As the northwest coast of Japan has re-emerged, desolate from the great Tohoku-Kanto tsunami, those of us looking on have only our words and the stories to comprehend the incomprehensible, this vast landscape of heartbreak. So this post is not so much about the disaster unfolding in my beloved second home, but about the way we talk […]

A few weeks ago, I pointed a poisoned pen at Adobe for their graceless grab at the “do my translation for free” ring on the translation carousel. Nothing particularly surprising here, since this move perfectly illustrates the prime directive of the Web, first described by noted social critic Mark Knopfler in “Money for Nothing.” But what […]