November 2009 Archives

This is all I'm saying: don't skip all the fun now by saving for the future.  And, happily, someone at Wired agrees with me.

The word for this is hyperopia: an excess of farsightedness. In a 2006 study, Kivetz asked respondents to think about a moment from the previous week when they had to choose between work and pleasure; then he asked them to rate how much they regretted their decision. The amount that people regretted either working or relaxing was pretty much equal. But then he asked a second group to think about a similar moment from five years earlier. This time, people's regret over working was more than double the regret over playing.

The Carlton Theatre is about to close.  While the decor has left much to be desired they always played interesting little movies.  Several of our WDDM film events have been held there over the years.   From a blog post about the closure:

"...the theatre has provided valuable screen time to small Canadian distribution companies (Mongrel Media, Films We Like), hosting obscure international films for extended runs enough that would allow them to build an audience through word of mouth. The closure of the Carlton, long predicted by the city’s cinephiles, can be attributed to the same '80s-mall-chic decor that drew audiences in its early years — with the cinema's fine programming undermined by its ruddy carpets and lacklustre sound, the Carlton's soon-to-expire lease marked the final blow to the multiplex’s legacy."

Well, finally the Kindle is coming to Canada.  I did think we were being snubbed but apparently it was all about making a deal with a wireless carrier.  I love reading ebooks and while I'm not about to pay $260 for a book reader I'm expecting that this move will spur some nice healthy, price-reducing competition.  While I did read (and report) recently that ebooks may not be the slam-dunk ecological leader that I thought they were, I still find it way more convenient to have my books on the PDA rather than dealing with hundreds of paper books.   For sitting around the house having a dedicated device with a larger screen would be wonderful.  But, I don't want to be spending more than $75 on the thing.   They can make money from selling the books, don't be greedy.  ;)   Didn't they learn anything from Gillette?

This article suggests that the internet is causing us to have shorter attentions spa...

This is interesting.  I had assumed that switching to reading electronic versions of books was more ecologically sound but this article suggests that it ain't necessarily so:

Other than pushing the "cool" factor, one of the main selling points being made by marketers of eReaders
is that they are greener than print. It is little surprise that the
common view held by consumers who don't know the backstory is that
going digital means going green and saving trees. Many are in for a
rude awakening. When subjected to "cradle-to-cradle " Lifecycle Analysis eReading is not nearly as green as many naively assume it is.

I've just updated the blogging software and now I'm testing it. Exciting, eh?

edit: upate work but new style didn't work
edit 2: still not working
edit 3: still can't change the template. Giving up for tonight...
edit 4: it turns out I had to click 'Refresh blog templates' and choose the proper style before choosing a template. Works now!