What struck me most about this story when I read about it this morning was that it was a journalism conference. It was called “Journalism on the Edge” and Savage was a keynote speaker. Savage is one of the most outspoken gay-rights advocates in America, and he’s certainly not known for being PC. He says incendiary things that he knows will get people’s backs up, such as that he wished all Republicans were “fucking dead” . He’s an edgy guy, who was speaking at a journalism conference where edgy content was the order of the day.

And yet everyone spewing vitriolic abuse at him acts as if this wasn’t expected. He’s Dan Savage, for Christ’s sake. Furthermore, “as many as 100″ high school students even walked out of the talk. They’re supposed to be journalists! You can’t just up and leave when an interviewee (or, in this case, a speaker) says something that you personally disagree with.

That’s what struck me most about this story, maybe just because Dan Savage being his usual controversial self isn’t news to me.

But if you do just tap on it, which is an obvious thing to try, you get a clever hint: the lock screen playfully jumps and bounces, suggesting visually that you can slide it upward.

I noticed this too. When you tap the button, not only does it jump and bounce, but you can see the camera app behind it, which is a very clever hint.

Bought this in Limerick today — fascinating book.

Forgot how funny ATMs were in Irish.

Spanish Exchange, March 2012. Saw Barcelona, which is a lovely city.

“…Organised religion is quite another thing. The trouble is that all too often in human history, churches and priesthoods have set themselves up to rule people’s lives in the name of some invisible god (and they’re all invisible, because they don’t exist) – and done terrible damage. In the name of their god, they have burned, hanged, tortured, maimed, robbed, violated, and enslaved millions of their fellow-creatures, and done so with the happy conviction that they were doing the will of God, and they would go to Heaven for it.

That is the religion I hate, and I’m happy to be known as its enemy.”

- Phillip Pullman.

Added my catch-all Twitter Gmail account to Mail.app.

The number you require for the number of agrarian agitations from 1877 to 1881 is: 236 4439. (There were 236 incidents in 1877, up to 4,439 in 1881.)

gracecar.tumblr.com:

This was on the elevator wall in my dorm haha. Oh NYU

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.

Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

- Gary Provost (100 Ways to Improve Your Writing, 1985).

Great advice, but the execution is even better.

I’d wager that for a budget of ~ €500, the iPhone 4S is one of the best cameras you can buy.

The photo itself is the interior of the restaurant in the George Hotel, on the corner of Shannon and O’Connell’s Street. I spent many an afternoon here while studying for my Junior Cert., and it’s become one of my favorite haunts for its attentive and friendly staff; good coffee/tea and comfortable seats.

I’m telling you, Apple has some great music taste.