Category: Off Topic

  • Alpine blogging hiatus

    I am off to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. I’ve never been before, and I admit that the idea of holding a conference in a ski resort where nobody comes to ski for a week is a little crazy. But, I’m a lousy skier. By way of apology, blogging will be light…

  • Off topic: A Ghost Story

    This being the season for ghost stories, I thought I would pass on probably the shortest ghost story I know (and I’ve cut it short). It is from the pen of the masterly M.R. James. A classic tale, it even gets its own scholarly article – “The Rules of Folklore” in the Ghost Stories of…

  • Facebook for old people

    This finally made it to Valleywag. American readers may need help with translation. (Click to enlarge.)

  • Creating non-commercial content

    Not every form of content creation is supported by a revenue model. A poet like Vernon Scannell could not support himself on verse alone. He is dead at 85. Here is one his poems: CASUALTY – MENTAL WARD Something has gone wrong inside my head.The sappers have left mines and wire behind,I hold long conversations…