Berkshire Blog by Karen Christensen

Quotations about the Spirit of Sustainability

Karen Christensen — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:03:02 +0000

I was trying to come up with a way for our authors to send quotations from sacred texts but also from favorite environmental and other books to us. A deluge of e-mails is hard to manage, and doesn’t give other people a chance to see what’s been sent. So here’s today’s Berkshire experiment: please comment here with your favorite short quotations with the source, including publication and year, and any notes about why it’s meaningful or where in might be placed in The Spirit of Sustainability. All those who submit quotations (or passages) we include in the final volume will be thanked by name.

Invented by machine?

Karen Christensen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:14:38 +0000

When Robert Plotkin, our IP lawyer, came to my office and tried to explain this to me a few years ago, I got the gist but still found it hard to explain the concept to someone else. Now the book he came to get my advice about is a reality, and this review of The Genie in the Machine in Library Journal provides greater clarity than I could manage:

Plotkin, Robert. The Genie in the Machine: How Computer-Automated Inventing Is Revolutionizing Law & Business. Stanford Law & Politics: Stanford Univ. 2009. c.288p. index. ISBN 978-0-8047-5699-0. $29.95. BUS

There is little argument that invention spurs innovation, competition, and economic growth. With technology today, however, inventors can simply input a problem (a “wish”) into a program and have the computer (a “genie”) generate, or “invent,” the ultimate solution. Who or what, then, is the true inventor of the final product? Plotkin, an intellectual property attorney, tackles this intriguing question by stating that patent law today does not lend itself to such broad interpretation. Further, the author convincingly illustrates an urgent need to reform current law so that it is neither too strong nor too weak in order to protect the future rights of inventors, businesses, and consumers. VERDICT Plotkin posits that “Computer Automated Inventing” or “Artificial Invention Technology” does not replace the human mind; rather, it augments and partners with its human counterpart to build a better mousetrap, whatever that might be. From toothbrushes to auto assembly, the author uses easy-to-understand analogies that most lay readers will understand. Recommended for committed readers in business, computer science, or law.—Judy Brink-Drescher, Dowling Coll., Oakdale, NY

“Invention” is obviously another topic for a publication I’ll soon get underway, to update and expand from the Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction. Think of all the developments: micro-blogging, mash-ups, and even computerized customer service!

World History revival

Karen Christensen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:33:09 +0000

I’m often surprised by the good stuff in my own files, forgotten entirely sometimes and stumbled on by accident. Like this set of questions developed in advance of the only on-site editorial meeting we’ve held, for the first edition of the Encyclopedia of World History. Now that we’re in the thick of the second edition, adding some fabulous environmental coverage, lots on world art thanks to Ralph Croizier, and more on communications and media, I find this set of questions relevant once again, and perhaps of interest to those who also ponder what it means to “think globally.”

1. What is world history and what makes it different from other histories?
2. Is world history informed just by history or does it also need to integrate knowledge from anthropology and geography?
3. When did world history begin?
4. What periodization scheme helps us to best organize the chronology of world history?
5. What are the controversial concepts employed in world history and how are they most objectively presented?
6. How should women and minorities be covered?
7. How does one move between the general and specific?
8. How does one get non-world historians to write within a world history framework?

Tom’s gentle incarceration in Lanzhou

Karen Christensen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:47:02 +0000

Tom’s time in the gulag has been as kind and gentle as could possibly be. They’ve been bringing him flowers and fruit and food every three hours, and he has Skype so we’ve been able to talk. I gather he’s keeping up on Facebook, too, and Twitter. He described himself as a Mr Magoo, wandering around Beijing and to the train station and on the 17-hour trip to Lanzhou without any idea that people were trying to find him, after there were two confirmed cases of H1N1 from his plane. His phone had stopped working and he didn’t check e-mail, so they missed him in Beijing and only found him when he got to Lanzhou. But no fever or other symptoms, and he’ll be released tomorrow for a first fieldtrip with his work group on Lanzhou University. Here’s a Skype exchange between mother in East Hampton and son confined to hotel room in western China:

