Long Winter's Nap...

Taking some time off over the holidays to do a little rethinking a reworking Web Worth Watching. Coming in 2009...a shift to Wordpress and a dedicated Web Worth Watching website (as soon as I can get it built).

I've also been thinking a lot about online video. For those interested in the topic, there was a great Online Video Summit a few months back. Definitely worth taking a look. Their embed codes are not written correctly but you can view the clips here. It's two parts and part two can be viewed here.

Folks have been discussing the integration of internet and television since the early 90s, but now it's finally started to happen. Although I haven't seen it expressly written in the press, it seems to me that companies like Netflix and Sling Media are almost now (at least for a discerning audience) direct competitors to Comcast, DirecTV, etc. I did an experiment over the summer where I "cut the chord" and began consuming media only through the internet (using a Verizon card - which I had already - through my Mac or the Blanche DuBois-approach with open wi-fi). Turns out, I'm $95 better off each month and haven't missed cable at all.

Anyway, I digress. It's a cool time we're living in. More fascinating ideas in video form soon!

-C-

Opium des Volkes?

Over the summer I ran across an inspiring talk by Karen Armstrong about the state of western religion (monotheism anyway) and how is can be a force for compassion and harmony. I decided then that it would be WWW's first Christmas post. Raised with no personal religious beliefs, as an adult I've had a fascination with religion...both our need for what it gives us and the rituals that we execute in pursuit of those satisfactions. Armstrong's work is always thought-provoking and I think you'll find this talk of particular interest.



Then, for an alternate (perhaps contrarian) perspective, here is a talk by Christopher Hitchens, discussing the ideas behind his book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

Darwinian Inspiration and Perspective

I set out to pen a WWW post this week that was focused on food, hoping to create a sequel to my post from last August. After all, it is the holiday season and we Americans never met a holiday we didn't celebrate with a overflowing plate. So I started by seeing what was out there featuring Michael Pollan, whose books-on-cd are on the playlist for my annual cross-country holiday drive. And while I did find a great talk that Pollan gave about food, it was really more about a Darwinian view of the world.

And that reminded me of a similar, two-person talk I had seen featuring artist/musician Brian Eno, discussing his Darwinian perspective on creating art, along with videogame designer, Will Wright, the mind behind SimCity, The Sims and, most recently, Spore. So enjoy all three perspectives over a big plate of food at your favorite internet cafe.

A Tour Through Smell

Just one video this week, but that's because one video is all I think you'll need after this one. Here is a fascinating half-hour with Chandler Burr, perfume critic for the New York Times and author of the book, The Emperor of Scent. The economics of patchouli farming alone will dazzle your fellow holiday party-goers for at least a couple round of drinks.

Okay, okay, so maybe you want to go really deep into the science of smell. I can go ahead and hook you up too. Here's a long (90 minute) University of California lecture by Charles Zucker on the neurobiology of taste, smell and vision.

Grey Matters - Perception: Taste, Smell and Vision