Ramblings & ephemera
From Paul Graham’s “Made in USA” (November 2004):
Americans are good at some things and bad at others. We’re good at making movies and software, and bad at making cars and cities. And I think we may be good at what we’re good at for the same reason we’re bad at what we’re bad at. We’re [...]
Posted on July 7th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: Technology, Wash U: Tech in Changing Society, business, history | Comments Off
From Tim Bray’s “On the Goodness of Unicode” (6 April 2003):
Another problem is that in these parts of the world [China, Japan, Korea], it is not unheard-of to invent new characters. The Japanese word for such charaacters is gaiji; historically they were invented for personal or company names.
Related posts
The politics & basics of Unicode
Spimes, [...]
Posted on July 6th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: Commonplace Book, Language & Literature, Technology | Comments Off
From Hiroshi Matsubara’s “Trial By Prosecutor” (Legal Affairs: March/April 2003):
In 1990, a retired high-court judge gave an influential speech that indicted the criminal justice system [of Japan], citing the nation’s 99.8 percent conviction rate as evidence that prosecutors, not courts, decide the fate of criminals. Criminal trials, he declared, are merely “formal ceremonies” en route [...]
Posted on June 4th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: history, law, politics | Comments Off
From Noel Burch’s To the Distant Observer, his study of Japanese films:
… masochistic perseverance in the fulfillment of complex social obligations is a basic cultural trait of Japan.
Related posts
The history of solitary confinement
The great divider
The end of days in Slab City
The Creative Class & the health & growth of cities
Respecting religion
Posted on April 25th, 2006 by Scott Granneman
Filed under: Commonplace Book | Comments Off