The advantages of new technology have a cost

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/14/the-dangers-of-externalizing-knowledge/

Devin Coldewey contemplates the shortcomings of the younger generation. "The fact is that the kids are growing up pretty weird these days, because of the way technology has outpaced our institutions of learning and standards of knowledge. The short attention span and reliance on non-text media are to be expected in an age where attention is indulged by on-demand information, and the effects of these things will continue to be written about, rightly and wrongly. There is a more subtle and insidious trend, however, that may prove to be more damaging than tech-born changes in learning modality. It’s a process that has been going on for a long time, but that recent developments may push to the breaking point. The problem, as I see it, is that we have stopped valuing the accumulation of information within ourselves."

But a blog brought this to my attention.

a best book list

Please notice that I have never met a "best" list that I completely liked. Popularity, skewed statistics and mistakes go against me. And the list going around this week is not copied from BBC; it was published in the Guardian and compiled from individual lists of 10 books that readers favored, so every contributor has read at least 10 books from that list.

There are better must-read lists:
http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20207349,00.html


From the list under consideration this week, I have picked:

--- 5 books that I like ---
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
The Bible by God
Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson

--- 12 books that were a waste of my time ---
His Dark Materials (Golden Compass) by Philip Pullman
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Emma by Jane Austen
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving
Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Watership Down by Richard Adams

Here is an extreme list:
The Most-poorly-written Best-selling book that I have read is Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

What are you reading?

Have you ever picked up a story from Walter Mosley? I've enjoyed his suspenseful mysteries about the life of Easy Rawlins, but my book this week is The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, a fascinating character with wonderful relationships with distant family. At 91 years old, most of his family is far removed, and he doesn't think or remember as well as he used to, but the thoughts that he has are very interesting.

What's on the screen?

Our television has been on at least 7 times in the past 3 months. The summer season never has new shows, but it's October and I have not been attracted to anything. I like Glee but all the great performances are on YouTube. I watch YouTube a lot. That includes Hulu and Vimeo and iTunes (College), the internet makes the best of television available by searching. This week I discovered the LipDub videos from colleges around the world. The format is interesting: a horde of students perform a continuous (one uninterrupted stream!) interpretation of a popular song on the campus of their college. Of course it's cute and corny, but the best presentations seem spontaneous, involve many individual personalities, and everyone has tons of fun. Where is the fun on television?

How could Drag Week be better?

Drag Week is a tour of dragstrips organized by Hot Rod Magazine and sponsored by vendors of high-performance car parts. In September 2010 the tour started at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Indiana with over 100 cars in various competition categories. Each day of the week, drivers raced the quarter-mile dragstrip, handed in the best time result, and drove the racecar about 300 miles on a designated route, mostly following two-lane US highways, to the next track, from Ohio to Indiana to Michigan to Pennsylvania and back to Ohio.

I was driving alone in the Cookie Monster Charger. Navigating was a challenge, but the directions in 2010 were easier to follow than last year, maybe the attached map helped. I had a GPS map on a laptop computer in the car last year, but it was more confusing to me than an AAA map that was my backup help. I liked all cars leaving about the same time. I was usually in a pack of 3-5 cars that I could see ahead or behind me, although the group changed when I stopped every couple hours, for gas or food or to walk around the charming small towns on the route. So that helped me navigate. Of course the tour would have been more pleasant if the car were quieter, but, that's not an issue. It might have been more pleasant with a passenger, but, that's not an issue. I always felt that I was in great company the whole week.

Constructive changes? Not in my imagination. Every element (extreme-performance-street-cars, the brotherhood of great drivers, supportive magazine staff and sponsors, enthusiastic photo & video guys, world-class dragstrip tracks & staff, and long summer evenings cruising US highways) was magnificent!

My Drag Week 2010 (Hot Rod Magazine DragWeek)

a great toy

My Review of the Radio Flyer Soft Rock & Bounce Pony

for erockinghorses.com and hayneedle.com :

fabulous rocking horse for little folks

By B Cooke from Holland, MI on 1/6/2010

Safe Activity, Sized Right, Durable Design, Attractive Design, Fun To Use

Best Uses: Nursery

Describe Yourself: Grandparent

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

This rocking horse was carefully packed with clear instructions for an easy setup. The solid plastic body is attached to a sturdy base with rubber straps. The padded cover is attached with hook-and-loop and eyelet fasteners, very secure. I am confident that our 2-year-old granddaughter is safe and happy jumping and rocking on this horse. The interesting and appropriate music (horse sounds and a tuneful "Home on the Range") is activated by movement and easily shut off. No bad elements, this is a great toy!

a good read

I just finished (and probably will pick up again) a book that I liked a lot. Another of those books that I would have written if I could. Apparently George Wendt, the actor, had so much in common with Norm, the character in Cheers, that it was a dream job for him. The book is Drinking With George, written from the life experiences of a professional barstool sitter. This guy really knows and likes beer! Lots of trivia and some important information, mostly sharing experiences that were enhanced by drinking beer, all over the world. I'll raise my next mug of beer in a toast to a good, funny, beer-drinking buddy, George Wendt.