Friday, June 25, 2010

Reading from John's Blog by John

In the main, this isn’t a post about the iPad, although there’s a bunch of relevance there, and the conclusion mostly is about the iPad. I’ve been experimenting with different reading form factors for digital books over the last few weeks — I’ve of course had my various Kindles (Kindlii?) for a couple of years now, and have basically come to love them. I’ve read maybe a hundred books, at least a couple of over a thousand pages, and would not trade it. It is decidedly not a perfect device, and is…what’s the word?…oh, right: ugly. But it gets a lot right for the way that I use it.
Really good posts about the Kindle Catalog at this blog.

'Denying' Science Could Be Dangerous from NPR Podcast Talk of the Nation

Genetically modified food, vaccines and synthetic biology are all hot-button issues. But they shouldn't be, according to guest Michael Specter, author of the new book Denialism. He argues that the scariest threat is not science itself, but the reluctance to discuss it.
Listen to the full show here. See also: Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives

Friday, June 18, 2010

China's Authoritarian Model from KERA's Think Podcast

[2010-06-17 12:00:00] How will China dominate the world's markets and governments in the next hundred years and what does it mean for U.S.-China relations? We'll talk this hour with Stefan Halper, Senior Fellow at the Cambridge Centre of International Studies and author of the new book "The Beijing Consensus: How China's Authoritarian Model Will Dominate the Twenty-First Century" (Basic Books, 2010).

Download the podcast here. Listen to the podcast show here.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Charlie Rose's Monday, June 14, 2010 conversation with Mario Batali

CHARLIE ROSE: Mario Batali is here. In 1993 he borrowed, $20,000
from three friends to open Babbo, a small Italian eatery in downtown
Manhattan. Today his empire consists of more than a dozen restaurants in
New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, including his flagship establishment
Babbo.

He’s also the author of eight cookbooks that offer a unique take on
traditional Italian cuisine. His latest is called "Molto Gusto -- Easy
Italian Cooking." I am pleased to have him back at this table. What is
this about? And I know we want to talk about other things?

MARIO BATALI: That is about American’s overreliance on protein as
part of the way they eat.

Check this interview out here, in its entirety. You can also view and read the full transcript here. See also: Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home, The Babbo Cookbook, Mario Batali Simple Italian Food: Recipes from My Two Villages, Spain...A Culinary Road Trip

Friday, June 11, 2010

Damien Hoffman: 6 Ways to Avoid Black Swans from Huffington Post, The - Blog by Damien Hoffman

Can we avoid black swans? Ken Posner -- veteran Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) securities analyst and author of the book Stalking the Black Swan: Research and Decision-Making in a World of Extreme Volatility-- says, "Yes." Posner states, "Volatility results from market economies, global capital flows, and information technologies and is necessary for innovation and progress. Rather than wishing volatility away, we need to design a financial system that is more robust in the face of extreme volatility, and refine decision-making techniques to account for the risk of Black Swan events."
Read the full post here.

Charlie Rose's Thursday, June 10, 2010 conversation with Doris Buffett

CHARLIE ROSE: Doris Buffett is here. She is the older sister of
Warren Buffett. Like her brother, she plans on donating her entire fortune
to philanthropy, but unlike Warren, she plays a hands-on role in the day-
to-day activities of her foundation.

In the past 15 years, she’s given away more than $100 million, much of
it in small, personal donations amounting to less than $10,000 each. She
is now the subject of a new biography called "Giving it All Away: The Doris
Buffett Story" written by Michael Zitz and includes a forward by Warren.

I am pleased to have Doris Buffett at the table for the first time.
Welcome.

Read the full Charlie Rose transcript here. Or you can watch the full show here. See also: Charlie Rose - Chris Matthews / Doris Buffett (June 10, 2010)

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Charlie Rose's Tuesday, June 8, 2010 with Peter Beinart

CHARLIE ROSE: Peter Beinart is here. He’s a former editor of "The
New Republic" magazine, he’s now senior political writer for "The Daily
Beast." He’s caused a lively debate for an essay he wrote in the June 10th
issue of "The New York Review of Books." It is called "The Failure of the
American Jewish Establishment." He is worried about the future of young
American Jews and their attachment to Israel.

He’s here today because of another book, it is called "The Icarus
Syndrome, a History of American Hubris." He looks at how American
presidents and their advisors have been tempted by success to overreach in
war. I am pleased to have him back at this table. Welcome.

PETER BEINART: Thank you.

Read the full transcript here, or watch the full interview here. See also: The Good Fight: Why Liberals---and Only Liberals---Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again (P.S.), Charlie Rose with Charlie Cook, Hay Carney, Peter Beinart, Ron Brownstein & Katty Kay (July 27, 2004), Charlie Rose (July 27, 2004)

Even gov't knows: 2Mbps broadband is "pitifully unambitious" from Ars Technica by nate@arstechnica.com (Nate Anderson)

The Right Honourable Jeremy Hunt MP, newly installed Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, has a few thoughts on the ambitions of UK broadband: "pitifully unambitious." In his first major policy speech today, Hunt opened by praising his wife for "having our baby two weeks early" so he had time to work on media policy. He then name-checked Karl Popper and Thomas Paine.

Read the full tech policy piece here. See also: Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Routledge Classics), The Logic of Scientific Discovery (Routledge Classics), Unended Quest: An Intellectual Autobiography (Routledge Classics)