Google is set to release a set of computerized glasses later this year. The glasses will come equipped with a camera that captures what you see, a projector that reflects data onto a screen between the lenses and your eyes, and a sensor that tracks the movement of your eyes which will in be the method for navigating the device. Basically, we’re all about to become Steve Mann, though according to the Toronto Star the world’s first cyborg has yet to offer any comment.
The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
Timekeepers
Need some more Jeanette Winterson in your life? The New Statesman is here with a short story. Titled “Gnomon,” it centers on a medieval blacksmith, Stephen, who’s asked to create his town’s first mechanical clock. Sample quote: “Time is irregular. One hour is not the same length as another.”
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Critterati
Happy Halloween! At the New Yorker, the winners of the dress your pet as a literary character contest. Don't miss the honorable mentions (I'm partial to the feline Moby Dick).
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Atwood in the Twittersphere
I dare you not to be charmed by Margaret Atwood's account of becoming a Twitter user. "Despite their sometimes strange appearances, I’m well pleased with my followers." (via kottke)
Slow Down
"And journalists, the ones who do it for a living, will continue to have their faith in the profession shaken, as they panic and let their own standards slip in order not to be embarrassed by Reddit at 2:43 in the morning. But unlike high-frequency traders, Internet entrepreneurs, and online vigilantes, journalists have a stake in those standards, which are the only reason for having professionals do the job." Fast news, Twitter, and journalism in the digital age.
Writing Home
Your daily Canada: Michael LaPointe wonders what happened to the genre of CanLit.
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Wallace Stevens Week
Wallace Stevens Week(s) begin with a sprint today at Big Other, featuring an interview with poet and critic James Longenbach, an essay on Stevens' other work, in insurance, and a list of his “most maddening, funny and bizarre” titles.
New Release Tuesday
New on shelves this week is John Banville's The Infinities. Also just out is Reality Hunger: A Manifesto by David Shields. (See our early look at the book, our two-part interview with Shields, and Shields' Year in Reading.)