A new meaning for "Going green"

And now for something completely different...

Want more flora in your world? How about carrying around your own little oxygen generator?

La Bague Gazon is a ring in the form of a porcelain pot. The hook is that you add a tiny bit of compressed potting soil, some seeds, and water.

After 15 days, you'll have a microscopic lawn that you can wear on your finger.

Pot colors vary, and prices range from 70 to 120 Euros (about US$95 to US$163 today), with a soil-and-seeds kit running 5 Euros.

No mention on the site of whether use of Scott's Turf Builder and RoundUp weed killer is recommended. And the Fantastic Voyage-style maintenance crew and equipment are apparently not included.

Nano-croquet, anyone?

La Bague Gazon, from Ratinaud Creations, Limoges, France:

http://www.labaguegazon.com/homeGazonA.php

As if to prove the point...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/nasa.gunfire/index.html

Beholding and becoming

What could I possibly say that hasn't already been said about the killings at Virginia Tech?

That the police and the administration screwed up? Now that we're being told about the bad lead the police were following, it's clear they were confused. I might have made the same decision... But I believe I would have at least sent out a message to the students. If they had, lives might have been saved.

Might.

That this act was senseless, was horrific, is a definite. Easy availability of handguns didn't help the situation. On the other hand, a determined killer will do his evil no matter what.

One thing that I do know is that in airing Cho's tape and photos, NBC screwed up.

Their rationale: We aired it because we thought it would provide insight into why he did it.

So... their contention is that for that "insight" to be passed on to the police, the FBI, even the public, the only possible thing to do was to air the tape?

This, of course, is absurd.

NBC claims they carefully weighed the pros and cons of airing the "manifesto."

They could have passed the package on to law enforcement to allow analysis. They could have given copies of the tape to psychologists and counselors, who might have learned more about what to look for in a troubled human being. They could have verbally summarized the content in a telecast, so that the public might have learned about what to look for in family and friends.

But instead, NBC aired the tape.

NBC News said, "We have covered this story — and our unique role in it — with extreme sensitivity, underscored by our devoted efforts to remember and honor the victims and heroes of this tragic incident. We are committed to nothing less."

This is, of course, a complete crock.

Airing the rantings of this sadly deranged young man was a way of honoring the victims?

On what planet?

NBC is "committed to nothing less" than the almighty ratings-driven dollar.

To paraphrase one Virginia Tech student, "They showed him pointing guns at the camera. There are a lot of people here who didn't need to see that."

All NBC has managed to do is to pander to the basest of human urges; by feeding the urge to see destruction, the execs at NBC have fed their urge to drive Hummers — apparently programmed into them by a complete lack of self-esteem, resulting from a crappier-than-average upbringing.

Listen up, network executives: By airing tapes like this, you not only re-traumatize the victims of this tragedy, you encourage others to duplicate the act by offering them the gift of a last-words bully pulpit that they never would have had in an otherwise-normal life. Emphasis on bully.

By airing the tape, NBC has contributed to the escalation of violence. They may not have shot anyone themselves, they may not have raised a hand or even spoken a violent word of their own.

But it's a certainty that by exposing more people to the mind of violence, by adding melodrama to a tragic situation, by painting Cho with a brush of romance -- yes, "romance"... the romance inherent in international media coverage, no matter the serious/analytical/public service frame they might try to place on it -- NBC has planted seeds in the backs of minds, or watered seeds that are already there.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

ABC News president David Westin decided before the second hour of "Good Morning America" to air only a brief clip of the video without audio, in part after seeing a "GMA" interview with forensic psychiatrist Michael Wellner, who appealed to NBC News and other networks to stop running the video.

"This a PR tape of him trying to turn himself into a Quentin Tarantino character," Wellner said. "This is precisely why this should not be released."

But air it they did. Until there was something of a backlash, and then they stopped, or cut back, along with other networks. And as the networks withdrew the tape, they explained how very wise and how very sensitive they were to do so.

