Don’t believe that balls can roll uphill, brooms can stand on end or you can be taller than you were when you entered? (I grew an inch and a half in the Oregon Vortex.) You can be skeptical but check it out for yourself, if you are near any of these famous places. Stop by [...]

One night I was flipping through TV channels. I landed on our local CUNY (City University of New York) and was stopped cold. I saw the most gorgeous images of a place that I had never seen before. It was the Ennedi Massif in northeastern Chad and the documentary was called The Sahara’s Secret Garden. [...]

Happy? Now it’s the only issue. That quote is from a 2005 Washington Post article entitled “Economic Worries Aren’t Resonating on Hill.” I’m not an economist. I am however, angry. Where were all the über-smart people who were supposed to be watching the economy? Isn’t it their job to see the trends, analyze the projections, [...]

Not meaning to beat a dead horse, it seems that the “iconic” Obama poster is center stage again. This time though, it has nothing to do with the Obama camp. The feud is between the Associated Press (AP) and Shepard Fairey, the artist, who “transformed” the photo into the Obama brand. It focuses on the [...]

I found these two Web sites recently. The first is called Newsmap. It uses a “treemap algorithm” to aggregate news while creating visual hierarchy and pattern. The part that I’m unclear about is the meaning of the nested rectangles and their relative sizes. Are the larger boxes the most-reported news items, have the most hits, [...]

For those who combine a love of books and travel, reading the wonderful pre-1945 Baedeker Guides are like striking pay dirt. It’s a thrilling adventure: opening the tactile, rich-red embossed covers, reading about a place in a bygone age, and unfolding the amazing pull out maps and plans. It’s almost like being there. Over the [...]

:: CONCORDANCE :: What does this word really mean? It’s one of those words that I misuse because it doesn’t mean what I think it means. The word has a weight to it, as though it should be something earth-shattering. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: 1 : an alphabetical index of the principal words [...]

Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the now iconic Barack Obama poster, has become a brand himself, as much as President Obama. Fairey’s imagery and style have become a worldwide phenomenon. The posters have been translated into many languages, and in France, the style was co-opted for “Sarkobama” posters as political statements. If imitation is [...]

Since it’s february, it’s impossible to escape the over-the-top marketing of Valentine’s Day. Chocolates, flowers, red stuffed animals – not so interesting for the recipient. It got me thinking about my idea of what a perfect gift (if it indeed existed) might be. I asked some friends and got responses such as a great dinner, [...]

I had the great pleasure to visit Madagascar in april 2006. As I often do with places I’ve visited and enjoyed, I keep tabs on them (like Bhutan and the Kuensel, but that’s for another post). How are things going in the country? How is it different from when I was a traveler there? I [...]