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Taking a quick glance at your inbox and/or junk mailbox, I suspect you'll see plenty of email messages that you'll be deleting immediately. According to computer security company McAfee, there are about 62 trillion of those messages sent each year, and they consume enough electricity (33 billion kilowatt hours of electricity) to power 2.4 million homes.
In 2007, I had my first taste of the Baltimore book scene at the CityLit Festival. Last year, I was a part of the event, so I figured I might as well join in again! The festival takes place 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April 18 at the downtown branch of the Enoch Pratt library. I'll be there with colleagues Sean O'Connor and Brad Samuelson.
April 6 - I'm not sure what a typical technology log should look like, but for the most part, mine is pretty dull. If you take out the amount of time I spent on the computer, the only other electronic devices included the following: cell phone, toaster oven, TV, dishwasher, and microwave oven. I also used my car and a conventional oven, which seem as if they could be included on the technology list as well. There are a handful of items that I would consider technologies, but they don't completely fit the description listed (shower, faucets, toilet, i.e.
The distinction between reality and not reality has intrigued society for thousands of years. When I say society, though, I suppose I'm discussing only those individuals who actually want to discern the difference between the two, since it is readily apparent that a great deal of people rather enjoy the blur between the two worlds. In the past, "unreality" could be considered anything from a dream sequence to joining a secret cult to playing/cheering for your favorite sports team. However, with technology at the helm, we have another life available: one that is virtual.
A few glaring items came to mind as I finished reading Roszak's "The Cult of Information:"
Google, never to turn away from indexing searchable material, is working with leading world libraries to catalog a ridiculous number of books.
Harvard, Stanford and Michigan university libraries, the New York Public Library and the Oxford Bodleian Library are lending their books to be scanned into the Google Print project. Melvil Dewey, the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, could not be reached for comment.
I would assume you aren't naive enough to think your cell phone records are still private. True, I can't just pay a company to find out who you called, but ... oh wait. I CAN do that!
This weekend (June 2-3), I will be attending Book Expo America, dubbed the "premier event serving the U.S. book publishing industry." My primary reason for attending is that I'm currently working on a new workplace humor memoir, and I'm looking to meet agents and publishers to pitch my book. I am also interested in networking with others and compiling a list for reciprocal web links. At the minimum, I'll be visiting a new city, so I'm pretty hyped about that.
Oh, and of course, I'll be pitching "The Developers" and my newest project, "Polos to Ties," as I go.
August 21 is National Spumoni Day. Did you know that? I seriously doubt it. But who cares? It's an entire day to celebrate Spumoni! If you don't know what Spumoni is, check out the Wikipedia page. Better yet, let me explain why you should care about Spumoni in the first place.
Although I'm still in the process of setting up book events in Baltimore, I do have at least two confirmed appearances for "The Developers."
At 2 p.m. April 21, I'll be at the Marley Station Borders in Glen Burnie, Md. On the following day, April 22, I will be at the Columbia (Md.) Mall Borders, again at 2 p.m.
Besides the normal meet-and-greet that always occurs at this appearances, I hope to give interested visitors a sneak peek at my new book, which I hope to release at the end of the year.