Cover Spy

I've recently begun following a blog/Twitter account that's too much fun not to share:

http://coverspy.tumblr.com
http://twitter.com/coverspy

It's comprised of a team of "undercover" New Yorkers (though it has since expanded to other cities around the world) who report anonymously on what the fellow denizens of their home cities are reading in public. It's a little like Humans of New York, but even more anonymous; public readers are never approached by spies and usually don't know that they've been featured unless they happen to read the Tumblr or Twitter feeds and find that the short personal description accompanying the book cover matches them.

I've always been a bit of a Cover Spy. I tend to notice what my subway-riding compatriots are reading (and sometimes peer surreptitiously at the running headers on e-reader screens). Obviously, as someone in the publishing community, there is a natural inclination to pay attention to these things, but work aside, I find that it helps me keep a finger on the pulse of the city. There's usually a certain correlation between the books I see on the subway and bestseller lists or trending news topics. For example, there was a "summer of John Green" on the F train at around the time The Fault in Our Stars first hit theatres, and a spate of nonfiction about modern European history as the Euro crisis has been playing out.

But New York's cultural milieu is more than what's current or showing at the cinema. I often see people reading books you'd never expect at first glance; sometimes those are the most thought-provoking (teaches you not to judge a book by its cover, ha), like the guy in the power-suit reading Betty Friedan, or the little Jewish grandmother nose-deep in a science fiction paperback. I sometimes make up life stories for them in my head. I do.

Sometimes anonymity can be entertaining. Sometimes a title and author allow a moment of genuine insight. Until they catch you staring, and you have to awkwardly look away, or feign interest in something behind their heads.

BuzzFeed: A Tale of Three Bookshops

This is what bookshops in Britain do on Twitter:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/aarong31/three-bookshops-had-a-twitter-fightand-it-ruled-dmhw

To all the bookstores in the US (but especially indies): please have an internet pissing contest. It would make my day. (@McNallyJackson, @StrandBookstore, and @StMarksBookshop, I'm looking at you!)

World War II in Real Time, 72 Years Later

If I used Twitter, this is one of the Twitter accounts I would most likely be following:
https://twitter.com/RealTimeWWII

It's a "real time" update feed on the events of the Second World War, transposed exactly 72 years into the present day. It includes such gems as:

Athens rumour: Greek soldier Konstantinos Koukidis refused to raise swastika over Acropolis; instead leaped to death wrapped in Greek flag.
— WW2 Tweets from 1941 (@RealTimeWWII) April 27, 2013

and

Noel Coward, UK actor & spy, reports from London: "At the Savoy. Pretty bad blitz, but orchestra kept on playing." twitter.com/RealTimeWWII/s…
— WW2 Tweets from 1941 (@RealTimeWWII) April 20, 2013

and

Royal Canadian Mounted Police are hunting 28 escaped Luftwaffe airmen, prisoners from UK who've tunneled out of a PoW camp in remote Ontario
— WW2 Tweets from 1941 (@RealTimeWWII) April 19, 2013

This is such an amazing project, not least because (I imagine) it takes a lot of research to put together. It appears to be a labor of love, or at least of deep fascination. I especially appreciate that it features events not typically covered in textbooks, true and relevant quotations, and lesser-known arenas of the war.

If I Used Twitter

tonight's update would be:

My sister just said, "I am a compromising cow." Surprisingly, it made complete sense in context.

World History in Facebook Updates

Something funny that Wendy found a few days ago, over which I spent the better part of an afternoon giggling:
http://www.collegehumor.com/facebook-history

Just some entertainment over finals week. It's rather Eurocentric (well, Western-centric), but on an English-language site, that's to be expected, unfortunately.

I'm sure that those of you who use Facebook will find this even funnier than I did.

If I Used Twitter

my random thought of the day would be:

I want to write a story entitled, "All My Imaginary Children, and Possibly Some Electric Eels".

That is all.

If I Used Twitter

I would post, right now:

Writing a paper on Browning's "Childe Rolande" (quite creepy!), and G-chatting with my sister about secret elephants.

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog

One of my English professors held a Middle English workshop last week, and showed us this:
http://houseoffame.blogspot.com/

It's brilliant and hilarious in a really nerdy, English-major-y way. (Chaucer himself was quite funny, and the blog does him justice.) I've been reading it a bit obsessively the past week. Go have a gander -- I promise you'll laugh. (If you have trouble with the Middle English, there are some translation resources in the sidebar.)

Microsoft Printing Dress: Wear What You Tweet

This is a really amazing bit of textile wizardry:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20089642-1/microsoft-printing-dress-wear-what-you-tweet/

It certainly looks much too impractical for everyday use (not to mention, I can't imagine that a lot of people would want to wear that on a day-to-day basis), but the concept is quite fascinating nonetheless. I can see it having niche appeal, mostly among technorati, and perhaps some specialized applications. Imagine being paid to wear scrolling advertisements, much like people nowadays are paid to advertise products on their websites, or their cars (like those VW beetle skins that show up now and again), or their storefronts. Maybe it'll be a futuristic version of the branding that is now ubiquitous on clothing and personal accessories. It reminds me a bit of Gibson's Pattern Recognition, actually, only in a less depressing way.

If I Used Twitter

tonight's post would have been:

Wheat Thins + fish sauce + strawberry cookies + ice cream = 3am snack with sister.

 It's good to be home. :-)

If I Used Twitter

last night's status would have been:

re-upholstering a couch, knitting like a fiend, and blasting Bach's St. Matthew Passion.

