Have you enjoyed Michelle Fram Cohen’s articles at the Atlasphere — such as her recently-republished “Crosspoints: A Chance at Self-Redemption”?
If so, you may be interested in her new anthology, My Atlasphere Collection, now available as an eBook from MobiPocket.
Category: News
Ayn Rand Lexicon Now Available Online!
The Ayn Rand Lexicon is an indispensible tool for any serious student of Ayn Rand’s ideas. And now it’s available online.
From the Ayn Rand Institute’s announcement:
Through a special arrangement with the publisher, the editor and the Estate of Ayn Rand, ARI has received exclusive permission to present The Ayn Rand Lexicon — now available in its entirety, free of charge, to Web visitors. Edited by Harry Binswanger, and with an introduction by Leonard Peikoff, this important book presents all of the key ideas of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, in an encyclopedic reference of stunning breadth and depth.
Visit AynRandLexicon.com for full access.
Robert Bidinotto Wins Folio Award
Objectivist writer Robert Bidinotto has just won a prestigious Folio Award for his article “Up from Conservatism” in The New Individualist.
Congratulations, Robert!
Atlas has a director!
Variety.com is reporting that Vadim Perelman will direct the movie adaptation of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The article also reports an early 2008 start of production. Perelman directed the 2003 film, “The House of Sand and Fog”.
Read the full article
Cool new technology from Microsoft
Experience some of Microsoft’s newest technological developments in action: Microsoft Surface and Photosynth. At Popular Mechanics you can see how Surface allows you to move information from one object to another via 30-inch tabletop display without a mouse or keyboard. And a recent TED talk by Blaise Aguera y Arcas demonstrates how Photosynth can reconstruct objects and places taken from large collection of photos into a three-dimensional space.
New 'BioShock' Video Game
From Atlasphere member Noah Rusnock:
I am not sure how much the Atlasphere community is involved with video games, but in the next few months a highly-anticipated, main stream video game with an Objectivist base will hit the market. The game is called BioShock and you can read about it here, here, and here.
UPDATE: For more about the game, check out the hands-on preview at Shacknews.
Indian Ayn Rand Fan Minal Panchal among Virginia Tech Victims
The article “World Reacts to Tech Shootings” in today’s Guardian mentions briefly that one of the Virginia Tech victims was a fan of Ayn Rand’s work:
India – which lost a lecturer – added a second victim to its toll: Minal Panchal, a 26-year-old master’s student in building sciences, CNN-IBN news said Wednesday. She had been listed as missing before her body was found at Norris Hall.
“She was really passionate about architecture, about buildings and Ayn Rand was one of her favorite authors. She went to the U.S. to study building sciences,” said Chetna Parekh, a friend from Mumbai.
India eNews has a full article about Minal, titled “Minal’s dreams brought her to US varsity — and death” (which too notes her admiration for Ayn Rand’s work).
I can hardly imagine the depths of grief that Ms. Panchal’s family, together with all the families of victims at Virginia Tech, must be experiencing.
Tomorrow we’ll be publishing an excellent op-ed by Jacob Sullum which analyzes the relationship between the Virginia Tech shooting and the so-called “gun-free” policies that make it possible for a lone gunman to kill so many people on a college campus.
UPDATE: Sullum’s article is available here.
In Case You Know Regina Milano…
Regina, one of the world’s truly beautiful souls, suffered a stroke recently. More information is available at ReginaMilano.com, including information about contributing to her trust fund, to help offset her exorbitant medical expenses. If you are among the many touched by Regina’s goodness, please consider making a contribution.
The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman
Worth Watching:
Power of Choice: The Life and Ideas of Milton Friedman
Monday, January 29, 2007; check local listings for broadcast time.
“A documentary on the life and ideas of Nobel-winning economist Milton Friedman (1912-2006), with comments from former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan; economists Gary Becker and Paul Samuelson, and former Estonian prime minister Mart Laar.”
Exxon Warming Up to Global Warming?
MSNBC reports that Exxon-Mobil has “stopped funding groups skeptical of global warming claims.”
Whether because of Congressional pressure, or that from stockholders nervous about bad publicity, the change can be expected to harbinger bad news for some. (Exxon actually stopped funding CEI, a major critic of global warming claims, prior to receiving the infamous Snowe-Rockefeller letter.)
Larger companies like Exxon may see little effect – they have highly paid lobbyists to soften any effect of expected increased legislative control. Smaller companies may simply disappear, unable to compete as the price of generating energy is increased.
Those who advocate a free market in energy, supported by sound environmental science, should be concerned.