Overheard by Travis Smith

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

posted at 11:20 am
on Aug. 29, 2005

who said it?

“[E]fficiency alone does not explain the huge disparity between fuel-use figures on either side of the Atlantic: European per capita consumption of gas and diesel stood at 286 liters a year in 2001, compared to 1,624 in the US, according to IEA figures.”

posted at 11:22 pm
on Aug. 28, 2005

who said it?

“I’m not an optimist or a pessimist. I think that’s unprofessional for a futurist. It’s like: fax machines, pessimist or optimist? First, if you had one, you had no one to send a fax to. Then everyone had them. Now they’re on their way out. Pessimist or optimist is the wrong question to ask.”

posted at 12:26 am
on Aug. 27, 2005

who said it?

“To punish 45 million Americans (at least) because of a mythological belief that people are naturally inclined to abuse [health care] they ... get for free is not only cruel and inhumane, it’s ideologically obsessive, wrong-headed and irrational. But then that’s the very definition of the Bush administration and their cronies.”

posted at 11:00 am
on Aug. 26, 2005

who said it?

“The word ‘virtual’ is a very geek-oriented word. It is not something that makes a lot of sense to people who don’t spend all day at their desks, clicking on things. It’s crazy, I know, but there are people out there who go to the park on sunny days, walk their dogs, and eat in public places while conversing with other human beings. To them, the word ‘virtual’ is probably not all that meaningful.”

posted at 12:49 pm
on Aug. 24, 2005

who said it?

“The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.”

posted at 12:21 pm
on Aug. 23, 2005

who said it?

“One’s real life is often the life that one does not lead.”

posted at 11:20 am
on Aug. 22, 2005

who said it?

“The blog originated in January as a catch basin for mental detritus, for the kind of stuff not good enough for print, but too good to waste on casual conversation or, worse, mere thinking. But this spring I began allowing “comments,” and the blog suddenly mutated. America, it turns out, is full of smart, clever, creative people who happen to have no interest in working and whose employers have unwisely given them Internet access. Thus every day, on my blog, these strangers show up, just to shoot the breeze, flirt, kvetch, veer off topic and, most of all, pay zero attention to what I have written.”

posted at 12:19 pm
on Aug. 21, 2005

who said it?

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

posted at 3:08 pm
on Aug. 19, 2005

who said it?

“JVC named the format VHS, which was an abbreviation for ‘Vertical Helix Scan,’ but the initials quickly morphed into ‘Video Home System,’ and that is the term still used today.”

posted at 2:51 am
on Aug. 19, 2005

who said it?

“I’m like John Cusack and a unicorn, rolled into one.”

posted at 11:40 pm
on Aug. 17, 2005

who said it?

“I don’t want to earn my living; I want to live.”

posted at 11:20 am
on Aug. 15, 2005

who said it?

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

posted at 11:19 am
on Aug. 12, 2005

who said it?

“Does it disturb you to be wearing a another man’s name on your genitals?”