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Fleves by Zen

"We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth". John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963

Molene - home

Apropos - art - bio

- index -

- Each link below is a topic specific page, with usefull links and info (new window)

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- contact -

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Serena Konig

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Business Asia by Bloomberg

Editorials & Commentary

National News Center / US

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Africa

Caribbean

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kathimerini

athens news

le figaro

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Except where otherwise noted all artwork & content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

We the Media : Grassroots Journalism by the People for the People by Dan Gillmor - reviewed by KJR for Bookzen

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We the Media : Grassroots Journalism by the People for the People by Dan Gillmor is a rich, insightful, valuable book about the state of the news and information media, focusing on the creativity, innovation and change brought about by the Internet. Mr. Gillmor closely examines the contributions of participatory, interactive online media, particularly the proliferation of people reading and writing web blogs, or blogs. Mr. Gillmor's premise is that a variety of online forums now often contain information, news, analysis and commentary that is different than or has a different emphasis than traditional media.

In his view, these new web forums, written and designed mostly by non-journalists, which are enabled by state-of-the art social-networking software, are both taking over some of the roles played by the mainstream news media, and putting pressures on media for change. This is particularly true now, he asserts, since millions of people worldwide read and write blogs, e.g., blogs and other online forums are not occurring in a vacuum, any more than Fox News.

Even for someone familiar with blogs, publishing and broadcasting, "We the Media" is thorough, refreshing and interesting. For someone new to blogging, or for someone who wants an exhaustive examination of the issues and ramifications, this book will be crucial. The book is also important for the background it provides about the traditional electronic and print media -- radio, television and newspapers -- their history, why they exist, whom they are run and owned by, and how they operate.

Free speech and participatory democracy are obvious interests and concerns of Mr. Gillmor, and his closest assocates. He traces political dialogue historically through the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, expressing much concern about the real dangers to free speech now posed by governments and corporations worldwide. Part of his premise and his expressed hope is that the spread of online media access will enable more free speech, and a more informed citizenry, leading we all hope, to a better world.

Mr. Gillmor, a seasoned reporter and columnist covering Silicon Valley technology for the San Jose Mercury News, a Knight Ridder publication, knows well the topics about which he writes. He has long written his own blog, one of the first by a professional journalist, and now one of most widely read and commented on. He is a technically saavy, factual observer, a thoughtful commentator, not given to hyperbole. This is a serious book based on both statistical and anecdotal evidence, and has been commented on and corrected by scores of amateurs and professionals from the fields of software technology and journalism. He even declares that this edition of the book is a true work in progress. To see more comments and thoughts, or to download the free ebook, go to http://wethemedia.oreilly.com/

One of his first anecdotes about the power of blogs to impact attitudes concerns a seminar, during which he and other celebrity bloggers in the audience posted comments about the proceedings. As people in the audience read these comments from mobile wireless devices as the meeting was still in progress, audience attitudes toward the speaker changed, which altered the tenor of the meeting. Rather like students noiselessly passing around notes in class about the stain on the teacher's tie, though in this case, the teacher, a major corporate executive, lost his job.

The point of this anecdote, and of the book itself to some extent, is that even by incrementally adding new or different information and perspectives to standard news reportage, or even to the facts being given out in a seminar, individual bloggers can create differing public perspectives, and thus, can have an impact on events.

I myself have seen numerous blog entries by otherwise ordinary people, who have blogged about events behind the scenes of major news stories, often apparently more out of a sense of 'gee-whiz' than even of trying to scoop a story. Mr. Gillmor's point is that if a critical mass of people read what an individual blogger is writing, particularly if that information is interesting and newsworthy, there will be an impact, however incremental.

He also notes that often, with today's powerful mobile technologies, individual bloggers often witness, photograph and report events that the mainstream media, even if present, miss or do not publish. Further, he suggests that we are just beginning to see the impact of low-cost, high-quality mobile devices. Online commentary about standard news reporting also keeps issues alive, he notes, by creating powerful feedback loops, which themselves become newsworthy. Mr. Gillmor offers many examples.

