The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

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Innovation Trough + update

By Donal on Thu, 04/07/2011 - 10:42am | Technology

With new gizmos, drugs and financial instruments appearing all the time, it certainly seems like technical and scientific innovation continues fast and furious from the 20th century.

Topics: 
Technology
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Tainter: Q&A Session

By Donal on Tue, 04/05/2011 - 9:59pm | Technology

Dr Tainter fielded several questions after the keynote lecture I just posted. Some of his responses are a lot more direct than his presentation, particularly his answer to the very last question:

Part One

Part Two

Topics: 
Technology
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Tainter: Collapse of Complex Societies

By Donal on Mon, 04/04/2011 - 10:08pm | Technology

In 2005, I read the books, Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond (who was all over public TV with Guns, Germs and Steel) and A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright. I found them fairly similar in theme, both dealing with Easter Island and other collapsed societies.

Topics: 
Technology
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Key Biscayne Tennis

By Donal on Sun, 04/03/2011 - 10:41pm | Sports

Over the last two weeks, I got to watch a fair number of matches from the Sony Ericsson Open - another big tournament near a wealthy enclave, combining both the men's (ATP) and women's (WTA) tours. It has had a number of different sponsors and names - Lipton, Ericsson, and now Sony Ericsson - but is also known as the Miami Masters, or just Key Biscayne. CBS commentators called Key Biscayne the unofficial fifth major today, but the Tennis Channel called Indian Wells the fifth major a few weeks ago, so enough of that.

Topics: 
Sports
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Infra Architects

By Donal on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 10:22pm | Technology

I attended an AIA panel discussion tonight:


Infrastructural Systems: Cities Designed for a Changing World
Hillary Brown, FAIA, Paul Lukez, FAIA, and Mason White; moderated by Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson

Topics: 
Technology
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selective dag

By Donal on Thu, 03/24/2011 - 10:46am | Humor & Satire

I was just reading about a firm called Selective Search, which charges men a minimum of $20,000 a year to set them up on dates with suitable women.

Why Some People Will Pay $20,000 For a Date

Selective Search uses a 15-page form with questions about charity work, health, exercise habits and past relationships. More importantly, interviewers rate the women's looks:

Topics: 
Humor & Satire

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