Kickoff For May 28, 2018
It’s hard to believe that another month is just about to close up shop. That tempus do fugit, and I often wonder where it goes when it’s gone.
There are few better ways to spend your time, though, than with some good reads. With that in mind, let’s get this Monday started with these links:
Ideas
Who Killed Tolstoy, wherein during a Tolstoy conference, scholar Elif Batuman ponders whether the great Russian author died of illness in Astipovo or was poisoned by someone close to him.
Dry, The Beloved Country, wherein we learn that the drought in Cape Town, South Africa has evolved beyond being a climate crisis. It’s a social experiment that’s forcing people to change their attitudes and outlooks about … well, everything.
Are the JFK Conspiracies Slowly Dying?, wherein we learn why conspiracy theories seem to linger long past their use-by dates, and why interest in JFK assassination theories appears to be petering out.
Open Source
Some Open Truism, wherein my buddy Dr. Bryan Behrenshausen reflects on Foundations of an Open Source World, the course he taught at Duke University in late 2017.
Public Domain Is Not Open Source, wherein we learn that the two terms mean very different things and why we should never use them as synonyms.
e-NABLE: Open technology, faster progress, wherein over the space of about nine minutes we witness how open source can change the lives of children with missing limbs, the lives of their loved ones, and the lives of the people involved in a project called E-Nable.
Various
Duel in the Sun, wherein we relive the gripping duel for running supremacy between Dick Beardsley and Alberto Salazar at the 1982 Boston Marathon.
Never Solved, a College Dorm Fire Has Become One Man’s Obsession, wherein we witness a seemingly quixotic quest to try to exorcise a demon from his past, and perhaps gain some peace for the victims of a tragedy (and their loved ones).
Japan’s Rent-a-Family Industry, wherein we enter a world where hired actors slip into the lives of the lonely and lost, and how their presence (and sometimes counsel) can change those lives.
And that’s it for this Monday. Come back in seven days for another set of links to start off your week.