Science theater grows in Central square
Maybe Central Square isn’t going to the dogs after all. This weekend I caught a performance of a stage adaptation of one of my favorite books ever, Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams. The show is...
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Bacon technology update
A while ago I noted the appearance of a bacon chocolate bar, and I ate it. Today I am recognizing the existence of gummy bacon – a gift from J – but I’m not actually going to try it. Not because...
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Attack of the carnivorous snails!
I was half-listening to the radio and I was pretty sure I heard the announcer say, “blah blah blah red tide blah blah surf clams and carnivorous snails…” Carnivorous snails?? On the rampage and out...
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Salt air, salt water, salt of the earth
This weekend I went on a three-hour tour with the New England Aquarium’s whale watch with Professor M and her friend J. An hour before the departure, I got the text message, “forgot Dramamine, please...
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Bacon technology update
Perhaps it’s fitting that on this preliminary Boston election day it’s time for another Bacon Technology Update. Alert porkavore Tangyslice gave me these last week: Just so there’s no...
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The Spurious Sushi Exclusion Zone
I try not to be too much of a food snob but there are a few things that just sort of make me nervous for no good reason, and having sushi far from the open sea is one of them. This is bogus for any...
View ArticleSliding down the hierarchy of thneeds at Webinno26
Well, here’s one thing that doesn’t seem to be in evidence in Sicily: a burbling startup scene. I dropped in at Web Innovators 26 (it seems only yesterday I was at Webinno18) at the Royal Sonesta to...
View ArticleLive action duckroll
Presented with minimal commentary, a video I found via Gizmodo. People with nets chasing ducks on wheels. I guess it’s all for a good cause. What I want to know is, is that an autonomous duck robot...
View ArticleMammoth tintypes and the magic of the meniscus
Yesterday I attended a rare demo of the 19th-century tintype photographic process by photographer Nathaniel Gibbons at (or at least just outside) Gallery Kayafas, where Gibbons’ “Mammoth Plate...
View ArticleSocial media mystery: the case of the 5000 follower intern
So we were hiring an intern. Hiring might be a strong word since we’re not planning to pay this intern, but I digress. So I’m reviewing resumes and sometimes if somebody looks promising, I check out...
View ArticleThe world of like the 1980s
Despite my grouchiness, Donorschoose keeps sending me thank-you notes. Despite my grouchiness, I keep finding them wonderful. Today I received a batch of cards from the classroom of Mrs. Horton,...
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120,000 blocks to Samarkand
In places like New York City, you can easily measure distance in blocks and people generally know how far that is in miles or minutes. In New York City, everybody knows that Manhattan street blocks are...
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Mappy diversion: the 40th parallel, Ana Ng’s Peruvian lover, and...
I’m back from a trip almost halfway around the world in terms of longitude, but a pretty short hop in latitude. A weather diversion on the way over brought me to Oklahoma City airport, what would have...
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Rooting for an e-ink tablet
I’ve been a huge fan of E ink for ten years now. I visited the company’s Cambridge office back when I was in business school and was very impressed with the technology. So when the original Kindle...
View ArticleRise and shine, the light therapy shower is almost real
Via Apartment Therapy and CNN Travel, news of a shower that aims to vanquish jetlag via light therapy. Why didn’t they think of this sooner? Just add some sunlight bright LEDs to a shower, what’s so...
View ArticleBe true to your haiku
Via Jen 8 Lee for national poetry month, NY Times Haiku. I learned via professor N‘s instant message that the estimable Jennifer 8 Lee tweeted a piece about the New York Times’ creation of a Haiku bot....
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Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor, not a short-order cook!
On Highland Avenue in Somerville, Boldly serving up breakfast all day where no man has gone before.
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Wine unboxing
At one of the frequent tastings a Ball Square Fine Wine, I noticed that they now stock Chat en Ouef and I also tasted a nice Bordeaux for a wooden box. Well, most likely from a plastic bag inside that...
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Glitch will be the next Instagram
I’m calling the peak of the Instagram reto “film” filters thing. Soon enough that visual language will be dead as cupcakes. Recently I poked fun at Apartment Therapy for calling bathroom home offices...
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Move in, people, help is on the way
This just in from Gothamist: reconfiguring the layout of subway car seats might give the cars greater effective capacity with the same number of seats. The thinking is that there are certain behaviors...
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