Readings For Troubled Times
I can't help being the 'teacher' type. When young, I used to compile book lists for people who wanted to read up on stuff. This is probably attributable to my father, a lovely person who, on finding out that I am scheduled to preach a sermon or present a paper, will automatically (and with totally unsolicited care, great skill, and uncomplaining effort) drop off a bunch of relevant books at my flat. And not only that, he'll do it for any of my friends whom I have mentioned in passing.
In that spirit, I'd like to present a sampling of some of the websites I read for heavy, daily, and light purposes. (Yes, they now sound like a range of feminine protectives, but let's not go there.) No local blogs (we all need protection sometimes)! And I have also left out reference sites and sites which might indicate too strong a bias (one way or another) for particular strains of politics, religion, or other contentious memetic reservoirs.
Heavy
By heavy I mean that you need a few hours and the will to think about what you're reading. Sometimes, you need these because the material at hand is intrinsically dense; sometimes, because there is just a lot of it.
Edge is probably heaviest. You get an inkling of this the moment you see their masthead mission statement, which begins with: To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge... It is an appallingly educational site. Perhaps a bit biased towards the sciences, it is unique in pulling everything inward around that mighty scientific vortex and trying deperately to pound meaning out of it.
Slate is next. It's like New York on a website. It is the digital medium's most NYC-like website, I think — by which I mean that it has everything in it, both repulsive and attractive, sometimes both plus weird and offbeat, sometimes all of that plus vibrant and (on occasion) virulent in its range of wonders and how they affect your brain.
Wired is almost like that. It's like Slate in the odd and probably illusory way that UCLA is like Columbia. Wired isn't as good, but it is good at what it does and at digesting it so that you can re-digest it.
Daily
By daily I mean just that. I look at these sites at least once a day when there is time. I have to apologise in advance. Some of you will never recover from these revelations.
Soccernet is my favourite site for the world's favourite game. It never ceases to enthrall me, this game of living chess with pieces who change roles all the time in pursuit of the ball, and putting it in the net.
Chessbase is the place I go to quickly catch up on chess news. Chess has always been my other favourite game. It's a lot like football, but that's a matter for another post.
The Linux Game Tome at happypenguin.org was recommended to me by a friend named Burn. It's a great place to see what's new in the world of open-source.
Light
By light I mean sites which I often look at, when there is time, or which are easy and require little effort to scan through.
Freakonomics is where I brush up on my rusty economics and find out that sometimes not only is it rusty, it has crumbled away. Very engaging, the way these fellows look at the world.
Guy Kawasaki is a famous Apple evangelist I've admired since I first encountered him decades ago. He has many interesting things to say about corporate life and stuff in general.
Tomorrow, like its intellectual cousins Today and Yesterday, is a place to go to when you just want to find out what's juicy about living where we live.
In that spirit, I'd like to present a sampling of some of the websites I read for heavy, daily, and light purposes. (Yes, they now sound like a range of feminine protectives, but let's not go there.) No local blogs (we all need protection sometimes)! And I have also left out reference sites and sites which might indicate too strong a bias (one way or another) for particular strains of politics, religion, or other contentious memetic reservoirs.
Heavy
By heavy I mean that you need a few hours and the will to think about what you're reading. Sometimes, you need these because the material at hand is intrinsically dense; sometimes, because there is just a lot of it.
Edge is probably heaviest. You get an inkling of this the moment you see their masthead mission statement, which begins with: To arrive at the edge of the world's knowledge... It is an appallingly educational site. Perhaps a bit biased towards the sciences, it is unique in pulling everything inward around that mighty scientific vortex and trying deperately to pound meaning out of it.
Slate is next. It's like New York on a website. It is the digital medium's most NYC-like website, I think — by which I mean that it has everything in it, both repulsive and attractive, sometimes both plus weird and offbeat, sometimes all of that plus vibrant and (on occasion) virulent in its range of wonders and how they affect your brain.
Wired is almost like that. It's like Slate in the odd and probably illusory way that UCLA is like Columbia. Wired isn't as good, but it is good at what it does and at digesting it so that you can re-digest it.
Daily
By daily I mean just that. I look at these sites at least once a day when there is time. I have to apologise in advance. Some of you will never recover from these revelations.
Soccernet is my favourite site for the world's favourite game. It never ceases to enthrall me, this game of living chess with pieces who change roles all the time in pursuit of the ball, and putting it in the net.
Chessbase is the place I go to quickly catch up on chess news. Chess has always been my other favourite game. It's a lot like football, but that's a matter for another post.
The Linux Game Tome at happypenguin.org was recommended to me by a friend named Burn. It's a great place to see what's new in the world of open-source.
Light
By light I mean sites which I often look at, when there is time, or which are easy and require little effort to scan through.
Freakonomics is where I brush up on my rusty economics and find out that sometimes not only is it rusty, it has crumbled away. Very engaging, the way these fellows look at the world.
Guy Kawasaki is a famous Apple evangelist I've admired since I first encountered him decades ago. He has many interesting things to say about corporate life and stuff in general.
Tomorrow, like its intellectual cousins Today and Yesterday, is a place to go to when you just want to find out what's juicy about living where we live.
etched with acid at 2:53:00 am
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