Edifying Thoughts of a Tobacco-Smoker

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this blogcat, which acts as a sort of a preface to this column. If you have not yet read it, I recommend you do so. In brief, it discusses some cultural and literary allusions to cigarettes and cigarette smoking. The purpose of this essay is to extend my ruminations on the subject towards a logical conclusion. The Read more [...]

BioLite Stove – Cooking Fire + Electricity

http://biolitestove.com/ This ROCKS!!!  This product is the result of marrying engineering with world needs.   I hope to see it scattering Kiva.org in the near future.  Would you donate one if you could pick the recipient family from a list of bios?  Now the biggest issue is distribution - how to get this to the most remote places in Read more [...]

Timber Land

I love Timbs, and there’s no singular reason why. As at this point we don’t have any public readers, and the first ones we have will likely know me, my previous statement comes as no surprise. In fact, I’m sure most of you rolled your eyes when you first became aware that I’d written something about Timbs. And I can’t blame you. Read more [...]

Life is a Cigarette

This is the inaugural post for the Quarry. This blogcat will be a collection of short essays and articles dealing with a range of topics that I find interesting to write about. At times, these pieces will be complements to my longer columns. Presently, this acts as a bit of an "introduction" to the column that will be written over the course of the next week. Breathe it in. Read more [...]

Incentive Reflections

Each of the past two weeks, my current employer offered two mirroring incentives. What I’d like to explore in this Blogcat is my differing attitudes to said incentives. Read more [...]

Step into Bobcat Territory

This is the first official weekly column of the Bobcat Territory website. It is written by an individual author but holds aspects of a brief welcome letter on behalf of all of the site's contributors. When my dad was nineteen, the summer after his sophomore year in college, he went camping with some friends in Upstate New York.  That’s Read more [...]

The Aisle Seat

The existence of, and rationale behind, a certain demographic baffles me: the people who sit on the outer seat on the metro while the inner half of the pair remains empty. Who are these rogues? Read more [...]

Google Public Data Demo

Google Public Data is incredibly cool. You can take any public data from the World Bank or 76 other data providers, slice & dice your own homemade charts or graphics, and visualize mind blowing trends.  This demo is one of many, here. Read more [...]

Education for Everyone

This will definitely disrupt the education system as we know it, and it's for the better.  It's an essential and overdue step towards education for all and an even playing field. Coursera is delivering high-quality online courses from top universities, for free, and for everyone.   The best schools will educate not thousands, but millions of Read more [...]

The Ringer

I hate alarm clocks. Waking up to them is absolutely infuriating, and not only because it's a horribly jarring way to part with sleep - though that has something to do with it, for sure. I always use my phone as my alarm clock, and every time I get a new phone I change the ring I use as my alarm, and I'm pretty sure I've grown to despise every Read more [...]