The Scotsman – Top Stories – The three questions that will show how clever (or not) you really are
Interesting how obsessed how people can be at quick ways to judge people’s “intelligence.” One would think that there’s a lot more in finding the right person for a job than whether or not one can solve simple logical problems. Ah, well…
On the other hand, those questions bankers seem to ask of job applicants (with the infamous “how many pingpong balls would fit in an Airbus 330”) are more interesting because they have more to do about process and access to information (you’re allowed to ask questions) than about accuracy of the answer.
FWIW, did think about the correct answer but that’s probably just because it was mentioned in a mailing-list with a mention of the incorrect answer. In fact, like all bar tricks, they work only when you catch people unprepared.

Telegraph | News | Strewth! Americanisms flush Aussie lingo down the dunny
Interesting case, especially in terms of linguistic identity. Some ideas that specific terms have a causal effect on society. Mention of linguistic insecurity.

Tried several podcasts in the last several days, using iTunes as an “aggregator.” Had only listened to a couple podcasts before iTunes 4.9 (first version to support podcast).
Interesting concept, some amazing possibilities. For someone who doesn’t like radios for many reasons (time-specificity, homogeneity, advertising…), am finding some of these things surprisingly enjoyable. Yes, some parallels with blogs, with community and pirate radios, with push technologies, with commercial broadcasting, etc.
One well-known issue, at this point, is lack of bandwidth. Adequate peer-to-peer technology exists to alleviate this problem (e.g. BitTorrent) but iTunes doesn’t support such technology and many sites have been having problems because of extreme numbers of access.
More surprisingly, some of the so-called “professional” podcasts have been unavailable or incredibly slow.
The RSS format used by iTunes has also been taken to task.
Yet overall, there seems to be something happening in podcasting now.

Voilà.
Ai eu 33 ans, le 10 juillet 2005. Certains disent «comme le Christ». Journée d’anniversaire à travailler (sondages), spectacle de Pat Metheny en soirée. Tout va.

New Yorker: God and Country
Hanna Rosin on “a college that trains young Christians to be politicians.”

The Onion | What Do You Think?

‘Appointing Bolton to the UN is like appointing a fish to ride a bicycle that he hates and wishes to destroy.’

A fish!

Au joyeux podcasteur :: Bonnes adresses :: Sites francophones diffusant en podcast
Maintenant qu’iTunes supporte les podcasts directement, ça devient intéressant.
Pour ajouter un podcast dans iTunes, dans le menu «Avancé» il y a «S’abonner au podcast». iTunes accepte les liens RSS mais certains podcasts semblent ne pas fonctionner pour l’instant.

Bonne fête à toutes les Québécoises, à tous les Québécois et à tous ceux et celles qui aiment le Québec!
C’est la fête nationale, un moment où nous nous connaissons tous comme Québécois.

Happy National Day to all Quebeckers and to all of those who love Quebec!
This is a time for unity and sharing.

“Union Jacked”
Samantha Bee interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Pour la Saint-Jean?

As it turns out, my wife and I will be living in Massachusetts from September to December and we’ll be looking for a place to stay. As she’ll be doing a post-doc in Linguistics at Smith (in NoHo, Western Mass.) and I’ll be teaching Anthropology at Tufts (close to Boston) and Bridgewater (Southeastern Mass.), we’d like to find a place from which it’s somewhat convenient to travel to both Boston and Western Mass. Actually, something close to the MBTA commuter rail would be great.

Sharing an apartment could be a great solution, if roommates are ok with having a couple at home. We’re quiet, responsible, clean, non-smoking…
If anyone knows of a place where we could both stay, a comment here would be convenient.

(On Gmail and other services, I’m enkerli. Email is fine.)