[8:29:57 AM] Karen Christensen: hey tom
[8:30:33 AM] Karen Christensen: how many people have actually seen you? the others are probably wondering what you look like!
[8:30:53 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: just dr niu
[8:30:58 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: and two of his students
[8:31:06 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: I am a true mystery!
[8:31:21 AM] Karen Christensen: hilarious! you have shaving equipment i hope!
[8:31:38 AM] Karen Christensen: hey, did you like the photo from the beach?
[8:32:15 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: yeah
[8:32:25 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: looks nice…
[8:32:28 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: so much open space
[8:32:32 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: not just walls
[8:32:42 AM] Tom @ Berkshire: WALLSCLOSINGIN EVERYWHERe

Photos, finally, from WHA conference

Karen Christensen — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:26:57 +0000

I’ve been trying to upload photos from the WHA conference, and especially from the wonderful evening a week ago when Bill McNeill gave a talk called, “Leaving Western Civ Behind,” as a public lecture in Salem, Massachusetts. First problem was that my daughter Rachel had the camera in her handbag when she returned to Amherst, where she’s taking a physics class. Second problem has been my poor Internet connection the last few days. Finally, photos up: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26242000@N00/sets/72157620823698038/.

“Leaving Western Civ Behind,” a lecture by William H. McNeill, 26 June 2009

Karen Christensen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:58:26 +0000

I’m about to set off for Boston and Salem, with a western Massachusetts contingent. Here’s an invitation to our main event at the World History Association conference, which starts this afternoon. You’ll see my continuing struggle with HTML, but the invitation is also at http://tinyurl.com/le297h, more legibly.

Karen Christensen requests the pleasure of your company at the

Berkshire Publishing Group Public Lecture in World History

“Leaving Western Civ Behind”

by William H. McNeill, Emeritus, University of Chicago,

author of The Rise of The West, Plagues and Peoples, and The Human Web

and senior editor of the The Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History

6.15pm on Friday 26 June 2009

Reception sponsored by the College Board for WHA conference attendees 7.15-8.30pm

National Park Service Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty Street, Salem, Massachusetts (directions below)

Full program for the World History Association conference

Driving Directions

Salem is approximately 15 miles north of Boston.

From the North:

1. From I-95 southbound, take Exit #45 (“ Gloucester”) onto MA-128 North.

2. From MA-128, take Exit #26 onto Lowell Street eastbound (right turn), toward Peabody/Salem.

3. Continue on Lowell Street, which becomes Main Street, and then becomes Boston Street.

4. Turn left onto Bridge Street (MA-107).

5. In the first rotary, take the first exit onto Washington Street.

6. Turn left onto Church Street.

7. Turn right onto New Liberty Street (which becomes Liberty Street) and continue to 2 Liberty Street.

From the West:

1. From I-90 (Mass. Turnpike), take Exit #14 (“I-95 N/MA-30/MA-128 N”) towards New Hampshire/Maine/Points North.

2. Merge onto MA-128 northbound (“Waltham/Gloucester”) via left exit.

3. From this point, follow the directions from MA-128 in “From the North”, above.

From Boston and Points South (via MA-1A):

1. Take Route 1A northbound, which becomes Paradise Road and then Lafayette Street.

2. Turn right onto Charter Street.

3. Turn left onto Liberty Street, and continue to 2 Liberty Street.

The Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History is “…the benchmark

against which future history encyclopedias are compared….”—Booklist

Expanded second edition forthcoming November 2009

RSVP: Ashley Winseck, ashley@berkshirepublishing.com, tel +1 413 528 0206

BERKSHIRE PUBLISHING GROUP, Great Barrington, Massachusetts . . . a global point of reference

My experience with Iran

Karen Christensen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:07:18 +0000

I’ve been struggling with HTML and WordPress, trying to get a collection of Berkshire articles on Iran up. They’re very useful, and quite broad, but as you’ll see at this “parent” page, all the text is centered and I can’t figure out how to correct it. But I did get a hierarchy set up, so they’re easy to click to. A lot of excellent background reading, and the women’s sports articles are especially interesting. I used to consider my negotiations with the Islamic Women’s Sports Solidarity Council the highlight of my diplomatic efforts, and I was absolutely thrilled when they accepted, or at least did not reject, the article I wrote on the hijab, in the the context of women’s sports. At the same time I was dealing with a French feminist association that adamantly did not want Islamic countries to be allowed to send women to the Olympics until they dressed like Western women athletes. After the post-election conflict broke out last week, I hunted up the big full-color book they mailed to me from Tehran, back in 1999. It remains, somehow, a token of connection, and communication, and, somehow, makes me more hopeful in this time of crisis and violence.

