I was catching up on a bunch of feeds this evening, and was struck by two posts on Boing Boing (1, 2) pointing to a couple of really terrific pieces of writing that have recently been made available free online:
I’ve read both of these in the dead tree versions, so I’ll be passing on these…but you should definitely give them a click. The Chiang story is particularly brilliant.
Simply put, you should buy three copies of Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody. One for yourself, one for your boss, and one for anyone else in your life who isn’t “getting” the social technology revolution.
It’s a great read for those who are already in this Internet thing to win, but I think its real value may be in highlighting the new dynamics of net-enabled communities for those who aren’t already in the loop. Here’s Cory Doctorow gushing at BB:
Unlike a regular business book — something with a one-sentence punchline that could be explained in a longish New Yorker article — Here Comes Everybody is dense and rich, with new insight on every page. It’s the kind of a book that you can open to any page and be delighted by — especially if you love the Internet — and the kind of a book that you’ll want to read aloud from to your friends.
I’ve been waiting for this book for years — something I can hand to people who dismiss the Internet and amateurism and social activity as distractions or trivia. Now I have it.
Although I haven’t been posting much here, I do try to get a good link or video up on S&U every day or so…so if you’re looking for another glimpse through the clouds at Morrow Planet, please take a look! Thanks!
1970’s science fiction, on television at least, was usually serial based. Each episode was shown at the same time, same day, and on the same channel. And each episode often ended with a cliffhanger, or, as I used to refer to them as a 7 year old, a dangerous ending.
You can guess where the article goes from here. Regular updates and fostering a sense of caring for the content or the author are the two of Ashley Morgan’s main lessons.
Like many of the articles at Upstart Blogger, it’s worth a quick read and maybe a bookmark.
Although perhaps too much is being made of Super Tuesday, given that (at least for the Dems) it will likely end in a wash, I think it’s going to be a fascinating preview of the general.
Yes, I know that Primary voters do not equal General voters…but that’s where it gets interesting. That equation is changing, and in large part due to a man who is breathing life into a moribund electorate. Of course, I mean Barack Obama.
It is in large part because of the way Obama inspires a largely disenfranchised electorate that I am “endorsing” Senator Obama. I am one of the Americans lucky enough to have already voted for Obama once, and have been pleased with the results. He has earned my vote again. Obama is right on the issues and ready to lead — not just the West Wing as Clinton would, but this entire ready nation.
Whatever your political leanings, if you haven’t voted already I do hope that you will.
If you’re like me, you always look forward to hearing Nina Totenberg describe the doings of the Supreme Court, but your knowledge of the most mysterious branch of government ends there. Particularly if you’re of a more liberal bent like myself, you might really enjoy legal journalist Jeffrey Toobin’s The Nine. I did.
The Nine wants to be a meta portrait of all the justices’ personalities, but is dominated by the story of Sandra Day O’Connor’s influence on the court and the swing back toward conservatism with the appointments of Roberts and Alito.
Which brings me to my point. If you want to read books that tackle profound philosophical questions, then the best — and perhaps only — place to turn these days is sci-fi. Science fiction is the last great literature of ideas.
Morrow Planet is written and managed by Mike Morrow.
Mike is a writer, reader, marketer, father, husband, son, fan, publisher, editor, infovore, collector, geek, liberal, armchair philosopher, techie, humorist, and Midwesterner. To be continued.
