Re the link to the new beekeeping site: You might find this interesting — David Yassky, an up-and-coming Brooklyn city councillor, has taken up the crusade to legalize urban beekeeping. Apparently there are quite a few underground (or more precisely rooftop) apiculturists operating in the shadows of the city. Two links below — the secondcontinue reading
Media Archives
Again with the housework and the bad science reporting
I’m sure this headline isn’t unfamiliar, as it’s been everywhere for the past couple of weeks: Just 20 Minutes Of Weekly Housework Boosts Mental Health Let’s have a bit of a look at the study behind the headline. First: any form of daily physical activity was associated with a lower risk of distress, when othercontinue reading
The first rough draft
It was Glaukos who spoke first, dude…
Here’s an entertaining and very weird website, with a whole new take on the Iliad. I ran across it in a review, in New York Magazine, of a book called Ultimate Blogs: Masterworks From the Wild Web, by one Sarah Boxer (review also linked below). http://nymag.com/arts/books/reviews/44480/ http://underodysseus.blogspot.com/2006_04_09_archive.html
Ah yes, Canada’s huge movie piracy problem…
Five months after the law came into effect, after “weeks of private investigation,” Canada has arrested exactly one person for videotaping a movie in a theatre. One arrest. One. If the cinema owner in that story is correct that it’s put a major dent in the level of piracy in Montreal, and the movie distributors’continue reading
Well, that’ll piss off the generals
Prime Minister Moves to Grant Honourary Canadian Citizenship to Leader of Democracy Movement in Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi Interesting move. I approve (since I’m sure Stephen Harper’s decision-making hinges on my approval…). Note the language, too: in news articles and press releases including this one, I’ve noticed an almost total switch from “Myanmar (alsocontinue reading
Oh dear
Headline in my RSS this morning: Canada’s New Government Increases it’s Commitment to Enhancing Girl’s Education in Afghanistan
Me! Me! It’s all about me!
Summary: Blowhard hack indirectly kills decent kid; hack wonders if he should feel conflicted about this, but settles for navel-gazing. Full story here. Hitchens seems to sense that the appropriate response involves a) some level of genuine humility, as opposed to a pose du jour that involves faking humility, and b) a true focus oncontinue reading
Totally Toronto (2)
It’s an easy target, but: The Current on Friday morning had a long segment on roundabouts, hooked to Case Ootes’s proposal that Toronto should have some. There aren’t any at the moment. The main interview was with the City of Toronto’s transportation manager, who discussed them intelligently enough from theory – he’s not responsible forcontinue reading
Cheese, Gromit!
The BBC says: Trouble at’ Mill is a murder mystery that sees Wallace and Gromit running a bakery business – with their house converted into a granary with ovens and robotic kneading arms. Some details on (where else) http://www.wallaceandgromit.com/, which is a thoroughly silly and entertaining site.