This Month in Wired
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.23.07
The single best feature in Wired this month is its regular Jargon Watch column:
Ecosexual: a term known to TreeHuggers via Warren, defined by Wired as " A person who's into hybrid cars, low energy lightbulbs, and recycling. Now that environmentalism is hot, ecosexuals are getting increasingly fashionable."
Online Analyst: "Hired by companies like Coca-Cola and AT&T to monitor what is being said about them on social networks and blogs, online analysts use the Internet as a vast unpaid focus group." It seems some companies have vast spying networks.
Social Network Fatigue "The ennui induced by persistent solicitations to join new social networks. It is especially acute in those who are already members of more MySpaces than they can remember. "
Slow Travel: "Getting from Point A to B at a leisurely pace. Slow travellers, who prefer trains and boats to cars and jets, brag that they take as much pleasure in the journey as in the destination." We have discussed this here.
Also of interest is the development of a new bag from Timbuk2 made from old grocery and shopping bags lamitated between sheets of plastic and turned into courier bags, and extensive coverage of the development of Dongtan, China, covered by Leonora here. More on this when the issue goes online. ::Wired
Reading this and the term "slow travel" something I read the other day struck me. In the US we have the least amount of vacation time (2 weeks on average compaired to 4 to 6 in others) of any developed country. This of couse works against slow travel as people feel pressed for time even on vacation when they should be taking it easy. Just a thought ...