Are we hardwired to appreciate certain landscapes,stories, foods, and experiences? Denis Dutton argues that culture is not the whole story of art. Interesting essay, but this is an argument that's going to take a <I>lot</I> more space to make. I'm waiting for the book—but this article makes me want to read it.
Okay, no Lance this year, but the TDF is still going to be exciting. Ditto, the Tour de Georgia, even if it does venture into Tennessee.
James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia theory, is not optomistic about human life on earth.
<I>The Smoking Gun</I> has posted recently discovered mug shot portraits of heroes of the 1956 Montgomery bus boycott protests and a 1961 Freedom Riders protest. This is a must-see web tribute.
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of <I>Rubber Soul</I>. Looks better than the usual tribute record—especially Ben Harper's "Michelle."
I have to admit I've never even thought about this IP issue.
I'm addicted to science news, in case you haven't noticed, so one of the best discoveries I've made recently is Seed Media's <I>ScienceBlogs</I>, which is billed as "the web's largest conversation about science. It features blogs from a wide array of scientific disciplines, with new voices coming on board regularly. It is a global, digital science salon."
Back in college, I used to spend <I>waaay</I> too much time in the morning contemplating all the text on the label of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. One day I realized that this was a bad way to start the day before coffee and I began to decant the stuff into unlabeled bottles. Still do, for that matter. If you've never seen the original, the quotes are no less random in sequence.
That's what a newly discovered 1763 copy of an earlier map is said to "prove." Has anybody else out there read Kim Stanley Robinson's alternative history <I>The Years of Rice and Salt</I>? It's a good 'un.
Honda made the <A HREF="http://www.metacafe.com/watch/7521/cool_honda_commercial/">best commercial ever</A>. Now it has made one that's almost as good. Call it a concerto for Civic and chorus.