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Wednesday, October 16, 2002

PC Magazine: Top 100 Web Sites. "From the cerebral to the silly to the downright bizarre, the Internet is full of sites clamoring for your attention. But should you visit them? Well, that's a matter of choice (and personal taste). The editors at PC Magazine have browsed their share, and those listed here are our choice for the Top 100 Web sites. You'll recognize many of the names; others may be unfamiliar, but we hope all will be informational or at the very least entertaining." It's that time of year again. [Interactive Design Soapbox] 10:45:38 PM  Permalink  comment []

Milky Way's giantblack hole pinned down [NewScientist] S2 orbits Sagittarius A* every 15.6 years at a distance of between 17light hours and five light days. The orbit and the star's estimated mass allowresearchers to calculate that the Milky Way's black hole has a mass 3.7 milliontimes that of our Sun, but is just 17 light hours across. 10:43:46 PM  Permalink  comment []

Phili p Roth Interview Have we properly assessed what happened on September 11? I really don't know, and I don't care. That interests me as a citizen,but not as a novelist. September 11 is not something that I can draw on onan imaginative level. The only story that I can take from it is the kitschin all its horror – not the horror of what happened, but the great distortionof what happened. It's almost embarrassing, the kitschification of 3,000 people'sdeaths. Other cities have experienced far worse catastrophes. America itselfhas inflicted some in its past, even if it was for the right reasons – I'mnot a pacifist. One wouldn't dream of slighting these people, it is awful,but we need to keep a sense of proportion about these things. What we'vebeen witnessing since September 11 is an orgy of national narcissism anda gratuitous sense of victimisation that is repellent. And it doesn't stop.Even now, it's impossible to watch a baseball game without having to listento "God Bless America" beforehand or without being asked to remember "ourheroes". I feel like saying: stop, dignity demands that you stop it. A really fascinating interview with a totally fascinating person. 10:37:48 PM  Permalink  comment []

Now this sounds cool. A Digital Pen That Recalls Your On-the-Run Jottings. Logitech plans to release the Io Personal Digital Pen, which allows users to store and retrieve their handwritten information digitally. By Michel Marriott. [New York Times: Technology] But if you lose the pen, then can the person who finds it read everything you've written? 8:21:51 PM  Permalink  comment []

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