There's a fantastic (albeit soft) article about the president based upon tapes secretly made by a friend during the 2000 election cycle in the times.

This is why Worldchanging's RSS feed is at the top of my Feedreader.

Muji House: "

Mention 'Muji' to most Americans, and you'll get a blank look. Not from everyone, of course: a few will remember the brand from William Gibson's deliriously excellent Pattern Recognition, and those who have lived in Asia or Europe may nod wistfully, a look of dreamy longing in their eyes. Muji is a Japanese store which sells a variety of goods, from clothing to CD players to housewares, all under the philosophy of the company's full name: Mujirushi Ryhohin, 'no brand, good product' (we posted about Muji back in December of 2003). While not explicitly a 'sustainable design' outlet, Muji emphasizes simplicity, recycling and the avoidance of waste in its production and packaging. People who shop at Muji often become somewhat fanatical in their devotion.

Muji is now applying its design philosophy to housing (Japanese page; rough English translation here). This strikes me as an interesting early indicator of something potentially big. What happens to the world of architecture when industrial designers, more accustomed to imagining new forms for coffee makers and laptops, turn their attention to the design of living spaces? After all, dwellings are just another kind of cultural artifact. What new insights might emerge?

Calton Bolick, an American on a long-term stay in Japan, wrote about discovering the new Muji demo home on a trip to Yurakucho:

As fellow expats from the San Francisco Bay Area, we both recognized the basic structure as essentially a loft (not new concept in the US, maybe, but new here) designed to fit Japanese-sized house lots and Muji shelving/furniture dimensions. It has an open atrium with the second level wrapped around it with floor-to-ceiling windows lighting up the main room. This model home had a kitchen centered around a stainless-steel island with an induction-heating range and ceiling hood: positively gigantic by Japanese standards and continent-sized in comparison to the pathetic kitchen arrangement inside my place. The upstairs had no interior walls, so you'd need curtains or shelving units to maintain some privacy, but nevertheless I was hooked.The cost is certainly reasonable: the base price is about ¥16 million (about $152,000 US), and with fixtures about ¥19 million (about $185,000 US). Of course, I'd need the land to put it on, but I kind of wonder if I couldn't buy the whole enchilada, pack it into a shipping container, and send it back to the US to be assembled there. And fill it with Muji furniture! And Muji appliances!.

See what I mean about those who shop at Muji? I've only been to Muji a few times, and I felt something of that same longing. Bolick's post gives a few more details, and includes some photos taken at the demo unit.

The Muji 'Infill' home doesn't stray too far from recognizable dwelling designs. This isn't all that surprising; a radical departure from traditional home design might not be the best first step, and Muji is more focused on making products simple than making them different. Still, this does feel like a distant early warning of a new trend. What would a Jonathan Ive-designed house feel like? Or one from Dominic Muren? This might also be a Viridian point of entry for wider application of LEED standards to residences: if the industrial designers turned architects adopt sustainable plans from the outset for their stylish ideas, the standards themselves have a good shot at catching some reflected cool. It's certainly a possibility -- I'll be watching this one closely.

(Posted by Jamais Cascio in A Newly Electric Green - Sustainable Energy, Resources and Design at 11:28 AM)"

(Via WorldChanging: Another World Is Here.)

If you love Chrostopher Hitchens, as I do, then read his latest speech praising Thomas Paine.

If you love Chrostopher Hitchens, as I do, then read his latest speech praising Thomas Paine.

Here's a phrase I don't hear enough from liberals.

"He may be a partisan hack, but damnit he's our partisan hack."

Microsoft's leetspeek primer. Learn how to talk to your kids.

What do you mean you don't have kids

Dirty dishes are equivalent to communism.

I've instituted a containment policy.

Friedman's column in today's NYT about taking on Syria rocks.


Choice words:

Baghdad Rules mean the Lebanese giving the Syrian regime - every day, everywhere - the purple finger.

I don't think I've ever seen a NYT columnist call for giving somebody the finger.

One of the Gnome guys has a post up about ideas that are guiding them towards their next generation linux window server (to replace the current X implementation.)

Perhaps a bit geeky, but the following snippet may give you some idea of what they are talking about:

Progress bars made with tendrils of curves that smoothly twist and squirm like a bucket of snakes as the bar grows.

Text transformed and twisted beyond recognition in a manner both unseemly and cruel.

Keep up the good work...

We used the DVR to its full advantage tonight, putting John Stewart ululating on over and over again.

Kosher Dining in New York City, just a link away.

Does this make me a linking blog?
That sounds a lot like lincoln log.
No Sam I am no lincoln log.

Some bullshit that almost makes a Mac man wanna go PC.

Now imagine that coming out of Jason Mewe's mouth...

