OrangeCoat

Cory Doctorow's speech on the coming war on general computation is an hour long and worth your time. Open systems and open technology goes beyond SOPA and PIPA and I hope this fight over SOPA and PIPA opens up the greater dialogue on these matter. Doctorow does a great job of explain this all.

This is insane to me. Famous interneter Meg Hourihan is attempting to go a year without buying something new. Her only problem, less than a month in she already bought new stuff. And it was for backcountry skiing of all things!

As she explains it,

On one hand I’m kind of bummed I’ve “failed” already. On the other it’s hard to give up the ability to do something I love simply because I didn’t already own the stuff to do it.

That's the entire point of the experiment! If you're not sacrificing something you love because you don't have the stuff then you might as well just call the experiment the, "I already own everything I could ever need experiment."

Our hometown is pretty good at getting good press. People like our downtown, the weather and the people. It's always fun to see a mention in the national press, but this most recent run of press is probably the most interesting and useful yet. Adam Davidson of Planet Money fame spent a lot of time in Greenville and has used our town as the microscope to study the modern American manufacturer. His output can be found in the most recent Planet Money podcast, several reports on Morning Edition, and the cover story of the Atlantic Magazine. Big deal publications all.

What's most enjoyable about these stories is they aren't love stories to the downtown or the bridge or the other things most people write about. These reports are asking the important question of what does the modern manufacturing plant and worker look like and what's the future. Greeenville is doing some good and interesting things on this front, (BMW is expanding for example) but everything isn't rosey and bright and understanding what a job looks like in 2012 is important. I hope everyone from grandstanding politicians to clueless high school students read or listen to at least some of these reports. Jobs are available for the highly trained and hard working. The communities that either grow or recruit these workers are going to be the communities that win the modern manufacturing wars.

In case you're wondering, here's a map from 1884 with nicknames for pigs by state. Found on Boing Boing.

The single remaining reason to purchase a disposable camera.

A short documentary on a barbershop in Drexel, NC that doubles as a hang out for local bluegrass players. The film was directed by Matt Morris and found on Boing Boing.

As you might have heard, comedian Patrice O'Neal died a couple of days ago. If you know him, it's probably because of his time on Tough Crowd or, more recently, the Charlie Sheen Roast. His hour stand up special is on Netflix Watch Instantly. It's worth your time. His tempo and delivery is unique to him and it might take some time for your brain to sync to his rhythm, but it's worth the wait.

When I first watched the special I wondered why he didn't ever attempt a more traditional delivery. His jokes and ideas were unique and strong enough that putting them into a more mainstream delivery might be enough to make him huge. Then I listen to his interviews with Marc Maron and Jay Mohr and realized it was impossible for him to change his style in hopes of greater success. Both interviews are worth your time, but if you're going to listen to one, make it Maron's. Maron listens and pushes back and draws out some interesting things. And, of course, watch Patrice's stand up special.

During the long Commerce Weekend the President of the United States tweeted out Black Friday deals for his election merchandise (10% with coupon!) while Patagonia took a human angle to marketing their products while also making a strong political statement when they said, "Don't Buy This Jacket".

Corporate personhood is crazy, but I did find it interesting that the entity with the more unique and human voice was the corporation.

OrangeCoat's Eaters Guide to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the most wonderful time of the year. All of the gluttony with none of the worries of having to purchase presents. To help you prepare for a long weekend of meals here are some recipes from OrangeCoat's archives. Enjoy. more

This week in Self-Aware Robots Must Stop

1. From the Lord, "I don't know, but this thing might scare me more than humanoid robots."

2. And, I'm sorry, but if we let robotic spiders happen even after all the movies warning against them we deserve to die.