In stock market parlance, they "timed the market." They'd already made their ratings profits. But the market started to tank, so they shorted their stock in that tape, and dumped it.

To say that NBC's behavior is cynical would be the understatement of the millennium.

Maybe we all need to be reminded from time to time...

We become that which we behold.

A needling question

I just downloaded Google Earth for the first time. It'd been ages (obviously) since I'd checked for a Mac version, and there it was. On my list of Cool Stuff™, this app ranks way the heck up there. Flying around the Grand Canyon was very... deep. I used the web to get an address for Angelo's, a little restaurant in Monongahela, PA where we used to get take-out pizza when I was a kid, and then flew by there. My childhood home, the Eiffel Tower, my downtown loft, lots of early Saturday morning sightseeing, all from the unshowered, bed-headed comfort of home.

So I stop by The London Eye, clicking on various photos linked through the app... And I see one for "Cleopatra's Needle" in Westminster. It's a misnomer, of course; the needle is an Egyptian obelisk, and doesn't have anything to do with Cleo.

I've seen this artifact, and its sibling in New York (There's another in Paris... The City of Lights is still on my To Do list). People who live in these cities get to see them pretty much whenever they like. Back when it was popular — and profitable — to raid Egypt for antiquities and scatter them around the world, many objects were carted off to their various destinations, although the obelisk in New York is said to have been a gift to the people of New York from Egypt in 1879.

An obelisk in Central Park

According to Egyptology News summary of a New York Sun article:

Egyptian obelisks have been swiped for centuries: They are rare and precious things. Only 22 remain in the world. Egypt still possesses five and Rome has 13. The Romans originally looted the obelisks, but the 16th-century Pope Sixtus V directed their present locations in the Eternal City. Istanbul, London, Paris, and New York each have one obelisk.

The obelisk behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in Central Park, is the only ancient Egyptian obelisk in the Americas.

So, my question is, how it is that "Cleopatra's Needles" are still weathering in all of these cities, and not back in Egypt, preserved like other objects? It's said that the environments they're in now are rapidly wearing away inscriptions that had survived for thousands of years previously.

Granted, many of the objects and structures in Egypt are now weathering badly, e.g. the Great Sphynx. But wouldn't the Egyptian desert, and the care of the Egyptian antiquities officials be a better place for these artifacts than surrounded by wet winter winds and exhaust fumes in Central Park?

Many other pieces of great art and antiquities have been returned to the countries from which there were looted over the millennia. It's become a celebrated process. And it's funny... I thought a quick Gargle for "Cleopatra's Needle" controversy return Egypt would yield lots of articles on pleas and negotiations and snubs regarding these ancient chunks of chiseled red granite. But... I didn't see any in the first page of results.

Finally, at the bottom of a second page was a link. to a page that mentioned a story at Bloomberg.com.

The New York Parks Department rejects claims by an Egyptian official that the city is neglecting the 3,700-year-old Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park and refuses to address his demand to give the obelisk back.

Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council on Antiquities, wrote to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to protest the city's care of the 71-foot obelisk...

...Department spokesman Warner Johnston... calling the obelisk a Central Park treasure. ``It is a 3,700-year-old granite monument and our Arts & Antiquities division inspects it regularly.''

Perhaps... but what do they do about what they find? Are claims that the New York obelisk is wearing away... just an excuse to get the stone returned to Egypt? One face of the New York obelisk is now said to be severly damaged— after it had been preserved in the sands near Alexandria since it was toppled sometime after the reign of Augustus Caesar. The Wikipedia article (I know, I know) says "Three sides of the New York needle's inscriptions are well-preserved due to the long burial of the needle, although one side, exposed to the New York prevailing winds, has been almost totally weathered away."

So does the City of New York deny any weathering? Does anyone have documentation of the condition of the stone over time?

Sure, the New York obelisk is "a Central Park treasure." But if the weathering is happening, would The City rather see the obelisk flake and crumble away to dust rather than give it up?

