By Justin Brown
Every Wednesday, I'm going to take you on a whirlwind adventure of 13 links chronicling the news throughout the geek world I inhabit. Movies, music, art, politics, gadgets, science, sports, grammar, and superheroes – nothing's out of bounds and everything's interesting.
The number assigned to each story is arbitrary — you can decide which is the most important on your own.
Let it begin…
- Matt Zoller Seitz analyzed the many influences (“the substance of his style”, as it were) of Wes Anderson; part 1 and part 2 are already up – three more await us in the coming weeks.
- Fusion is coming! By the way, want to feel like a complete moron? Watch the video explaining how the National Ignition Facility works. I gave up halfway through. And then I started trying to figure out if this could ever lead to a Superlaser.
- Newsweek describes how to (potentially) save the world, in under 400 words. Two hints: China and healthcare. Let's hope, if this happens, it – at the very least – doesn't make things worse.
- Michael Tamblyn (CEO of Booknet Canada) has six ideas that could improve the world of publishing for both producers and consumers. As one of the industries most affected by the Internet, it's nice to know that people (at least in Canada) are still paying attention.
- On that same publishing tip: a nice portrait of New York Times' best-selling author Lisa Genova, who self-published her phenomenally successful book “Still Alice” via an online print-on-demand service after being rejected by countless literary agencies.
- The Oxford University Press has figured out nine of the most prominent scientific terms that actually originated in science-fiction, not in a laboratory. Unbelievable.
- io9's Alyssa Johnson breaks down the nature of superhero secret identities. I wanted to do a research paper on this subject during college but, unfortunately, I am an idiot.
- There's one very important, very universal, and yet very under-publicized reason as to why the most recent glut of 3-D movies will not usher in a new era of cinema. (Hint: it's biological.) So don't bet your life on RealD just yet.
- Marvelous photography from Lisa Bettany; she has a great attitude about creating, embodied in the caption for this iPhone picture: “I'm trying to prove that you can take a good picture with any camera. You don't need loads of fancy, expensive gear to explore your creative side. Now, you! Go, take pictures and be merry.“
- For the NBAphiles out there: Portland Trailblazers' General Manager Kevin Pritchard gave a Blazers' fan blog a long and insightful interview, last week. He's one of the brighter front-office minds in the Association and he rarely gives stock answers. If you have any passion for the pro game, you'll set aside a few minutes to read it.
- Having trouble corraling your dog? The blog over at Outside Magazine has a bevy of good tips and tricks to end the madness.
- The sort of discussion in which I would totally participate: when President Obama says that he wants to hit the “reset” button in terms of our relations with Russia… is he using the right word? What about “reboot” or “restart”?
- Major League Baseball has made some real missteps over the last decade but at least they're completely leading the charge on how to broadcast programming live, online (in high definition). A future where all sports are simultaneously broadcast online is a bright one.
Have a week!
