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Photo Hope for the Week
Go, Blue Jays!
Quote of the Week
In the 18th century, the Industrial Revolution was one of several revolutions that overturned society. Mechanical creatures intruded into farms and homes, but still this invasion had no name. Finally, in 1802, Johann Beckmann, an economics professor at Gottingen University gave this ascending force its name [technology] . . . He hoped his outline [a textbook titled Guide to Technology] would become the first course in the subject. It did that and more. It also gave a name to what we do. Once named, we could now see it. Having seen it, we wondered how anyone could not have seen it.
Source: Kevin Kelly, What Technology Wants
Posted: 2025 Oct 18Or check out this TEDxSF by Kelly.
Music of the Week
Category Archives: Through Space
How to Estimate an Alligator’s Length
“To estimate an alligator’s length, convert the distance in inches from the tip of the nose to the eye ridge into feet.” I check it twice. Yes, that’s what it says, apparently dead serious, no pun intended. Continue reading
Humble Pie
They don’t have Pepsiâ„¢. Well, maybe that’s a little sweeping. In the spirit of Heinlein’s Fair Witnesses, let me amend that statement to reflect precisely what I saw or, more accurately, did not see. In four weeks in the major … Continue reading
Critters and ShamWows
Using my camera’s zoom, I keep my distance while documenting the encounter. Although it’s pretty surely dead, you never know what will jump up and suck your face off. Continue reading
Unusual
“Is that a tip?” The speaker is the desk manager at our hotel in Rotorua, a seismically active area of New Zealand. Well, an area where the country’s ubiquitous seismic activity shows in the form of steam vents, geysers, acidic … Continue reading
An Empirical Test Could Help
And, of course, you’ll see the water draining the other way. Before our trip to New Zealand and Australia, several people primed us to watch for a counter-clockwise spin in the bathtub or toilet. Coriolis effect, you know, they’d say. … Continue reading
Say What?
And we’re coming up on the county symmetry, on the left. As we boogie down the highway, our guide is narrating notable bits in our surroundings, as usual, and I am listening oh so carefully, also as usual. OK, my … Continue reading
Posted in Language and Communication, Laughing Frequently, Through Space
Tagged Conversations, Culture, Travel
2 Comments
What We Got Here
What we got here”¦is a failure to communicate. Captain, Road Prison 36 in Cool Hand Luke Another in a set of reflections on our recent trip to New Zealand and Australia. We have lots of kinds of coffee. He shouldn’t … Continue reading
The Fuzziness of Time Zones. Oh, Yeah, and Tiger Butter.
They took a Friday from us. I’m not sure where they put it. I’m not annoyed. Really, I’m not. Just a bit fuzzified. Continue reading
Season(ing)s
My season sensor sputters as February and March in Phoenix send me signals of all four seasons: shall I savour the variety or let it drive me crazy? My season sensor spins, trying to settle on a selection. Some trees … Continue reading