Thursday morning: Now the parent page is straight but the “contents” list to the other articles is gone. Trevor’s helping me with this, stay tuned! Okay now. Thanks, Trevor.

Real world commendations to Twitter

Karen Christensen — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:15:59 +0000

International news can seem unreal, disembodied, and that’s so often the problem with online communications. But here’s Twitter responding to the campaign to stop them doing maintenance tonight:

Down Time Rescheduled

A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight’s planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).Our partners are taking a huge risk not just for Twitter but also the other services they support worldwide—we commend them for being flexible in what is essentially an inflexible situation. We chose NTT America Enterprise Hosting Services early last year specifically because of their impeccable history of reliability and global perspective. Today’s decision and actions continue to prove why NTT America is such a powerful partner for Twitter.

posted by @Biz at 4:17 PM

I don’t know if the company will be worth vastly more after all this, or if people will wonder if a platform that’s perfect for political change is really a good investment. But I am certain that there are many young people across the world who will never forget these days, or that it was Twitter they were turning to for news that really counted to them.

Looking glass world, #iranelection

Karen Christensen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:48:05 +0000

There are many extraordinary and important aspects of what is going on, online and off, in Iran and in coverage of the Iranian election. The most striking thing, though, is how differently things appear–because of the content itself and the way stories are told–when I flip between mainstream media and the interactive online world. My kids are dragging me to the sites they read and watch, and I am seeing the power of the Web in a whole new way, as young (and older) people around the world create a new kind of community. I don’t know what these means in the long-term, but it’s clearly powerful now. And those programmers who can set up proxy servers have a chance to show their skills on the fly! And in case you don’t know, searching Twitter.com for #iranelection will give you the latest flood of thousands of postings. Here’s one: “we honour and thank the people of Iran and especially the hackers. Baseej have guns we have brains. #Iranelection”

Twitter matters

Karen Christensen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:10:24 +0000

I’m a publisher and a writer, so attribution matters a lot to me. This post needs attribution, you see, to my daughter who has been, like thousands of her peers around the country and the world, transfixed by events in Iran over the last 48 hours. And it isn’t the mainstream media that has so engaged them, but the world of Twitter and Flickr and YouTube and the instantaneous communication these technologies enable. I can’t do better than share a bit of what Rachel sent to me today, starting with her idea of how I can show how global and techy I am, with this BBC piece.

[10:28:11 AM] Rachel (Wyste): The EU: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526223,00.html (Our government is doing basically the same thing, being concerned but staying out of it.)
[10:28:52 AM] Rachel (Wyste): the latest, apparently: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8099501.stm
[10:31:42 AM] Rachel (Wyste): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8099374.stm here’s an older one from the bbc with an absolutely amazing reporter – the riot police arrested him earlier and he was back out there filming shortly after.
[10:42:51 AM] Rachel (Wyste): http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi1388/ Mousavi campaign type folk run this flickr account, lots of riot and protest photos.
[10:47:40 AM] Rachel (Wyste): and the president of Iran says that the protests are like the passions after a soccer match.
[10:51:38 AM] Rachel (Wyste): http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=26274216001 another reporter, this from channel 4
[10:57:23 AM] Rachel (Wyste): Guardian.co.uk : Iran elections: Mousavi lodges legal appeal against Ahmadinejad victory, Opposition candidate goes to country’s guardian council after supporters claim result was manipulated
[10:59:17 AM] Rachel (Wyste): http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/14/iran-election-mousavi-appeal
[11:08:52 AM] Rachel (Wyste): Iran has irritated the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2009/06/stop_the_blocking_now.html
[11:15:01 AM] Rachel (Wyste): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html with a youtube video from Tehran, more police vs rioters.
[11:15:45 AM] Rachel (Wyste): http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/opinion/15iht-edcohen.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
[11:36:53 AM] Rachel (Wyste): Found it. “Mass protest against fraudulent election in Iran tomorrow in NYC @ 2pm. East 47th Street ‘tween 2nd and 1st Ave, just north of the UN. iranians are standing as one. No political factions!!! No flags!!”