Warren's Muse:

Where My Ideas Come From

Fwd: [IP] Dave, why do the IP consider recogniti on of cr eationism in afewschool districts so

> From: "David Farber"
> Date: February 13, 2005 12:43:22 PM EST
> To: ip@v2.listbox.com
> Subject: RE: [IP] Dave, why do the IP consider recogniti on of cr
> eationism in afewschool districts so
> Reply-To: dave@farber.net
>
>
>
> _______________ Forward Header _______________
> Subject: RE: [IP] Dave, why do the IP consider recognition of cr
> eationism in afewschool districts so
> Author: Marc
> Date: 13th February 2005 12:27:07 pm
>
> Dave;
>
> For IP if you wish;
>
> I may be simply preaching to the choir, but it occurs to me that Neil
> has
> subtly answered his own question.
>
> Kansas schools aren't the current BIG problem - I agree. They ARE
> however
> the place where big problems begin. Today's kids are tomorrow's
> leaders and
> voters. As we discuss the decline in the quality of education, we seem
> to
> forget that we are living in times that result from the shortcomings of
> yesterday's educational system. While it may be difficult to link AIDS
> and
> Sudanese genocide to American education, it is not to difficult to lay
> war,
> Bush and a good measure of global warming at Americans' feet. How did
> we get
> here? Because the average American is not broadly educated, lacks basic
> skills in problem decomposition/resolution and critical thought, and is
> poorly prepared for the role of citizen in a world class democracy. A
> system
> that is by the people, for the people, is only as good as its people!
>
> As education fails, so too follows the society. In certain respects, I
> have
> to consider that the success of America in the last century was at
> least
> somewhat due to the large scale importing of highly educated
> non-Americans
> as either immigrants or students. Current xenophobic policy is choking
> that
> lifeblood out of the country; Where will the critical thought, and
> broadly
> founded imagination, that is necessary for innovation and social
> evolution,
> come from?
>
> If we deal with the Kansas' of the moment, we will be doomed to deal
> with
> their consequences in 20 years.
>
> I am not American, but this is swiftly ceasing to be a world with
> national
> boundaries - what happens to America happens to the world. What I have
> found
> disturbing are the reactions I hear to global polls of education
> quality
> that show US students ranking lower than most developped nations; "Who
> cares
> if the Swedes are better educated? They don't run the world, we do!"
> (I wish
> I was joking)
>
> Marc Aniballi
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-ip@v2.listbox.com [mailto:owner-ip@v2.listbox.com] On
> Behalf Of
> David Farber
> Sent: February 12, 2005 7:25 PM
> To: ip@v2.listbox.com
> Subject: [IP] Dave, why do the IP consider recognition of cr eationism
> in a
> fewschool districts so
>
>
>
> _______________ Forward Header _______________
> Subject: Dave, why do the IP consider recognition of creationism in a
> fewschool districts so
> Author: "Munro, Neil"
> Date: 12th February 2005 5:19:59 pm
>
>
> much more offensive than the crummy math & science scores among so
> many poor
> and middle-class Americans? Or the declining number of Americans going
> into
> the sciences and engineering? Or, more broadly, why care about Kansas
> schools when there are so many greater horrors, such as global
> warming,
> genocide in Sudan, President Bush, war, AIDS, etc.
>
> I'm not defending or attacking creationism, just trying to find out
> why your
> folks care so much about the policy of a school board in Kansas.
>
> Neil
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: owner-ip@v2.listbox.com on behalf of n
> Sent: Sat 2/12/2005 11:16 AM
> To: ip@v2.listbox.com
> Subject: [IP] Re: Creationists take their challenge to evolu tion
> theory
> into theclassroom
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "John S. Quarterman"
> To:
> Cc: "John S. Quarterman" ;
> Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 10:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Creationists take their challenge to evolu tion
> theory
> into theclassroom
>
>
>>> _______________ Forward Header _______________
>>> Subject: Re: Creationists take their challenge to evolution theory
>>> into theclassroom
>>> Author: David Byrden
>>> Date: 12th February 2005 1:26:23 pm
>>
>>> ...
>>
>>> I think my approach should be used to deflate the Creationists such
>>> as Mr. Harris, who said:
>>>
>>>>> "There are creation myths on both sides. Which one do you teach?"
>>>
>>> Mr. Harris is wrong; there are more than two sides. Every religion
>>> has a different creation myth.
>>
>> And Christianity has at least two: Adam and Eve created
>> simultaneously vs.
>> Eve created out of Adam's side; they're both in Genesis 1. This is
>> well known to every serious student of religion, or, for that matter,
>> to anyone who simply reads that book.
>>
>>> If the Creationists force Creation to be taught in schools, the
>>> schools should teach every single creation myth from cultures all
>>> around the world. This would leave no time for any science in science
>>> class - thus making a point - and would undermine the students'
>>> unthinking acceptance of Christianity.
>>
>> Or at least undermine their unthinking acceptance of some particular
>> sect's interpretation of Genesis as representing Christianity. After
>> all, when did Bishop Ussher's dating of Creation to 4004 BC
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ussher
>>
>> become more important than the Sermon on the Mount or the parable of
>> the Good Samaritan?
>>
>> David has said what I haven't seen many people say: the response that
>> will succeed to a creationist attack on evolution is not to circle the
>> wagons around evolution or even around science. It is to
>> counterattack against the creationists' version of religion and
> Christianity.
>>
>> This isn't something that many of us particularly want to do; science
>> isn't about attacking religion; it is about science.
>> However, this isn't science; it is politics. What creationists
>> believe and teach in their own homes and churches is their affair.
>> But when they interject their dogma into public school systems as
>> fact, they expose it for critical examination, not to mention
>> ridicule.
>>
>>> David
>>
>> -jsq
>