Grounded, Ruskin takes to the skies over Europe

On a day without a plane in the sky over Europe it seems appropriate to recall this breathtaking leap of imagination by John Ruskin, a full 50 years before the Wright brothers' first powered flight (my italicisation): "The charts of the world which have been drawn up by modern science have thrown into a narrow … Continue reading Grounded, Ruskin takes to the skies over Europe →

Mobile Gothic: a flight of fancy

I've always found it strange that Eric S. Raymond chose the cathedral as his metaphor for closed development in free software, because the construction of our great medieval cathedrals must have been a very open process. Passing peasants were doubtless discouraged from picking up a chisel to hack at the nearest stone, but Gothic buildings … Continue reading Mobile Gothic: a flight of fancy →