Or would New Yorkers, Parisians and Londoners really mind if their versions of the needles were replaced with reproductions, and the originals were packed off to the Cairo Museum for cleaning and preservation?

I mean, there's nothing like having the real thing right there to look at or even touch... but what good is it if no one's going to have it in a few years?

Hey... I'm just asking.

Twitter: Without a privacy policy, am I a twit for signing up?

Since I am so very susceptible to the digital zeitgeist, I just signed up for Twitter.

My first question would be... Where's their privacy policy?

It never ceases to amaze me how many very popular companies and web sites ignore this vital bit of communication with their users/customers.

A smart surfer will always assume, for the sake of safety, that any company that has no posted privacy policy will sell your email address and other personal information into spammer slavery. So what does that say about Twitter?

Since there's nothing posted, they got a tagged email address from me. And I still haven't put in my IM or phone, since they don't say what they will do with that info.

Naturally, you can't always assume that a company will always abide by its posted policy. There have been several high-profile examples of companies selling info when they said they wouldn't. But these days, there's so much public and media pressure to get it right that companies at the front of the Internet community's collective mind -- like Twitter -- are usually more likely to do what they say with your info.

Now, if only Twitter would say what they do.

This is Customer Relations 101, kids. Get that policy posted!

links:
+ Twitter
+ Bob, Twittering

White House E-Mail Lost in Private Accounts

From a story by Michael Abramowitz and Dan Eggen in the Washington Post, Thursday, April 12, 2007:

White House E-Mail Lost in Private Accounts
Messages May Have Included Discussions About Firing of Eight Prosecutors

The White House acknowledged yesterday that e-mails dealing with official government business may have been lost because they were improperly sent through private accounts intended to be used for political activities. Democrats have been seeking such missives as part of an investigation into the firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

Administration officials said they could offer no estimate of how many e-mails were lost but indicated that some may involve messages from White House senior adviser Karl Rove, whose role in the firings has been under scrutiny by congressional Democrats.

. . .

[White House spokesman] Stanzel conceded that the White House had done a poor job of instructing staff members how to save politically oriented e-mail and said that it has developed new guidance for the more than 20 staffers who have official as well as political e-mail addresses. He also said that the White House is trying to recover the lost e-mails.

Once again, it appears that the Bush administration thinks the American people are as stupid as the administration is willing to seize and maintain power through whatever unethical, unconstitutional means they deem necessary.

Pearls before breakfast - A world-class musician in the subway

Pardon me whilst I gush.

There's an absolutely brilliant article in today's Washington Post, by Gene Weingarten and a crew of other reporters. It's about an experiment placing one of the world's greatest-ever violinists — Joshua Bell — in a Washington, D.C. subway station, and having him play intricate, difficult, passionate music on his Stradivarius.

What would happen? Would a crowd form? Would people throw money into his hat?

The results of this experiment are documented in this witty, attuned, playfully complex article.

It's an article that has a cast of characters as rich and varied as Les Miserables (Hugo's novel, not the musical).

And I think it's a must-read for every artist, musician and self-styled aesthetic. Then again, maybe it should be a must-read for anyone and everyone who hurries through their day; you never know what you might be missing... or ignoring along the way.

Once I started, I couldn't stop; I read the entire article before even glancing at the videos... Try doing the same, then watching each of the videos scattered down the page in succession.

As I clicked on the first clip, Bell's playing reverberating though L'Enphant Plaza literally gave me a chill. The very last video had me choked up. Yes, those of you who know me know I'm easy, but to see that connection between artist and audience — no matter what the numbers — renews my faith in the power of the arts... especially when the artist is so gifted, and the art so amazing.

The flip side of that coin, of course, is that it's disappointing to see that so few people paid any attention. But, as the article says, context matters.

If I were eligible to nominate an article for a Pulitzer, this one would be on my ballot.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html