|
|
The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
Oh My God, the RSS Feed Actually Works!
Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
Arik
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Out Of Body Experience
Google Maps just added satellite imagery from Keyhole software, and I'm transfixed. I've loved Google Maps ever since its inception -- at first I assumed it was just going to be a cheap knock-off of Mapquest, but it's amazing the difference a bit of 3-D shading makes. Having giant pointers loom above the city, marking your start point and destination, makes all the difference for someone like me, whose life revolves around going to random places on the spur of the moment -- and who cannot hold more than one direction in his head for the life of him. Tell me how to get somewhere and I'll nod politely and vacantly. Show me a blue line on a map, tickle my sense of spatial awareness, and in my head I'm already there. This, perhaps, is the answer to the age-old mystery of why men don't like to ask for directions. We simply can't remember them.
I've seen the Keyhole satellite stuff before, having done a story on Earthviewer long before the company was snapped up by the ever-hungry Google. But Larry and Sergey's boffins have done an excellent job of integrating and streaming the pictures faster than I've ever seen before. I love scrolling around the map, following the 101 up into golden Marin and down through its hellish journey across the peninsula. The familiar seen from an unfamiliar angle; isn't that how poets enliven the view of the world? (At least, that's what Robin Williams told me while standing on a desk in Dead Poet's Society). Regardless, there is something profound about viewing your route via satellite before driving it, imposing a whole new layer of riotous color and heaven-bound order on our quotidian commutes. You enhance your spatial awareness. You have an out-of-body experience. And miraculously, you're still sober enough to drive.
|
|
|
|
