While the traditional model of aid for developing countries is to dump a big pile of money into the lap of sometimes questionable governments, it turns out that the key to ending poverty might be to decentralize, lend smaller amounts of money to a larger group of people, and distribute cell phones amongst the poor. That’s subject of Wired founder Kevin Kelly’s blog post, which points to research indicating that democracy is more likely to sprout up when money, resources and communication tools are given out on a many-to-many model rather than a hierarchical, authoritarian approach. I recently had a chance to interview someone at Kiva.org, a microfinancing site, and he reiterated that not only do micro-loans do tangible good but the poorest beneficiaries of the loans are the most likely to pay back their debts.
At any rate, its interesting to see the Internet peer-to-peer model spreading to the developing world at the micro level. At the macro level, as noted in Fareed Zakaria’s “The Post-American World,” developing nations like India and China re already reaping the benefits of outsourcing, connectivity and a global marketplace.
Roger Stone learned the dark art of political hatchet-jobbery from Richard Nixon and Roy Cohn, two of America’s finest villains. He’s continued with their “win at any costs” philosophy, most recently applying his vile talents to both the 2000 recount and the 2004 smear job on John Kerry. And he’s an unrepentant horndog, though interestingly his habit of frequenting Miami swinger’s clubs actually led to the downfall of former New York governor and whoremonger Elliot Spitzer. An article in the current New Yorker lays out his perfidious ways in detail, and if you want to get his personal take on the world, check out his blog. I would hope that somehow this toad is kept out of the current election, but somehow I can’t shake the feeling that Obama has been in his sights from the word go.
Ah, the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer. Back in 1982, this was my first taste of computational wizardry, expressed through the glories of 32k Extended memory, 8 colors on screen (at once!), tape drives and poring over BASIC manuals. And amazingly, there’s still a user community out there using these beasts. I still have my CoCo tucked away in a closet, along with my Powerbook 100. What was your first computer?
So says a new article in the New York Times. THe reasons cited include fatigue with an endless and pointless conflict, media running out of things to say about the war, and a government that’s more secretive than any since the Nixon administration. But you’ve got to wonder what’s wrong with a country when it’s people give a war in which 4000+ of their own soldiers and an untold number of Iraqis have died a colossal “meh.” With this kind of attitude, it’s no wonder that rising powers like China and India will soon be eating our lunch.
With the villainy of Eurovision erasing Doctor Who from England’s screens for the week, all we were left with was a corking trailer for the second half of Season Four and the wonderful news that Steven Moffat, ace writer and life partner of the Third Guy, will take over whip cracking duties from Russell T Davies come 2010. And, as threatened last week, we actually did a commentary for “The Brain of Morbius”, one of Tom Baker’s more violent excursions from the classic series. This is by far the longest RFS we’ve ever done, so let us know by telegraph, carrier pigeon or new-fangled electronic mail if we’ve jumped the shark or whether you’d like to hear more of our extended ramblings on the Classic Series (which, given the semi-hiatus next year, you surely will in one form or another.)
Tonight I’ll be going to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is notable not because it’s the first time in nearly twenty years that Harrison Ford will don the whip and fedora, but also because the movie is part of a move away from computer generated effects and back to real effects, and more importantly, real stuntmen. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle explains how stuntmen in movies allow a film that was made decades ago to still appear fresh, while the latest computer generated epics look out of date a year or two after they’re released.
Even though I love computer and visual effects, I’m compelled to agree. And not only are new movies using too many CGI elements in lieu of good old fashioned, clunky but lovable “real” effects, they aren’t even paying attention to the rules of yore regarding editing and composition. I recently stumbled upon “The Black Hole,” a forgettable B-grade sci-fi movie from Disney made in 1980. I was immediately struck by the fact that, despite the overall cheapness and second-string nature of the production, they went out of their way to create a decent pace and to make every shot look as cinematic as possible. And back in the old days, every movie had to at least try for that goal, because they weren’t able to fall back on the easy answers afforded today’s films with digital editing and fancy VFX tools.
….and not a moment too soon. Heather Mallick points out that the ultimate “girlie” movie is less about female liberation than about rampant consumerism and empty, shallow competition to secure a rich husband. I can’t possibly match Mallick’s lovely bile, so check out her article yourself. She also name-checks and quotes professional misanthropeToby Young‘s post about the SATC movie, which is OK by me. Time Out New York also points to the movie as unleashing a new wave of douchification on unsuspecting NY neighbourhoods, and how the show created the creature known as Julia Allison.
I for one will probably never see the SATC movie, but my sympathies go out to all those dragged to the film by a significant other. That just ain’t fair, and I recommend dragging that significant other to as crappy a revenge flick as possible. One of the Saw movies should do the trick.