http://haikufactory.com the wind-up eric chronicle Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:03:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en At long last, I can reveal what I've been working on for the past year: the public beta version of Worio.com! Worio combines search and recommendation with the philosophy that user effort should be kept to a minimum. You can simply use your favourite existing search engine, or ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/12/15/worio-public-beta-is-out/ reading list, originally uploaded by Mister Wind-Up Bird. Currently reading or about to read. Michael Ignatieff, The Rights Revolution. I figure I should know more about Ignatieff, since it's currently looking pretty likely he will be our Prime Minister before long. Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope. I meant to read ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/12/07/reading-list/ Jeffrey Simpson has a good essay in the Globe today, summarizing how we got to this past week of politics in Canada. I will say, this is pretty entertaining political theatre, though more the bloodthirsty backstabbing of Richard III than the noble self-sacrifice of Henry V, if I may ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/12/05/the-hell-just-happened/ Coalition replaces the government. Harper stays on as leader of the opposition, survives a leadership review. Ignatieff becomes unelected PM. Economy worsens. Coalition falls apart. Grits take most of the blame, because nobody really expected anything better from the NDP or Bloc. Election late ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/12/03/a-blatantly-ill-informed-prediction-that-i-hope-is-wrong/ The past few years, I've invariably spent much of November in a moody funk. It's not only my birthday month (which always reminds me I'm not as young as I'd like everybody to think I am), but it's the first month of deep Vancouver gloom. I wake up ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/12/01/slumdog-millionaire-2008/ New and upcoming media edition! Roger Ebert writes a kind of four-star anti-review of Synecdoche, New York, and is then inspired to write a rambling, poetic essay on it. Chuck Klosterman reviews Chinese Democracy, which he likens to Timothy Treadwell being eaten by a bear. Just one of many reasons ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/11/19/random-link-roundup/ You know what? I'm going to come out and say it: I'm not a fan of the gag-based comedy movie. 90 minutes of formulaic wackiness is at least 60 minutes too much. Leave that for TV. 30 Rock may well be the funniest gag comedy on ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/11/14/zach-and-miri-make-a-porno-2008-and-role-models-2008/ Jeffrey Simpson has a good article about the Harper climate change offer to Obama. My optimism about the offer is not because I think it is heartfelt, but that it seems an almost desperate attempt to control what I suspect will be a real problem for the Tories. ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/11/13/455/ Daisy We live in a fantasy world, Tim. We’ve just constructed this fake utopia where, y’know, we never get old and never have to face the responsibilities of adulthood. We’re just stretching our childhoods out as far as they can go. Tim Yeah, I know. We're lucky, aren't we? -- Spaced (alternate ending) http://haikufactory.com/2008/11/11/happy-birthday-me/ This is pretty much exactly what I was hoping an Obama win would mean for Canada. Canada hopes to achieve a North American climate-change deal with U.S. president-elect Barack Obama and will begin working on the file within weeks, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Wednesday. Meantime, officials told The ... http://haikufactory.com/2008/11/05/a-slightly-better-world-already/