Matt Webb came up with the light cone RSS feed that, rather spookily, will introduce you to the stars that your light cone has just wooshed past. Register your date of birth and Matt’s feed will tell you about your sphere of influence that’s been expanding at the speed of light (12 million miles a minute / and that’s the fastest speed there is) since your birth. I promise you, it’s fun to learn that Epsilon Eridani is 15.5 light years away.
Thinking of this another way, as I listened to someone on BBC Radio4 talking about the average age of listeners, I wondered if it wouldn’t be a good idea to produce something like Matt Webb’s RSS feed but which, instead of pointing you to the heavens, fixed you firmly on the earth by introducing you to your peer activities and propensities as you grew older. For example, when you turned 30 you might find that hardly anyone your age goes clubbing but that on average you’re producing your second child. That would be frightening, wouldn’t it?
The title of this weblog entry is derived from Theodor Adorno’s very readable The Stars Down To Earth
, a collection of essays that majors with his thoughts about the Los Angeles Times astrology column and memorably trashes hobbies for being bourgeois because the distinction between real
work and hobby
depends upon a capitalist organisation of work. Apparently. A good read and he is such a good writer.
