From Twitter 01-19-2011

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On Data Security

Two short films by Seamus Murphy, based on songs from Polly (P J) Harvey's forthcoming album

On the pleasures of listening to an album all the way through

"They've created works that have a beginning, a middle and end, that have nuances, themes, that take you on a journey that's as great as any novel, any opera, any drama." ... [or, conversely] ... "Most albums, you've got a pretty good idea. The bad songs are pretty bad, you know. We're busy people. Let's just get rid of them."

(Reminds me of a recent conversation with gummitch, in which we were marvelling at a track halfway through The Arcade Fire's latest, and reminiscing about the concept of 'first track on side two' -- often a high point of the album -- which is Alien to the Youth of Today.)

On the Perfect Writing Machine

Growth ring chronologies and the correlations between climate change and human history since 500BC

"Distinct drying in the 3rd Century paralleled a period of serious crisis in the western Roman empire marked by barbarian invasion, political turmoil and economic dislocation in several provinces of Gaul."

Five Emotions Invented By The Internet

The state of being ‘installed’ at a computer or laptop for an extended period of time without purpose, characterized by a blurry, formless anxiety undercut with something hard like desperation.

(I recall something similar from my teens, when I'd spent the whole day in the library)

And a clutch of recent links (articles themselves not necessarily recent) from Psychology Today:
- "I have the first diagnosed case of hyperthymestic syndrome—the continuous, automatic, autobiographical recall of every day of my life from age 14 on."

- We now know that it is the insecure rather than the confident who fall in love most readily. And men fall faster than women. And who ever said sex had anything to do with it?

- How to know when it's time to check out, and choreograph an exit you'll never regret.

- Tips on how to ditch a job, break up, make up, and face reality.