Comments on: Amazon.com: A Love Letter

By: Dervala

Dervala — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 21:33:51 +0000

Rebecca Solnit: I’ve heard the name, but not checked her out. You’ve inspired me, Miriam—I’ll go have a look.

By: Miriam

Miriam — Sun, 14 Aug 2005 16:35:36 +0000

Raban is one of my favorite authors too, despite the meandering pace he seems to take (I just finished Old Glory, though I’ve got Bad Land on my to-read-soon list).

I’m sure you’ve already discovered her, but if not: are you familiar with Rebecca Solnit? So far I’ve only read Wanderlust: A History of Walking, which meanders over the anthropological & social significance of walking, primarily focusing on modern & contemporary significance, with lots of environmentalism, feminism, & literature thrown in.

By: genevieve

genevieve — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 20:24:47 +0000

It’s not just the selling of shiny bits to anyone at all, it’s the total disregard for any need for standardisation ( and the ensuing overtraining that causes )that gives me the shits. Not to mention the drive to make a quick buck by locking up software and selling it before it’s really any good, so you can make money improving it. That’s been a really sad development in IT since the days of which Dervala speaks.

By: fp

fp — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 20:12:54 +0000

Wretched fanboy waiting impatiently for more prose, please.

By: Dervala

Dervala — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 09:08:18 +0000

Thanks, John—that’s great. I’ll download and check them out.

By: John Rynne

John Rynne — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:34:55 +0000

I have posted 2 issues of Language Technology / Electric Word at my web site. More issues as time permits. Also included are some reminiscences by Louis Rossetto about how the magazine was created, and led eventually to Wired magazine.

By: EdnaB

EdnaB — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 03:26:47 +0000

Have just discovered your blog – have really enjoyed what I’ve read so far. All the best.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 03:25:55 +0000

And what’s wrong with selling shiny things to boys, may I ask?
One of these you will find you need a Swiss Army combined digital bottle opener and root canal drill and then you will be sorry.
Me daughter is off to queue for Harry Potter tonight. Good to see the English Lit. department in UCD haven’t corrupted her literary judgement.

By: Dervala

Dervala — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 23:05:31 +0000

Ah, Tom, there’s too little mad and inappropriate excitement in life. If Perl evokes it for a minute or two, I’m all for it, and I’m sure you are too.

I work with a former Wired creative director now—she’s great. And I still read it once in a very long while, though I’m grossed out by how much of that lunatic idealism has been replaced by selling shiny things to boys.

As for the mooch in a well-laid out bookshop: it’s the only form of shopping I love. My chunk of San Francisco has fantastic second-hand shops, and every week I seem to acquire another armful of books. I need another six months in a log cabin.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 03:09:29 +0000

I remember jokes in the “Beano” in the sixties based on the poring/pouring thing.

“Wired’ was a bit of an eye opener when I found it first in Hong Kong in the mid-nineties. The bizarre layout was kinda fun, once you could read the blue-on-green, but I kept getting madly and inappropriately excited from reading articles about how a new version of Perl would change the universe as we know it.
I still buy the odd one when I have nothing to read with my lunchtime sandwich.
Amazon is great, but nothing beats a good mooch in a well laid out bricks and morar bookshop.