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I have to admit that I am thrilled at the positive response to the Polyglot Manifesto. I wanted to point out that over at Rhine River Nathanael makes a great case for hacking the archive via a digital camera. While I was in the Punjab University archives on research, I must have taken over a [...]
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Looks like I may not return from my trip home. Wireless WiMAX over all of Pakistan! Couple this with the news that the first prototype of the $100 laptop is out, and we are talking about something, big. Raincheck: People still have to pay. And we all know what the %age of paying customers is [...]
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Great post on ≈Ωi≈æek and quantum mechanics by Uchicago’s Sean Carroll. It made the innermost geek – the one who double majored in physics and quantum mechanics and wrote fan-mail to Abdus-Salam – break out. Also, ≈Ωi≈æek is definitely a wave and a particle at the same time.
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John Updike read Kevin Kelly’s article, Scan This Book! in last week’s NYT [go here for background] and reacted vehemently: “Unlike the commingled, unedited, frequently inaccurate mass of “information” on the Web, he said, “books traditionally have edges.” But “the book revolution, which from the Renaissance on taught men and women to cherish and cultivate [...]
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There still are some genuine heroes around: Mark Klein, the Whistle-Blower’s Evidence, Uncut released by Wired News.
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sepoy notes: Apparently, DaVinci Code made 200 plus million $s around the globe this weekend. Understand how Tom Hanks’ Coif triumphed over the Pope’s Mitre by reading the conclusion of Farangi’s charming foray into historical memory. V. Pass Go, Collect Awareness The DaVinci Code begins where it ends‚Äîat the Louvre. Paulo Coelho‚Äôs charming The Alchemist [...]
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Now in a handy, single serving packet: The Polyglot Manifesto.
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sepoy notes: It is beyond doubt that the Glorious Lord will send farangi to hell for punning Gloria Dei. It is also beyond doubt that I have been giggling like a, um, girl about it ever since. III. A 500 Year Old Argument Over Money The controversy between Catholics and the Enlightenment is a deep [...]
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sepoy notes: At long last, I have cajoled our friend farangi back to CM. Be thankful. This is his first post on Da DaVinci Code. If you haven’t read his Religion in America series, do yourself a favor. When a cryptographer and a symbologist get together, it usually ends in tears. ‚Äî A. O. Scott, [...]
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There are, hence, two types of interlocutions required for the historian interested in future-ese. One within the discipline and one outside. One with the colleagues in Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Computer Sciences and the other with the digital public. In both cases, the historian has to learn to speak another language – to be [...]
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During the last few weeks, I have had occasion to think seriously about my discipline, my scholarship and my future. Not entirely the result of writing that blasted Introduction, either. We had a conference recently on the Fate of the Disciplines [scroll down to Recent Events] at which many luminaries wrung their hands and burrowed [...]
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“The link and the tag may be two of the most important inventions of the last 50 years”. I keep telling people this. very related: Interview with If:book’s Ben in Library Journal: “Soon, books will literally have discussions inside of them, both live chats and asynchronous exchanges through comments and social annotation”. I literally said [...]
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NYRoB asked a veritable who’s who of contemporary fiction to name “the single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years.” Result: Toni Morrison’s Beloved! I haven’t really paid close enough attention to fiction to say anything about the list. Still, Beloved surely deserves to be on any list. I think White [...]
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Some fun with Google Trends: Islam: And they say Muslims aren’t inquisitive about their faith. Look at the top four. Those countries are _not_ in the Middle East people. I know it is hard to fathom Muslims outside the Middle East. Terrorism: Top city: Washington, D.C. And look at Region. Pakistan leads [as always!]. Sex: [...]
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… desperate to keep impressing all the important adults who had invested in her. Not that there is anything left to be said but this piece by Kurt Anderson about nails it in my opinion – on all accounts.
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The ringtone in question was Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie. No fightin’ No fightin’.
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