Nunc Scio » 2008 » November

Archive for November 28th, 2008

pop snark

SciFi.com has launched Youwillknowthetruth.com, a daily clue to the resolution of Battlestar Galactica. There’s a new tidbit up every day until the show begins its final run on Jan. 16th.

Kind of a cool promo tool, but the clues are rather low-cal. So far we have a quote by one of the Hybrids, an audio clip, a Lee Adama presidential press conference, and a baby with a Cylon glowy spine. Of course! It’s all so clear now!

Anyhoo, looking forward to getting to the bottom of all this. And I suspect this website will be of little help. Thanks to Herhighnessness for the twitter tip.

November 28th, 2008 by graeme | | no comments »

mediated

Mumbai and the techno-optimists

If you’re a human being, you couldn’t help but be horrified by the Mumbai terror attacks. But if you were a journalists, Web 2.0er or crusty media critic, you were probably also struck by the role social media played in the attack. Between blogs, Twitter, and Flickr, ordinary citizens close to action provided an avalanche of updates, photos, and commentary.

It didn’t take long for observers to rise up on their hind legs and declare that social media had somehow “come of age” or “come into its own” as a news-gathering force. Twitter was deemed to be particularly relevant, unleashing a storm of bite-sized info about the crisis. Leading the cheers were the Twitterers themselves, often pointing out how awesome they were during the attacks. The techno-optimists – or those who believe that technology will save us all – were having a field day.

As a blogger, I obviously find some value in social media. And the ability of blogs and Twitter to “group-source” breaking news is impressive. But at times like this, I always feel the need to inject a little reality into all the congratulatory high-fiving.

Read the rest of this entry »

November 28th, 2008 by graeme | | 2 comments »

green bin

Nunc Scio’s daily linktopia – 11/28/08

Yar, it be time for some links, matey. And rum. Don’t forget the rum.

Toronto

The economic crisis may put recycling plants out of business. Goodbye green bins.

Canada

No more flavoured cigarillos for us. I guess that’s bad in the abstract.

World

A Wal-Mart employee was trampled and killed by a crazed mob of Black Friday shoppers. Way to go, America.
“An eye-for-an-eye” justice is alive and well in Iran. Literally.
Fighting continues in Mumbai, the Bangkok airport is still closed, and Somali pirates just seized a chemical tanker. Terrific.
Greenland is now independent from Denmark. The Danes seem oddly non-plussed to lose a giant, frozen hunk of…oh, right.
The world’s first credit crunch. It’s 88BC, and someone’s foreclosing on your romanesque villa.
The Australian army accidentally tear-gassed two schools.

Pop Culture

New York’s Thanksgiving Parade gets rickrolled. He’s a good sport, isn’t he?

Are you fierce individualist? You might just like beer.
The world’s oldest person has relinquished her title.
Studies reveal women will be sympathetic to a sick man for about five minutes. That long?
Scientists have calculated the fastest possible time for a human to run the 100m: 9.48 seconds.

November 28th, 2008 by graeme | | no comments »