In something like 2002, I wrote and posted a kid’s version of my book, Small Pieces Loosely Joined, under a non-commercial Creative Commons license. Now Peter Ford has taken it upon himself to create a site with a copy of it with a facility that lets anyone comment on any paragraph. He’s hoping to get the must off of it, stem the link rot, etc.

I totally love this.

[Tags: crowd-sourcing wisdom_of_the_crowd publishing small_pieces books ]

1 Comment »

When I was in Norway last week, in a shopping arcade in Kristiansand there was a bakery selling sandwich bagels. The bagels seemed to have categorized as such simply because they were tori made out of bread: ovoids eight inches in diameter and about as high as the edge of a pizza crust. Was this the least bagel-like bagel on the planet?

This is something only the wisdom of the crowds can answer. If you’ve come across a national, regional, or industrial version of a bagel that is less bagel-like, let me know. Otherwise, the laurel will remain on Kristiansand’s brow. (It’s a lovely city. I just wouldn’t go there for the bagels.)

[Tags: puzzle bagels norway crowd-sourcing ]

2 Comments »