Mr. Gillmor is also very interested in group blogs and forums, such as Wiki-pedia, where thousands of articles are posted and edited by thousands of people. He describes many sites using new technologies, such as Technorati and Google, He suggests that such sites are not only providing "non-standard" information, but that the social networking aspect of such sites is providing people with new experiences, models and definitions of successful community involvement. He gives many examples and makes numerous recommendations for information-based enterprises that readers might undertake.

If the proliferation of personal computers connected to the Internet has given millions of people the opportunity to become media outlets, it has also made it more difficult for those of us in the audience to tune into really different, valuable viewpoints. Fortunately, for those bloggers who would find an audience and for those of us who would read refreshing perspectives, Mr. Gillmor has plenty of advice on how to proceed. Be sure to look at the sections on web sites, acknowledgements, notes and the index at the end of the book, all very worth checking out.

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Monday, August 30, 2004

David Hockney - Jan van Eyck

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I don't agree completely with either of thier view points, do read the article though it is interesting.

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Jan van Eyck (c.1395-1441) The betrothal of the Arnolfini

Computer People Reopen Art History Dispute By Sarah Boxer

Some art historians may have considered the matter closed. But a fresh clash has surfaced over the painter David Hockney's three-year-old theory that early Renaissance painters used cameralike devices to paint with perfect perspective...via
NYT

Interestingly I found this self portrait by David Hockney which bears several similarities to the Arnolfini painting, coincidence?

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David Hockney Self Portrait 1970 © David Hockney

Kritik [ ] 10:17 PM

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Birds of prey

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These birds were soaring around the garden. Later a Hawk flew over the Geese looked up at it, following him like guns on a battle ship. I am not sure from the small images I took what they are exactly, I found the close up on Google, they could be an osprey, kestrel, harrier.

If you have any ideas please let me know.

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Saturday, August 28, 2004

The Man Booker Prize Longlist 2004

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Man Booker Prize

Tuesday, 21 September: The shortlist will be announced

Tuesday, 19 October: The winner of The Man Booker Prize 2004 will be announced

Th long list

Author Title Publisher

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Purple Hibiscus 4th Estate

Nadeem Aslam Maps for Lost Lovers Faber & Faber

Nicola Barker Clear: A Transparent Novel 4th Estate

John Bemrose The Island Walkers John Murray

Ronan Bennett Havoc, in its Third Year Bloomsbury

Susanna Clarke Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell Bloomsbury

Neil Cross Always the Sun Scribner

Achmat Dangor Bitter Fruit Atlantic Books

Louise Dean Becoming Strangers Scribner

Lewis Desoto A Blade of Grass Maia Press

Sarah Hall The Electric Michelangelo Faber & Faber

James Hamilton Paterson Cooking with Fernet Branca Faber & Faber

Justin Haythe The Honeymoon Picador

Shirley Hazzard The Great Fire Virago

Alan Hollinghurst The Line of Beauty Picador

Gail Jones Sixty Lights Harvill Press

David Mitchell Cloud Atlas Sceptre

Sam North The Unnumbered Scribner

Nicholas Shakespeare Snowleg Harvill Press

Matt Thorne Cherry Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Colm Toibín The Master Picador

Gerard Woodward I'll go to Bed at Noon Chatto & Windus

Kritik [ ] 12:01 PM

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Saturday, August 21, 2004

Peter Max helps the NSALA

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Peter Max, who has been an active animal rights advocate in the New York area (where over 40,000 dogs and cats are euthanized each year) and around the world, will also be donating an original work of art to the League in honor of its 60th anniversary.

The painting, which will be presented to a League representative, will be sold at auction during the League’s annual Elisabeth Lewyt Humane Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, November 3.

Peter Max Hosts a Stellar Shindig for Seals

Peter Max Art Online

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Royal Academy Show cancelled - Citizens and Kings: Portraiture in the Age of Goya and David Sept 2005 too costly for them

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Much News Is Bad News at Royal Academy By Alan Riding

London - When a museum gets headlines for anything but a new building or a fine exhibition, the usual reason is bad news. So it is with the Royal Academy of Arts.

This year a widely publicized power struggle between two senior staff members suggested a house at war with itself. Then, late in July, the head of the academy's schools was forced to resign for using a secret bank account.

