Author Archives: WorldWideWeber

Duh

Posted on April 26, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

And I quote: Researchers from Pennsylvania found that a high IQ score required both high intelligence and high motivation but a low IQ score could be the result of a lack of either factor.

Posted in Random | Tagged | Leave a comment

Signocide

Posted on April 18, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

The District of Columbia cares about its pedestrians. It cares so much it puts signs in the middle of busy thoroughfares, reminding drivers that people on foot have a right to cross the street without being run over. It doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Takeover

Posted on March 19, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

On March 16, I thought I was going to a run-of-the-mill protest downtown after work. As it turned out, I became part of a crowd occupying the lobby of an office building, and it was an attempt at push-back against corporate … Continue reading →

Posted in Agora | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Demogogue

Posted on March 10, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

“Are you now, or have you ever been, a Muslim?” (Photo: New York Times) Rep. Peter King (R-NY), IRA supporter, didn’t say that, as far as I know. But that’s what I “heard” at his “hearing” on home-grown Muslim terrorism (supposedly … Continue reading →

Posted in Agora, Random | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Seriously?

Posted on February 17, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

About a month ago Laura was walking along 41st Street up around Military Road as the winter sunlight was fading. A young man walked up to her and said: “Can you tell me which way is west?” The sky might … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Maier

Posted on February 1, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

A very belated (i.e., posthumous) “happy birthday” to the greatest street photographer you’ve probably never heard of: Vivian Maier. She’s right up there with Cartier-Bresson and Winogrand, and she was totally unknown during her lifetime. She is unknown no longer, … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Hyperstorage

Posted on January 27, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

Smartphones are amazing in a lot of ways, but the sight of the 2GB microSD card was … well, almost ludicrous. I had a flashback to a 360KB 5¼-inch floppy disk, and the big old piece of machinery needed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | Tagged | Leave a comment

Nots

Posted on January 1, 2011 by WorldWideWeber

To kick off the new year, here’s a story by a Russian writer with a very Polish name: Sigismund Krzhizhanovsky. I’m just starting to explore his works, only a few of which have appeared in English. I thought I’d add … Continue reading →

Posted in Russia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Chromoconfusion

Posted on December 5, 2010 by WorldWideWeber

Remember my blue-green Volvo? Of course you don’t. You remember my green-blue Volvo. In any case, I’m thinking about the problem of color again, so watch out. Blame it on the University of Chicago and its blasted alumni magazine. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

UTF-8

Posted on December 1, 2010 by WorldWideWeber

Encoding (aka code pages)? No one gives a damn about encoding! True enough. It’s so deeply geeky, it’s hard to imagine any normal person knowing the difference between CP1251 and KOI8-R, for instance. Windows had code pages coming out the … Continue reading →

Posted in Random | Tagged , | Leave a comment