That is all.

NYTimes: Cooking Co-ops for Efficiency

This is a really interesting idea:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/dining/23coop.html

Cooking co-ops are probably ideal for friends and neighbors in apartment complexes, on university campuses (for those without meal plans but with kitchens), or at least within walking distance from one another. In a place like New York City, especially among the younger professional set, which often overlaps with the "just had babies" set, people really don't have time to cook full meals every day, and often, the entire family ends up eating T.V. dinners half the week (or going out to eat, which, in New York, is a huge drain on resources). The cooking co-op solves most of the problems that come with cooking on a weekday. I'll have to remember this, for when I graduate in two years and go off my meal plan. Any takers (though by the looks of it, we'll all be scattered all over the country, or at least, all over both coasts)?

NYTimes: Yelp and OpenTable Join Forces

This might make the summer more interesting:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/yelp-and-opentable-join-forces/?hpw

It seems like a natural merger, a comfortable association. After all, upon finding a good restaurant on Yelp, the natural inclination (and the smart thing to do) is to make a reservation. This simply cuts out the step of picking up the phone.

NYTimes: Facebook's Zuckerberg on the Hot Seat

Time for him to face the music:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/zuckerberg-on-the-hot-seat/?hpw

Zuckerberg is in over his head.

Facebook has grown so quickly that I don't think Zuckerberg really had time to take a step back and consider all the long-term consequences of some of his actions; at twenty-six, he's at the helm of one of the most successful start-ups in the tech industry. His ethical uncertainty is rather frightening. He has a great deal of real-world power, and he appears to be bound not by any conscience of his own, but rather by public sentiment, when it grows too loud against him.

At least the Google guys have said, "Don't be evil." Zuckerberg would do well to learn from their example.

Today is Quit Facebook Day

I am interrupting the "e-petitions at the top of the blog" run to blog about this one-day internet event/phenomenon. Today is Quit Facebook Day, which is exactly what it sounds like: quit Facebook today! The official website is here:

http://www.quitfacebookday.com

There are several good reasons to quit (or, in my case, to never have started in the first place). My list boils down to these few points:
1. Privacy
2. Productivity
3. Content Ownership
4. Meaningful Friendships

The first has already been addressed on this blog (and is covered on the website), and the second is self-evident. The third is a serious, often overlooked concern: anything you post on Facebook becomes the property of Facebook (as opposed to on other sites, where all content remains the property of the author). That's the equivalent of giving up first publication rights to anything you post, ever. You never know when you might need it.

The fourth is a personal philosophy: I would rather have a few fast friends than many superficial friends. Facebook appears to encourage rampant and unsustainable befriending of casual acquaintances, and the setting of perverse numerical goals, neither of which are conducive to meaningful relationships. I'm the type of person who enjoys long conversations and equally long letters (or, nowadays, e-mails). With most of my friends, I can be away from them, without much contact, for months, and pick up right where we left off. One-line status updates just don't appeal to me.

NYTimes: Facebook's New Rivals

Yes, Facebook -- that Goliath, that behemoth of social networking services -- has challengers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/technology/24social.html?hpw

The people have spoken, methinks. They want privacy settings -- secure, transparent, user-friendly privacy settings, without the looming fear that their personal information is, heaven forfend, being unscrupulously peddled to advertisers, or gleaned off of search engines. They want to live and celebrate life without examining their every action, lest a stray photograph make its way onto the web for the world to see.

This is where all these new start-ups come in. This is what they offer, the consumer base they want to tap. Is this the end of Facebook's monopoly on the social networking profile? Probably not, but it's a step forwards.

NYTimes: Facebook Vigilance

This is why I don't use Facebook:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/fashion/09privacy.html?src=me&ref=homepage

I mentioned this in my inaugural post. I'm not just paranoid, see -- it's actually a little frightening how much can be gleaned from one's Facebook page, even with all the privacy settings.

The ironic thing is, I don't even have that much to hide. I don't do anything really incriminating (don't drink, don't party, &c.), but still, I suppose occasionally handling sharp bladed weaponry (even recreationally) is a blip on people's radars these days. Not to mention my views on some political, human rights, and personal issues (pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, atheist, &c.), which might ruffle some feathers.

The Inaugural Post: A Declaration of Purpose

Allow me to justify the existence of yet another blog on the vast Internet. This is first and foremost a personal project, an instrument of order to placate my sometimes-chaotic mind. If it should attract the interest of others (friends, acquaintances -- those who know me, or wish to) then so much the better; I am a proponent of free exchange of ideas, news, innovation, artistic expression, and all things which engage the mind or touch the heart, or both.

I have been told that I should (instead) invest in either a social networking profile (i.e. Facebook), an online journal (such as Livejournal), or a compendium of links (Delicious). There are myriad reasons against any and all of the above, reasons which, when taken together, outweigh any potential benefit I would derive therefrom. It is mostly because I am, at least on the web, a rather private person, and not inclined towards social networking. (With regard to Delicious, it is merely that I enjoy having the option of writing long posts to accompany certain links, and of posting things other than URLs and text, such as images and charts. (If there is an existing way to do so, then I am a web neophyte, and have exposed myself as such.)

I chose May Day (as the date of launch) for its traditional symbolism: spring, growth, hope, and the beginning of new things.

Note: Expect, in the coming day(s), a deluge of precisely-timed posts; I am merely tidying up my browser bookmarks.