Now the talk in London's art circles is that the Royal Academy has lost its way.........The academy's next big exhibition, "Turks: A Journey of a Thousand Years, 600-1600 AD," opens in January. But "Citizens and Kings: Portraiture in the Age of Goya and David," scheduled for September 2005, has been canceled
because of its expense. Long-term plans for a newly acquired annex, formerly the Museum of Mankind, are also not settled. Some academicians favor creating an architecture museum. Ms. Fitt says the hour calls for prudence...more>>via
NYT

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Friday, August 20, 2004

chatango neat chat box via Joi Ito

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Wired benefit for CC

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I publish all my work using a CC licence, found this via Joi Ito

Tuesday, September 21, 2004, Wired Magazine will throw a benefit for Creative Commons featuring a concert by David Byrne (with the Tosca Strings) and Gilberto Gil.

It will take place at 8PM at The Town Hall in New York City. Proceeds from the concert will go to support the non-profit efforts of Creative Commons. Tickets are available now from Ticketmaster or, after September 1st, at the Town Hall box office. If you're in NYC and want to help support the work of the Creative Commons, come on out and enjoy a great concert.

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Thursday, August 19, 2004

"The Ecology of Eden" by Evan Eisenberg reviewed for Bookzen by KJR

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ecozen - animals ecology philanthropy

"The Ecology of Eden" by Evan Eisenberg originally struck me as a seminal work, like Darwin's "Origin of the Species" which was written almost 150 years ago. Not because of original and breakthrough research or observation in the field per se, as Darwin did. More importantly for me at this time, Mr. Eisenberg has assembled numerous findings from diverse branches of groundbreaking twentieth century sciences, and put all the pieces together*. This is important because while the fields of palaeontology, sociology, anthropology, biology, genetics, ecology, and archaeology were telling us many important things about the world we live in, very few people were connecting the dots until recently.

Mr. Eisenberg then, asks fundamental questions, like the one asked in the first few chapters of Genesis and in all other creation stories of all other peoples on the planet, namely, "Why do we have the sense that something has gone terribly wrong?" He then takes all of the sciences mentioned above, including literature, myth and religious lore, to provide the answer. Essentially he is saying that we live in a relatively closed system, such as described by Newton's "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction," but multiplied out into the thousand-fold greater array of more implications, on both a global scale and a nano scale, that we are now aware of and are able to measure.

Personally, I found it very stimulating to be shown how genetical dynamics affect plant biology and anthropology and vice versa, to see in detail how our actions and those of our ancestors affected and are still affecting virtually every life form on the planet, genetically and ecologically, as well. Mr. Eisenberg touches on everything from why human beings seem to like nice green lawns to why we as a species still seem to be at war with the forests, and the implications and consequences for the human race and all other creatures in the years ahead.

While it is this connecting the dots of both the latest and most secure of the findings of twentieth century science in order to shape a new world view that makes this book so revelatory, what make it extraordinary for me is his connecting the dots all the way back to creation myths and the Bible. Having often in my youth and young adulthood wondered what I could say to my right wing fundamentalist anti-evolution parents and their friends to explain why I had left the fold, I felt upon reading this book that even my father, an otherwise intelligent man, would have been able to grasp evolution and so many more things had he had this book to read when he was fourteen. So I think this is a book that can change lives and have a benefical political impact, particularly in the dark age in which we find oureselves, in which all people can read and vote, but in which most do neither.

*Until recently, relatively few books consciously combined a variety of branches of science, though there is an increasing tendency to do so now. Those brave few from the past that stand out in my mind are" The Origin of the Species," as already noted, which took eighteenth century biology and palaeontology and came up with the first coherent theory of evolution; another was a book Carl Jung edited in the last years of his life, "Man and his Symbols," that came out in 1968, that brought together psychology, archaeology and art history; around the same time, a book called Human Nature (Penquin), brought together anthropology, sociology, and ecology, and of course, there were the books of Norman O. Brown, which looked at literature through the eyes of psychology, with a view of creating a new understanding of anthropology, sociology, and psychology. I find the current vogue for general systems theory a very fresh breath of air.

Kritik [ ] 12:36 AM

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Thursday, August 12, 2004

Glasses for Humanity

Robert Tolmach founded this nonprofit organisation to help the world see. I am sure that there are 1,000's of pairs of glasses lurking. Please clean out your bags and cupboards they need your specs. Valaunteer your time or give them money to make this superb idea a reality. Tell your friends, have a glasses collection day at work. Thank you.

