i don’t even see the code anymore

Neo: Do you always look at it encoded? Cypher: Well you have to. The image translators work for the construct program. But there’s way too much information to decode the Matrix. You get… Continue reading →

america kills its poets

America kills its poets. If you are a novelist you can be sure it will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry. America I’ve given you all and now I’m… Continue reading →

quickly: ethics and cynics

As promised, a quick response to the preliminary argument in Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Righteous Mind. Haidt’s argument is that people use reason to defend what they already believe. They’re not swayed by… Continue reading →

a computer blueprint: every answer to every technology question I get

Source: lowendmac.com via Joseph on Pinterest * Here’s the challenge I set for myself: a post answering the computer questions I get most often, covering everything a person would need to get “set… Continue reading →

the moral basis of American politics

Oy vey. Is there no end to the flood of pseudo-philosophy coming out of sociology and neuroscience? Rorty, Derrida, all is forgiven. I wish you both were still with us. In your absence,… Continue reading →

don draper’s big avventura

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Joseph on Pinterest * And you and Anna…No, I guess [things] aren’t like that any more. My God, is it possible to forget in such a short time, for things… Continue reading →

the vulnerable ones

Out of the woods emerged a dozen slavering wolves with human faces. Ender recognized them – they were the children from the playground. Only now their teeth could tear; Ender, weaponless, was quickly… Continue reading →

Updates: Pinterest, Hunger Games, Religious Atheism

Dear readers, Today, rather than embarking on a new essay, I thought I’d pass along some interesting tidbits that bear on my recent posts. *** Nitasha Tiku, one of the outstanding tech reporters… Continue reading →

forgiving, forgetting

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Joseph on Pinterest (I’m sorry to say that nobody is allowed to embed clips from Duck Soup…so you’ll have to follow the link here. It’s 43 seconds long, and I… Continue reading →

alain de botton’s religious atheism

The dream is always the same. I awaken to find I’ve been transformed, not into a hideous insect, but into something much worse: Alain de Botton, my doppelganger. Like me, de Botton loves… Continue reading →