May 2006

The Archives

• noted

  TPM Redux

  05.20.06 | Permalink | Comment?

  Now in a handy, single serving packet: The Polyglot Manifesto.

• imperial watch, optical character recognition, talkies

  Hic Locus Terriblis Est II

  05.19.06 | Permalink | Comment?

  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 one, and [...]

• imperial watch, talkies

  Hic Locus Terriblis Est

  05.18.06 | Permalink | 4 Comments

  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. — A. O. Scott, [...]

• univerCity

  The Polyglot Manifesto II

  05.17.06 | Permalink | 11 Comments

  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 [...]

• univerCity

  The Polyglot Manifesto I

  05.16.06 | Permalink | 13 Comments

  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 [...]

• noted

  Tags

  05.14.06 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  “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 this [...]

• optical character recognition

  Of Mangoes, Marriages and Spices

  05.12.06 | Permalink | 23 Comments

  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 [...]

• wizbango! tech

  See what the world is searching for

  05.11.06 | Permalink | 3 Comments

  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: Pakistan! And [...]

• noted

  Poor, perfect Kaavya Viswanathan

  05.10.06 | Permalink | 1 Comment

  … 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.

• noted

  Raising the Bar

  05.10.06 | Permalink | 3 Comments

  The ringtone in question was Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie. No fightin’ No fightin’.