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Robert Tolmach's introduction>>

Welcome to the web site of Glasses for Humanity, a new nonprofit organization.

When I decided to move from the business world to the social sector, I looked for the opportunity where my time and efforts would make the greatest possible difference. That led to the creation of Glasses for Humanity.

If you ask yourself the similar question—where will your charitable dollars make the biggest difference—you, too, may find Glasses for Humanity to be the answer.

Billions of people in the world and millions of children in the United States can’t see clearly. Indeed, millions of people needlessly go blind each year from avoidable or treatable causes. This undermines literacy, education, safety and productivity, and the chance to lead a fulfilling life.

We have put together a remarkable team with expertise in such areas as vision care, public health, microfinance, marketing and other disciplines. Together, we have developed a comprehensive and businesslike plan, which harnesses market forces to combat vision loss of all forms. This approach is extraordinarily cost-effective.

This site describes our leveraged, scalable and financially-sustainable program to collect used eyeglasses in the United States, to provide eye exams and eyeglasses for 30 million people in developing countries and half a million children in the United States each year, to significantly reduce the incidence of avoidable
blindness, and to generate $50 million per year in new revenues for vision care and research.

We know of no opportunity where your charitable dollars can improve the lives of so many people. Please consider joining us in our efforts. And if you’d be so kind as to register with us, we’ll keep you posted on all our progress, celebrity events, and plans.

On behalf of the entire team behind this effort, thank you for your interest and support.

Sincerely,

Robert Tolmach

President

Glasses for Humanity

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Tuesday, August 10, 2004

grownupgreen is an important new environmental asset, I hope you will join, participate, donate,

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grownupgreen is aimed at encouraging and supporting households to think and act more sustainably in a lively, interactive and interesting way.

It is for people who want to make more informed choices on issues such as renewable energy, management of household waste, purchasing of consumer goods and much more.

Kritik [ ] 11:09 PM

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RSPCA hot tips for protecting your animals in hot weather

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Enjoy the sunshine, but with temperatures soaring the RSPCA is appealing to pet owners to spare a thought for their animals during hot weather.

All animals need plenty of water and should be kept out of the full glare of the sun to avoid heatstroke and skin cancer. If your cat has a white nose and ear tips, sunscreen should be applied to stop it from burning. more>>

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Open-Media.org Marc Canter shows us about real DLA's

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So here's today's architectual design. It's for an effort we're calling Open-Media.org which would enable folks to access the HUGE repositories of public domain and Creative Commons content - that's out there.

Anyone interested in getting involved in this effort - should contact me at marc at broadbandmechanics.com. Thanks

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RSA needs you to plant a tree

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From the 1750s through to the 1820s the RSA encouraged tree planting across the UK. Well over 50 million trees were planted giving rise to many of the woods we enjoy in Britain today.

On the 20th April 2004 the RSA launched a new initiative, working in partnership with the UK's key tree planting organisations, to mark its 250th Anniversary and hopes to plant in excess of 250,000 trees during the next 12 months.

For a donation of £15 the RSA, with its partners, will plant a tree and maintain it until maturity on your behalf.

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Monday, August 09, 2004

Boudin, Monet and the Sea Painters of Normandy

There is an excellent reiew of this exhibition in this month's issue of Apollo magazine.

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The Beach at Trouville, Claude Monet 1870. The National Gallery, London.

The Bowes Museum Barnard Castle, County Durham.

Saturday 29th May until Monday 30th August This major exhibition explores the relationship between Boudin and Monet and their interaction with other French painters working in Normandy during the second half of the 19th century. Paintings by Boudin, Dumax and Noel will feature from The Bowes Museum collection alongside international loans from Britain, France and the USA.

