“Friend, here is my big news.”

“Oh yeah, I heard that on Facebook… or Twitter… or Foursquare… or somewhere on the cloud.”

“Nevermind then.”

If they are all linked together, is it preferable to have Twitter followers get exactly what the friends on Facebook receive? I can’t help but think of the Office episode in which Ryan uses Woof to “link” everything together.

Maybe it’s just best that it is up to the user to decide for the time being. So if you want to be my friend, befriend me on Facebook; if you want to follow me, follow me on Twitter; and if you want to know where I am, find me on Foursquare.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

-Emma Lazarus

I failed to blog about a project for which I was recruited as director of photography.  ”Heaven’s Touch” is the name, and it was produced by Blair Hanns and directed by Christian Sutton.  Check out other photos from the set here.

Dustin Faulkner is an up-and-coming photographer.  You can see his work here.

I see one… then two… then six dogs slowly approaching me.  I stop.  Then, they stop.  This is totally unusual.  In the meantime, an old Astro van has passed, and then I see the reverse lights.  The van cruises up beside me and I hear an old man ask, “Pack of wild dogs, eh?”

There is an awkward silence.  The handicapped passenger gives a blank stare at me.  I concur and then, oddly enough, I find myself getting in this van.  After 100 yards down the road and a short story about an animal cruelty lawsuit, I climb out of the van.  I start my chronograph and watch the generous duo slowly pull away.

I am thankful for the short breather, but even more relieved I didn’t have to act as some afternoon entertainment for a pack of mischievous beasts.

Dear Prime Minister,

We write as a group of scientists and Bishops to express our concern about the teaching of science in the Emmanuel City Technology College in Gateshead.

Evolution is a scientific theory of great explanatory power, able to account for a wide range of phenomenon in a number of disciplines.  It can be refined, confirmed and even radically altered by attention to evidence.  It is not, as spokesmen for the college maintain, a ‘faith position’ in the same category as the biblical account of creation which has a different function and purpose.

The issue goes wider than what is currently being taught in one college. There is a growing anxiety about what will be taught and how it will be taught in the new generation of proposed faith schools. We believe that the curricula in such schools, as well as that of Emmanuel City Technology College, need to be strictly monitored in order that the respective disciplines of science and religious studies are properly respected.

Yours sincerely,

• The Right Reverend Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford
• Sir David Attenborough, FRS
• The Right Reverend Christopher Herbert, Bishop of St Albans
• Lord May of Oxford, President of the Royal Society
• Professor John Enderby, FRS, Physical Secretary, Royal Society
• The Right Reverend John Oliver, Bishop of Hereford
• The Right Reverend Mark Santer, Bishop of Birmingham
• Sir Neil Chalmers, Director, Natural History Museum
• The Right Reverend Thomas Butler, Bishop of Southwark
• Sir Martin Rees, FRS, Astronomer Royal
• The Right Reverend Kenneth Stevenson, Bishop of Portsmouth
• Professor Patrick Bateson, FRS, Biological Secretary, Royal Society
• The Right Reverend Crispian Hollis, Roman Catholic Bishop of Portsmouth
• Sir Richard Southwood, FRS, Past Biological Secretary, Royal Society
• Sir Francis Graham-Smith, FRS, Past Physical Secretary, Royal Society
• Professor Richard Dawkins, FRS

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28kristof.html