No more from me: Check out “@iranelection” at Twitter.

Lester Brown: Plan B 2.0, 3.0, and more

Karen Christensen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:00:59 +0000

One of my oldest friends in the environmental world is one of the world’s most eminent environmentalists, and here’s a new article about him that provides a fascinating history, too: “The Persistent Prophet–Lester Brown’s New-Found Optimism.” Fortunately, Les is also an adviser to Berkshire’s Sustainability Project.

Hot chocolate in June

Karen Christensen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:50:48 +0000

After three glorious days of sunshine and weather in the 70s, at last, and even more important temperatures above 50 at night so the tomato plants can start to grow, it turned cold again. So I’ve just made a big white Ikea jug of hot chocolate for the troops. And not just any hot chocolate. This is proper Mexican chocolate that comes in rough sugar-specked rounds, sold in a stack that’s been wrapped in coarse pink paper. It’s from my secret stash of treats, like the Provencal chestnut and lavender honeys at the back of the pantry. This was the right day for it!

Local baby sightings: it’s springtime in the Berkshires

Karen Christensen — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:46:40 +0000

Yesterday we had a deer wandering around the house and outside our office windows. It was young, nimble, and not particularly bothered by our presence. Comments ranged from, “How adorable!” and “What happened to its mother?” to “Long-legged rat” and “Bambi’s mother is dead.” You know we strive for balanced and varied perspectives here at Berkshire Publishing!

But the sentimentalists and rationalists can unite over the baby owls on Benton Avenue, because they’re both cute and environmentally desirable. Here’s a photo that a neighbor took of one of the little Bared owls. Even I can’t call it anything but adorable.

Debunking the “long tail”

Karen Christensen — Tue, 26 May 2009 21:41:09 +0000

It’s not an attractive thing, I-told-you-so-ism. And the joy of being proved right by an academic study (”and it took $100,000 to prove X Y or Z, when anyone with an ounce of common sense could have told you!”) is usually dimmed by thinking about the good things one could have done with a similar amount of money. But I am relishing the reports about how the “long tail” idea so eloquently promoted by Chris Anderson of Wired magazine is being shown up for the fantasy it is. It never made sense, any more than the crazy stock market or the price of houses. No limits, endless wealth, just keep believing.

The question people didn’t ask when an author like Anderson came out with a new pronouncement about how we’re all going to make scads of money in the new economy was simple: “Who benefits?” The author benefits immediately, with book sales and substantial speaking fees. In Anderson’s case, he secured Wired magazine, too. It was great because it was explicitly not a get-rich-quick scheme but a get-rich-pretty-fast scheme. A wonderful package. I spoke just after Anderson at Digital Now last year and felt a bit out of step, as a realist, telling people they’d better make sure there was a demand for online community, or something in existence, before going out and investing in what a couple participants described as a place you could hear the crickets chirping.

I guess that’s what you can hear in the long tail these days. Here’s a bundling of comments about the death of the long tail, at the New York Times.

Self-respect online

Karen Christensen — Wed, 20 May 2009 23:51:58 +0000

I don’t know what to think about all the middle-aged people, almost all men, who are great enthusiastists for iPhones and Twitter and Plaxo and LinkedIn and even Facebook. It’s a little embarrassing, especially since middle age lasts a LONG time these days. Especially when I know what at least some kids think about it. One close friend, definitely in middle age, understands: “If I retire I buy a Kindle, right?”

My kids simply laugh at me when I try to act like a geek. They keep me from some mistakes. “No CAPS LOCK, Mom, and no Comic Sans.” I used “c u” as shorthand in a text message once. Rachel responded, “Would you put that in a book? Don’t you have any self-respect?!”