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Saturday, August 07, 2004

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald reviewed by KJR for Bookzen

bookzen - literary reviews

Raoul Dufy

There is very little tenderness in any of the nights in the ten years detailed in Tender is the Night, the exception being of course, the nights when the young Dr. Richard Diver is falling in love with his sexually abused young patient on the grounds of the menatl hospital outside of Zurich. As part of her therapy, they meet on lovely summer evenings, and his presence, sanity, clarity, and love cure her. But when the story opens some four years later, the cracks in the relationship and in her condition are showing. Though it is Helen that is origianlly the patient, by the middle of the book, as he wanders almost aimlessly and confusedly, erratically about Paris in search of this thing or that, we realize that something is amiss, perhaps going amiss with Dick Diver, as well. Perhaps it is right at this moment that the theme of the book shifts. What had been a cynical description of a romping group of ex-pariots becomes a tale of a man coming unwound.

I feel a bit self-conscious writing a reveiw of such a famous book, so much has aleady been written, and evev in thinking about the book for this review, I have already read a brief note about it myself. Apparently this book is one of the author's attempts to describe his own failing relationship, adultery, problems with drinking, and destructive behavior. Even taken as a complete work of fantasy, if we could forget the tragdies in the life of Scott Fitzgerald that we are all aware of, this book is a bit sobering, for it is a convincing story about the nightmare of an intelligent, accomplished, idealisitc man self-consciously watching himself being sucked under for the last time.

I think I have read or been told that the title is a phrase from another literary work, perhaps by Matthew Arnold, and knowing the verse might shed more light on the work. One could also say that this book, taken historicaly, is a a bit similar to some of Hemignway's works of the same period, and provides lots of insight into how rich Americans might have behaved in Switzerland, Paris and the south of France in the 1920s and 30s. But it is much more than that. Often it is very insightful, and frequently poetic, an engagingly apt description of human beings at serious play.

In the sordidness of his fate lies much of the pain Diver experiences. The incidents that cause, precipitate and mark Dick Diver's decline are all small doses of ignominy and unfortunate coincidence. If he were a lesser, or a more superficial, less thoughtful or intelligent person like those around him, he would pick himself up, clean up his act and go on as if nothing had happened, as most of the others do. But he is not, and he is stung, feeling trapped in an unsuitable marriage, knowing he is his own worst enemy, and seeing his desires turn to dust. In fact, the irony is that while all of the people around him gain some measure of inspiration, credibility or stature from knowing him, they all seem to delight in his fall. When he begins to have difficulties due in part to the nobility of his undertakings and to his stoic attempt to see his obligations to others through, people seem only too glad to be rid of him at the slightest sign of his demise, and take advantage of the vacuum he is leaviing.

Yes, certainly, by the end, Dr. Richard Diver is wallowing in misery, and self-destructive behaviour, though he seems both more susceptible to the consequences, and brought lower by his very consciousness of what is happening to him. Like a struggling victim in quicksand, each writhe seems to draw him deeper in.

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Friday, August 06, 2004

speedflatmating in London! what next?

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Photographer: Ian Britton Taxi, London, England

Now it's speed flatmating By Sam Lyon, Evening Standard You've heard of speed dating. Now welcome to the world of speed flatmating. Anyone who has ever shared a home in the capital will be familiar with the pitfalls of living with a group of complete strangers... The events are being held in different parts of London, so home seekers can meet a string
of people offering rooms in their desired area...

For more info visit speedflatmating.co.uk

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Friendsterorizing a funny article, must read...

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"LA INNUENDO is a free bimonthly magazine which takes a satiric look at Los Angeles lifestyles, culture, and politics, focusing on the entertainment industry in all its terrible, wonderful manifestations. Our demographic is hip and savvy- young professionals who live, shop and socialize in the city's trendiest neighborhoods. We are a publication
like no other in Los Angeles: smart, funny, and most of all, compulsively readable".

"Friendsterorizing" The intelligentsia's hot new trend By Richard Rushfield

Marfya Fillipovna* is at work. It may not look like work, certainly not the sort of work you know...more>>

Kritik [ ] 11:11 PM

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orkut is looking for a Content Manager

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jobs @ orkut.com 8/4/2004
orkut orkut is looking for a Content Manager to work in our Mountain View, CA office!

Are you a self-motivated, fun, positive, team player committed to bringing out the best in yourself and others? If so, you may be a perfect addition to the orkut team. We're looking for a Content Manager who will be responsible for the development, writing, scheduling and management of all content pertaining to the website - letters, newsletters, columns, as well as various daily tasks.

