This morning’s discussion with Nan concerning the etymology of “murder of crows” led to this search. The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center and the San Diego Zoo are the most fun. Then I went and looked up “murder” in the OED, only to find that for the “group of crows” sense, there are references from …
Author Archives: Jonathan Sterne
A Little Academic History
So I was over at the website for the Society for the Social Study of Science to see if this year’s program had been posted yet (travel arrangements, you know — Westjet has some direct flights to Vancouver) and stumbled across their historical programs, which includes the program from the first meeting at Cornell University. …
Italian Design Exhibit at the Musee de Beaux-Arts
We just hit the exhibit today and I found it very engaging. I hate to say it but I think the coolest stuff was when the fascists were on the upswing in Italy. Futurism looks really neat, as do Italian riffs on Art Nouveau. I’m sure that reveals something deeply disturbing about my psyche, but …
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The Real Reason CDs Are 74 Minutes Long
I’m not much for using the blog to share works in progress or even discoveries that I hope to share in print, but this one’s too good not to get out there right away. So today while working on The Book I stumbled across this article, which is recommended reading for anyone interested in the …
It’s a Slow News Day When the Owner of the Newspaper Dies
Today’s Globe and Mail is overrun with fawning praise for a billionaire. Among the headlines “He liked poking around antique shops and buying at Loblaw’s.”
Letter to a Friend Who Wants to Start Up a Blog
Here’s an email I sent a friend this weekend. Not sure why I’m feeling like reproducing it here, but I do. Dear XXXX, You asked about getting into blogging. As far as front end goes, I recommend blogspot over the others. Seems relatively straightforward and reliable. And it doesn’t come with a “rep” like livejournal …
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Moving Right Along
So the writing thing has been going well and I’m hopelessly behind on email (sorry if you’re waiting for one, it just means I had to think about something you wrote). We’ve got a guest in town this week from grad school (she’s now a librarian at Cornell) and will do some fun tooling around …