Chaotic Blog Week in Review

Each evening, I take maybe 20 minutes and read through a huge list of blogs. Those that catch my attention are read all the way through, others are glanced at, and still others will remain undiscovered (by me) forever. To accomplish this feat in a timely manner, I rely on Google Reader and Zite – an app for my iPad that consolidates blog entries on the topics I choose and organizes them into n easy-to-navigate list. Since my interest in blogs is as varied as my interest in life; topics include everything from the obvious: pets, writing, marketing – to the “not so obvious”: conspiracies, environmental, and architecture (et al).

I’m going to give this “weekly posting” thing a try. It may turn into a monthly posting, or no posting at all, but I’m sure you’re not going to care one way or the other. Let’s start off with a quick overview of the Chaotic Blog Week in Review.

Environmentalism meets urban fantasy:

Zom-Bees: Parasitic flies are taking over the minds of honeybees and creating (for lack of a better word), Zom-bees. More details on this fascinating story (and how zombees may impact our own lives) can be found at Eco-centric Blogs Time.

Interesting architecture:

Life in a Tree: I mean “in” a tree, not near the top of a tree or beside a tree. This is a look at some of the amazing architecture that allows you to live life in a tree. This type of architecture is known as “whole tree construction” and you can learn more about it at InHabitator Whole Tree Architecture.

Aqua Architecture: If you’ve ever wanted to build a home centered around a water feature, this site has some very interesting ideas on how to do that. These dreamlike underwater landscapes come to us courtesy of Takashi Amano, one of the most influential people in the field of freshwater aquascaping, and his firm, Aqua Design Amano.

Anonymous Writer No More: Writers will no longer be anonymous if this group has anything to say about it. Writing under a pseudonym? Have an anonymous blog? Leaving hostile comments on a friends website under an assumed name? You will not be able to hide much longer…

Graduate students at Drexel University have released two stylometry tools designed to identify the author of any writing. This software makes sure anonymity is a thing of the past. It is capable of identifying the author of any comment, any blog, any work of art, or even an email by matching writing styles with the author.

So beware, mean people – your number is up! But if you would like to learn how to avoid detection, be sure to click here.

The Writing Life: Any writer will tell you they have a very different, almost spiritual, relationship to the written word. Reading a book creates an emotional response in us. We understand that there is something spiritual about finding the right word for the right emotion and once we find it, it’s a bit like locating a long lost friend on Facebook.

We find our platform, we broadcast our message, we hope like hell someone reads it. But, if they don’t, its okay. Our life isn’t about making friends or having relationships with people, it’s about finding the right word to convey the correct emotion to elicit the appropriate response. Jenny Hansen, a brilliant new blogger I stumbled across, captures the 10 Unusual Things I Know About Writers that you should also know.