Kritik [ ] 4:20 PM

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Thursday, August 05, 2004

Henri Cartier-Bresson 1908 - 2004 one of the greatest photographers.

The photograph below was taken in Athens, Greece, I have passed by there many times. I am glad that he captured it for posterity.Isle sur la Sorgue is one of my favorite places (after Athina of course). My mother was a photographer, always with her Leica at hand.

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Henri Cartier-Bresson Athina 1953

Henri Cartier-Bresson 1908 - 2004 Born in Chanteloup, he died in Isle sur la Sorgue. "Cartier-Bresson started painting in 1923 and began to photograph in 1931, met Teriade, the editor of Verve magazine and frequented members of the French surrealist movement. After a trip to the Ivory Coast he discovered the Leica, since then his camera of choice"...more on more
on Magnum>>

"Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of the major artists of the 20th century, who used his tiny hand-held 35-mm Leica camera to bear humane witness to many of the.." more>> via...IHT

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Smarty Jones is lucky, his owners truly love him.

A fitting reward for a great horse.

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Smarty Jones Is Leaving as Quickly as He Arrived By JOE DRAPE

Smarty Jones was retired to stud yesterday almost as suddenly as he captured the nation's imagination last spring, when he rolled to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes before sustaining his only loss at the Belmont Stakes in a gallant, but ultimately leg-wobbling defeat just yards away from capturing the Triple Crown.

Smarty Jones has bruising in all four fetlock joints, the equivalent in humans of sprained ankles. It was not a career-ending condition, veterinarians who examined him said, but one that Smarty Jones's owners feared might be aggravated. more>> via...NYT

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Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Save Sideblog, the really neat tool I use on all my blogs!

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An open letter to Sidebloggers...

Well, it's been a little over a year since I launched Sideblog. It's been a pretty good run.

I've met a lot of people, made a lot of acquaintances, and maybe even a friend or two along the way. I've been criticized (remember the embedded advertising?) and supported, sometimes at the same time, by the same person. I had some low points along the way where it seemed like it wasn't worth it, then I'd get an e-mail from someone encouraging me to solider on (thanks Jen G., Zannah and many others).

I learned quite a bit about PHP, MySQL and Unix administration in general. I really wrote the Sideblog code as a learning exercise and a challenge; just to see if I could do it. Who knew it would turn into this?

I also learned a lot about offering free services on the web. I find it funny now, how little I knew about this. I thought that I'd offer a service supported by advertising. No one wanted that. I thought I'd try a tiered service model where the higher tier was donation supported. A little better...but not much.

I guess what I really learned is that people that are offering free services online are really engaged in a labour of love. They support their community because they like to do it. The hard work, sweat and tears are worth it when they get the pat on the back. In retrospect, I realize now that that's why I kept going.

So, here's where I'm going with this: Sideblog continues to be a labour of love for me. However, I'm finding it harder and harder to find time to support it. Flat out, I'm neglecting it. It's not being actively maintained or developed. So, instead of watching it run on autopilot or spiral into chaos, I want to move Sideblog to a new state. That state will be one of two possibilities (that I can think of right now):

1. It'll be maintained/developed/supported by others (open-source-ish).
2. It'll slip quietly into the virtual night and be a (good) memory.

So tell your friends and let's see if anyone will step forward and volunteer to support this beast. If we can't find someone by, say, the end of August, Sideblog will begin winding down in September 2004.

And, finally, I know I've appeared in this space before, crying about how donations were so low that I needed money, I couldn't keep financing it myself, etc, etc, blah, blah. Just so we're all on the same page: This time, it's not about the money. We're waaaay past the money stage here.

Cheers,
Chris

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We the Media : Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People By Dan Gillmor
Grassroots journalists are dismantling Big Media's monopoly on the news, transforming it from a lecture to a conversation. Not content to accept the news as reported, these readers-turned-reporters are publishing in real time to a worldwide audience via the Internet. The impact of their work is just beginning to be felt by professional journalists and the newsmakers they cover.
In We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People, nationally known business and technology columnist Dan Gillmor tells the story of this emerging phenomenon, and sheds light on this deep shift in how we make and consume the news. [Full Description]
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Good luck Dan : From we the readers

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